Even setting backups is sometimes a matter of dispute. This also happened to Tomáš Forkaš from Prague last year, who moved to a new apartment. “In the old one, I paid about one thousand for the electricity, which also heated the apartment, in the new one, the same size, even in the same house, the contractor wanted over three thousand,” he told Novinkám.
Complaints to the supplier did not help, so in the end Tomáš paid the prescribed amount. “This year, they returned the overpayment of about twenty thousand to me,” he added.
“According to the law, advances should be set at most in the range of the reasonably expected consumption of electricity, gas or thermal energy in the following accounting period,” advises Eduarda Hekšová, director of the consumer organization dTest.
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If people feel they are too high, she says, they can contact their supplier and ask for them to be reduced. If they fail, they can turn to the Energy Regulatory Office. “At the same time, however, we do not recommend that people try to save money on deposits. They may later be unpleasantly surprised by high arrears,” she pointed out.
Reserves should thus be set according to previous normal consumption and at the same time should take into account anticipated changes, for example a newly installed heat pump.
However, even in the case of correctly set advances, a bill may come that people will not agree with. It can be an error directly in the bill – for example a typo or an incorrect price, but also an error in the meter. The result can then be an unjustified high arrears.
“In case of dissatisfaction or suspicion of an error in the bill, people can contact the energy supplier with a complaint,” advises Eduarda Hekšová on the procedure in the event of a supplier error.
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Entitlement to “Late”
At the same time, according to her, people do not have to worry about long driving. “By law, the supplier has an obligation to settle the invoice claim within fifteen days of its application,” explained Hekšová. “Consumers then have the right to compensation. For electricity, this amounts to 750 crowns for each day of delay, up to 7,500 crowns. For gas, it is 600 crowns for each day of delay up to 24,000 crowns,” she added
However, it is very important to point out that billing complaints do not have a suspensory effect. “So people have to pay the bill, otherwise they expose themselves to the risk of default, during which the company could demand interest on the amount owed,” warned Hekšová.
However, if the amount is clearly wrong, for example because the decimal point has moved, and communication with the company is difficult, people may consider paying only part of the billed arrears, she said. “However, they risk additional costs, so such actions cannot generally be recommended,” she said.
And what to do in case of a high arrears, for which people do not have the funds at the moment? “Most suppliers offer installment plans, so we recommend contacting them and agreeing on a mutually acceptable solution,” concluded Hekšová.
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