Backbilling
•it has previously issued a compliant bill and is chasing previously billed charges; or
•the client behaves in an ‘obstructive or manifestly unreasonable way’ – eg, by physically preventing access to the meter or stealing fuel.
Ofgem has confirmed that it does not consider a client to be ‘obstructive or manifestly unreasonable’ when they do not supply a meter reading.
2Ofgem, Decision: Modification of the electricity and gas supply licences to introduce rules on backbilling to improve customer outcomes, If clients do not respond to requests for a meter reading, suppliers should take a meter reading themselves to avoid billing based on estimates. This means suppliers will have to put more effort into obtaining meter readings from their customers.