Despite claiming otherwise, E-ON haven't been taking meter readings...

AndyBolton

We've been in our flat for over 2 years now, and when we moved in we quickly discovered that we don't have access to our electricitry meter: it is in a service cupboard that residents don't have access to.

We immediately informed EON of this, and they told us its incredibly common, and not to worry as they would be sending a meter reader of there own intermittently. We were placated. Futher to this, we received an Email from EON approximately every 4 months telling us, explicitly:

" you don't have to provide EON with a meter reading this time, as an engineer is due to visit soon."

We believed them, which EON have now told us is a stupid thing to have done.

It turns out they haven't been taking any meter readings, and now that they have finally done so (and only because they have a legal obligation to check at least every 2 years), they have given us a bill for an extra 1,200 which, (when combined with their re-calculated annual Bill) means they are pursuing us for over £2000 before next November. Timing couldn't be worse, as We are getting married in October.

The first thing I did was call EON, and ask them why they hadn't been taking their readings as agreed (and as we'd discussed, and as they'd been telling us they had through email). The CS agent claimed they hadn't been sending such emails, he was unable to receive emails from me if I forwarded them and the department to deal with this was closed over christmas. He also stated that it wasn't his job to look into this, it was only his job to set up a credit solution, otherwise from January they'd start taking £200 from my account, Monthly...

Now this chap told a few porky pies on the phone to me in one conversation, seemingly changing his mind about key details once he realized that EON hadn't been meeting its stated obligations....

What should I do? there's no way we can pay £2000 between now and November, and considering we both work full time and live in a tiny 1 bedroom/1 living space (kitchen/living room combined) flat, we think this bill is frankly ludicrous. Eon won't even have a conversation with us...

...help?

[Deleted User]

Why cant you get to your meters ? We also have the same struggle getting past these same obstructions as you are faced with, locked meter cupboards with no keys available. You have a legal right to access your own meter. On your statements it would clearly show if they were estimates or actual readings. I dont think you have much excuse for getting a debt like that as suppliers can use the 2 year rule ( 5 years for British Gas ) as a get out

shammyjack

If I lived in accommodation where my meter was behind a locked door that I could not access it would not stay locked for long !

ljonski

were initial meter readings taken by anyone?

AndyBolton

Yes our initial meter readings were given to us by the owners of the building. The reason residents can't access the meter is because its in an unsafe location, only an engineer is authorized to get to it.

We would have been concerned if we didn't think we were having our meter read, But EON were sending us an email every 4 months to say they were reading it: they also sent us monthly paper bills and adjusted our Direct Debit price at the start of last year, so we assumed this was adjusted on the basis of meter readings...

At first the CS agent tried to tell us we could have checked our 'online account' at any time, and I told him we haven't activated it because we prefer paper bills... he went away and confirmed we'd never logged in and activated, and each paper Bill we recieve has printed on the back of it "Don't want paper Bills? go to E-ON.co.uk to activate your online account"...

As I've said, we prefer paper Bills so we never activated this feature, he confirmed this to be true but basically said he didn't care.

Andy_WSM

AndyBolton wrote: »

Yes our initial meter readings were given to us by the owners of the building. The reason residents can't access the meter is because its in an unsafe location, only an engineer is authorized to get to it.

We would have been concerned if we didn't think we were having our meter read, But EON were sending us an email every 4 months to say they were reading it: they also sent us monthly paper bills and adjusted our Direct Debit price at the start of last year, so we assumed this was adjusted on the basis of meter readings...

At first the CS agent tried to tell us we could have checked our 'online account' at any time, and I told him we haven't activated it because we prefer paper bills... he went away and confirmed we'd never logged in and activated, and each paper Bill we recieve has printed on the back of it "Don't want paper Bills? go to E-ON.co.uk to activate your online account"...

As I've said, we prefer paper Bills so we never activated this feature, he confirmed this to be true but basically said he didn't care.

As stated above. Your paper bills can only have stated ESTIMATE next to the readings. You didn't spot this?

How much per month were you paying? To have built up a £2k debt in 2 years suggests either you are very heavy users or you simply haven't been paying anywere near enough from the go.

