Any suggestions - bit of a long tale!

sheehlb

Evening all

I have just spent a very frustrating few days - have been on to EON and N Power for at least an hr a day for the last 3 days and this comes off the back of a long running issue.

I was wondering if I have missed anything and anyone can suggest anything else I could do. Sorry this is long winded - it has been a real saga!

Moved house in July 2008 - it is a new build and the builders told us that the Gas and Electric supplier was EON. I didn't get round to sorting out the utilities immediately but I did put money to one side to cover the bills when I eventually got it sorted.

Towards end of 2008 I came to this site, worked through the comparison sites and chose N Power to be our provider as they gave the best deal for us for both utilities. In order to set this up I contacted EON and they said that they did not have our supply - I had to talk to Transco and to the electricity equivalent (MPAN?) to find out who provided our service. It wasn't straight forward because the builders had used an independent carrier for the meters and the supply to the mains. No one could confirm to me who our supplier was and I think it was the Transco person who suggested I should chose a supplier and go with them.

Set everything up with N Power - took a while so we started paying in March 2009.

Just before Christmas last year got a letter from EON saying welcome to EON and informing me they were moving our account to EON. I had not contacted them or asked for this to happen so spoke to EON and N Power and agreed that N Power would take the account back. AT this point I again confirmed my meter number to N Power and I had letter confirming that they had taken the account back. It seemed that the mess up was linked to our next door neighbours who did have an EON account and a had a chat with them - seemed like they were also maving a bit of a mare.

Last week - I got a bill for £931 for Gas from EON for 1/7/08 to 9/3/09 and an electricity bill for £125. The letter said that they had our electricity account. I spoke to N Power who again confirmed they had our supply and then went back and forward between the two companies trying to get someone to confirm what was going on. Eventually - after many calls to both company I got a very helpful chap called Clayton who was on his first day in the job who seemed to see my case as a challenge and spend an hr on the phone - he eventually worked out that the problem was that N Power had the wrong meter number (the builders had cocked this up and assigned my meter number to a different address) this was despite me confirming to them back in 2009 and then just before christmas what my meter number is.

N Power finally accepted that they had never actually taken over the right account and are going to refund the money we have paid them for our electric supply so that we can pay off EON. We do also have the 9 month period where we were not paying as we were unable to find the right supplier.

I now have an outstanding bill for £1900 to pay - about £500 of this will be refunded by N Power. I have agreed a 12 month payment plan with EON to cover this but I am hoping that I can further reduce the amount outstanding.

My questions are:

1. N Power are refunding approx £509 - I have spoken to EON and for the units used from 9/3/09 to now they are charging us over £800. Do I have a case to demand that N Power cover the difference? If they had got it right in the first place then we would not have had to pay the extra.

2. For the period 1/7/09 to 9/3/09 - EON are charging us their standard tarriff - obviously we have been using the comparison web sites and know that this is about the most expensive tarriff - they were providing us with gas and electric and have applied a 3% discount for this period. They have said that if i could prove that I rang them back in 2008 then they would be at fault and then they would discuss compensation/reduction of the outstanding amount. I don't think I can prove I rang them as I rang from my desk phone at work and not my land line or mobile.

3. Do I have any case for getting any sort of compensation from N Power as they have messed up and caused me to make may phone calls and spend a lot of my time sorting this.

Any thoughts that may help me?

Many thanks
Laura.

kjsmith7

Hello You are right, a bit of an essay!! I've read through it, and think I understand.

Firstly, this is a more common problem that you might think. We had a similar issue ourselves!

1 - Sadly, you don't have a case to demand nPower cover the difference. They are refunding the money you spent - the reason there is a large discrepancy is, of course, based on Eon's standard tariff, but also that nPower had the wrong meter details. It is very likely you were being billed on either your neighbours consumption (or whoever the meter you were paying for belonged to) or to estimated meter readings.

A quick couple of points worth mentioning - check with Eon whether the readings they are actually using for you are estimated - particularly the most recent one. As this bill covers you from 2008, you are eligible to be what is called 'back billed' - where everything except for the most recent 12months is written off. This may bring your balance down?

2 - Depending on the company you work for, is it worth asking if you can have a call log for your desk phone? It might be worth a shot in an attempt to get any additional compensation! I don't believe that you have a right to otherwise demand a cheaper tariff, e.g. an Online one, for instance. The 3% discount - what is that for? As a compensation? Or a dual fuel discount?

3 - I don't believe you have a case for getting compensation from nPower as they have now accepted they were not your supplier and are now refunding your payments. You may be able to get a credit for phone calls you have made to discuss your account? As you are not supplied by them, they have no real incentive to give you any compensation. It may also be that it was not their fault you were billed incorrectly. Hear me out haha - if the suppliers electricity and gas databases had incorrect details for your address, or if your property was listed as a 'plot' number, for instance, then that could be used as justification. I know that you provided your Serial Number on numerous occasions, however, and that is much more than most people think of doing!

I hope that helps, even in the slightest, and wish you a speedy resolution!

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi Laura

Sounds like a real nightmare and I have to agree with kjsmith, this is not uncommon with new builds.

It is what is known as a crossed meter issue. We will have been given the wrong meter details by the builders for possibly quite a few of the properties on the development.

This means we have had to go through all the properties to make sure we have matched the correct meters to each individual house. It is important to make sure the bill we have now sent you charges energy against the meters in your particular property.

Just a few thoughts.

Do the meter serial numbers stated on the bill correspond with the numbers actually on the meters? If they do, then we will be charging for energy actually used at your property.

Since you moved in, have meter readers called or do you have a record of any meter readings you may have given to Npower? These should be on the bills Npower sent when they thought they were supplying you.

If you have, do the readings follow on and fit in with the readings now on the meters? If they do, we will have charged for your usage.

Make sure we have billed you using all the actual reads available. Also, make sure we have billed to the dates when the energy was actually used. There is no way you should be paying for energy used in 2008 at today's prices. If we have, ask for the account to be re-billed in sequence and to actual readings.

The Billing Code applies where we are at fault for not sending a correct bill for over a year. If we are at fault, then we are only able to back bill for energy used for 1 year prior to the corrected bill.

However, we are not at fault if we have not been advised the property is occupied.

Back billing on standard rates has certainly added to the balance on your account but I don't think it is the only factor.

From your post, it appears Npower charged you from March 09 until recently; whereas our bill covers the entire period since you moved into the property in July 08. This will be another reason why a balance remains even after the Npower refund.

Again, if we are at fault then we may be able to back bill on a more favourable tariff.

Difficult to say exactly what can be done, Laura. However, I think there is enough doubt here to warrant calling us and asking if the Billing Code can be applied.

I would suggest contacting our Directors Office (details are on your bill) and asking for a full review to be done.

Sorry I can't be more positive but hope this helps point you in the right direction. Give me a shout if you need any more advice as will be happy to help.

Malc

sheehlb

Thanks both - appreciate your replies.

Next week I am going to write it all down and ring EON again to see if anything can be done to reduce the amount outstanding. I think the main problem I have is that there isn't any way I can prove that I did ring EON back in 2008 - because the person I spoke to told me that they did not have my supply they made no notes on line and I have nothing in writing.

Suspect I am just going to have to lump it!

Fortunately I have agreed a repayment plan with EON that is affordable for us - will take 12 months to pay off though.

Thanks again.
Laura