EON dispute about fees

FAaron

Hi, I need some help/advice on what the best possible course of action would be to take in regards to overdue fees I apparently owe to EON.

I bought and moved into a new flat on the 6th of December 2011. EON supplied my electric at the flat from this date up until the 22nd of February 2012, where I changed over to EDF due to cheaper rates.

On 1st Feb, I received a bill telling me I needed to pay £94.50. Then, on the 16th Feb I received a bill saying I need to pay £328.24 for the energy I've used. Shortly after that I received a letter from UDS, the debt collection firm saying that I owe £348.14.

EON are trying to charge me £348 for electricity consumed between 06/12/11 to 22/02/12. I have disputed with them on the phone numerous times about how I believe the figure is incorrect, and rather extortionate, as I feel that in no way have I used £348 worth of electricity in just over 2 months, being a single person living alone and regardless of it being the winter months. I have asked them to provide me with 'proof' or an invoice, or some sort of validation that I have in fact consumed that amount of energy. Their response has been wishy-washy, and I can't seem to rectify the situation via phone. I am unaware if the attributed fee is viable, or whether these various debt firms are attempting to 'scare' me into paying up money which I don't owe.

I received a phone call this morning from a separate debt collection firm, McKenzie Hall, telling me the fee is now £417, due to extra charges because of the lapsed time and lack of payment.

I have been back and forth on the phone with EON and their various debt collection firms for the last month or so, irritatingly unable to sort the issue out. EON have said they tallied up the final figure due to the estimated meter reading EDF supplied them when I switched over.

The meter reading upon moving in was 23583
The reading EDF supplied to EON was 25955

I am obviously entirely willing to pay whatever I owe. I just don't believe I owe £348.14, and NOW, on top of that, an extra 70 odd pound which racks it up to £417.

What I need advice on is if :
a) the fee seems likely to be correct considering I can't recall signing up for a particular payment plan
b) how to go about disputing the case properly if the fees seem suspect, like I believe them to be
c) how to curb the 'extra fees incurred' due to the fact I have been on the phone with EON, attempting to resolve the situation for however long.

Basically, I want proof I've used that amount of energy, and then I'll happily pay. But as stated, I don't feel that I have, and thus need a course of action. I want to solve this ASAP, so that I don't have to worry anymore about debt collection and the like.

Thank you,

Francis.

spiro

In that period you have used 2372kwh. This is high for a gas/elc property but probably more normal if elec only.

If you say 225kwh at 26p/kwh and 2147kwh at 13.5p/kwh that would be £348.35.

Unless you can dispute the 2 readings then it sound like this is what you owe and the sooner you pay the sooner they will stop adding debt collection charges. You could raise a complaint which will stop the debt collectors but for what I can see there is no grounds for a complaint.

SwanJon

First you need to check the reads as to use ~2,500kWh in less than three months is massive*. Did you provide the read when you moved in? What is the read today?
What read did EDF use to open your account? Did you take a reading around this time?
Did you pay the first bill?

I think your next steps should be to provide an up to date reading to both suppliers and get them to re-estimate the change over read.
If the issue was the move in read, then I'm afraid it becomes an issue between you and the previous tenant.

Good luck.

*Edit - saw sprio's post and realised I'd made an assumption about heating as only one read.

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Hi FAaron,

Welcome to the forum.

Spiro is spot on really, is the property heated with electricity? if so then this amount doesn't sound unreasonable for that period of time.

However, you can check the billing is correct.

Is the reading you provided when you moved in to the property correct?

When a customer changes supplier they would give the new supplier the meter reading, the new supplier then passes this to the old supplier to produce the bill to.

Does the reading used on the final E.ON bill match the start read the new supplier has used?

As spiro says, you can dispute the bill and raise a complaint if you have different reads to what we have billed.

Also, was there any balance on the account before the final bill was produced? If there was this will also be carried forward.

Did you pay on receipt of the bill or have a payment arrangement?

Sorry about all the questions

Let me know if you need any more info from me.

Helena

*Just seen SwanJon's post, didn't mean to ask the same again!*

chanz4

My moneys on storage or panel heaters, along with the water been left on constant

jalexa

FAaron wrote: »

Basically, I want proof I've used that amount of energy,

The meter is proof positive of consumption unless sucessfully challenged as inaccurate.

