My supplier hounded me for two years over £1,091 energy bill I didn’t owe – how I fought back and YOU can too

LYLE Hopkins felt his stomach drop as an email from debt collectors landed in his inbox two days before Christmas. The PhD student, from Oxford, was locked in to an energy bill dispute with SSE and debt collectors were now chasing him for £1,898 he didn’t owe, and threatening court action. Lyle Hopkins took his energy supplier to court after it tried to bill him £1,898 Credit: Supplied The Oxford PHD student took his case to court and won £1,088 in compensation Credit: Supplied “I kept thinking, is this my Christmas present?,” said Lyle. “Am I going to have people banging down my door?” However, instead of accepting the bill or the court summons Lyle spent two years fighting back against the energy giant, eventually taking his case to court and emerging victorious and with £1,088 in compensation. Sign up for the Money newsletter Thank you! He told Sun Money how he fought back and how you can too. Power supply mystery Lyle argued that his second energy supply was disconnected so he shouldn’t have to pay for it Credit: Supplied The saga began when Lyle moved into his new rented home in October 2023 and was never sent a letter from the property’s energy supplier. Read more on energy bills Unsure who the provider was, Lyle tried to join British Gas but it let him know the property was already supplied by SSE. In a confusing arrangement the house had two electricity and gas supplies, a hangover from when the landlord had unsuccessfully attempted to convert the property into two flats. One supply was active, while the other had been physically disconnected. Further complicating the situation, SSE was bought by Ovo Energy in January 2020 and its customers were not moved across until late 2023. Most read in Money Lyle tried to call SSE and Ovo a dozen times to set up an account and was eventually told to contact SSE’s Business Energy team. “I’ve lost countless hours on the phone in queues,” he said. “I had to call again and again to speak to someone.” Eventually, he was sent a moving-in form, which he completed in November 2023 and made sure to include information about the disconnected second supply. However, despite this, just two months later he received a £193.25 bill for the disconnected supply. To make matters worse, the bill was calculated at business rates, which means it was three times more expensive than normal. Lyle made a formal complaint to SSE and was then sent a letter apologising for the time being taken to resolve it. In June 2024 he was told energy credit would be applied to his account, though SSE didn’t specify how much in its letter. That should have been the end of it. A nasty Christmas shock Lyle received a letter from debt collectors just two days before Christmas Credit: Supplied However, nearly a year later, on December 23, 2024, he received the stomach dropping email telling him he owed £1,708 and the bill had been passed on to a debt collector. Not only that, but an additional fee of £190 would be charged and court action was being considered. “It ruined my Christmas,” Lyle said. “The last thing anyone wants two days before Christmas is a demand from debt collectors hanging over them. “Receiving that letter caused a great deal of unnecessary stress.” Worried, this time Lyle didn’t contact SSE and instead took his case to the Energy Ombudsman. The Energy Ombudsman is a free service that resolves disputes between customers and energy suppliers. The Ombudsman conducted a two month investigation during which it told SSE to stop debt collection. But despite this, Lyle said he continued being hounded for money he didn’t owe. “It made me anxious,” Lyle said. “It definitely, without a doubt, impacted my sleep. It was very distracting and didn’t help the thought I needed to put into my research.” In February 2025 the Ombudsman ruled in his favour and told SSE to recalculate his bills based on domestic rates and standing charges and pay £200 in compensation. SSE was also told to disconnect Lyle’s old supply and remove his name from the account. He was sent a correct bill, which he paid immediately. Relieved, Lyle thought he could finally put the issue behind him. “I thought it was finally over. As soon as I got that correct bill I paid it straight away.” But it wasn’t to be. In August 2025 eight bills from SSE arrived – some saying he owed money, others granting refunds. The post included a final bill of £1,091 for the old supply, which had been calculated at business rates, despite the Ombudsman’s decision. “I was in disbelief,” Lyle said. “This was after the Ombudsman outcome, so I found it extraordinary they were pursuing me again. “Receiving so many letters felt almost surreal.” Lyle refused to pay the debt and it was again referred to a debt collector, who carried out two hard searches on his credit file. A hard search reviews your credit history and can leave a negative mark on your report. Lyle’s credit score plummeted by 89 points as a result, which he worried would impact his ability to rent, take out a loan or sign up for phone contracts. “I was really worried that my credit score dropped,” he said. “I had seen stories of debt collectors going round to people’s houses and having their credit score ruined.” In August he went back to the Ombudsman and was told he would need to make a new complaint. But a glitch in the system kept referring him back to his initial complaint that was now logged as closed. In the following weeks bills kept arriving on his doorstep, so in October last year Lyle decided to take control of the situation and lodged a case with small claims court. See you in court Lyle didn’t have any legal training so he used AI to put his case together Credit: Supplied As he had no legal training he gathered evidence and used an AI tool to help him put together a case. Lyle argued that he didn’t owe the money SSE was asking for and deserved £750 for distress and £250 for how his data had been handled and the impact on his credit score. He paid £70 to issue the claim and an £85 hearing fee, plus an estimated £271 for printing the information he needed in court. His case went to court ten months later and on July 17 2026 he won. The judge ruled he was owed £750 in damages plus £46 interest and £292 in fixed costs and witness expenses, which adds up to £1,088. Minus his costs and expenses he walked away with £796 and a weight lifted. “It was such a relief to think it was finally over,” he said. “I’ve lost hundreds of hours on this saga. It burned up so much of my time and dragged on for so long.” An SSE spokesperson said: “We apologise for any inconvenience caused to Mr Hopkins during this process. “Following the Court’s judgment, the compensation payment due to the claimant was processed and left our system on 4 August.” How to get a dispute with YOUR supplier resolved Energy bill disputes can be frustrating and time consuming, but dealing with them in the right way can help you to get a resolution sooner. Emily Seymour, Which? energy editor, said you shouldn’t be afraid to challenge your energy supplier if you think you’ve been billed incorrectly. She said: “Raise the issue as a complaint with your supplier in writing and keep records of your bills, meter readings and any correspondence.” If your smart meter is the problem then you are entitled to £40 compensation if your supplier doesn’t provide a resolution plan within five working days of you reporting a fault. If they don’t fix the issues within eight weeks or if they send a deadlock letter then you can take your case to the Energy Ombudsman. You can submit your case online and the Ombudsman should investigate and provide a resolution that your supplier has to follow. Provide as much evidence as you can including details of any letters, bills and communication you had with your supplier. If you are unhappy with the Ombudsman’s verdict or your supplier fails to implement it then you can take your case to small claims court. You will have to pay fees to register your claim and extra fees if the case goes to a hearing. But if you win then your energy supplier will repay these fees for you. Comment now