Why energy firms owe YOU £1.4bn

Money Mail, April 21 THE energy firm switching system is broken and, after many years, I have given up. I run two accounts — one for my elderly mother and one for myself. Both providers went bust in December, which caused a lot of stress.

G. F., Portsmouth, Hants. ONE firm refused to refund us, even though we were in credit when we switched away. It sent us an unrealistic and huge bill, before threatening us with debt collectors if we questioned it.

T. J., Bolton, Gtr. Manchester. THERE should be a law that forbids firms from taking more than what they charge you for the energy used that month. It would prevent large credits accumulating in accounts.

D. C., Torquay, Devon. IT REALLY hacks me off when firms hike and lower monthly direct debit payments. Some of us would rather have a healthy amount of credit building up over the summer — rather than have our payments cut and then increased by £50 later on.

G. T., Lincolnshire. PAYING in is easy, but when it comes to getting your money back the whole process seems to be designed to frustrate you. Never give up if a firm owes you money — it’s how they win.

C. S., Kent. I PAY £105 a month but my energy firm wants me to increase this. I appreciate that it’s been cold lately, but surely it should be able to forecast for summer and lower your payments.

G. D., via email. I WENT to Ofgem to get my refund. It took a while, but the provider was forced to pay me the money it owed as well as compensation. It seemed to run its business by sitting on customers’ cash.

M. G., London.