EON standing charge but no supply to property

Wywth

edwink wrote: »

Hello

I have jus contacted e-on our utility company and arranged to have the meter romoved. The cost is £81.78.

I asked them how much it would be to have the meter reinstalled should we decided many many years down the line that we would like to have a gas supply again. I was concerned that this would be a very expensive job. However, I have been informed that there is no cost because at the end of the day the companies will want your custom so the meter is reinstalled for free. However there must be a few checks made on your supply and original pipes by the National Grid which would cost around £50.00 at the moment. Obviously in many years this cost would go up.

Hope this is of some help to others

Edwink

Not really. I think you have been misled.

Reconnection is not free, as you have discovered.
After you have paid the £50 to have the pipes checked, they will then probably tell you how much it will cost to reconnect you

If you think you may wish to have a gas supply again in the future, I would suggest saving the £81.78 and whatever costs may be incurred reconnecting you later, and simply keep the existing supply but move to a tariff that has no daily standing charge.

lemontart

once the meter is is removed the gas will at some point in very near future be turned off at where it joins the main pipe in the street at at that point becomes dead - use it or loose it sort of thing,

If you decide at some point in the future you wish to use gas again certain things would happen.

1. Live or Dead check by National Grid or the owners of pipe -
2. if deemed as dead you would need to apply for a new supply to the gas network in your area and/or those licensed to attach new pipes to that network.
and that costs 100's if not more to do

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

edwink wrote: »

Hello

I have jus contacted e-on our utility company and arranged to have the meter romoved. The cost is £81.78.

I asked them how much it would be to have the meter reinstalled should we decided many many years down the line that we would like to have a gas supply again. I was concerned that this would be a very expensive job. However, I have been informed that there is no cost because at the end of the day the companies will want your custom so the meter is reinstalled for free. However there must be a few checks made on your supply and original pipes by the National Grid which would cost around £50.00 at the moment. Obviously in many years this cost would go up.

Hope this is of some help to others

Edwink

Hi Edwink

Not sure what our advisor was referring to here but have to agree with Wywth and lemontart.

Where a meter has been removed and the supply capped, there will be charges to replace and re-connect it at a later date.

Charges will depend on the individual circumstances and the nature of the work involved to safely re-connect the supply.

Sorry if we've given the wrong information. Equally sorry if I've the wrong end of the stick.

Malc

SeaBee

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Why are you only discovering after two years you are on a tariff with standing charge on the gas supply?? Have they failed to bill you for this before now or have you not bothered checking your bills? Have they not been and read the meter in the last two years? If the issue is their failure to bill you write a letter to the Complaints Team.
https://www.eonenergy.com/~/media/ED96F94C8C14468DBD99304E45F867FE.pdf

We have only received statements showing the payments we have made and amount outstanding - no standing charges otherwise we would have queried it before now. No meter readings as we aren't a customer of theirs anymore.

As other's have clarified (thanks all), it's a new charge which we were not notified of.

edwink

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc wrote: »

Hi Edwink

Not sure what our advisor was referring to here but have to agree with Wywth and lemontart.

Where a meter has been removed and the supply capped, there will be charges to replace and re-connect it at a later date.

Charges will depend on the individual circumstances and the nature of the work involved to safely re-connect the supply.

Sorry if we've given the wrong information. Equally sorry if I've the wrong end of the stick.

Malc

Hello Malc

I have only stated on MSE what I was told over the phone when I spoke to an E-on member of staff regarding the disconnection of my gas supply. I made thorough notes whilst I was on the phone so I am 100% what I have stated today on this site was what I was told.

I was told that the reconnection and new meter would be FREE. Also told that the National Grid would need to carry out a live and dead check at a cost of a nominal fee of £50.00.

This information was given to me over the phone very very recently and on this information I made the decision to have my supply disconnected.

It now appears that I have been given incorrect information. May I suggest that E-on update their staff fully on the reconnection proceedure and exact costs involved.

Please Private Message me Malc as I am happy to discuss this with you.

Thank you

Edwink

lemontart

National grid do not normally charge you as end user for a live or dead check unless that has changed in the past month -they may charge a supplier or a supplier may arrange it for you and pass that on to you. If your service is live which after around 6 months plus unlikely then just a case of getting new meter installed by supplier of choice. The 6 month period may well be less in some cases.

Fire_Fox

SeaBee wrote: »

We have only received statements showing the payments we have made and amount outstanding - no standing charges otherwise we would have queried it before now. No meter readings as we aren't a customer of theirs anymore.

As other's have clarified (thanks all), it's a new charge which we were not notified of.

In the first post you said you changed electricity supplier to SP not gas (obviously), so it looks EON still deems that you are their gas customer. However if there is nothing about the standing charge on any earlier bill or statement you could certainly argue against it.

Oscargrouch

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc wrote: »

Morning all

Just thought I'd pop on and confirm some details about our standing charges.

