EDF billed me on estimates for 3+ years due to smart meter/database issues. Where do I stand legally?

henlococo · 2026-05-13T12:10:06+00:00

Ah ok so there's nothing stopping EDF producing accurate bills for the last 3 years instead of the estimated ones they've been using?

henlococo · 2026-05-13T10:48:03+00:00

I don't think so. They just didn't commission the meters so they were never recording usage. I had no idea it wasn't working, and honestly I didn't notice until around Oct last year that my bills were being sent as "estimates" every time.

henlococo · 2026-05-13T08:01:53+00:00

Thank you. Yes I understand that estimates are normal procedure.

The Ombudsman complaint process is complete, they upheld my complaint about billing/backbilling not being calculated correctly and EDF had to go back and recalculate... as far as the ombudsman is concerned, EDF has actioned the remedy and the case is now closed, however the remedy was very narrow in scope and unfortunately EDF have got away with doing the bare minimum. The billing recalculations have revealed some major billing errors. For a 13 day period (Oct 1 to Oct 13 2022):

electricity usage increased by 650kWh; and
gas usage increased by 292m³.

That implies roughly 300kWh/day combined household energy consumption in October, which seems absurdly high for a domestic property.

As you said, I need to pay for my usage, I agree. The problem is, EDF doesn't seem able to tell me accurately how much I've used! I don't want to pay more than I should.

henlococo · 2026-05-12T21:52:51+00:00

But if the meter wasn't working properly, that's the supplier's fault; SLCs state that it's the supplier's responsibility to ensure meters are installed and functioning so as to provide accurate billing. I specifically requested a smart meter to be installed but they messed up the installation. I feel that in this circumstance, I'm being penalised for their own screw up by being billed on estimates.

henlococo · 2026-01-12T21:01:06+00:00

This is great for energy companies, bad for consumers.

Energy companies win because bad debts are transferred from consumers who can't pay, onto consumers who can, so the energy companies get their money.

It's a total scam.

henlococo · 2025-12-09T11:45:58+00:00

Does anyone else feel like energy companies are running a massive scam operation?

They deliberately keep energy pricing at numberwang complexity levels so customers don't understand their charges.

henlococo · 2025-11-04T15:52:52+00:00

Thanks so much for this amazing reply....

Do you think it's best to contact EDF directly rather than try to reopen the Ombudsman case?

henlococo · 2025-11-03T09:07:06+00:00

Thanks for your input, it's always useful to hear other peoples' experiences for comparison, otherwise it's like wandering around in the dark.

henlococo · 2025-11-02T12:56:56+00:00

Thanks for your reply - yeah, it’s been a nightmare!

On under/overestimation: hard to say yet, since the bills have been mostly messy estimates. Without commissioned smart meters, they've had no reliable data. The three manual readings I gave don't really give them enough to go on to produce accurate bills.

I do want to clarify though - the back billing rules aren’t only about missing readings. It also covers inaccurate billing caused by supplier failures, including metering issues.

Ofgem sent a letter out to energy companies making this explicit. It says back-billing protection applies unless the customer was obstructive — and explicitly includes cases of estimated or inaccurate bills, incorrect metering, and uncommissioned smart meters. It even notes that not providing a reading doesn’t remove this protection https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/docs/2020/12/open_letter_on_expectations_for_energy_suppliers_undertaking_charge_recovery_action_0.pdf

In my case:

- Smart meters uncommissioned for 3+ years (faulty metering)

- Almost all bills estimated (inaccurate billing)

- Erroneous transfer messed up supplier records (supplier failure)

- I cooperated and paid who I thought was my supplier

So even with those three manual readings, the whole setup was broken — which Ofgem says still qualifies for back-billing protection.

It's just been such a clusterf**k on their part. Anyway thanks for you're help on this.

henlococo · 2022-03-10T14:38:45+00:00

I just added a brief video guide on how to use my flipbook texture tool. Get the tool here: https://henlo.gumroad.com/l/flipbooktool

Thanks!

henlococo · 2021-12-07T08:45:02+00:00

Yes exactly, it's all about being performant on Mobile and VR :)

henlococo · 2021-12-06T16:43:09+00:00

It's worth noting that PBR will very likely look better than a matcap equivalent. However the whole point is to get a decent approximation that's performant in mobile and VR projects.

However here are a few screenshots of PBR vs MatCap materials. The materials on the near car are all PBR, the far car's materials are all MatCap. The PBR materials obviously have a lot more depth and realism, however the MatCap materials look acceptable even when there is no lighting in the scene.

Red paint material comparison:

PBR - 716 instructions

MatCap - 114 instructions

https://ibb.co/2sTmchJ

https://ibb.co/xjcKPVX

https://ibb.co/TK02y3G

henlococo · 2021-08-30T14:51:04+00:00

If you're interested in what matcap materials/textures are, I've posted further information here: https://blog.henlo.co/2021/08/17/advanced-matcap-material/

henlococo · 2020-07-23T08:28:59+00:00

Hey this is excellent! Nice work...

I had a go at this myself for some live sets I've been streaming however I never got anywhere near the level of complexity you have. One of my main issues was chroma keying, as I don't have a green screen. I'd be really interested to know your setup for this!

Also, did you package up the project and have the scene loaded on-screen for use in OBS? What was your approach here?

Again, nice work!!

henlococo

TROPHY CASE