Opening and closing accounts
It is your responsibility to tell your energy supplier when you move into or out of a property. Usually, you need to give your energy supplier at least three days notice. See accounts & bills for more information.
Paying on time
It is your responsibility as a consumer to pay your bills on time, or you may face disconnection from your energy supplier. It you are facing disconnection and cannot pay your bill, you should contact your energy supplier before you are disconnected so you can try to establish a payment plan and avoid disconnection. If you wait until you have been disconnected to contact your energy supplier you will probably have to pay a reconnection fee, security desposit and your bill before your energy is reconnected.
Following contract terms & conditions
If you sign a contract, you are bound to its terms and conditions. A contract is a legally binding agreement so it makes sense to take the time to read it carefully, especially the fine print, and ensure you understand what you're signing up to. See contracts for more information.
Access to your meter
You must provide clear access to your energy meter. If you cannot provide access to your energy meter (due to a locked box, dog or other obstructions) your energy supplier may have to estimate your bills. This means they could under or over estimate your bill.
If your bill is under estimated, you could be sent a high 'catch up' bill once an accurate meter reading is taken. If your bill is overestimated, you will have to pay a high bill for more energy than you actually used until an accurate meter reading is taken.
To avoid this, you should contact your supplier to make other arrangements (eg. reading the meter youself). However, your energy supplier must use best endeavours to read your meter at least once a year. Your electricity distributor (ENERGEX or Ergon Energy) reads your electricity meter, no matter who your retailer is. Your gas meter is read by your gas distributor, regardless of who your gas retailer is. Your meter reading is passed on to your retailer for billing.
