An SNP MP has called for action after a Glasgow resident was forced to move out his home due to a network error led to a huge rise in his energy costs. Glasgow Central MP Alison Thewliss asked the UK Government to help her constituent Justin Valmassoi who had been "ignored and let down" by his energy provider Utilita.
Valmassoi, 43, is moving out of his flat on Victoria Road in Glasgow as he cannot afford his increased energy costs. The Detroit-born chef has lived in the flat for four years and said his electricity bills were regularly between £100 and £150 a month. In October they rose to over £300 a month without him changing his habits.
Valmassoi previously had to shut down Nanika, his popular South-east Asian restaurant on Victoria Road, after its bills quadrupled from £250 to £1,000 a month.
He said: "I've lived here for four years. I sent them all the information I could, 48 months of electricity usage history. In the summer its about £100 to £115 a month and in the winter I've never paid more than £150.
"I do the same thing every single day. I'm such a creature of habit. So [my consumption] was the same for four years and then ever since October it's been £300 or more. [Utilita] said my consumption only went up by seven pence per kilowatt hour. So there's absolutely no way that it can double."
Valmassoi said he had first complained two months ago but the problem has not been sorted. As he is on a prepayment meter, he had to continue paying the higher tariff to stop his electricity from shutting off.
Valmassoi said that Utilita offered to send out an engineer to investigate the problem in the past week but he was already in the process of moving out.
He said: "They finally said that they were going to schedule someone to come out and check to see if it's a malfunction because they also couldn't figure out how or why it would cost that much.
"But it doesn't matter because I have to move out of my flat because I can't afford to pay that much in electricity. So the movers are taking all my stuff out of the place that I've lived for four years. From my home."
Utilita said that Valmassoi had previously been undercharged for his usage due to network problems. They added that he is now being charged at the correct rate.
Thewliss raised the case in the House of Commons this week during a debate on prepayment meters on Monday. She said: "My constituent Mr Valmassoi has to move out of his home because Utilita has taken so long to investigate a potential fault with his prepayment meter that saw his bills soar, despite no increase in usage.
"What can the minster do really, because Mr Valmossoi says a refund nine months later won't replace losing the flat he's made his home for the past few years. So what exactly can he expect from the minister for him and others like him who've been ignored and let down by providers like Utilita?"
Energy minister Graham Stuart replied that Valmassoi's case showed that the system had to be reformed. Stuart said: "It is precisely for people who have been ill-treated such as the honourable lady’s constituent that we need to reform the system and ensure that suppliers meet their licence obligations.
"It is the job of the independent regulator to work with suppliers and ensure that we minimise that. We would encourage anyone to pursue the system of redress to make up for that as best they can. But no one can make up for the fact that someone lost their flat and home. They should not have done so if the supplier had acted as it was under a duty to."
Energy regulator Ofgem recently had to tell providers to stop forcefully installing prepayment meters in the homes of vulnerable customers. Citizens Advice estimated that 600,000 people across the UK were forced onto a prepayment meter in 2022 because they couldn't afford their energy bills. This increased from 380,000 in 2021.
Utilita said: "Mr Valmassoi’s energy bills have increased as he is now being charged the correct amount for his usage. Previously he was being undercharged, through no fault of his own, nor Utilita’s.
"Unknown to us, his smart meter had been failing to receive tariff updates because of an issue with the smart metering network in his area - something that is beyond our control. Due to recent network improvements, Mr Valmassoi’s meter is now successfully receiving tariff updates."
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