OFGEM published analysis on Non-gas heating customers.
It discusses primarily households with electric heating of which 1.7m use heating systems with the
capability to store heat. This allows households to use cheaper electricity at night
to charge the heating system, and to release heat during the day. Almost all of
these are storage heaters. A substantial minority (0.5m) use direct-acting heating
systems without storage functionality, which instead generate heat instantly when needed, and use electricity at that time.
OFGEM states: Electric heating and ToU customers most commonly seek advice on bills and
switching issues, then on faulty meters, and whether the ToU tariff they are on is
right for their needs. Although these kinds of queries are not unique to electric
heating consumers, there are some particular problems within them. For
example, billing complaints include suppliers reading the peak and off-peak
register of the meter the wrong way round, leading to incorrect bills; or faulty
meters which could lead to the heating and other appliances coming on at the
wrong time, with customers charged peak rates as a result.
Unfortunately this is not exclusive to domestic consumers as we have found commercial customers being incorrectly billed for their 2-tariff meter.
We would urge OFGEM to check on supplier’s ability and performance in getting their billing right.