Eon huge bill out of the blue.(please help)

Shell311_2

I got a letter from eon saying my elec dd was to go up to £351 per month. This is from £120 month. So after contacting them they told me that this was to pay back £3904 that I apparently owe. After going into shock I asked how they had come to this figure as I pay monthly DD and always pay. Chap said its for estimated bills going back to 2007.
I pointed out that my meter has been being read constantly the last 12 months. Almost monthly, they said yes it can take a while to sort.
After speaking to another operator they came back saying I could pay £151 month. I explained that I was struggling to pay £120 and could not afford this.
Passed to another operator who told me to cancel the DD and contact them when I did. And they would sort a repayment account of £120 per month.
So cancelled DD and made phone call only to be told that computer won't let me pay less than £250 month.
So now I have to go on prepay meter. But my worry is tha they are making me pay debt back £10 per week and after looking at price hikes etc I may still be paying £150 month. Which I really can't afford, I have a toddler in a already freezing home, and everything is electric.
So getting really scared....can anyone offere any suggestions?
I have asked to speak to manager but keep being fobbed off.....help

energysavingexp

the problem is if you have been paying £120 month and you owe them £3904 you have been under paying for a long time.
£120 for an all electric house sound way to cheap but you will need to pay more just to break even thats before you start to pay off what you owe.
as a rough guid over the last 4 years you are aprox £1000 per year in debt thats £83 per month under payment so if you add this to the £120 you are paying now you need to be paying
£203 per month just to break even at your current usage. thats before you start to pay off the bebt.
lets say they let you pay it off at a rate of which the debt built up (4 years) then thats aprox £83 per month so to pay it off and pay for your current consumption you are looking at a payment of £286
you need to try and cut down on your usage the best you can

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.

If your meters have been regularly read by meter readers since 2007(you say in the last 12 months - and not who read them) then you may come under the provision of the Code for accurate billing and get the arrears reduced.

If you post exactly what has happened since 2007, bills, DD payments, meter readings by yourself and meter readers, correspondence with dates - particularly about the pre pay meter etc we may be able to advise.

HappyMJ

energysavingexp wrote: »

the problem is if you have been paying £120 month and you owe them £3904 you have been under paying for a long time.
£120 for an all electric house sound way to cheap but you will need to pay more just to break even thats before you start to pay off what you owe.
as a rough guid over the last 4 years you are aprox £1000 per year in debt thats £83 per month under payment so if you add this to the £120 you are paying now you need to be paying
£203 per month just to break even at your current usage. thats before you start to pay off the bebt.
lets say they let you pay it off at a rate of which the debt built up (4 years) then thats aprox £83 per month so to pay it off and pay for your current consumption you are looking at a payment of £286
you need to try and cut down on your usage the best you can

£120 for an all electric house....way too cheap? How much should it be? I only pay around £420 a year before discounts and credits.

energysavingexp

HappyMJ wrote: »

£120 for an all electric house....way too cheap? How much should it be? I only pay around £420 a year before discounts and credits.

you only pay £420 a year for an all electric house?

macman

Have you now read the meter to establish that the curent readings being billed on are correct?
When did you last read your own meter?

jalexa

Shell311 wrote: »

So getting really scared....can anyone offere any suggestions?
I have asked to speak to manager but keep being fobbed off.....help

Well as others have pointed on the face of it you have not been paying enough. However do not accept continually being "fobbed off". On the first telephone failure to resolve any issue 100% to your satisfaction raise a formal complaint in writing - or by email - strictly in accordance with the Eon complaints procedure. I suggest you do that now rather than get fobbed off by other offers of help.

The principle issue is that it has not been explained to you why the situation has arisen and been given a reasoned attribition of responsibility. It is impossible for a telephone adviser to determine that in the instant of a telephone call.

A secondary issue is the period over which recovery terms were offered.

If you were unhappy with individual advisers quality and/or variability of advice briefly mention that without detracting from the principle issue. Also mention as a matter of fact (again without detracting from the principle issue) your family circumstances (so that they can't say they didn't know).

Pincher

Too much, unless you have a large house that you heat throughout a lot.

