Big EON bill, mixed up economy 7 reading?

jam2028

Hi,

I am requesting assistance on behalf of my pensioner parents' who have today received a bill for their Gas and Electricity of over £600 for usage since 2nd Oct. They have had no estimated readings since March and have had no new appliances, for this period of time they were actually away for 3 weeks, Their cooker and fire are Gas, however their Gas usage is fair.

The problem arises with their Electricity, they are on an Economy 7 meter and have night storage heaters. I have called EON on their behalf this evening who inform me that since 2nd Oct they have used £500 worth of day units and £6 worth of night units. Considering that their only daytime usage is lights, microwave, television, shower, kettle etc. while their night usage incorporates all washing and night storage heating this seems to me to be disproportionate.

The gentleman whom I spoke to at EON also agreed that it did not appear to make sense and he would investigate further. He has since contacted my father and told him that he needs to pay the bill and his payments will be doubled! My parents are in no financial position to pay this and more to the point the bill cannot be right. Their average usage over the last year was 5.7kwh & according to EON it is now 64.5, as I say nothing has changed. Their bill for the same quarter last year (1 extra month included and not having taken a holiday) was only £200.

This is causing them so much upset and stress, can anyone please advise me.

Thanks hopefully
Jam

Andy_WSM

jam2028 wrote: »

Their average usage over the last year was 5.7kwh & according to EON it is now 64.5, as I say nothing has changed. Their bill for the same quarter last year (1 extra month included and not having taken a holiday) was only £200.

You will need to provide a list of readings from past bills for anyone to work out what's going on here - and whether they are Estimated or Actual.

Sounds likely to me that they've had a catch up bill as they have not been billed against accurate readings for a while.

5.7kW a day is unrealistic if it includes hot water, heaters and all washing. That said, 64.5kW a day also sounds high to me but I don't know how warm they have their house and how well insulated it is, so it could be right.

Readings, readings, readings - without knowing actual usage it's all speculation.

jam2028

Thanks Andy,

Their bills are all actual reading, this has been confirmed by EON, with the exception of March this year. Their only heating is by way of night storage heaters and therefore should not have any impact on the daytime reading, also all washing is done on economy 7. They are very frugal in their energy usage as they are aware that they are not in a position to pay big bills such as this.

flossy_splodge

I am not with eON however I AM on Economy 7.
In case it helps, I reckon my bills are wrong for my electricity.
I decided to check EXACTLY what time the system switches from low to normal and vice versa.
To my surprise I have discovered my Economy 7 'low' tariff is not kicking in at nighttime but rather, during the day!
This means that when I think I am running eg washing machine at night on cheap units it has in fact been running on 'dearer' units.
I will be contacting my provider tomorrow but you might want to do the same check as heaven only knows why this has happened.
Incidentally, my daughter has economy 7, with eON, in her flat.
I am in the process of trying to resolve with them why her bills are so high.
Something is definitely wrong.
She is barely ever there, (works about a 80 hour week and just sleeps when at home) and doesn't cook. Her heating is Gas so her elec usage should be low.
Will report back when/if I get any answers but don't give up.
It's too easy for these big companies to throw out any questions about their systems.:eek:

macman

flossy_splodge wrote: »

I am not with eON however I AM on Economy 7.
In case it helps, I reckon my bills are wrong for my electricity.
I decided to check EXACTLY what time the system switches from low to normal and vice versa.
To my surprise I have discovered my Economy 7 'low' tariff is not kicking in at nighttime but rather, during the day!
This means that when I think I am running eg washing machine at night on cheap units it has in fact been running on 'dearer' units.
I will be contacting my provider tomorrow but you might want to do the same check as heaven only knows why this has happened.
Incidentally, my daughter has economy 7, with eON, in her flat.
I am in the process of trying to resolve with them why her bills are so high.
Something is definitely wrong.
She is barely ever there, (works about a 80 hour week and just sleeps when at home) and doesn't cook. Her heating is Gas so her elec usage should be low.
Will report back when/if I get any answers but don't give up.
It's too easy for these big companies to throw out any questions about their systems.:eek:

Because your timeswitch is out of synch-look at it and see.
This is very common, and usually works in the customer's favour, as you can use power in the daytime on cheap rate E7. You are not paying more for the 7 E7 hours-they're simply not the hours you expect.
If your daughter has gas CH and DHW, then E7 may not be the right metering system for her property.
So think about it before you report a fault.

matelodave

Perhaps their meters have got out of synch - were they affected by the power outages a few weeks ago. Most time clocks have a some standby capability to cope with short term disconnections, however some people had a significant time without power which could cause some of the clocks or timers to get so far out of synch that storage or immersion heaters might now coming on during the peak time.


