'My £5,700 energy bill was cancelled as it was too old'

Hayley Jarvis was shocked to receive an energy bill for £5,768.09 in early January of this year, a charge for energy consumption from two and a half years prior. "It's a huge amount of money, and it's going to take me a long time to pay it off," she said.

This practice is known as "back-billing," and energy regulator Ofgem had already prohibited sending energy bills older than 12 months back in 2018. However, the BBC Radio 4 program "Money Box" learned that 3,308 people complained to the Energy Ombudsman about receiving so-called "back-bills" in the 12 months leading up to September 2024.

The actual number of people complaining about back-billing is likely much higher, as only cases that suppliers cannot resolve in the first instance are escalated to the ombudsman. Citizens Advice received 47,000 complaints about billing in 2023, and this number rose to nearly 60,000 in 2024. Hayley's back-bill covered energy charges from June 2021 to June 2022.

"I wouldn't say I wasn't worried at the time, I actually was. Although I knew I would fight it," Hayley said. "I think the regulations that are in place to protect consumers are right, but energy companies don't seem to be adhering to their own principles." Back-billing refers to energy suppliers sending customers bills for energy used more than 12 months prior. This violates Ofgem rules, which were banned back in 2018. Customers do not need to pay any new bill charges for energy usage more than 12 months ago. Citizens Advice advises customers to write or email their supplier to explain and has provided a template letter for people to use.

Matt Lynch told "Money Box" about a very similar situation. He suddenly received a bill for £1,665 in November, and the company informed him that they would take the payment directly from his account via direct debit five days before Christmas. "That was three and a half years after I moved out of the flat. How do you find £1,600 with almost no notice? They were just going to take it, without even informing me. I found the email by chance in my spam folder."

Both Matt and Hayley spent days making multiple calls and sending emails to complain before their bills were finally cancelled. But according to Ofgem's back-billing rules, neither of these bills should have been sent in the first place. Alex Belsham-Harris from Citizens Advice said, "Ofgem needs to intervene to ensure that these companies are doing what they should be doing. These bills shouldn't be sent in the first place. Once someone realizes it's their issue, if they contact the supplier, then that should be the end of it."

Regulator Ofgem told "Money Box" that customers should not have to spend hours correcting incorrect bills, and that suppliers have a responsibility to handle complaints effectively. They also added that Ofgem is committed to reviewing the rules regarding billing. Energy UK, representing the energy industry, stated that suppliers have a duty of care towards their customers and are continuously working to improve practices.

The company that sent back-bills to Hayley and Matt was E.On Next, part of the E.On group. E.On told the BBC that they send tens of millions of bills each year and have systems in place to prevent back-billing. But in Hayley’s case, they said a human error led to the back-bill being sent, adding that they had apologized and are reviewing their back-billing processes to provide the best customer service.

As for Hayley, she is mainly concerned for those who may receive these bills but are unwilling or unable to fight them. “I think it's actually really sad because I was in a position to fight it, but not everybody is. You could have elderly, vulnerable or isolated people who see this bill and think, ‘Oh no, I need to pay this.’ And no one's going to tell them, ‘Actually, you don't owe this, it's been over 12 months.’”