Help needed regarding outstanding Eon bill from 2009

mumtomolandroo

Changed suppliers in 2009 from Eon to British Gas and never received a final bill from Eon, they sent me an estimated final bill with an amount owing of £147 which I had queried as only couple months before that i'd been about £250 in credit.

I telephoned them in April 2009 to explain this and they said they would look into it and get back to me........ they never did until this week when i received a letter from them saying they were disappointed that i hadnt paid the money owing and if i didnt pay within a few weeks they would take me to court to retrieve it !!

When I told a friend about this they said that because EON had left it so long to get back to me (15 months), i dont have to pay the bill....... is this correct?? is there a certain time frame in which they can ask for the money?

KimYeovil

No, your friend is not correct - they have six years (five in Scotland) to chase you for that bill. The twelve month rule your friend mentioned is something different.

When you switched you should have taken a note yourself of the meter readings and you should have studied the opening read of your new supplier. You will then have been able to estimate yourself what the balance on a last bill would be. Remember that Eon do not give discounts on final bills so it will be 20%-odd more expensive than otherwise. The £250 credit to £147 debit could be a combination of many things - no discount, estimated readings, no ongoing payments - you really should have read your meters and previous bills to work it out for yourself.

Of course they should not take more than fifteen months to sort out the final bill and you should make sure this final bill has actual readings on it (and they correspond correctly.) If it is a summary demand with no details then reply in writing as a complaint demanding an actual bill with readings. Once you can establish that the final demand is accurate (and make sure it does not contain any late charges) then it is payable.

mumtomolandroo

I did provide Eon with final meter readings which is why I cannot understand why it has taken them so long to provide me with a final bill, when i initially contacted them they blamed british gas, and british gas blamed Eon.... Eon said they would look into it and contact me once it has been sorted. When I telephoned them this week they said they'd send me a final bill...... so will wait and see if i get one or have to wait another 15 months !!

spiro

On a Change of Supply it is the new supplier or his agent that provides you old supplier with the CoS reading. Therefore once you have received you first bill from your new supplier there should be no reason not to received a final bill from you old supplier as they both use the same reading.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi mumtomolandroo

I'm sorry it has taken so long to send you a final bill.

As spiro says, in cases of a change of supplier, it is the gaining provider's responsibility to advise the losing supplier of the meter readings.

However, this does not usually take 15 months or anything like. Not sure why this was the case here as I can't see your particular account.

When you spoke to us the other day, did we say what meter readings we will be closing your old account to? If so, do these correspond to the closing readings you gave us previously?

If these readings do match, the energy will have been used and you will, therefore, be liable for the charges. If not, we will need to investigate why there is a discrepancy.

Once a final bill has been agreed, I would ask for a payment arrangement to spread the outstanding balance over a more manageable period. We will be happy to do this for you.

Again, I'm sorry for the delay in sending an accurate final bill. Give me a shout if I can help further or drop an email to the address in my Profile if you prefer. Will be happy to help.

Malc

KimYeovil

You are completely right to be narked that the previous supplier does not readily provide a revised final bill a week or three after the switch goes through. But as I (and Spiro) said once you have received the first bills from the new supplier you should compare the start reads with the previous bills from the previous supplier to estimate what your situation is and to know what debit/credit is due once they bother their backsides.