Introduction
to revenue
recovery
Uncover past billing errors.
Reclaim lost revenue.
Reduce your carbon footprint.
This guide explains how utility bill validation can help your organisation recover hidden losses across electricity, gas, and water – why it’s more important than ever.
What is
revenue recovery?
Energy and water billing is complex; mistakes are more common than most businesses realise.
Revenue Recovery, also know as a historical utility bill audit, is a forensic deep dive review of your past electricity, gas, and water charges. Our team does a deep dive to examine up to six years of billing data (the legal maximum) to identify errors and recover overpayments.
It also involves taking steps to avoid the same problems arising in future. This audit will also allow you to effectively report your emissions, by checking your energy usage is correctly recorded and up-to-date, which in many cases, is not.
Why does Revenue Recovery matter?
Most UK businesses have encountered billing errors, often without even knowing it. From incorrect meter readings to tariff misallocation and supplier faults, these errors can go unnoticed for years and add up fast.
Beyond financial implications, errors in your utility bill data can compromise your emissions reporting, net zero planning, and environmental compliance. That’s why a historical audit is so much more than a financial exercise – it’s a critical step towards better business intelligence.
What’s covered in a utility bill audit?
Electricity
Electricity billing is particularly complex, with more than 30 different variables influencing your final charge.
Common errors include inaccurate meter readings, misapplied tariffs, and contract mismatches.
Our team analyses all line items across your historical invoices, ensuring you’ve only paid for what you’ve used.
Water
From incorrect meter classification to undetected leaks and drainage mischarges, water billing comes with its own set of challenges.
Our audit checks every component of your water bill.
In many cases, we also identify on-site inefficiencies or wastage that can be addressed as part of your sustainability goals.
Gas
Gas billing errors are still widespread across the UK.
These can include being charged for the wrong meter or being placed on the wrong tariff.
We audit your billing and usage data to uncover inconsistencies, manage the recovery process, and recommend steps to prevent future overcharges.
Did you know?
Your current supplier has no obligation to check that your non-commodity charges are correct. These hidden costs can be significant, and often go unchallenged. Our independent validation checks for discrepancies that your supplier won’t flag.
Also, you don’t need to change suppliers to carry out a revenue recovery audit. Your existing contracts remain intact. We work independently to recover costs without interfering with any of your current contractual obligations.
What does the recovery process involve?
Our approach is meticulous, transparent and designed to minimise disruption to your team. Most audits are completed within 6 to 12 weeks. Here’s how it works:
1. Data access
We review your historic utility data and supplier contracts across all services.
2. Analysis
Our specialists audit every charge, levy, and tariff over a 6-year retrospective window.
3. Findings and recovery
If errors or overpayments are identified, we manage the claims process directly with your suppliers. We handle the recovery, leaving you without the hassle.
4. Future-proofing
Whether we identify errors or not, we provide insights and strategies to help prevent future billing issues, giving you a clean bill of health and reassurance.
What does it cost?
Our historical utility bill validation service is offered on a success-based model, meaning our fee is based on a percentage of the recovered value. If we don’t find anything to recover, you don’t pay – so there’s no financial risk to your business.
Is a utility bill audit worth it?
For a UK business to experience no problems at all with inaccurate billing is the exception, not the rule. Sustainable Energy First has recovered over £60 million in lost utility costs for clients over the last decade — including over £1.7 million for a single client. The larger and more complex your estate, the more value a utility audit can uncover.
Economic benefit
- Reclaim funds that can be redirected towards carbon reduction or energy efficiency projects
- Improve your bottom line without disrupting operations
- Make confident, data-led utility procurement decisions
Environmental benefit
- Better emissions data means better net zero planning
- Identify and fix inefficiencies like undetected water leaks or overestimated usage
- Ensure accurate Scope 2 emissions reporting across electricity and gas
Who can benefit from bill validation?
- Financial services
- NHS and health care
- Manufacturing
- Hospitality
- Real estate
- Leisure
- Education
- Public sector
- Utilities
- Supermarkets and stores
- Construction
- Retail
- Technology
- Government
- Farming and agriculture
Ready to get started?
Think you might be overpaying on energy or water?
Let’s find out. Contact our Revenue Recovery specialists at Sustainable Energy First for a no-obligation review.