£4000 backdated electricity bill, please help

Martyj_2

Hi all, this is my first post, i hope someone can advise and help me:

I received a bill of just under £4000 this morning from e o n , it is for consumption dating back to september 2009. I have been paying my bills on demand, never late for this period (since i moved into the house), the meter readers have been coming regularly and read the meter no problem. However it seems all the bills have been raised from estimated readings ( my bills have been between £100 and £400 which seemed about right ) . I phoned the electricity company and they told me they had all the physically read meter readings but 'the computer' had rejected them as they didnt tally with historic readings, hence they tell me i have been underpaying for 2 years. I'm told the new £4000 bill is from actual readings but even so it seems pretty large! Especially considering i live on my own and am pretty conscious of my electricity usage!

Can anyone offer any advice? Its a crippling figure and im rather worried.
Thanks

jalexa

Martyj wrote: »

Raise a formal complaint strictly in accordance with the Eon complaints procedure asking for the Billing Code to be applied.

Only an full investigation will determine whether the Code applies but if you remain dissatisfied you will be able to refer the issue to the Energy Ombudsman.

Meanwhile gather all your bills together and take a meter reading tonight, and weekly until the issue is resolved.


Note: *If* the Code applies unbilled energy supplied more that 12 months prior cannot be charged for.

http://www.energy-retail.org.uk/customerbilling.html

Cardew

Bill is £4000 but how much is outstanding?

Martyj_2

Nothing, i pay my bills as soon as i get them, i always have, this is the backdated request over and above anything that has been paid historically..
Thanks for the help so far!

antrobus

Cardew wrote: »

Bill is £4000 but how much is outstanding?

On the basis that the OP received the bill this morning, I'd guess that about £4000 is outstanding.

Cardew

antrobus wrote: »

On the basis that the OP received the bill this morning, I'd guess that about £4000 is outstanding.

Whenever there is a case like this, it is normal to submit a revised bill going back to Sept 2009 with estimated consumption at each price change point and giving the total consumption and price for the nearly 2 year period.

It is perfectly reasonable to assume therefore the OP had a bill for £4000 for xxxxkWh over the 2 years and showing a credit for any payments. e.g. Bill £4,000: payments £1,700: leaving £2,300 outstanding.

As the OP now states that he has had a demand for an additional £4,000 over and above his payments of £100 and £400(presumably each quarter) - it would appear he has used one hell of a lot of electricity in under 2 years - £6,000??

Have they charged today's price for units used in Sept 2009?

jalexa

Cardew wrote: »

- it would appear he has used one hell of a lot of electricity in under 2 years - £6,000

No it doesn't "appear" at all. Without pointing the finger either at the supplier - or the OP - there are no readings posted.

HalloweenJack

the OP said the meter was read frequently so EON would have had accurate readings - this seems to me as `yet another`computer error.

Cardew

jalexa wrote: »

No it doesn't "appear" at all. Without pointing the finger either at the supplier - or the OP - there are no readings posted.

My goodness - semantics rule!

He is stating that since Sept 2009 he has paid all his bills of between £100 and £400 and yet still owes £4,000. That latest bill is based on actual readings according to EON

So to my mind that 'appears' to indicate that he has used a lot of electricity in under 2 years.(according to EON!)

Any fault with the above? bearing in mind that this is an internet forum!

Cardew

HalloweenJack wrote: »

the OP said the meter was read frequently so EON would have had accurate readings - this seems to me as `yet another`computer error.

We have had many cases of 'rejected readings'.

I believe the computer program for all the Energy companies, rejects any reading it 'thinks'(Note: I appreciate computers don't 'think'!) is an error. -i.e. the consumption is outside set limits - and substitutes an estimated reading.

The problem is that it does not routinely flag this up to anyone in the company. So unless the customer queries the estimated reading, this situation is repeated and repeated as 'appears';) to be the case with the OP.

jalexa

Cardew wrote: »

My goodness - semantics rule!


So to my mind that 'appears' to indicate that he has used a lot of electricity in under 2 years.(according to EON!)

If only you had suggested this "appears" to suggest the Eon position is consistent with computer error - as suggested by another wise poster - I would have agreed with you.

After all this is a *consumer* internet forum.