DD of £120 = £1,440 a year, after £100 standing charge it's £1,340.

At 10p per kWh, that's 13,400kWh.
At 12p per kWh, that's 11,167kWh.

For a small flat, 13,400kWh is reasonable annual consumption.

I am guessing somebody tried to work after the Christmas party,
and decided you should have been paying Economy 7 peak rate instead.

At 17p per kWh, 13,400kWh is £2,278
Add £100 standing charge, that makes £2,378 a year.

shell311

Pincher wrote: »

Too much, unless you have a large house that you heat throughout a lot.

DD of £120 = £1,440 a year, after £100 standing charge it's £1,340.

At 10p per kWh, that's 13,400kWh.
At 12p per kWh, that's 11,167kWh.


For a small flat, 13,400kWh is reasonable annual consumption.

I am guessing somebody tried to work after the Christmas party,
and decided you should have been paying Economy 7 peak rate instead.
At 17p per kWh, 13,400kWh is £2,278
Add £100 standing charge, that makes £2,378 a year.

Sorry only just got back on site (i keep being locked out)
Small 2 up 2 down...heating in living room and bedroom (childs box room)
hot water boiler used 2x per week 3 max
shower used every day
dont like to use electric cooker due to running costs so tend to use microwave(quicker)
apart from lighting TV and baby monitor thats it. (just remembered elec tooth brush charger)
spoke to eon again and they explained that although they had been reading meter monthly for past year they had forgotten to charge me for it. I pointed out that payments had been going from my account. Answer was yes and now they have sorted that and i now only owe £2900.
They also explained that my usage for past year (their readings) has been £67.00 per month.
I asked how i am in arrears and they said that it could only be through estimated readings.
when i pointed out that I have never paid less than £68.00 per month and that it didnt add up. They agreed and suggested that I complain.
operator said that i could have run a heated swimming pool with what i owe.
I had my meter changed 12 months ago and can only guess that they put wrong readings on meter. but not sure if that can happen?
ofcom said that they would have written readings down on a card and fixed near meter. But checked and double checked and no card.
And unfortunatly i didnt take my own readings before they changed it...I wasnt in at the time a friend let them in for me.
Eon are saying that previous readings before last year were all estimated by them... But im pretty sure they had read the meter and i know that i have contacted them previously and given them readings.
Because I remember a argument with op as they said that my readings were less thatn they had estimated last time and so the computer could not put less. and so had to remain same i requested that someone come to read meter then....at least 3 years ago.
pretty sure they did.
But eon denying it:(

mattcanary

Do you still have the bill/statement for when the meter was changed? Does this make sense?

Also, have the readings on your meter been billed the right way round on your latest bill? ie: perhaps the day readings have been billed as the night rate and vice-versa?

What is the meter serial number? This can be found by looking on the meter and yoy will see a long combination of numbers and letters, eg: K95ES64805. Does this match up with the meter serial number recorded on your statements?
Also, the first two numbers (95 in the above example) indicate the year in which your meter was made. The meter serial number given above is actually my meter and it was only fitted in my house in early 2010. Sometimes second-hand meters are fitted, rather than new. Maybe your meter is also a secomdhand one? If this has happened, maybe your supplier has billed you based upon the meter reading being 0000 when it was fitted, when in fact it was far higher than this?? (meaning you have been overcharged)

E.ON_Company_Rep_Chris

Hi Shell311

I’m so sorry that we haven’t sorted this out when you’ve called us, it is scary to discover you owe £3904.00 without any real explanation why.

It sounds like you may have had a catch up bill after a series of estimates, which has prevented us from reviewing your Direct Debit sooner however; if we’ve been reading your meter regularly then this shouldn’t have happened.

As you’ve had no joy on the phones and a little one to think of, I’d like to look into this for you as soon as possible. Could you send an email to the address on my profile with your details?

We need to determine whether the balance is correct and why we’ve been estimating your bills for so long. I’ll look into whether you’re covered by the Billing Code Cardew mentioned and make sure that we offer you a payment plan that you can afford.

I’ll keep an eye out for your email Shell and get the ball rolling straight away

Amanda