Something I wish somebody had drawn out for me early, because getting it wrong costs real recovery.
There is rarely one limitation period on an account. There are usually at least three, they start on different events, and they run for different lengths.
The utility backbilling and refund limitation, set by the tariff or the state commission, governs what the utility itself will adjust. This is often shorter than people expect and it frequently runs from the date of the erroneous bill rather than from discovery.
The tax refund limitation, where a sales tax or gross receipts issue is involved, is set by statute and runs to the taxing authority, not to the utility. Different forum entirely. In New York this is three years, and it is measured from the date the tax was payable.
The general contract or statutory limitation in your state, which may govern a claim against a supplier rather than the utility.
The practical consequence is that a single account can have a live tax claim and a dead utility claim on the same cycles, or the reverse. Work out which clock applies to which finding before you decide what is recoverable.
One habit that pays: when a tax claim is in play, pull the statements from before your audit window too. The tax clock often reaches back further than the set the client gave you.
There is rarely one limitation period on an account. There are usually at least three, they start on different events, and they run for different lengths.
The utility backbilling and refund limitation, set by the tariff or the state commission, governs what the utility itself will adjust. This is often shorter than people expect and it frequently runs from the date of the erroneous bill rather than from discovery.
The tax refund limitation, where a sales tax or gross receipts issue is involved, is set by statute and runs to the taxing authority, not to the utility. Different forum entirely. In New York this is three years, and it is measured from the date the tax was payable.
The general contract or statutory limitation in your state, which may govern a claim against a supplier rather than the utility.
The practical consequence is that a single account can have a live tax claim and a dead utility claim on the same cycles, or the reverse. Work out which clock applies to which finding before you decide what is recoverable.
One habit that pays: when a tax claim is in play, pull the statements from before your audit window too. The tax clock often reaches back further than the set the client gave you.