mix ups with electrcity suppliers! Aaarrgghhh.

heydee

hi all - a little advice on where I stand legally and which route to take would be MUCH appreciated....

the story -

To put you in the picture - when we moved into our rental property (30th Sep), 'EDF' immediately contacted us with regard to electricity and we registered our details with them as they requested. Then, on the 17th Oct, we received a notification from 'e-on' that we had been moved to them as suppliers. I now know that this was facilitated by our landlady.

Fast forward to November, we received a bill from EDF asking for £57.84. Given that we were both extremely busy, it didn't remotely register (the similarity of brand and name doesn't help, nor the mercurial nature of that industry with companies buying each other out constantly), so on Dec 8th, I called EDF and paid by card £80 and set up a DD for £40 per month (another £40 has gone out on Jan 8th).

Today I have received a bill from e-on for £167.14 - and at this point have realised that we have been 'in agreement' with both energy suppliers!

To be honest with you I'm really annoyed, both at myself and them, but I have to try to get my money back from somewhere.

You read all the horror stories in the press in the press about energy companies and here's another - how on earth can both companies both think they're providing the exact same commodity to the exact same address. It's quite distasteful.

Which company do I contact to try to claw back half the costs. They can't both have been supplying us the product!

Thanks for any assistance. Any similar experiences?

Fire_Fox

Contact the one that is charging you most per KWH! Have you checked whether you should be with Eon, EDF or someone else by using a price comparison site?

Your new supplier is usually responsible for providing final meter readings to the old supplier; you in turn are responsible for providing the final meter reading to your new supplier. You are in a bit of a strange position, because when you take over responsibility for paying the utilities you automatically start a 'deemed contract' with the supplier. You must remain with them for one month, after which you can switch which usually takes a further month. Was your landlady's name on the bills before you took over? If not she should not have changed your supplier.

littletommytucker

Both bills will have a meter serial number on them somewhere. You need to look at the serial numbers, and find which one corrolates with your meter. One bill may be for someone elses meter, or both companies may think they supply you, however obviously only one of them is.
Dont just choose the one with the most preferable rate as previously advised, that isnt the right thing to do. Are these bills for Gas or Electricity?
Either way, you need to get your meter serial number off your meter, and call the Distributor to find out which company you should be paying.
The distributor for gas is usually National Gird (Transco) you can contact them on 0870 608 1524 and they will be able to tell you who supplies your property. If it is electricity you will need to contact the company responsible for distributing electricity in your area http://www.nationalgrid.com/uk/Electricity/AboutElectricity/DistributionCompanies/

Have you tried phoning either companies? Im sure either one of them will be happy to find out who actually supplies you, as they will have easy access to this information, even though both there systems appear to initialy show they supply you, they can check the external databases to find out if they do.

Also... you are sure that one isnt your gas bill, and the other your electricity??

Hope this helps

heydee

hi - thanks for the the thoughts.
They're def both for elecy - the landlady told us she would be changing supplier, but it went in one ear and out the other. I didn't expect to get two bills - it's just that one called earlier (EDF) and asked to set up DD and the other billed for an accurate read quarter (eon) so it's taken me 3 months to realise. The interesting point is that it's not the landlady's decision who WE take our elec from - or is it? I think in our contract, we have to ask permission to change supplier. She forced this change upon us and I now have to deal with the administration surrounding the errors - i.e. ages on the phone. And i hate admin.....
I'm fairly convinced that e-on are the legitimate supplier, so I guess the key is to get on the blower and ask for my money back from EDF.

Fire_Fox

If you feel the landlady made an error, get her to sort it out. The landlady must have started the switch before you took occupation, as this usually takes one month or more and you say your new supplier asked for a reading just two weeks after you moved in? Presumably she switched suppliers to save you money, not that Eon are that cheap ...

heydee

I suspect she changed for her own convenience - she moved gas to them too. they have really pretty branding. We weren't consulted. I am increasingly annoyed with her; but then I did fraternise with both EDF and should have been more aware. I have emailed her asking what she thinks....though I suspect that since I have made a boo boo, it is my problem to resolve?

littletommytucker

With the accounts being in your name, you would need to sort it out due to the data protection laws. Landlords are aloud to give tennants details, but thats about as far as it goes. You definitly need to go have a look at your electricity meter, and get the serial number off the front of it though, as the suppliers will ask for this when calling them.

And just remember to use https://www.saynoto0870.com to minimize call costs.