E.on blunder put's me in debt!!!Advice???

mingualez

Bare with me as this is slightly complicated.

My gas and electric are with e.on I pay by direct debit and have done for approx 2 years. Prior to this my electric was a key meter.

In may we were told we were in credit for £105.00 and our account was credited.
Yesterday 24 aug 2010. We recieve a quart statement saying we are 303.97 in debt.
There system had some how freeked out and was adding old dater from our key meter, and contributing £5, £10, £20 payments randomly to our utillity account. Which was just generated in the system not from my bank account.
My monthly debit has now risin from £86 to £132 a month for e.on to reclaim the debt.
I have now changed the tarrif and e.on have agreed to spread the debt over 18 month's this still means we have to pay £110 for first 3 months with a review there after.
Looking back over the 3 monthly paper work, I can see the random payments now. But foolishly I guess , I just read the pages that said my payment had been made and was in credit/ on track.

In short. Am I responsible to pay for there mistake?? Which they cannot explain why it has happened.

Thanks in advance.

dogshome

Hi mingualez - From my understanding of your post, you swapped from a key meter to a credit meter appx 2 years ago, but some now 20 months after the meter swap, E.on have started to load debt from your old key meter, onto your Credit meter account.

There are several things that cause me concern.
Repayments It appears your D/D level of £86 a month was sufficient to clear your annual cost, so the increase to £132 is to claw-back the debt at the rate of £46 a month WHICH WILL CLEAR THE DEBT IN 7 MONTHS, NOT 18 - In situations like this, it normal to claw back the debt over the same length of time that it took to build up, and over and above that, the utilities have a duty to set repayments that are within reason, at a level the customer can afford

The keymeter debt Yes, although you pre-pay for what you use it's quite possible to build up debt on a key meter, BUT at the meter swap you should have had a DETAILED statement showing that meters readings, the tariff and and money due
The fact that Eon only started collecting this debt piecemeal some 20 months after the event, is pretty good evidence that they never produced or sent this statement, which means that you probably have a case under "The no back-billing beyond 12 months Agreement" and as all the key meter debt is 20 months old, you may not owe anything. BUT IT ALL DEPENDS ON WHETHER OR NOT YOU GOT THAT STATEMENT SOON AFTER THE METER WAS CHANGED

WRITE to Eon, heading the letter COMPLAINT - Don't waste your time with the Phone or Emails
Provided you did not get a statement, complain that they have taken money from your D/Debit account without first sending you a bill, that the consumption they are chargeing for was supplied over a year ago and you think the Back-billing rule should apply.
Good Luck

Funkyfreddy

mingualez wrote: »

Bare with me as this is slightly complicated....
...Looking back over the 3 monthly paper work, I can see the random payments now. But foolishly I guess , I just read the pages that said my payment had been made and was in credit/ on track.

So when did these random credits start to appear on your account ? Was it over a period of several bills or just one ? (not that it matters ?)

How much of this current 303.97 debt is for gas used in the billing period as against credit incorrectly applied to your account ?

How much credit was incorrectly applied to your account ?

mingualez wrote: »

In short. Am I responsible to pay for there mistake?? Which they cannot explain why it has happened.

Pretty much - your really saying you don't want to pay for the gas you've used ?

FF

Funkyfreddy

dogshome wrote: »

Hi mingualez - From my understanding of your post, you swapped from a key meter to a credit meter appx 2 years ago, but some now 20 months after the meter swap, E.on have started to load debt from your old key meter, onto your Credit meter account.
[rest snipped]

Not as I read it.

At some point since swapping to DD some "random amounts" have been CREDITED to their account therefore appearing as a payment together with their own direct debit payments.

End result their actual direct debit payments have not been covering the gas/'leccy used - or perhaps they have but the "false" credits built up a credit balance that was repayed to them in May and they are now asking for that money back by way of an increased monthly DD ?


FF

SwanJon

This does seem a bit confusing, but I have seen similar things (how does the customer feel who's been making those payments that hit your account?)/

I suppose the bottom line is how much electricity have you used in the 2 years? How much did that cost? How much have you paid into the account? What is the difference?

Should you pay for what you have used?

Next steps - get on the cheapest Eon tariff you are comfortable with (look out for exit fees, end dates etc) to bring down the cost of electricity.
Look around the web for some cheap/free ways to cut down on the electricity you are using. This will allow you to clear the balance quicker (or pay less for 18 months).

dogshome

Hi mingualez & Funkyfreddy
Funkyfreddy may well be correct - I did read the word the word CREDITS but just could not believe a Utility was giving money away, so assumed it was debits.

mingualez, you need to go back thro' each bill since the meter change, deduct the value of all the phantom credits listed and re-total them to establish thier true costs,then compare these with your D/D's to establish the true state of your account and it's debt - which will also include the £105 returned to your bank - and that the money owed is what eon are asking for

The chances are that Eon would have set the repayment level to a figure that not only clears the debt, but puts your account in credit for winter, whether or not you want to argue with this figure is up to you
Now whilst you have a duty to check your bills, the problem seems to have been caused by Eons software running haywire, and you have been put to considerable trouble and been put into debt becuase of it - WRITE to Eon and based on your figures, put forward a monthly repayment figure that you can afford, and also ask for a discount in consideration of the trouble they have put you through

mingualez

Funkyfreddy wrote: »

Not as I read it.

At some point since swapping to DD some "random amounts" have been CREDITED to their account therefore appearing as a payment together with their own direct debit payments.

End result their actual direct debit payments have not been covering the gas/'leccy used - or perhaps they have but the "false" credits built up a credit balance that was repayed to them in May and they are now asking for that money back by way of an increased monthly DD ?


FF

You got it.

My dd should cover my usage. But the false credits have added up to £303.97. And e.on have agreed to except it payed back over 18 at £110 on the new online tarrif with the review in 3 month's. The £132.00 would work out to approx 7/8 months. I guess the answer is despite there error. I still have to pay the £303.97 back:mad:.

Thanks all.

lu_lu_2

There is an Eon Rep who regularly posts on here why isn't he offering to help sort this mess out as it would appear to be Eon's computer that has gone crackers.

Does anybody know how to contact him?

Funkyfreddy

mingualez wrote: »

You got it.

My dd should cover my usage. But the false credits have added up to £303.97. And e.on have agreed to except it payed back over 18 at £110 on the new online tarrif with the review in 3 month's. The £132.00 would work out to approx 7/8 months. I guess the answer is despite there error. I still have to pay the £303.97 back:mad:.

Thanks all.

Consider it an interest free loan that is now being repaid over pretty reasonable terms :cool:

FF

mingualez

Funkyfreddy wrote: »

Consider it an interest free loan that is now being repaid over pretty reasonable terms :cool:

FF

yes, that is the glass half full view. But at the time the £105 was considered mine not a loan and the other £200 ish. Well that was a nasty shock after a bad day at work. :beer: for that e.on

niecsey

If you go on my thread concerning eon and bills after my mams death should be near top you click on eon reps profile and email him good luck x