Sort energy billing disputes and spot possible back-bills

Fields

• Channel (email, chat, call transcript, letter)
• Customer contact

Questions

1. Does the customer question or dispute a bill, a charge, a balance or a payment amount? Yes / No

   Read the contact. Yes: The customer questions or disputes at least one bill, charge, balance, refund or direct debit amount. No: The contact is about something else, such as a fault, a move with no charge questioned, or a request for a copy of a bill.

2. What is the customer mainly disputing about their bill? Choice

   Read the contact and the catch-up bill paragraph in the context. Pick the one that fits what the customer mainly disputes. A large bill that follows estimated bills or no bills is a catch-up bill, even when the customer calls it high usage.

   • Usage higher than expected The customer says a bill based on their readings is higher than their usage should be.
   • Catch-up bill A large bill after a period of estimated bills, no bills, or a meter not sending readings.
   • Wrong meter The customer says they are billed for another property's meter, or the meter number is wrong.
   • Wrong tariff or price The customer says the tariff, unit rate or standing charge is not what they agreed.
   • Payment or direct debit A payment not applied to the account, or a direct debit amount the customer disputes.
   • Charges after moving or switching Charges for a period after the customer says they moved out or switched supplier.
   • Balance or refund owed The customer says they are in credit and a refund or balance is owed to them.
   • Not a billing dispute The contact disputes nothing about a bill.

3. Does the customer say they had only estimated bills, or no bills, for a long time? Yes / No

   Read the contact. Count "all my bills said estimated", "I haven't had a bill since I moved in", "the smart meter never sent readings" and similar, when the customer describes it as lasting months or longer. Code reads the dates. Yes: The customer says they had only estimated bills, or no bills, for months or longer. No: The customer says nothing of the kind, or mentions a single estimated bill.

4. Does the contact say the customer refused or prevented a meter reading or access to the meter? Yes / No

   Read the contact. This is a statement against the customer, so a person always reviews it. Count only what the text says the customer did: refusing access, turning an engineer away, or blocking or tampering with the meter. Yes: The text says the customer refused or prevented a reading or access to the meter. No: The text says nothing of the kind. A missed appointment the customer tried to rebook, or a reading the supplier failed to collect, is No.

5. Does the customer say they asked us before for a reading, an accurate bill or a meter fix? Yes / No

   Read the contact. Yes: The customer says they contacted us before asking for a meter reading, an engineer to read or fix the meter, or an accurate bill. No: The customer says nothing about asking before.

6. Does the customer give a meter reading in the contact? Yes / No

   Read the contact. Code reads the digits; judge only whether a current reading is given. Yes: The customer gives a meter reading, or says one is in an attached photo. No: The customer gives no reading.

7. How much financial difficulty does the customer describe? Scale

   Go only by what the customer says about their money. Pick the level that fits their strongest statement.

   • None The customer describes no difficulty paying; they can pay, or are only asking a question.
   • Some strain The customer can pay but says it is tight or would mean cutting back.
   • Clear difficulty The customer says they cannot pay the amount asked, for example after a drop in income.
   • Crisis The customer says they cannot afford essentials such as food, heating, rent or medicine.

8. Does the customer express dissatisfaction with our service, charges, decision or conduct? Yes / No

   Use the complaints paragraph in the context. Dissatisfaction counts whatever the main purpose of the contact, and whether or not the customer uses the word "complaint". A question about a bill asked without dissatisfaction is not a complaint. Yes: The customer is unhappy with something we did, failed to do, charged, or decided. No: The contact expresses no dissatisfaction with us.

9. Does the customer say they have gone, or will go, to an ombudsman, regulator, lawyer, the press or social media? Yes / No

   Count an ombudsman, a regulator or government agency, Citizens Advice, a lawyer or solicitor, an MP, the press, a public review or a social media post. Count a threat, or a statement that it is already done. Do not count a plain question about how to complain. Yes: The customer says they have gone, or will go, to one of these. No: No such body or step is mentioned as something the customer will do or has done.

10. Does the customer mention circumstances that may mean they need extra support? Yes / No

    Use the extra support paragraph in the context. Count only what the contact says about the customer or someone in their household. Do not infer anything from tone, writing style or spelling. Yes: The contact mentions health problems, disability, bereavement, old age, money trouble, a language, literacy or hearing barrier, or similar circumstances. No: The contact mentions none of these.

11. Which team should pick up this billing contact first? Choice

    Judge the contact as a whole against the context. The answer is a suggestion for the queue; code applies the back-billing rule and a person decides the outcome. When more than one option fits, pick the first in the list.

    • Back-bill review A possible catch-up bill after estimated bills, no bills or readings not collected: the back-billing team, with code checking the 12-month limit.
    • Billing correction A wrong meter, tariff, payment, direct debit, refund or charge after leaving: the billing team checks and corrects the account.
    • Usage query Usage higher than expected on bills based on readings: an agent explains the bill and asks for a reading.
    • Not billing No billing dispute: the contact goes to the normal queue.

Lens columns

is_billing_dispute, is_billing_dispute_probability, dispute_type, dispute_type_probability, long_unbilled, long_unbilled_probability, access_obstructed, access_obstructed_probability, reading_asked_before, reading_asked_before_probability, reading_given, reading_given_probability, financial_difficulty, financial_difficulty_average, complaint_expressed, complaint_expressed_probability, escalation_threat, escalation_threat_probability, vulnerability_signal, vulnerability_signal_probability, route, route_probability