eon and economy 7

credit_crunch_victim

hi i am switching from eon to british gas for my electricity and after talking to eon i have been told i am on an economy 7 tarrif so cheaper night time electric
we have been on this for 15 years at a higher rate but have never had storage heaters or anything to benefit from this rate
would we be entitled to a refund for being on the wrong tarrif for so long or is it our own fault for not noticing it
thanks

Magentasue

How would it have been Eon's fault?

credit_crunch_victim

i am not saying it is there fault but why was my meter set up on that tarrif in the first place the property has allways had central heating radiators

espresso

I'm not sure what the situation is currently but E7 meters were fitted as standard to properties with no storage heating.

Magentasue

Some people who are out all day and run appliances overnight make Economy 7 work for them. Was the house a new build when you moved in? Or, was it that the previous occupants who had opted for E7 and you chose to continue with it. If you signed up with Eon, you must have agreed to it. I can't see how anyone can be responsible for this as it shows on bills and statements that you are being charged at different rates for day and night time units.

credit_crunch_victim

we had the meter changed in approx 1992 from a normal credit meter to a prepayment for budgeting reasons so i asume they matched the new meter to the old ones tarrif
looks like it is one to forget and move on

Optimistic_Saver

Hello credit crunch victim - not sure if this might help or just confuse the situation but we are in a similar situation, having moved into our house approx 5 years ago now.

The previous owners had removed the storage heaters but I suspect we still showed up as having them. Anyway, we have a dual rate electricity meter (I suspect this is what it all boils down to, i.e. you wouldn't be able to get this night time rate without this). I don't know for sure, but suspect that you should still have saved money having a dual meter - as any electricity you might have used in the early hours of the morning should have been charged at a lower rate - even without storage heaters.

We have chosen to continue with our dual rate meter as we do use some electricity overnight and it seems to save us money. Hope this helps in some way.

notbritishgas

Optimistic_Saver wrote: »

Hello credit crunch victim - not sure if this might help or just confuse the situation but we are in a similar situation, having moved into our house approx 5 years ago now.

The previous owners had removed the storage heaters but I suspect we still showed up as having them. Anyway, we have a dual rate electricity meter (I suspect this is what it all boils down to, i.e. you wouldn't be able to get this night time rate without this). I don't know for sure, but suspect that you should still have saved money having a dual meter - as any electricity you might have used in the early hours of the morning should have been charged at a lower rate - even without storage heaters.

We have chosen to continue with our dual rate meter as we do use some electricity overnight and it seems to save us money. Hope this helps in some way.

However you must bear in mind that the daytime electricity is charged at a higher rate than the standard tariff.
To make E7 work without having storage heating you need to use between 20% and 30% of your electricity at night (this figure varies depending on the suppliers tariff rate).

littletommytucker

No, unfortunatly you wouldnt be entitled to any refund. E.On dont own the economy 7 meter that was in your property when you moved in, so its not really there fault that you have been billed on an E7 tarriff despite not having storage heaters. Plus it would have shown night and day rates clearly on your bills. BG have recently scrapped the charge for meter exchange from E7 to Standard rate.. so get a job booked as soon as your switched

credit_crunch_victim

thanks i have a date for BG to take over the supply and will call them asap to change the meter
gas meter is being done tomorrow looking forward to either saving a couple of quid or having the heating on a bit more at least

Dannii_B

You don't need to change the meter to have a normal non-e7 tariff with any supplier. You can go onto an unrestricted (normal) tariff with a dual phase meter - they'll just add both readings together and charge on the total rather than as seperate day and night readings.