Electricity, gas and water bills can be complex and, every now and then, mistakes can happen.
On this page:
Understanding your bill
Understanding your electricity, gas and water bills can be difficult. There’s a lot of information and a variety of charges listed on your bill. Here are some of the basics that should be on every bill:
- your address, meter number and account number
- a breakdown of usage and service charges
- the total amount you owe
- discounts, rebates, credits or concessions applied to your bill
- how you can pay
- how to get help with payments.
Electricity, gas and water bills have two main types of charges:
- usage charges for the electricity, gas or water you’ve used at your property
- service charges being fixed charges that contribute to maintaining the network of wires, poles and pipes, and sewage disposal.
Water bills can also have special charges such as waterways and parks charges.
While most bills sent to you by your company will be correct, sometimes there can be mistakes on your electricity, gas or water bills.
Types of billing mistakes
Your electricity, gas or water company could make one of several mistakes on your bill, including:
- not applying concessions, discounts or credits
- losing a payment that you made or not crediting it to your account
- misreading your meter or applying mistaken meter data to your bill
- not applying solar credits to your bill
- applying the wrong tariff
- sending you more than one bill for a period.
If your company is not able to use meter usage data to issue a bill, they may estimate how much energy or water you used. Sometimes that estimate is too low, leading to them sending you a ‘catch-up’ bill for the extra amount, or too high, usually leading to a credit being applied to your account.
Visit the Delayed and catch-up bills page for more information about why you might receive a catch-up bill and what the rules are.
What to do if you think there’s a mistake
If you think there’s a mistake on your bill, contact your company and explain the issue.
If you haven’t received your concessions on your bill, make sure your company has up-to-date concession card details for you. You should also check that the name on your concession card matches the name on your electricity, gas or water account.
If you’re in an embedded network, you’re still eligible for concessions but the process is different. Visit the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing website for more information.
Fact sheets
Backbilling, refunds and lost payments Information about energy and water refunds and the problems that can be experienced with payments.
Estimated bills Explains when and why bills are issued based on estimated meter readings.
Concessions and grants Do you have a concession card? You may be eligible for concessions on your electricity, gas and water bills.
Service to property charges Explains the fixed charges for supplying electricity or gas to properties.
Cost of capital contribution Explains the payments made by customers who want to make a new connection to a distribution network.
How we can help
If you think there’s a mistake on your bill and you’re not happy with the response by your company, contact us.
We can help with most complaints about energy or water issues in Victoria, big or small. Our service is free to Victorian customers.
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You’ll need to tell us some basic personal details, who your complaint is about and what has happened.
Need general information?
If you don’t have a complaint but just want some general information,
we call this an enquiry. We may even be able to refer you to another
agency.
You can make an enquiry at any time. Call us on 1800 500 509, send us an email or start a live chat.