EON - Unfair charges?

cheekyherb

A bit of background for you:

We moved (in May last year) to a 3 bed house with gas central heating and hob and a electric cooker. We currently pay £100 for gas and electric combined on a smart meter (pay for what we use - Energy rated A house).

Prior to this we lived in a 1 bed flat (gas central heating, elec cooker and hob) and were paying £75 month gas and elec combined. (Energy rated A house)

However, when we left the flat EON sent us a final bill stating that we owed them almost £400 and demanding this money immediately. We queried it at the time and were told that all our bills had been estimated and the final bill was an exact figure.

How can it be that we now have 4 extra rooms in our house and are paying less than EON were charging us? They keep sending us threatening letters because we can only afford to pay £30 a month towards the arrears. I asked why after 6 months in our current house we pay less for a larger property than we are asked to pay in our flat... they can't answer this and keep demanding payment.

I hope that makes sense, does anyone have any ideas as to the way forward with this?

Premier_2

Are you currently being billed on actual readings or still estimated?

What status if your account in? (credit? / debit?)

Was the start reading in either property actual?
e.g. if the start reading in the former property was also estimated, it could have been you ended up paying for the former occupant's usage

Are you on the same supplier/tariff/supply region?

Are you using the same amount of energy? How do you know?

There's probably many other possible factors, but those questions should give you a clue.

molerat

If you gave Eon the correct start figure and correct final read then the bill is probably correct. Did you actually read your meters and check you were paying enough ? Did the meter that Eon were reading belong to your flat ? What you are paying by DD may have no relation to your useage whatsoever. Are you checking your meters now to check you are paying enough ? Get pro-active. Read your meters regularly and work it out yourself..

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Hi cheekyherb,

The bills at the flat were all estimates, E.ON then sent you a final bill based on accurate readings, is this correct?

If so how long was the account estimated for? It sounds as though you have received a catch up bill as the estimates were too low, therefore not paying enough for the amount of energy that you were using.

It is incredibly difficult to compare one properties bills to another, as there are normally many factors involved.

It sounds like you don't have an actual agreement set up to pay off the balance, this is the reason that you are receiving the letters.

I would contact E.ON and ask for a payment arrangement that you can stick to, this will stop further follow up of the debt.

If the account was estimated for a long time, you may be able to negotiate a slightly longer period to pay.

Helena

cheekyherb

Thanks everyone.

Helena (EON Rep) We sent actual meter readings at the flat every 3 months so I can't see how we were ever behind with our payments. The readings we have now for our current house are sent via smart bill (a meter sends the exact reading to the company each month to produce our bill) so I really find it hard to believe that in a three bed property we pay less money than we did in our one bed flat!!

We did arrange via agreement to pay £30 each month to EON in lieu of the arrears but they still hassle me every month to pay more, which I really can't afford to do. I don't get any response to my questions why if you had accurate meter readings (and also sent reps out to read the meters) do I now have such a large bill to pay off?

KimYeovil

But how did what was printed on the bills compare with what the meters read?

cheekyherb

Bills were a few pence out, maybe £5 a month most, not £300....

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Hi cheekyherb,

Were the meter readings on your bills exactly the same as the readings you provided to us? or did the bills have an E next to the reading?

As molerat has said, if the start read and final read for the account are accurate, it does sound the charges are correct.

The only reason that debt collection letters are sent normally, is if there is not an agreed arrangement on the account to pay off the debt, have you received confirmation of the £30 each month payment in writing and how have you agreed with E.ON that you will pay this?

I would advise you to check that this arrangement is in place.

Helena

KimYeovil

cheekyherb wrote: »

Bills were a few pence out, maybe £5 a month most, not £300....

Sorry, are you sure you are comparing the end reads on the bills with the actual meter readings? If they are only that slightly out quarter-in quarter-out then that usually means they are estimated bills that are the same as the estimated debit payment. Seasonal variations should mean your bills should not be balanced.

kent736

We had the same problem with Eon but moved over to EDF and there great

Premier_2

kent736 wrote: »

We had the same problem with Eon but moved over to EDF and there great

How do EDF treat this type of problem any better?