If you haven’t received an accurate energy bill in a while

If you haven’t received an accurate gas or electricity bill for over a year, you might not have to pay for all the energy you’ve used.

Under 'back billing' rules, your supplier cannot send you a bill for energy you used more than 12 months ago.

If your supplier tries to overcharge you

If your supplier tries to charge you for more than 12 months’ energy use, you should write to them.

Tell them that you’re protected by the back billing rules and should only be charged for 1 year's energy use.

Example

You haven't received an electricity bill in 2 years.

You call your supplier and ask them to send you a bill. You give them an up-to-date meter reading.

Your supplier sends you a bill, charging you for 2 years' energy use.

You write them a letter stating that you're aware of the back billing rules and that you should only have to pay for the last year's energy use.

Your supplier sends you a new bill, charging you for only 1 year's use.

You can use our back billing example letter to help you.

If your supplier still tries to charge you the full amount, you should make a complaint.

If you have behaved unreasonably, your supplier could bill you for the full amount. Unreasonable behaviour includes:  

• not allowing the supplier access to read your meters without a good reason

• stealing electricity or gas

If you can’t afford to pay

If you’re sent a bill but you can’t afford to pay it, you can ask your supplier for a payment plan that allows you to repay any debt over the same length of time that the debt has built up. For example, if you've not had a bill from your supplier for 8 months, you should be able to spread the repayments over 8 months.

There are other things you can do if you're struggling to pay your energy bills.

Further help

If you're having issues with your energy bills or supplier, you can get advice from the Citizens Advice consumer helpline.