In a pickle with E.on... large gas bill from nowhere

Binkey_2

Hello, I'm a long time lurker and avid reader of the site... I've spent a large chunk of last night/into this morning scouring this board for a similar problem but unfortunately couldn't find any advice similar enough to help me with the problem I'm having. So i'd be *really* greatful for some help and advice.

Where to begin really.... my partner and I are renting a property in Bradford. The property really is in need of some doing up. At the moment we only have a gas fire in the living room and a wall mounted heater in the bedroom to provide the entire house with heat. Likewise we have a gas cooker which is used roughly once a day for meals. We always pay money into the E.on account via PayPoint so that we are 'in credit' and have enough money there to cover the bill every time it shows up [that's usually to the tune of £77 per month], plus we get a 3% discount for prompt payment in addition to this.

However a few days ago we recieved a MASSIVE bill of £349 & pence from out of nowhere >_< We've gone from being our usual amount in credit to £274.41 in debt. We've already paid off 'winters' bills... which was still only £70 odd despite having the heating on more than normal around this time so I am clueless as to why this bill has jumped so dramatically in the past month [last bill was paid in February]. On the newest bill we've been informed that as of March 31st, their gas prices went DOWN?? So, again I'm more than a little bit baffled and shocked that the amount we owe is so high.

And I am also very curious as to why our last bill was Estimated despite being available to let in E.on staff to take a meter reading should they turn up or provide one ourselves if E.on asked for one. This new bill has been based on an *actual* reading this time around - so why weren't our previous ones done in the same manner?

Does any of this sound wrong or have we only got ourselves to blame here?

I'm completely at my wits end knowing what to do about this... my partner is on Incapacity Benefit and I'm in the process of claiming Income Support/finding a new job at the moment. We really don't have the sort of cash readily available to pay it immediately, but we will try to pay it back providing there hasn't been an error somewhere along the line before we do so. Also does anyone have any advice or info on what we should do if we can't find the money to pay this bill - are there any charities or benefits that can help us pay this off? Or alternatively the best way to set up a low repayment plan ourselves?

Any thoughts or advice on what to do about this?

Many thanks in advance,

~ Binkey xx

Caz3121

What are the time periods here

I am guessing your latest bill was for Feb-Apr and the previous estimate was for Nov-Jan so these cover all the winter months (where you would expect the bills/usage to be higher)

When you get an estimated bill you should always have the option to check your reading yourself and give them the accurate figure, did you check your reading when this bill came in to see how close the estimate was?

It sounds like the last reading was underestimated so the being in credit was related to the lower estimate and not the actual usage so when you thought you had paid off your winter bills this may not have been correct

It looks like you have an additonal £50 a month for the cold months which is roughly the same as we experienced, on the upside the next few months bills should be a lot lower so you may be able to end up paying the same (or a bit more per month) and be paying some of the arrears - you will need to speak to E.On re plans

Binkey_2

Caz3121 wrote: »

What are the time periods here I am guessing your latest bill was for Feb-Apr and the previous estimate was for Nov-Jan so these cover all the winter months (where you would expect the bills/usage to be higher)

That's pretty much accurate Caz - we must have paid off Nov-Jan in February of this year. The Estimates are covering February-March but missing out an estimate for April - unless that was what the chap came round to read recently?

Caz3121 wrote: »

When you get an estimated bill you should always have the option to check your reading yourself and give them the accurate figure, did you check your reading when this bill came in to see how close the estimate was?

I personally was unaware that you could give your own readings for accuracy - obviously I will be doing that from now on - my role to date has been nothing more than handing over my share of the cash to cover the PayPoint payments >_< I moved in with my partner on February 14th and this morning he assures me that he has been giving them meter readings himself - hence the confusion as to why the figures they're using have been Estimates as he's been providing them with the correct information.

Caz3121 wrote: »

It sounds like the last reading was underestimated so the being in credit was related to the lower estimate and not the actual usage so when you thought you had paid off your winter bills this may not have been correct.

February Estimate: 5629 kWh
March Estimate: 6217 kWh
April E.on 'official' in person reading: 6552 kWh

So would the above readings point to a definite underestimate there??

Caz3121 wrote: »

It looks like you have an additonal £50 a month for the cold months which is roughly the same as we experienced, on the upside the next few months bills should be a lot lower so you may be able to end up paying the same (or a bit more per month) and be paying some of the arrears - you will need to speak to E.On re plans

Oh b*gger But at least I can see what's happened here now - I think i'd have preferred it if they increased the bill at the time by £25 or something than to give it to us in one huge whack! lol. Sorry to hear you've gone through a similar situation and thank you for the help and reassuring me that there is an upside to this re: bills hopefully being lower over the upcoming months. Will have to sit down with the Mister and see what we can afford to repay, then call E.to sort this out. *sigh* not gonna be pretty but at least there's a way out right?

Thanks for all your help Caz - much appreciated!

~ Binkey xx