Old Address Electricity Bill EON

Leeds16bradford8

Hi,

BACKGROUND:-

I lived in a flat with my girlfreind from Feb 2008 - June 2009. The Apparment block was relatively new, My g/f tried to find out who our electricity supplier was, she rang EON they did now know who it was, she asked the accomadation prviders and they also had no idea. Anyway we did not pay any elec bills.
Four days ago they sent a bill addressed in my name for £1500, then today they have sent me another bill for £950.
They seem to have guessed my usage but even then my g/f was first occupant and how can you use £1000 worth of elec in 16 months.
What should I do? All the other bills and the tenancy agreement were in my g/f name at the flat.
Thanks.

Cardew

How do two bills of £1,500 and £950 come to £1,000? Or does the £950 bill replace the £1,500 bill?

Assuming that the flat was all electric(and not gas CH) £1,000 in 16 months is way below average.

They presumably are using the new occupant's start meter reading as your final meter reading?

On what grounds do you hope to dispute the bill?

You need to get the matter sorted asap or they will simply pass the bill to a Debt Collection Agency(DCA) and that will affect your credit record.

PNPSUKNET

you should provide them with an upto date read first of all if estimated, as above the usage is not high for an all electricity flat. The money that I suppose you have put to one side can take this right down?

Leeds16bradford8

I have no way of knowing what the final readings were. Like I said I only lived there with my partner, so why should EON be writing to me regarding unpaid bills?
There meeting readings are just guestimates so how can they prove this was my correct usage for the period of the bill?

I could end up paying too much too them.

Premier_2

Leeds16bradford8 wrote: »

...
I could end up paying too much too them.

At the moment you don't appear to have paid anything for your usage!

If you didn't take a final reading when you left the property, they'll probably bill you up until the reading a new customer has given them and accepted to pay from.

Cardew

They have discovered you lived in the flat and hence used electricity; why should they not bill you?

Dispute their estimated readings if you have the grounds to do so.

Leeds16bradford8

What is most annoying is my girlfreind rang EON when we first moved into the flat to see if they supplied our property with electricity. They knew nothing about supplying to the property. Also we had no access to the meters to take meter readings as they were locked in a cupboard.

E.ON_Company_Representative

Hi Leeds16bradford8,

The two figures you’ve listed suggest that for the entire period you resided at the property £1500 worth of energy was used. As a new bill for £900 has been sent, I’d guess that a reduction has been applied under the Billing Code; this may have been applied as a result of you not being billed for a period of over a year because we didn’t set the account up when your girlfriend first contacted us.

Therefore the new amount is for 12 months as opposed to the full period you lived in the property.

The important and first thing to do is establish the accuracy of the bills. Unfortunately if readings were not taken and recorded when you moved in and out, there may well be discrepancies but E.ON are allowed to use estimates in situations where actuals aren’t available.

It maybe that the estimates are relatively accurate, the previous tenants and the tenants who moved in after you may have provided readings to E.ON when they moved in and out respectively. I’d make sure you ask E.ON to clarify the readings used.

Unfortunately as others have suggested, you were the resident during the period the bill covers therefore you will be liable for payment of the electricity used during that period.

Again if the account wasn’t set up in the first place and you’ve seen a reduction under the Billing Code, you will also be able to get a payment plan to pay the bill rather than paying it in full.

Brian

DVardysShadow

Leeds16bradford8 wrote: »

I have no way of knowing what the final readings were. Like I said I only lived there with my partner, so why should EON be writing to me regarding unpaid bills?
There meeting readings are just guestimates so how can they prove this was my correct usage for the period of the bill?

I could end up paying too much too them.

Oh, this is easy to solve. You just dig out the readings you took when you moved in and when you moved out.

No problem with that is there?

ETA: I see there is a problem in that you do not have readings. You could look at it the other way and think perhaps you could end up not paying them enough for what you did use.

I have no sympathy for people who do not look for their meters when they move in or know what they do or how they work or how to read them. I could read our electricity meter when I was 8 years old - it was the old style with contra rotating dials - and I would have been able to check whether a bill was correct well before I was 10. Such uncurious lives people lead, that they have not rooted around their own home, discovered the meter and understood the role it plays in household economics before the end of childhood.

Leeds16bradford8

to DVardysShadow

Im sure you could read the readings at 8....well done but that doesn't help me especially as like I put in a previous message the meters are in a locked cupboard that no one seemed to have access to so how could I have taken any readings?

Leeds16bradford8

Message to
#8

E.ON Company Representative: Brian



Thankyou for your advice, you seem to have good knowledge of instances like this. What is annoying is that we have no way now of getting any meter readings. Are they likely to lower the bill anymore and what sort of repayments to you make on a payment plan?



Does a payment plan affect your credit racting, I am already overdrawn and in debt so will only be able to afford a token payment which will take ages to pay off. Will the amount be frozen or will interest be added on?



Thanks