You post "the reading EDF supplied to EON was 25955". The first and only thing to do before deciding on the next step is to check and compare the meter reading today.

The losing supplier closing reading must be the same as the gaining supplier opening reading. Given that, energy cannot be charged for twice.

Terrylw1

Did you provide both these readings? The fact you are disputing usage would say you didn't.

So, this leaves estimates.

As Jalexa says, did the new supplier start on the same reading and is your reading advanced beyond it now on the meter? Between the switch read and the next billed firm reading, did you greatly under use elec...if so, it may be high Deemed switch reading making a chunk appear on the old supplier end in error. If so, your new supplier can correct this or you within 14 months but after that its more complicated as it requires born suppliers agreeing outside of the agreed industry process.

If the switch reading is OK, it could be your account start reading that is too low. It could even be that you have been billed for energy from a landlord or missing occupier. Its just not clear. Landlords are notorious for not telling suppliers about tenancy gaps meaning anything they use hits the new tenant. This occurs because the new tenant doesn't give a move in reading so the supplier uses the previous tenants closing reading...so anything I between gets dumped on the new tenant in error.

I would suggest sending to to Eon's rep as it may need investigation of previous customers accounts and this switch reading.

jalexa

FAaron wrote: »

EON supplied my electric at the flat from this date up until the 22nd of February 2012, where I changed over to EDF due to cheaper rates.

On 1st Feb, I received a bill telling me I needed to pay £94.50. Then, on the 16th Feb I received a bill saying I need to pay £328.24 for the energy I've used.

There is something not right with the dates here. The £328.24 "bill" appears to predate the transfer date. On what date did you supply the transfer reading to Edf? Digest Terrylw1's post about estimates and if you want meaningful help here post readings and reading dates *exactly* as they appear on the 1/02 and 16/02 "bills", in particular the closing reading on the 16/02 bill. Does the word "final" appear anywhere on that bill?

Also post a summary of the first "dispute" conversation you had with E.ON, including date. You are entitled to "dispute" but you require grounds and must pay the "undisputed" element.

FAaron

Hi all, thanks for the help so far.

In response to some of the questions you asked:

The property is elec only, and it's my own, so there's definitely no 'passed on' fee from previous tenants as it was unoccupied for quite a while I believe. I didn't have a payment plan with EON (mistake?).

I provided the first read, yet the second changeover read was estimated by EDF and sent to EON through them I believe. The read today is 31064
Considering this, does this make the charges reasonable, and should my next step be to pay the £348.14?

I received a letter today from Mackenzie Hall telling me I have a payment deadline for the 4th June. The letter also says I 'never made them aware of any legitimate reason for non-payment,' whereas I have discussed the issue on the phone with them at least 5 times. Do I have any grounds whatsoever to complain and perhaps void these extra debt collection charges (which bump the final payment figure up to £417.77), considering the fact I did inform them multiple times that I intend to pay what I owe yet was unsure about the whole circumstance?

undaunted

Do you believe the meter to be correct or faulty?

If you think you are not using what it suggests you can ask for it to be checked - though you may be charged for this if its found to be correct.

If you think the reading is correct pay your supplier what you owe them. Whether you wish to pay or dispute any extra charges is upto you.

Personally however, if you wish to complain / dispute anything, I'd say write, don't faff around on the phone with call centres. As to debt collectors you're under no obligation to speak to them at all - deal with your supplier not some irrelevant third party - and their deadlines are meaningles. The only thing they can do if you don't pay is take it to the Courts. If you're wrong it will cost you but if you're right you have nothing to fear from that.

Terrylw1

So, the switch reading wasn't yours. This means it was Deemed the the suppliers Data Collector based on the previous 12 months reading history they held.

It could be too high causing more to be squeezed into the old suppliers final bill.

The best think to do is work out your daily averages to see if you can spot a spike. A spike uses means a data problem whereas consistently high daily averages either mean you use a lot or a potential meter fault if you don't think its right.

That switch read is an estimate.

So work out a daily average between your firm readings that you took to see what is is over a long period. Do the same from your reading up to the switch, then from the switch to now. See if there is a disproportionate average.

That's something you can do quickly to see if anything jumps out due to the switch reading being skewed. Essentially to look at averages you need to compare averages in the same period somehow to see if they match up.