E-On refusing to accept meter readings

michymo

As a landlord I have recently become aware of an issue with previous tenants who gave meter readings when they moved in and none therafter so paid based on estimates for the 5 months they were in the property.

New tenants moved in a couple of months later and I have been landed the bill based on the previous tenant estimated move out readings and the actual at the start of the tenancy.

I have been back and forth with E-On getting very different stories but what they are saying and sticking to now is that they cannot apply those final meter readings that I took to the original tenant's account without their permission which of course they are refusing to give as they will have a bill of several hundred pounds to pay!

Are E-On allowed to refuse to accept these meter readings? I have been a landlord a while and never heard of this and also have moved house myself several times as a homeowner and tenant and have never needed permission from the other parties involved to have bills produced from meter readings.

Anyone with any similar experiences or advice on where to go from here?

I have sent a letter to Consumer Direct but have not had a response yet.

Premier_2

As a landlord, are you not taking the meter readings and agreeing them with the tenant on the ingoing and outgoing Inventories/Statements of condition?

Are you personally contacting the supplier on the day the tenant moves in (assuming you were the account holder the day before) and again on the day they move out (assuming no new tenant will move in immediately) to provide these readings and cancel/set up accounts in your name?

The landlord is responsible for the supply during any periods the property is not tenanted.

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Hi michymo,

If I have read your post correctly, as I understand it you had a tenant in the property they always paid estimated bills, when they moved out they contacted E.ON with a final reading (but this reading is less than the one you have taken).

Therefore, we have closed their account to an accurate reading provided by the account holder.

So the new tenants move in and the move in read taken is higher than the final read, therefore you have received a bill for the period in between the two tenants, how long is the gap between the tenants?

If this is the case this does sound like it is a third party dispute and you would need to resolve this with the previous tenant, as it sounds like they are saying there read is accurate and you say yours is accurate, we would not get involved.

If I'm on the wrong lines I do apologise

Helena

michymo

As I was out of the country on the day these people actually moved out I did take the readings a couple of weeks later. Stupidly we did trust these people as they were "friends" - that does not happen anymore!

I do not have any issue paying for utilities while the property was vacant the issue is that E-On will not accept the readings I took when the tenants moved out and so are billing me for their "actual" usage as they only ever paid estimates.

In this instance the tenants contacted the supplier to transfer the account into my name which was done and hence the bill being landed with me! I cannot see how this is allowed at all!

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Hi michymo,

Just for my understanding really, let me clarify.

The tenants came to the end of their tenancy agreement for the property, they took meter readings and contacted E.ON to close the account, gave the name of the person now responsible for the property and received their final bill.

You have then returned to the UK taken meter readings 2 weeks later and have requested E.ON to bill the previous tenants up to these readings? is this correct?

If this is the case, it is classed as a third party dispute between yourself and your previous tenant and you would need to resolve this with them.

Again I am sorry if I am misunderstanding

Helena

michymo

The tenants DID NOT GIVE E-ON final meter readings - that is the issue! E-on wilingly closed their account with only an actual meter reading from the day they moved in and estimates for the remaining period, including the day they moved out! So as landlord I am trying to provide these meter readings which will not be accepted. I do not accept that as E-On facilitated this transaction aware of not having any actual meter readings that I am liable.

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Thanks for clarifying that michymo.

The problem we have is that no one took meter readings on the day they moved out, your actual readings were taken two weeks later so the account would be closed to an estimated reading.

I have just spoken to our house moves department and they have advised that the difference in the readings may make a difference, if there is a huge amount of units, then they may be able to re-estimate the final read.

It may be worth contacting them.

I am sorry I can't advise further.

Helena.

michymo

Hi Helena

I have been speaking to one person in the housemoves department for the last 2 weeks and all I get told is that it is a 3rd party dispute and they will not get involved. I have been told that the tenants have to agree to accept the actual meter readings but they will not do this as I understand that this will mean they have a bill for almost £500 to pay. E-On has already stated that the estimates the made for the entire period that these people were in the property were below average and excessively low but now will not put the matter right!

At no point was the option of recalculating the estimated bill put to me.

I am seeking external advice on this matter.

mattcanary

What a load of rubbish. So a customer reading is not better than estimates??!!

Come off it, Eon! And if you aren't willing to accept the OP's explanantion, surely you should be going out there to take a reading yourself?

trina_m_wiles

It seems to me that you are being billed for usage that your former tenants were responsible for owing to a period of underestimating. It‘s also apparent that you seem to accept no responsibility for this.

If you didn’t agree meter readings with the tenants when they moved out then you are effectively accepting estimates from the supplier. If you were on holiday at the time could somebody not have read the meters with the tenants present on your behalf? Why did you wait until the new tenants moved in, months later, to give the readings you’d taken several weeks earlier?

The former tenants called with readings when they moved in and appear to have paid their final bill (albeit estimated). Did they deliberately accept underestimates, leaving you to foot the actual bill? What reason do they give for refusing to accept that they used the energy and your readings?

The supplier; who has in the absence of actual readings from either party, produced an estimated bill (calculated on previous usage at the property) accepted payment and closed the account. Then, (once a further bill has been produced) refuse to accept meter readings from the landlord claiming they were taken 2 weeks after the previous tenants left?

This seems reasonable, of course they have to consider both customer’s so are under no obligation to adjust the billing however; I think the fact that the final readings were estimates needs more consideration before dismissing this as a third-party dispute.

If the property was empty for a while before they moved in, then this will affect the estimates. An up to date reading would be useful to calculate the average daily consumption for the occupied property, you could put this to E.ON to negotiate re-estimating the bill. With the ADC for the empty periods to refer to on your previous account as well, this is difficult to dispute and could lead to a compromise that all parties are happy with.

I hope that you are able to resolve this matter with your friends and supplier and above all, that you accept some responsibility and always agree change of tenancy readings in future.

sweetnorthenlass

good old eon!