E.On Trying to Charge a hugh amount?

Pacey77

I thought this would be the best site to get some advise, I hope you can help me a little.

I rent in a 3 bed house with 2 other girls, and one of them is moving out. Now she arranged for us to swtich our gas and elecrticity supplier last july/August thourgh USwitch to E.on, paying a set amout direct debt.

Firstly we were quoted £52 per month but they suddenly went up to £77 which I was not aware of until a few months after this started. But now my housemate is moving out she is trying to get this sorted and put myself and my other housemate on the bill. She got the following response about charges:

"In regards to the Direct Debit, when you signed up via USwitch we quoted you £52.00 per month for electricity and £25.00 per month for gas. As the electricity was set up before the gas, only the electricity payment for £52.00 was taken. This was due to an error on our systems, for which I apologise.
As you can see, this has not been enough to cover your usage as the balance on your last bill in April was £416.16. Please be advised that when the account is closed, we request that the balance is paid in full over 3 months but we may set up a payment arrangement over a maximum of 12 months."

Now I do not recall anything about 2 charges on the USWitch site when we did this only the amount of £52 for both was mentioned?

How do they come up with a huge amount for our bill since April?
Someone visited the house approx a month ago and took a reading but I can not see how it can be so high when, I'm at work all day, one housemate has been spending time at her boyfriends 99% of the time and heating has been turned off for the majority of this time. How can they charge us this amount?

Any advise would be much appriated.
Cat :mad:

jd87

Forget what the uSwitch site said. It is irrelevant. What matters is what it says on the bills that you will have been receiving for the past 11 months. Has anyone actually been reading them when they come through the door? They will have clearly shown that a debt was building up. I'm afraid bills are hardly ever wrong so you have to pay for what you've used.

As they are partly to blame for not taking the gas payment (not fully to blame though, one of you should have spotted it) then I'm sure they will be more than willing to arrange a repayment plan.

jimexbox

Eon's error was spotted within the energy code of conduct 12 month rule, so Im afraid you will be liable to pay the full amount. Obviously paid over a reasonable period as not to financially burden you.

When you 1st move into a property, or switch via a comparison site, all bills are an estimate. Maybe a good guess, possibly miles out. So if you have been getting estimated bills from Eon based on false figures, Im afraid you can run a large bill up very quickly.

TBH, I would take this as lesson learned never to be repeated. Many folk post on here with bills double/triple yours. So in a perverse way this may help you in the future.

Perelandra

Make sure that the girl who's moving out pays her fair share!

It's possible that yo will agree a payment plan with Eon (i.e. a direct debit will be set at £xxxx per month). That plan will cover your ongoing usage, plus a repayment of the existing debt. It wouldn't be fair if the other girl didn't pay her share of the existing debt.

Premier_2

Pacey77 wrote: »

...How do they come up with a huge amount for our bill since April? ...

They do this based on meter readings.

You bill should specify a start meter reading (hopefully the one you provided the supplier at the date of actual switch which was probably 4-6 weeks after applying for electricity - later for gas it appears) and the current meter reading.

Make sure these are both actual, not extimated readings.

Paying monthly by DD does not mean you can then use what you want. You are billed based on consumption and the monthly payments used to pay, at least in part, the cavlue of the amount of energy consumed.

Just like you would expect a partial refund if you had paid more than you had consumed, the supplier expects the customer to make good the shortfall if you consume more than you paid for.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi cat

As your flatmate is the only named person on the account she is technically solely liable for the outstanding balance.

When she leaves we would normally close the account in her name and re-open a new one for you. At this time a final bill will be issued to the date and meter readings when she moves out.

However, it is possible to change the names on the account providing all of you are in agreement and jointly authorise the change. You will all then be responsible for payment.

The name of the departing flatmate can then be removed when she goes leaving the two remaining occupants responsible for future bills.

I am sorry the Direct Debit arrangement only collected the electricity and not the gas when the account started.

We will have details on your account of the information Uswitch gave us. I recommend giving us a call and asking the question.

Make sure your account is being billed to accurate readings. If the start readings and latest readings are accurate then you will have used the energy.

You say someone took readings about a month ago. Are these the only accurate readings taken or have previous bills been estimated?

If previous bills were estimated it may be the outstanding balance is a catch up due to previously under-estimating the usage. However, if the bills were accurate and a balance has been building up this will have been advised on past bills.

Ask for a payment arrangement. We will be happy to look at spreading the balance over a period of time. This may make payment a little more comfortable.

Hope this helps.

Malc

Pacey77

Hello everyone,

Thank you all for your advise with this, especially Malc. Malc you explained it better than the email my housemate got from someone at Eon.

I have learnt to not trust someone else to keep an eye on bills. I will be checking the bills and making sure that the housemate leaving helps get this sorted so it can be paid. I'm glad I keep money aside for emergencies.

Thank you everyone
Cat

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Pacey77 wrote: »

Hello everyone,

Thank you all for your advise with this, especially Malc. Malc you explained it better than the email my housemate got from someone at Eon.

Cat

No problem Cat. Glad to help and hope it all works out for you.

Malc