Cubbington parish council wants compensation from energy company over "rogue" £7,500 bill

Since it was received in October last year, the council has been ‘battling’ with SSE Energy Solutions over the ‘rogue bill’.

The council challenged the bill and claimed the money back immediately via the direct debit guarantee with its bank but it was not until May that it received confirmation from SSE that the bill was incorrect.

During the months in between and after several emails and phone calls, the energy company had threatened to take the council to court and to cut the power at the Cliff Cleaver Community Pavilion which, among other things, is used as a changing room for village football teams, a base for the popular childcare provider Happy Days and a thriving youth club.

The amended bill was for £1797.01 – more than £5,500 less than what the council had first received.

Parish council chairman Daniel Meggitt said the dispute was no longer over the bill, which members are now happy with, but over the amount it will be compensated by SSE over the stress and inconvenience it had caused.

Mr Meggitt said: “We don’t dispute this bill however, we are seeking £500 compensation for the hours spent sorting the problem before we make payment.

"If we had not queried the original bill, SSE would have happily taken the money and said nothing.

"There must be many more cases like this which have not been challenged.”

SSE had first offered to pay £75 in compensation to the council to be credited to the balance of a future bill.

Mr Meggitt said this amount was “unacceptable”.

SEE has now come back with a new offer.

Henry Evans, Corporate affairs and policy manager for SSE, said: “We are sorry for the time it took to resolve the billing issues with Cubbington Parish Council and the collections activity while this was ongoing.

“We have offered the Parish Council a £200 payment of goodwill in recognition of the inconvenience and frustration this has caused.”

But Mr Meggitt said: “After a discussion with the clerk [of the parish council] we agreed not to accept this so it’s now gone to deadlock which means we will be taking it to the ombudsman.”