EON - wish I hadn't changed tarrif!

PippaGirl_2

I've been with EON for a couple of years. My income is ESA so limited and though I realise I don't gain from the direct debit discount I have liked the control I have over paying. I read my meters on the last day of the month, enter them online which generates a bill and I pay it online so it is paid in full each month. Once or twice I haven't had the money so have paid either a few days late or paid two months in one go. I never have late bills or anything, but this way I get to check my bank account and pay what I know I can afford and paying monthly for exactly what I have used means no bills mount up. I am in total control and know I won't go overdrawn which direct debits might mean.

Anyway at the end of December as I read my meters and paid my monthly bill I used the EON online tool to see whether another of their tarrifs would be cheaper for me and it said another tarrif would save me £80 per year after not counting the fact that I don't get the direct debit discount so I switched to that tarrif and am now tied to it for the whole of 2013.

Previously my monthly bills for electricity and gas has been between £60 and £80 depending on weather/seasons, I am very careful with my bills and this has been achievable for me.

Today is the last day of the month so I have read my meters and entered them online and my new bill on this new supposedly cheaper tarrif has generated a bill for £118.14 which is not far off double what I have previously been paying. And this is supposed to be cheaper?!

I am now in a right state as I know I can't afford bills like this and am thinking I need to turn my heating off. I'm tied to this new deal for another 11 months and I don't know why my bills have doubled. Is there anything I can do?

andymd

It has been quite cold over the past month, so it's not surprising that your bill is more expensive than usual.

You should check to see if you qualify for cold weather payments. Some people qualify for a payment of £25 for each 7 day period of very cold weather between 1 November and 31 March. In most places there will have been at least one period of 7 days of very cold weather.

See https://www.gov.uk/cold-weather-payment/overview for details.

The difference between the cheapest and most expensive tariffs at E.On will be small, so I'm fairly sure this wont be the cause of the spike.

Do you know which tariff you were on and which one you switched to? And how many kWh have you used?

andymd

Looks like you might qualify....

You may be able to get Cold Weather Payments if you’re getting:

Pension Credit
Income Support
income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)

victor2

E.On did increase their rates in January, having frozen them in 2012, but that does sound like a massive hike. When you looked at their online tool, it was probably showing you the cheapest of their currently available tariffs and not comparing it to your current one.
The last month has been particularly cold though, so you doubtless used more energy for heating than in any previous months.
If you have a record of your meter readings, see how the last month compares to previous ones. Also compare your new rates to the old ones - from that calculate what it would have cost you on the old tariff and compare that to the new one.
E.On reps usually monitor these threads so may be along and able to offer more help.

rogerblack

PippaGirl wrote: »

I am now in a right state as I know I can't afford bills like this and am thinking I need to turn my heating off. I'm tied to this new deal for another 11 months and I don't know why my bills have doubled. Is there anything I can do?

With direct debit - you are not paying for the electricity you use directly - your bills are not tied into your monthly usage.
The payment is designed so that over the course of a year, you will pay the same amount, which will average out to the total of your bill.

First thing to do is to take a reading, and work out what your actual charges are over the period - are you building up credit?
If so - then you may be able to ask for the direct debit to be reduced a bit.
The DD will be based on a forecast of usage for the upcoming year.
How does this compare with your usage in the prior year?

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi PippaGirl

I do understand the concern caused when you receive a bill that's higher than expected. Talk to us before turning your heating off, though.

As other posters have said, have a look at how many kWhs have been used on the bill for £118.14. How does this compare to previous months when you were paying between £60 and £80?

If you're usage has gone up, we may be able to help you cut back in the future and still affordably heat your home.

Have a chat to our Energy Efficiency guys. Tell them about your property and appliances. They specialise in helping people reduce their usage and will be happy to help.

What tariff did you change from and to?

We did increase our prices on 18 January and this may have contributed to the increased costs if you switched to our variable tariff. However, if you opted for one of the fixed deals in December, your unit prices won't have changed.

Although some of our tariffs have cancellation fees, they only apply if changing supplier. If there's a better deal for switching to another E.ON tariff, the cancellation fee won't apply.

If you switched to our variable tariff, the cancellation fee for changing supplier before the end date is a total of £10 (£5 per fuel).

It may be worthwhile popping your usage in kWh on to the comparison sites. See if there's a product available which will still save you money even after taking the cancellation fee into consideration.

Hope this helps point you in the right direction. Give me a shout if you need any more advice as always happy to help.

Malc

PippaGirl_2

I've had a reply to my email to EON. The lady says that she's looked at my account and can see that from May to November my average monthly bill has been £68 but occasionally in the winter months my bill has been £91 or slightly higher and she says this new bill is in line with the colder months and the recent increase in cost.

Scary that the prices only went up on the 18th though, so this reflects only 13 days of higher costs and is way more than I have ever used before.

I switched from the EON energy plan to the EON energy discount which she assures me will save me money. I'm not confident of that.

I did get the warm home discount in October which helped and have recently had a cold weather payment which will help towards this bill. It's rare for me to qualify for cold weather payments as we never normally meet the 7 day rule, often missing out by a day or so here in the south. I am grateful for those two things though.

However there is no way on ESA I can sustain a monthly bill of way over £100 so the heating has been turned right down. Several layers and a dressing gown indoors now. I'm still stunned by this bill. Had I been on JSA and not ESA the heating would be totally off not just down. The cost of energy is incredible.

Thanks for your help, I shall just have to wrap up or stay in bed.

Blackdog

PippaGirl wrote: »

I switched from the EON energy plan to the EON energy discount

Energy discount will have a lower unit rate than you were paying. As Malc says in his post above you can always switch to another Eon tariff with no exit fee. If you switch to another supplier they would charge you £10 as an exit fee. Have you compared your recent bill to the same period last year? See if the Kwh or units is around the same. This will tell you whether you are using more energy now than last year.
Please don't freeze! Go back to Malc or one of his colleagues at Eon if you need more help to sort out. Good luck.

rossireps

hi pg
i had my heating off till 2 weeks ago just couldnt afford it,only putting on recently due to this place being so damp im very south so even though im froze its not been cold enough lol. im dreading my bill end of feb but at least ill have my discount which southern electric dont apply till march to help a little.

PippaGirl_2

Thanks, yes, I turned the thermostat down 2 degrees yesterday and will see what that does to February's bill though it is a shorter month so should cost me less anyway. If that's not enough I will turn it down another 2 degrees again.

PippaGirl_2

One day in to turning the thermostat down from 16 degrees to 14, we are all freezing