Householders caught out by bill estimates

THREE in ten households have been billed incorrectly by their energy supplier in the past two years, with millions getting a nasty shock as they discover they owe more money due to discrepancies between estimates and actual bills.

More than 40 per cent of the households that have paid inaccurate bills owe their supplier more money, according to uSwitch.com, with the typical discrepancy now 153, up from 142 a year ago.

But 12 per cent of households have owed energy companies between 200 and 400 because of differences between estimated and actual bills.

Such discrepancies have encouraged more households to take matters into their own hands, with 71 per cent now providing their own meter readings, a 7 per cent increase on last year.

Ann Robinson, director of consumer policy at uSwitch.com, said: "Clearly there's a long way to go before the energy industry lays the ghost of bad billing to rest, but there is some hope here.

"The fact that more households are providing suppliers with meter readings will play no small part in improving the accuracy of our energy bills."