Survey: 30% of households given incorrect energy bills

By myfinances.co.uk staff

Some 30% of households have received an incorrect bill from their energy supplier in the past two years, with 17% being affected on more than one occasion, a new survey has revealed.

Research by comparison site uSwitch.com showed that the more than 11 million households have unexpectedly discovered that they owe money to their gas and electricity company because of a "discrepancy" between an estimated and actual bill.

The average amount owned has risen by eight per cent from last year to £153.

On average, it takes a little over two months to resolve billing issues, although 36% of cases are settled within a week.

Ann Robinson, uSwitch.com director of consumer policy, 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."

She added that the number of households that provide meter readings to their supplier has increased by seven per cent from 2009 to 71% , which should "play no small part" in improving the accuracy of energy bills.

According to uSwitch.com, after the latest rounds of price cuts announced in March, the average household energy bill stood at £1,209 a year.