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Money Box

Banned Back Billing and Debt Help

Money Box

BBC

Business

4.2804 Ratings

🗓️ 15 March 2025

⏱️ 25 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The energy regulator Ofgem has been given less than two weeks to get answers for Parliament on the banned practice of back billing, which is when people are sent new bills for energy used longer than 12 months ago. In a letter written to the Chief Executive of Ofgem the chair of the Energy Security and Net Zero committee highlights Money Box's recent investigation into back billing, saying he considers there to be evidence of serious wrong doing on the part of energy suppliers and the need for intervention on the part of the regulator. Ofgem told Money Box it's reviewing supplier billing practices and "looking closely at supplier compliance with back billing rules to make sure customers get the service they are entitled to." For the first time since our investigation began Paul Lewis interviews Dhara Vyas, the chief executive of Energy UK, which represents energy suppliers.

State pensions paid to tens of millions of people will go up in April by 4.1%, but depending on how your pension is paid - weekly or monthly - some people may not get the extra money until May. How to make sure you get it as soon as possible.

And people who get into debt often find that it gets worse because of the high interest rates they are paying. Often they are only paying interest not reducing the amount owed at all. A new scheme by credit unions is trying to solve that by giving an affordable loan to people in debt at a low rates of interest so they can pay off their expensive debt and afford the repayments on their new debt. How will it work?

Presenter: Paul Lewis Reporters: Dan Whitworth and Peter Ruddick Researchers: Eimear Devlin and Jo Krasner. Editor: Jess Quayle

(First broadcast 12pm Saturday 15th February 2025)

Transcript

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0:00.0

He tells her that she will be sent to France as a secret agent, and if she's caught, she's going to be shot.

0:09.3

I'm Helen Obalam Carter, and this is history's secret heroes, where I shine a light on extraordinary stories from World War II.

0:17.6

What they wanted was someone to get themselves arrested and sent to Auschwitz.

0:22.0

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0:27.4

She's a freedom fighter in its widest sense. The brand new series of history's secret heroes.

0:32.8

Listen first on BBC Sounds. BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.

0:39.9

Hello, welcome to this Moneybox podcast.

0:42.7

State pensions rise from the 7th of April,

0:44.9

but hundreds of thousands of pensioners will have to wait until May the 30th

0:49.0

to get a full four weeks at the new rate.

0:51.9

We explain how to get it sooner.

0:53.9

And a new scheme to make problem debt more affordable for people struggling to pay off loans that seem never ending.

1:00.7

But first, the energy regulator Ofgem has been given less than two weeks to get answers to Parliament on back billing.

1:08.1

As we've reported before, that's when people are sent new bills for gas and electricity

1:12.5

they used more than 12 months beforehand, a practice that was banned seven years ago.

1:18.1

The demand came after an interview we did last week with Bill Esterson, the Labour MP who chairs

1:23.2

the Energy Security Committee. A couple of days later, he wrote to the chief executive of Ofgem,

1:28.8

highlighting Moneybox's investigation into back billing,

1:32.2

saying we found evidence of significant wrongdoing by energy suppliers.

1:37.1

Even the energy industry body, Energy UK, admits our investigation may have uncovered

1:42.8

something systemic going wrong.

1:45.5

More from them later.

...

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