Multiple Problems with Electric, Provider and Landlord - Would love advice if so kind

savemeup

thanks guys, really really appreciate your input and time.

I'll wait on those meter readings and let you know how they turn out.

Those oil fills seem like a good buy and will defo look to invest soon but that £100 on top of my £400 seems like a distant cry from now (hurry up summer!!)

Guess i'll think twice about renting an all leccy flat from now but they seem to be the norm round here and im still convinced that theres something fishy as i hardly use anything else other than discussed.

I'm going to get the dishwasher and washing machine fixed and after i get my meter readings in gonna pay up on credit card (only option) and switch supplier asap with green bills, direct debit etc.

i'll let u know my meter results and how i get on.

thanks again for all the help guys

Magentasue

savemeup wrote: »

Guess i'll think twice about renting an all leccy flat from now but they seem to be the norm round here and im still convinced that theres something fishy as i hardly use anything else other than discussed.

Very sensible - I suspect you'll find the costs you describe fairly typical for all electric.

Madfish

Your bills maybe wrong, if they are basing it on the last tenant. You may be surprised!

Also you can talk to the supplier and arrange a payment plan, maybe set up a direct debit so you pay a bit more during the summer to allow for the winter, lets face it its been pretty harsh lately, your bills will drop in the warm months.

Speak to them and see what they can offer, better than paying on credit card and getting interest payments on top

savemeup

Hey thanks fire fox, great info...

I'll take your advice on the letter/part payment front. I would love to change tariff, but after checking uswitch i found out eon are one the most expensive and we inherited them from our landlord - Would love to switch but for now can't afford unless i pay on credit which i really dont want to do. Do you think i could negotiate tariff change with eon?

You should be able to download an instruction manual for your heaters from the company website - are they Dimplex?

No its a Creda - Im going to hunt for the manual now .

Thanks mate,

savemeup

Also you can talk to the supplier and arrange a payment plan, maybe set up a direct debit so you pay a bit more during the summer to allow for the winter, lets face it its been pretty harsh lately, your bills will drop in the warm months.

Speak to them and see what they can offer, better than paying on credit card and getting interest payments on top

Great advice too madfish, will call them to discuss tomorrow - ill let you know how i get on

Fire_Fox

savemeup wrote: »

Hey thanks fire fox, great info...

I'll take your advice on the letter/part payment front. I would love to change tariff, but after checking uswitch i found out eon are one the most expensive and we inherited them from our landlord - Would love to switch but for now can't afford unless i pay on credit which i really dont want to do. Do you think i could negotiate tariff change with eon?

Eon are expensive AND you are presumably still on their standard tariff, all the energy companies do this and it is the most expensive way to pay. You have an argument for backdating the tariff change to a cheaper one as you have been disputing the bill for some time now with no result. This isn't Eon's fault but they may be kind .... especially if you PM one of the Eon reps (Helena, Malcolm and Brian: see this page http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=781221) who post on this board and ask them to read your thread. They have offered to help others find a resolution so they may do the same for you - it's good PR if they do it publically! Don't PM the whole problem just the thread link so they can answer for all to view.

:A

savemeup

Wow thanks so much Fire Fox!! Amazing advice.

Just so everyone knows - I am about to PM the three EON reps so lets hope they also reply in the thread so that everyone can see their thoughts and also help any people with similar problems to myself.

Cheers guys,

savemeup

Brian, Helena and Malc Pm'd - really hope to have some input from anyone at EON. Thanks in advance

Premier_2

savemeup wrote: »

Premier -

Why can't you access the meter?

I currenty rent a new buld apartment block froma lettings company. Though they manage the property, the only people with access to the meter and communal areas of the apartment are the apartment management company.

If you want your meter reading, you make a request on the communal notice board to have them read and the cleaners do this for you and post back the results.

I have demanded to see the meter to the apartment management company and they refuse and tell me its a problem with eon. I call eon and they tell me to demand to read the meter. I call my Landlord and they tell me that they cant acess and to tell the apartment management company. and it just goes back and forth etc with each one fobbing me off to the next.

Funny thing is, the heaters, lights and electrics around the rest of the block are ALWAYS ON and ive got a feeling the bill is being shared by the tenants somehow, or im paying someone elses bill.

im sure that im messing up my setting at home too as per my post 5 mins ago and hopefully someone can advise where im going wrong there too?

How much do you think you owe your supplier and why?

I owe £400

roughly £200 from end of oct to 12th of dec and roughly £200 for dec 12th - 11th feb.

Im aware its my responsibilty to pay and will obviously have to eventually but im scared if this carries on every month my debts are gonna esculate so high on top of my credit cards/other debts etc and im in panic mode.

thanks for the advice

Well I suggested you demand the management company provide you access to the meter. The LL suggested the management company provide you access to the meter. Eon suggested you demand the management company provide you access to the meter. I guess the cleaners get provided access to the meters through the management company that employs their services.
I think that gives you quite a vivid picture.


With regard how much you owe, I meant how much you think you owe rather than how much is being demanded.
I asked this because of a number of factors.
1. You appear never to have seen the meter and so could never have verified yourself the meter readings when you moved in or now.
2. You apparently dispute the £400 (you claimed the initial £189 bill to have been extortionate and the current bill of £400 to have blown you away) and therefore have apparently not paid either.

Presumably you accept you have used some electricity? How much do you think you've used? Why? (bearing in mind you have no access to the meter). How does this relate to the billed amount based on the unit prices your supplier charges?

If you accept that you do owe £400 and are worried about the ongoing bills, then you must take measures to reduce consumption and/or lower the cost (check the comparison sites to see that you are on the best possible deal). As previously indicated, your consumption will also drop with the warmer weather and longer days, but that won't last forever. Nights will start to draw in again in about 4 months time!

savemeup

Thanks again for the input, guys.

The cleaners in my block have taken a meter reading for me today (still no personal access allowed though :mad:) and i am gutted to say that they are very similar to the estimated readings.

One thing that does stand out however, is a slight difference in my meter number by only one character. Where there should be an M , there is actually an N. Now i'm aware that this is a very simialr character and could aslo possibly be a mistake but i specifiically asked the cleaners to ensure that the meter number was EXACTLY as i had. They posted back on our communual board with "all correct, but please replace M with N. Maybe i am really clutching at straws now, but if does anyone think this will have any significance?

I suppose my new purpose should be to work out how to considerably reduce my consumption (even though i count it as very low) and how to get the best tarrif and start making some payments.

I know that Fire Fox earlier stated that EON were expensive, but as i cant pass on my debt and switch to a new provider, it looks like im stuck until i can pay off what i already owe. That given, can anyone here suggest (or better still one of EON service reps) suggest the best tariff that they offer? Or suggest another company that do take on debts to spread accross a monthly payment plan that could offer me a better tarrif?

I'm trying to work out where all of my consumption is worse hit, and so far i gather that the heater and possibly my overnight water heating is blame? Other than that can anyone confrim the actual off peak times that leccy companies set? I will sometimes do my washing or the dishwasher on weekend days or maybe early evening so this is something i should also probably cut right out.