Previously to this, most of our tariffs were two tier priced. This is where the first portion of kWh used were charged at a higher rate.

Following this review, many of our customers and consumer groups told us they preferred simpler pricing with a single unit rate. We listened to this and replaced two tier pricing with standing charges.

Whilst we understand this won't please all our customers, feed back tells us the majority prefer this method of charging.

As others have said, whilst there's a meter at the property, we'll apply the standing charge even if there's no usage. This is to cover things like maintenance, rental and making sure the meter is safe.

For those not using gas, meters can be removed and the supply capped. Charges for this vary depending on the type of meter and whether it's owned by the National Grid or an Independent Gas Transporter. Best to contact our Gas Disconnections team for a quote.

Hope this explains the changes made recently. Give me a shout if anyone needs any more info as will be happy to help.

Malc

If, and that is a big if, EoN want to try to make charges easier to understand and compare, why not just give a price per unit off the meter numbers? What's with the standing charge? You write with regard to:- 'This is to cover things like maintenance, rental and making sure the meter is safe'. I have never seen any maintenance or checks carried out on my Gas meter, ever! It is only read about twice a year by a meter reader to ensure I am not submitting false readings which, if I did, may put me in debt.

lemontart wrote: »

once the meter is is removed the gas will at some point in very near future be turned off at where it joins the main pipe in the street at at that point becomes dead - use it or loose it sort of thing,

If you decide at some point in the future you wish to use gas again certain things would happen.

1. Live or Dead check by National Grid or the owners of pipe -
2. if deemed as dead you would need to apply for a new supply to the gas network in your area and/or those licensed to attach new pipes to that network.
and that costs 100's if not more to do

I take your point. But if it can be turned off at the street where it joins the main, then why not just turn this tap off and leave the meter in situ. No gas can pass through a meter that is not being supplied. Surely it does not cost too much to turn a gas tap on or off. If turned off then all it takes is a pressure test once on again at the meter to determine if there is any pressure loss?

SeaBee wrote: »

We have only received statements showing the payments we have made and amount outstanding - no standing charges otherwise we would have queried it before now. No meter readings as we aren't a customer of theirs anymore.

As other's have clarified (thanks all), it's a new charge which we were not notified of.

You would not have been notified of it if you are not an EoN Gas customer. As a previouse poster wrote; this would be a charge throughout the 'rip off' industry that is in the 'pipe line'. (sorry for the pun).

Battybird

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Are you Seabee or a different poster? Were you not informed of the change? Have you come off a fixed price fixed term tariff?

Isn't what supposed to simplify bills? Market forces and overheads dictate prices, few businesses want a clear pricing structure we'd spend less. Imagine if supermarkets sold one type of tomatoes, one type of chicken and one type of milk chocolate. Instead many are the same thing all packaged up and branded differently.

Charging a fixed price per unit with no separate standing charge just means the standing charge is built into the unit price, that penalises some households and benefits others. It's all very complex because houses with gas and electric are paying two standing charges BUT all electric houses pay far more per unit for heating. Some are frugal some are wasteful, some people live alone some live in a family so share the bills. I don't know how you make it 'fair' for everyone.

I am a different poster, was lurking in the middle of the night, and read your post, #6.

You had typed to the op, "Why are you only discovering after two years you are on a tariff with standing charges?" I was pointing out to you that Eon have only recently introduced this standing charge.

I think it is the government (?) that wants the bills simplifying.

I was giving my opinion as to how bills could be simplified, then all of us that haven't got an A level in maths could easily work our bills out.

Martyn1981

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc wrote: »

Hi Edwink

Not sure what our advisor was referring to here but have to agree with Wywth and lemontart.

Where a meter has been removed and the supply capped, there will be charges to replace and re-connect it at a later date.

Charges will depend on the individual circumstances and the nature of the work involved to safely re-connect the supply.

Sorry if we've given the wrong information. Equally sorry if I've the wrong end of the stick.

Malc

Hiya Malc, any chance you can clarify this a bit more. If I'm reading what Wywth and Lemontart have said correctly, then:-
if Edwink (or others) get their gas meter removed, re-fitting shouldn't cost much or at all, but if any major works take place in between then the connection will not be maintained. Is that about right?

So in this real situation, we are to have our gas mains and supply pipes upgraded in the next months or so. My neighbour opposite has solid fuel burners, and leccy. If they don't have a gas account/meter then when the pipework 'goes past' their house, no connection (supply pipe) will be made to the new gas main?

I house sat for my father 2 weeks ago whilst his supply pipe was upgraded. Meter taken out (less than 5 mins), new yellow supply pipe shoved up the old metal one (1 min), meter replaced, gas stove and boiler checked (less than 10 mins). But if he'd been bypassed, presumably excavation work would be needed for reconnection - any guesses how much that might be?

Thanks.

Mart.