Help with e-on electricity billing?

my_definition

Im looking for a bit of help with my electricity bills so please be kind im a bit confused.

When we moved into our flat we had a pre payment meter which have us a bit of control over our electricity. I realise this is more expensive but we were told we had to wait before we got the meter changed. In September we got the meter changed and we have been paying £57 a month by direct debit.

From looking at the record of our prepayments we spent an average of £35.50 a month between may 2009 and july 2010 so i thought this was quite steep. However i thought we could get it changed after a few months. When the meter was changed we recieved a bill saying we were £62 in credit and they charged us £45. We agreed to go on the tarif which charged more during the day and less at night (sorry dont know what it was called)All fine so far. However in Febuary we recieved a bill saying we owed them £54. I thought this was strange phoned to get a proper meeter reading done as this was an estimate and was told that as there was only one reading on my meter they though there was something wrong with the meter. Someone was sent out and he told us they had put in a meter which was used for people with storage heaters and they had assumed we had storage heaters. We dont and no one had ever asked us. However we had to phone back and get a new meter installed.

Phoned e-on again and they said they could change the tarrif from there but would have to wait for the engineers report and would phone us back. they never did and after several phone calls this week where the correct people were apparently not in the office my OH spoke to someone who said that we werent on the 2 rate tarrif after all because that would be more expensive for us. The estimated bill did had a day and night estimate on it. We got them to do metter reading over the phone but apparently they are now calculating it.

Baaisically im confused from different people telling us different things and we have paid an average of £71 a month between September and Feb when you include the credit i had before and the apparent debit we owe them (excluding the £45 for the meter change) which seems a huge increase when we are no longer paying pre payment meter and have a dd discount. I know its winter but we only have 2 heaters and we didnt pay that much for winter the prev year average being about £52. Have electricity prices changed that much in the last few months and are they just telling us a story about this rate they changed us to being cheaper?

We are thinking about moving but im concerned that were going to end up with a huge bill or that theyve been charging us wrong since September which the person i spoke to when all this started seemed to think.

I should probably mention we live in a flat which gets a fair amount of heat from below.

I realise this is very lengthy but im just trying to include all the info.Thanks for reading this id love some advice

KimYeovil

If you asked for a day/night tariff your supplier is free to comply with your wishes. It is up to you to decide how to wire your property and how to use your power to make sure it is worth your while. If you do not use sufficient night units to make it a sensible choice that is your look out.

As to the blah blah blah about the payments it is simple - read your meters and see how much you are using. £71 is not a high sum for winter months using electricity only. £35 is unrealisitically low. And, again, you have to concentrate at what you are using rather than the value of your instalment payments.

my_definition

thanks for your reply.

i wasnt expecting £35 i was just trying to provide full figures - we paid £52 a month over the same period last winter an paid £71 this year which i thought was a big increase when we are supposedly on a lower tarrif with no standing daily charge and a dd discount. While we use electricity only we have no central heating - we have oil heaters which are used sparingly

I suppose where my confusion lies most is i dont believe we have used more electricity this year than last and we seem to be getting different responses from everyone we talk to. For example if e-on were charging us one rate then why does the estimated bill show a day and night time rate on it and if anyone has had similar experiences.

My biggest problem is that it has been suggested we are being charged a rate used for storage heaters by two people and if this is the case can i assume this is the wrong rate? and why when they asked if i wanted x rate have they charged me y - is this common practice?

my_definition

apologies i have just checked we were charged separately for changing the meter which means we paid £81 a month from sept - feb which shows a bigger increase than i had initially written.

Thanks for your help

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi my definition

It certainly sounds as though there's been a fair amount of confusion with the different meters you've had.

The first thing I would suggest is to find out exactly what type of meter you now have. From your post, I suspect it's either a two rate Economy 7 or a single rate meter.

Have a look at the meter and see how many registers it has. If it's Economy 7, it will have three registers - day, night and a total of the two. A single rate meter will have just the one register.

Once the metering has been established, the next thing is to make sure you're on the best tariff for your circumstances.

How much electricity do you use at night during the Economy 7 period? This is generally between midnight and 7am but can vary a little either side depending on the region you're in.

Don't worry if the meter is Economy 7 but you use most of the electricity during the day. Let us know and we'll set you up on a tariff that adds both rates together and charges as a single rate. We don't need to change the meter again.

Once this is sorted, have a look at the other tariffs we have available (details are on our website). There are discounts available for managing your account online and paying with a Monthly Direct Debit.

I would also pop your details on to the comparison sites. This will list out all the options open to you, both with us and the other suppliers. Choose the one best for you.

I'm sorry you've had to contact us so many times about this my definition but hope the above is useful. Let me know if you need any more info as will be happy to help.

Malc

my_definition

phoned again today was told there is a fault with the meter again - fingers crossed it gets fixed this time