It's worth a check

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi Jam

There's a few possibilities that come to mind.

I'm wondering if we've charged your parent's usage the right way round. That is, the night usage at the higher day rate rather than the lower night rate and vice versa.

Electric storage heaters charge up during the cheaper off peak night hours. This is usually where the bulk of the electricity is used with this type of heating arrangement. If this usage has been charged at the higher day rate, this would inflate the bill.

This is easy to check. Just take two sets of meter readings on the same day between 9am and 9pm but at least an hour apart. See which register has moved.

Compare this with your parent's latest bill. If we've charged this day reading at the night rate then this is the wrong way round. This is called transposed readings and we've a specialist team who deal with these issues.

They'll fix the problem and re-bill the account correctly.

Another possibility, as others have said above, is a faulty time switch. This could mean a large part of the usage is being recorded on the wrong register. Again, this will affect the billing.

You can check this by keeping an eye on the meter and noting what times the off peak rate kicks in.

If this is the case, we'll arrange a visit to fix the fault. Once fixed, we'll re-bill the account based on the past usage history before the fault occurred.

We've a specialist Time Switch team for this, too.

If either of the above applies, contact the relevant team (Transposed or Time Switch) and give them the meter readings/times taken. They'll be able to sort the account out from there.

You haven't said how your parents heat their water. Properties with storage heaters often have electric water immersion heaters as well. Sometimes, customers leave these on 24/7. This can really rack up the usage.

I'm not saying this is the case with your parents, it's just something to be aware of.

You mention an estimated bill in March. As Andy says, there could be an element of catch up here. How many bills to actual readings have been sent since March?

I do understand the anxiety an unexpected large bill can cause. Therefore, if the billing does turn out to be correct, ask for the balance to be spread over a more manageable period. We'll be happy to do this.

If the billing is correct and your parent's usage has gone up alarmingly, we can work with them to try to help them understand what's caused this sudden spike.

Hope this helps point you in the right direction Jam. Give me a shout if you need any more information as will be happy to help.

Malc

flossy_splodge

macman wrote: »

Because your timeswitch is out of synch-look at it and see. Thanks, yes I realise this but it has occurred relatively recently and puzzles me why its suddenly changed.
Yesterday it was recording 'low' usage in the middle of the afternoon!
And just because I was writing this I've just gone and checked and the 'low' indicator is on NOW!!

This is very common, and usually works in the customer's favour, as you can use power in the daytime on cheap rate E7. You are not paying more for the 7 E7 hours-they're simply not the hours you expect.
This is fair comment ONCE I KNOW ABOUT IT!! Shall wait and see if it is in fact in my favour or not!! Not usually in during the day so not sure how this will pan out.
If your daughter has gas CH and DHW, then E7 may not be the right metering system for her property.
So think about it before you report a fault.

Yes I agree about my daughters but even so the recorded usage in total seems very high to me.:eek:
Meeting the Eon person there tomorrow to have a look at the meter so fingers crossed and that is thanks to advice from the Eon rep on here, so much appreciated.:j

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

flossy_splodge wrote: »

Yes I agree about my daughters but even so the recorded usage in total seems very high to me.:eek:
Meeting the Eon person there tomorrow to have a look at the meter so fingers crossed and that is thanks to advice from the Eon rep on here, so much appreciated.:j

Glad my post was useful flossy_splodge. Hope all goes well tomorrow.

Malc

jam2028

Thank you Malc and Flossy,

My parents are taking readings tomorrow as you suggested and we will take it from there. In answer to your questions their hot water heater is gas, as is their cooker and fire. The EON gentleman whom I spoke to yesterday confirmed that they have had 3 actual readings since the estimated bill in March.

Your help is very much appreciated. Fingers crossed for you tomorrow Flossy!

Jam

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi Jam

Glad to help.

This rules out the immersion heater possibility I mentioned yesterday.

Please ask your parents to take one set of readings, use a high capacity appliance like a kettle and then, about an hour later, take another set of readings. As above, if they do this on the same day between 9am and 9pm, this will usually be enough to let us know what's going on.

Do you know if the actual readings since the March estimate have been used to bill the account and, if so, when?

Malc