South London residents were shocked to be told they owed hundreds of pounds after a firm reissued energy bills they had already paid with increased charges.
People living in the Station House and Tinderbox House apartments in Deptford were sent the revised invoices covering periods of up to 18 months in November last year by billing company Welcome Energy.
An attached letter informed residents that they now owed more because the development’s mains supplier had ‘issued revised supply bills’ to the company that manages the buildings.
Some residents who failed to pay the extra money within 28 days were sent letters by Welcome Energy informing them that their heating and hot water supply could be cut off.
The letters also warned residents that they faced an additional ‘late payment charge’ if they didn’t pay the money immediately.
The flats in Station House and Tinderbox House are heated through a communal heat network, where hot water and heating is supplied to homes via a network of pipes from a central boiler.
Unlike traditional heating systems, communal heat networks are not set to be regulated by Ofgem until 2025. In the meantime, there are no rules stopping firms reissuing bills to heat network customers.
Juan José Ortiz Peregrina, 36, has lived in the Deptford apartments for eight years.
He claims he has been left owing an extra £266 after Welcome Energy reissued two bills last November covering a 15 month period between late 2021 and early 2023.
Mr Peregrina said it was frustrating that the firm didn’t refund him for the previous bills before issuing new ones.
He said: “They threatened to cut off our hot water if we didn’t pay. I’m a business owner and from my perspective if I have made a mistake for all of 2022 and I am going to raise a new bill, I would not leave that extra charge. I would credit everything and I would raise a new bill with the new rate.”
Isabeau, who has lived in the development with her partner since early 2022, said the couple had to pay an extra £205 after Welcome Energy reissued them with three bills covering a 13 month period in total between May 2022 and June 2023
She said: “We were confused. We had no prior information. We wondered ‘can you do this?’ Obviously, we found out there’s no government protection so they can back bill us that far. We are considering moving.
"There’s nothing preventing them back billing us again in the future. We have no option to change supplier. We just don’t know what our energy prices will be.”
Francesco Delfino, 42, who has lived in Station House since 2019, is disputing hundreds of pounds of debt that was added to his account after Welcome Energy sent out four bills, two of which had already been paid, with higher tariffs in November 2023.
He said: “They are not regulated by anyone and they told me ‘it’s not my problem’ [when he complained].
"They said that the bill in my account is £410. They still want that from me. At the moment I am paying just what I have to pay. There’s nothing else I can do. I’m not happy about it.”
A Welcome Energy spokesperson said: “We needed to compare the energy charges billed to residents against the amount paid for the purchase of the gas. Whilst we understand it is frustrating, it is beyond the control of both our clients and Welcome Energy.
“[We] have always communicated with our residents regarding any price change or reconciliation charges via letter, and we are happy to answer any concerns via email or by phone.
“Welcome Energy is a billing agent and we are instructed by our clients to recover the cost only. We do not have the facility to cut off any residents’ heating and would not threaten such behaviour. We remain committed to working with residents during the cost of living crisis, and are always happy to discuss payment plans.”
The residents of the Deptford flats are not the only Welcome Energy customers with communal heat networks to face steep increases in their energy bills.
A few miles west in Brixton, leaseholders in 14-storey Somerset Place were informed last year that they would see giant rises in their energy bills backdated to October 2022.
Somerset Place’s management company now owes hundreds of thousands of pounds to the building’s energy supplier.
Leaseholders in the block expect to have to fork out thousands of pounds each to cover the extra charges.
Speaking anonymously, one resident said: “They have been undercharging us for heating and hot water. It’s like buying a litre of petrol for 10p and then a year later them saying ‘it’s meant to be £1 so you owe us 90p.’ When it’s a few thousand [each] it’s a lot of money, especially in this climate.”
Housing campaigner, Kwajo Tweneboa, said it was ‘disgraceful’ that residents were having to pay for a ‘mistake’ made years ago in the middle of a cost of living crisis.
He said: “This is not residents’ fault and they shouldn’t be made to pay the price. Why have Welcome Energy not accepted their mistake? I hear residents haven’t even had an apology.”
Welcome Energy said that as a billing company it was instructed by clients to recover costs and that neither itself nor energy suppliers profited from the price increases passed on to residents.
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