finally received 1st bill after 8 months after moving in can i ask for time to pay

kennyjosiah

Have finally received our first bill for our new house after 8 months from Eon, we moved in June and changed the pre-payment meters to normal meters within a week or two, and never received a bill despite telling them in november as we thought it seemed a long time for our first quarterly bill, finally just received bill dated 4th feb and it is for £1200 :0

we will really struggle to pay this on top of our new usage and we are also paying off £41 a month from our old house which was the shortfall on the final bill from the direct debits we were paying there, (which we feel was partly due to a faulty boiler that was finally fixed just before we moved as it completely packed in and the landlord had no choice)

And of course this new bill is based on the standard rate which is more than likely the highest rate, so we missed the opportunities to lock in to fixed rate or even be on the standard cheapest rate for that period, would we be entitled to ask for retrospective normal best rate for the period, so the bill wont be so high as it isnt our fault they never billed us ?

we cant pay it in full and we didnt expect it to be soo high we moved to a smaller newer house, should we change suppliers quick to get the current best available rate in case they lock us in as we are in debt with them now ? would they be allowed to lock us into them ? and also what are our rights could we ask for the payments to be spread and if so whats the max we could ask for and I do not want to go onto a prepayment meter they couldnt insist could they ?

Richie-from-the-Boro

£1200 ÷ 8 = £150 per month for 9 months of which half would be warm months. That's one heck of a lot.

they never billed us

- they didn't tell you to spend the money you used either
- could'v should'v .. .. put it to one side for this [more-than] expected event

should we change suppliers

- you are locked in
- pay or come to an arrangement
- or eventually be forced back to PAYG

ask for the payments to be spread

- and keep to the agreement
- then get the best e-tariff / meter reads / direct debit / monthly account

Best of luck !

spiro

Nothing stopped you reading the meter ever month and putting away the money to pay your bill when it arrived.

As to what tariff you are on, when they installed a credit meter they would have put you on the standard tariff unless you asked to be put on a different tariff.

chanz4

Op you can ask, but they are not obliged to. They may see you as a risk and insist on the pre-pay going back in

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Morning kennyjosiah,

Have you spoken to us? Why did it take 8 months to produce the bill?

When you contacted us when you moved in and arranged to have the pre-payment removed, what did we say to do once you had the credit meters? Did we let you how about payment arrangements and so on.

We need to establish why you didn't have a bill for 8 months, have you been contacting us throughout this time with meter reads etc?

I'm sorry about all the questions I'm just trying to establish what's gone wrong.

If we've made an error here or as you say you'll struggle to pay this all in one go, we can have a look at spreading the balance over a longer period of time for you.

Let me know if I can help.

Helena

kennyjosiah

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena wrote: »

Morning kennyjosiah,

Have you spoken to us? Why did it take 8 months to produce the bill?

When you contacted us when you moved in and arranged to have the pre-payment removed, what did we say to do once you had the credit meters? Did we let you how about payment arrangements and so on.

We need to establish why you didn't have a bill for 8 months, have you been contacting us throughout this time with meter reads etc?

I'm sorry about all the questions I'm just trying to establish what's gone wrong.

If we've made an error here or as you say you'll struggle to pay this all in one go, we can have a look at spreading the balance over a longer period of time for you.

Let me know if I can help.

Helena

Hi Helena, thanks for responding, their was no mention of payment plans when we arranged the the pre-payment to be removed and this meter was the previous tenants and I do not know why it has taken 8 months for the first bill to arrive.

We are in our forties and have always paid direct debit monthly so I didnt like the thought of pre-payment and we have always paid on time and never missed payments, the bill for the previous house was purely the final bill and the shortfall from the regular direct debits and that we moved before the final dd was taken, not because we were behind or bad payers.

When we arranged for the meter to be removed there was nothing mentioned at all and we were just waiting for the first bill to arrive and then arrange tariffs, etc., but in all the chaos of moving and settling in, we only realised we hadnt had a quarterly bill which would have been around the end of sept/October as we had the meter changed the end of June and it wasnt until oct/nov and we thought it odd, we then received a letter from yourselves nov/dec welcoming us and thanking us for getting in touch, but we still never received a bill or had a meter reading until the beginning of Feb, we have no problem paying but would we be able to pay in instalments and also would we be able to pay on what would have been the best tariff for us in that period and not the standard tariff which is always the highest.

I know everyone says you should put the money aside but paying off the old house and moving in costs, deposits, etc., we are a low income family and money gets swallowed up, in an ideal world we would all just put money aside. I dont for one minute think or expect to not pay, I dont believe I even suggested that.

I was purely asking if I had the right to transfer to another supplier for a preferential tarif and fixed rate, and pay off the bill to yourselves in installments due to our low income, and, if we could pay to the best tariff that was an option to us in the time lapsed waiting for the bill. I feel 8 months is an excessive amount of time to lapse before a bill is produced. Kind regards

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Thanks, I do understand.

What have we said when you contacted us?

Have you been providing meter readings to us?

We're only obliged to read the meters once every two years, so it's not something that will necessarily happen each quarter.

We probably wouldn't backdate your bill on to a previous tariff unless this had been arranged at the time and for some reason we hadn't done it.

We can't just go back like that really, but you need to look at a tariff from now on, these are on the website.

I'd also suggest registering online, this will let you put your own reads in and keep up to date with your tariff.

We do offer extended payment arrangements, the length of time can depend on what's happened, which is why we need to establish why you didn't get a bill for 8 months or any contact apart from your welcome letter.

We can calculate the payments to pay off the balance over a number of months and include your usage as well, so the more accurate reads we can have the more accurate this will be.

Helena

kennyjosiah

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena wrote: »

Thanks, I do understand.

What have we said when you contacted us?

Have you been providing meter readings to us?

We're only obliged to read the meters once every two years, so it's not something that will necessarily happen each quarter.

We probably wouldn't backdate your bill on to a previous tariff unless this had been arranged at the time and for some reason we hadn't done it.

We can't just go back like that really, but you need to look at a tariff from now on, these are on the website.

I'd also suggest registering online, this will let you put your own reads in and keep up to date with your tariff.

We do offer extended payment arrangements, the length of time can depend on what's happened, which is why we need to establish why you didn't get a bill for 8 months or any contact apart from your welcome letter.

We can calculate the payments to pay off the balance over a number of months and include your usage as well, so the more accurate reads we can have the more accurate this will be.

Helena

Hi Helena, why didnt we receive a quarterly bill ? why did it take 8 months for the first bill to be produced ? couldnt go online as we never received a bill we didnt have an account number ? we were waiting for our first bill to then arrange a monthly direct debit and shop around for the best current deal, the cynic in me would say by not sending us a bill you tied us into your service and your expensive standard rate for 8 months !

kennyjosiah

Richie-from-the-Boro wrote: »

£1200 ÷ 8 = £150 per month for 9 months of which half would be warm months. That's one heck of a lot.


it is one heck of a lot probably because it is the expensive standard rate ... the gas wasnt even connected until late june and we never even switched on the central heating until sept/october as the house wasnt cold we only have a gas cooker which was why we are a bit shocked to say the least

chanz4

Op couldnt you pickup the phone and say can I have my account number?

wakeupalarm

You can change to a cheaper tariff on the day you move in. There is no need to wait until a bill is produced.