Gas meter Query

GrainneG

I moved into a property in September, and phoned up EON with my gas reading. So far so good. I then came home last night to a letter saying that I would get an enormous bill unless I phoned them with the new meter reading. I then went to the meter to discover that it had not moved one jot since last September!

So I phoned EON this morning to let them know. In the first instance, they had taken a totally different meter reading for me; luckily I had taken down what the meter reading was last September, and my landlord had sent me a photo of what it was when I moved in too. Then they tried to make out that the meter would have gone around to come back to the original number (What?!!!), which was why the letter had been sent.
Then they passed me through to a lady in some special action team that then said they would replace the meter, and then monitor me for 3 weeks or so, and then send me an assumptive bill based on seasonal differences. Which I think is ridiculous. Can they do this? I have asked to see a copy of how they calculate these "seasonal differences" - but in England, is that even possible?!!

My thing is: I don't mind paying my bills for services used, but I do not want to pay a bill based on assumption. I believe that EON should just write this off, but I would like to know what my situation is from a legal point of view before proceeding - or if anyone has any experience of this happening to them, I would like to know about it. This is my first time having to pay a gas bill separately from my rent, so I am in uncharted territory here - please help!

G x

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Hi GrainneG,

I know this is not a nice situation to be in, but when you are dealing with a stopped meter there is not much choice but to estimate what has been used over this period, as the energy has been used it does need to be paid for.

The new meter will be installed and then usage from previous months calculated on this.

There are a couple of questions I have.

Have you received any bills at all from E.ON?

Have you been paying a monthly Direct Debit or regular cash? if you have then this will help to cover the bill.

When the bill has been calculated you can discuss a payment arrangement, to help clear the balance.

If you have any questions, or need me to help further, just let me know.

Helena.

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.

It is hardly realistic to believe that they should write off 6 months gas consumption - several hundred pounds?

It would be 'open season' to have meters sabotaged.

They use a sophisticated computer algorith to estimate consumption in these cases, it has Met office input and is independently audited.

It is very probable that you will be paying less than you have actually used.

allan673

i agree with cardew, you will probably pay less than what youve used. i.e you wont be heating your house as much now, boiler wont be on much now therefore using less gas.

Cardew

allan673 wrote: »

i agree with cardew, you will probably pay less than what youve used. i.e you wont be heating your house as much now, boiler wont be on much now therefore using less gas.

It actually isn't that simple.

For any estimation - including the estimate at a time of a price change - the computer 'works out' the predicted consumption for any given period.

i.e. If you used, say, 500kWh in the week 20th to 27th March, it can estimate that you would have used, say, 756.7kWh in the week 18 to 25 January.

Obviously for the 3 weeks after the new meter is fitted , the lower your consumption, the lower the estimate!!!

david39

Yes, I agree with Cardew.

Have the new meter fitted and immediately go away for a fortnight's holiday.

Premier_2

GrainneG wrote: »

...I believe that EON should just write this off, but I would like to know what my situation is from a legal point of view before proceeding ...

You have to pay for what you have consumed, even if because of a faulty meter, such consumption wasn't recorded.

I doubt E.on will write off the amount because of a faulty meter; the usual action is to bill you based on an estimate of what your consumption was.
You should explain (with eveidence if necessary) any abnormal consumption during that period the meter was faulty.
e.g. you used no gas because you were in hospital for the last 3 months and the property was empty.

GrainneG

Thanks for all of this response - I have to stress I am not looking to get out of paying, but I really didn't see that it was normal procedure to estimate bills - however, if that is the way it works, fair enough. In response to Helena, I haven't received any bills at all from EON - I was told though that was normal - and since this is my first property where the gas wasn't included in the rent, I took this for granted. Obviously, if there is a more effective way to pay (monthly, quarterly etc), I would be really glad to know about it!

G x

GrainneG

PS Helena, how do they calculate "seasonal charging"? A thing that got my back up on the phone talking to the EON representative was that she was very reluctant to send me out any literature as to how the calculations are made - I did insist on it, so I can see how it is calculated, and try to understand it, but haven't received it. If you can explain, I would be very grateful. G x

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Hi GrainneG,

You should have received bills each quarter, however due to the stopped meter bills may have been suspended until this is resolved.

There are many different ways you can pay, you can also receive discount for some of these, I'd ask E.ON about what is best for you.

Once your new working meter has been fitted, the consumption department will calculate an estimated charge based on the usage on your new meter.

This is calculated by the consumption team and does depend on individual circumstances, I have spoken to them today regarding this and they said they are happy to explain the calculations to customers.

It does sound like you got an unhelpful person, or the wrong team who may only have a basic understanding, sorry for that

If you need any more help, let me know.

Helena

GrainneG

Thank you for that Helena - in the meantime, I think that EON might have given me the wrong meter identification number - there are 3 meters for the property, and luckily my landlord took photos when I first moved in with all the reading - so I am going to wait a week and keep an eye on them - both the others are virtually unoccupied apart from being done up, so it shouldn't be too difficult. I will definitely get back to you if I have a problem, man thanks!