The family of a frail 82-year-old have told of their year-long fight to get thousands of pounds of her money back from an energy company.
Patricia Polson’s family claims she has overpaid ExtraEnergy to the tune of £2,500 through a series of direct debits – reaching a monthly high of £599.
And the Thurso pensioner’s daughter Dorcas Sinclair says she is locked in a battle to get money back from the independent retail energy supplier.
Mrs Sinclair said: “It is a ridiculous amount of money. We were told it was a problem with the automatic billing system.
“It has been terribly frustrating. Every time we are told to wait 10 working days, so we wait and get nothing. It is such an inefficient system too. I spend the best part of 15 minutes waiting to speak to somebody and then I get cut off which is very, very frustrating.”
Mrs Sinclair has been fighting for her mother’s money since as far back as January 2017.
David Neale, director of UK operations for Extra Energy, said: “We’re very sorry for the inconvenience caused to Mrs Polson and her family, and have spoken to Mrs Polson’s daughter to apologise for how our customer service fell below the standards we expect.
“I can confirm that Mrs Polson will receive a full refund, as well as an additional goodwill gesture. One of our dedicated executive customer service agents will call Mrs Polson again to confirm receipt of this refund next week.”
Extra Energy have since contacted Mrs Sinclair and offered a settlement of £1,102.55 and compensation of £150 which Mrs Sinclair and Mrs Polson have rejected. The energy provider claim Mrs Polson has not been billed for the provision of gas, an accusation Mrs Polson and Mrs Sinclair strongly deny.
Mrs Sinclair added: “The worst part about all of this is it is my mum’s money. She is a pensioner and a very vulnerable lady, so I have really been fighting every corner for her money and all I am getting is promises which are not happening.
“My mother, she gets really quite upset and worried when she realises it has not been paid. She knows what is going on and it gets her so upset.”
Bills and energy providers
Energy providers regularly ask customers to submit meter readings to ensure bills can be accurately calculated to the customer’s usage of gas and electricity.
From late April 2018, back-billing will be banned by Ofgem.
The largest independent consumer body in the UK, Which, offers consumers advice and information on how to deal with sudden hikes or changes to energy deals.
Should a complaint be required, Which? offers the following advice: “If your energy supplier puts up its prices and you’re not on a fixed contract, you have the right to exit the contract without penalty.
“Energy suppliers have a set time limit in which to resolve most complaints, which is eight weeks, after which you can take your complaint to the Energy Ombudsman.
“The Ombudsman Service is free to use, and can award up to £5,000 in financial compensation.”
