Business energy bills can contain a large amount of information, and discrepancies are not always obvious.

Orbital can review available billing and account information against your contract, meter and consumption data.

Depending on the information available, our review may include:

• Electricity bills
• Gas bills
• Meter readings
• Estimated meter readings
• Unit rates
• Standing charges
• Contract rates
• Contract dates
• Consumption
• Half-hourly data
• Meter serial numbers
• MPANs and MPRNs
• VAT
• Climate Change Levy
• Supplier adjustments
• Historic charges
• Change-of-tenancy dates

If something appears inconsistent, we'll investigate further.

If a supplier does not receive regular accurate meter readings, bills may be based on estimated consumption.

Over time, the difference between estimated and actual consumption can become significant.

Orbital can help review:

• Estimated reads
• Actual reads
• Customer reads
• Smart meter information
• Half-hourly data where available
• Historic consumption
• Meter photographs

Where appropriate, we can also help submit meter readings to suppliers and investigate discrepancies between the reading and the supplier account.

A large bill does not necessarily mean the supplier has made an error.

Sometimes the rates are correct but the recorded consumption is significantly higher than expected.

Orbital can help separate the two issues.

Where data is available, we may review:

• Historic consumption
• Recent consumption
• Half-hourly electricity data
• Seasonal usage
• Meter readings
• Meter changes
• Contract rates
• Billing periods

This can help establish whether the issue appears to be:

Price

Consumption

Metering

Billing

or a combination of factors.

Business electricity and gas bills can include VAT and Climate Change Levy — CCL.

The applicable treatment can depend on the organisation and how the energy is being used.

Certain organisations or supplies may qualify for reduced VAT, CCL relief or exemptions subject to the relevant rules and eligibility requirements.

Orbital can help review the charges appearing on your utility bills and identify where something may need investigating.

Where a correction is appropriate, we can help communicate with the supplier and provide relevant documentation.

Customers remain responsible for confirming their tax position and eligibility where specialist tax advice is required.

Billing disputes commonly occur when a business moves into or leaves a property.

Problems can arise if:

• The previous tenant did not close their account
• The supplier has the wrong occupancy date
• Opening meter readings were not recorded
• Closing meter readings are incorrect
• The landlord has been billed during a tenant's occupation
• A new tenant has been billed for historic usage
• Supplier records have not been updated

Orbital can help review:

• Occupancy dates
• Change-of-tenancy documents
• Lease information where relevant
• Meter readings
• Supplier records
• Historic bills

Where authorised, we can then raise the issue with the supplier.

For property managers and multi-site organisations, billing problems can occur across several suppliers and properties at the same time.

Orbital can help bring those cases together.

This may include reviewing:

• Multiple electricity accounts
• Multiple gas accounts
• Different suppliers
• Multiple meter points
• Contract rates
• Tenant changes
• Vacant sites
• Historic bills
• Outstanding disputes

This forms part of our wider Property & Multi-Site Utility Management service.

Instead of different members of your team chasing different suppliers, Orbital can help provide one central point of contact.

Where appropriate, Orbital can help customers progress an unresolved matter through the supplier's formal complaints process.

This can include:

• Making sure the complaint is clearly recorded
• Providing supporting evidence
• Following up outstanding responses
• Reviewing the supplier's response
• Requesting further investigation
• Helping establish whether deadlock has been reached

For eligible businesses, unresolved disputes with an energy supplier may ultimately be referred to the Energy Ombudsman.

The Energy Ombudsman can generally consider an eligible dispute once the supplier has had eight weeks to resolve the complaint, or earlier where a deadlock letter has been issued. Eligibility rules apply.

Our job isn't to challenge every supplier bill automatically.

Sometimes a bill may look unusually high but prove to be correct because of:

• Increased consumption
• Higher contract rates
• Seasonal usage
• Additional standing charges
• Previous under-billing
• Corrected meter readings

If the available evidence suggests the bill is correct, we'll explain what we've found.

Understanding why the bill is high can still help determine what to do next.

That might involve:

• Reviewing consumption
• Reviewing the energy contract
• Checking future renewal options
• Looking at meter data
• Considering energy efficiency
• Discussing payment arrangements with the supplier where appropriate

A billing problem may highlight another utility issue.

During our review we may identify that you also need help with:

Business Energy Procurement

Utility & Account Management

Property & Multi-Site Utility Management

Change of Tenancy

Metering & Site Works

Commercial Water

Consumption & Capacity Management

That's why bill validation forms part of the wider:

One contact for every property, meter and utility.