Opus Energy under fire again

A couple have slammed electricity company Opus Energy after their bills increased by more than 400 per cent.

Andrew and Catherine Tagliati of The Chequers Inn in Cassington, Oxfordshire, signed a three-year contract with Opus 18 months ago.

Their monthly bills were estimated at £147.15 but a year into the contract, the amount leapt to £575 and later to around £750.

Now the electricity supplier has said the couple underpaid during the first year - and is chasing them for the outstanding amount.

Catherine said: "Opus said there might be an adjustment once we started with them but to me the word adjustment means it might go up a little, not by several hundred per cent.

"We're a small pub and it's absolutely killing us. The trade is really suffering at the moment anyway so when you've got people like Opus also on the bandwagon, it makes it incredibly difficult."

But Opus said it had made it clear to the Tagliatis at the start of the contract that unit prices were fixed and that they would be billed in line with consumption.

A spokeswoman said: "Unfortunately due to poor read history inherited from the pub's previous supplier, the consumption levels were underestimated and as such the initial monthly payment plan rose significantly once the inaccuracies were detected."

The complaints will not be welcomed by the company which last year said it had reviewed its processes after appearing on BBC's Watchdog programme.

But licensees have continued to complain to The Publican​ Tim Simpkins of the New Inn in Penryn, Cornwall said his bills more than doubled.

Opus said he had been billed in line with his electricity consumption.