AndyBolton

We paid by direct debit at 45 pounds a month, and we're not heavy users at all, we both work full time so we're hardly home...

Because we were on Direct Debit the paper bills we received were simply notifying us of changes, such as price increases and changes to our standing order fee: for example, some time agoo our direct debit went up from 38 to 45 per month, which we assumed (because EON told us explicitly) was due to a meter reading and re-calculation...

but we're moving away from the point here... we KNOW the bills were estimated now, that much is obvious... what I'm trying to figure out is what can be done about the fact that EON haven't been sticking to the 'arrangement' we made with them when signing up, which the CS agent confirmed was on their records...

we told them we didn't have access to our meter, they said they'd send an engineer intermittently, they emailed us at regular intervals to say they had been doing this... they hadn't... now they want the full amount of underpayment within the next year....

...what are my rights as a consumer? is there anything precedence for this elsewhere? what are EONS obligations after making such an arrangement, and failing to enact it: or, more appropriately, notifying us they were unable to enact it so we could have pursued our landlord for a reading...

[Deleted User]

Personally I have never seen anything remotely dangerous in any meter cupboards. There are just blocks of meters, nothing live. they are just using silly health n safety guff to muck people about. This " engineer " or whatever they fancy calling him should be posting meter readings outside the rooms once a month if its that "dangerous ". I ve seen that often enough. But then I suppose if he cant be a***d then everyone is going to get mucked up bills. How can occupiers get proper bills with a farce like this in place. Its not Eons fault. The meter readers would ve hit the same brick wall as you were faced with and turned away
There is plenty of precedence to this sort of thing, we ve had it on here often enough, until the residents properly bully the management into doing something, nothing will be done. They need to get their "engineer " to be displaying the meter readings outside on a sheet of A4 once a month. Then there is the problem of start and end reads to overcome when switching or moving out/in.You seem to be intent of laying the blame directly onto Eon and the "arrangement "in the hope of a reduced bill.In the terms and conditions of supply you will have an agreement to supply your readings twice a year

energyworker

AndyBolton wrote: »

We paid by direct debit at 45 pounds a month, and we're not heavy users at all, we both work full time so we're hardly home...

Because we were on Direct Debit the paper bills we received were simply notifying us of changes, such as price increases and changes to our standing order fee: for example, some time agoo our direct debit went up from 38 to 45 per month, which we assumed (because EON told us explicitly) was due to a meter reading and re-calculation...

but we're moving away from the point here... we KNOW the bills were estimated now, that much is obvious... what I'm trying to figure out is what can be done about the fact that EON haven't been sticking to the 'arrangement' we made with them when signing up, which the CS agent confirmed was on their records...

we told them we didn't have access to our meter, they said they'd send an engineer intermittently, they emailed us at regular intervals to say they had been doing this... they hadn't... now they want the full amount of underpayment within the next year....

...what are my rights as a consumer? is there anything precedence for this elsewhere? what are EONS obligations after making such an arrangement, and failing to enact it: or, more appropriately, notifying us they were unable to enact it so we could have pursued our landlord for a reading...

The emails you received stated that they were sending someone to read the meter, not that they had. Sounds like they were sending a meter reader who would then report back that it was inaccessible.

The role of the meter reader is to access and read the meter where safe. If it the responsibility of the account holder (and by extension the landlord if a rented property) to ensure that this meter is accessible safely. If your landlord insists on keeping the meter inaccessible as he considers it unsafe then you need to be having a conversation with him.

In the meantime you need to put in place a payment plan with eon to cover the money you owe them. You've used the energy and the costs won't go away. They are far more likely to take a sympathetic view at this point. You may have a basis to file a formal complaint that this wasn't made clearer to you earlier but you are unlikely to see any major recourse, maybe a small good will gesture.

tronator

AndyBolton wrote: »

We've been in our flat for over 2 years now, and when we moved in we quickly discovered that we don't have access to our electricitry meter: it is in a service cupboard that residents don't have access to.

Check whether the locks are standard "fire brigade keys" and get a set from Amazon or Ebay. I can access our meters with a FB1 key.

teabelly

Can Eon prove you have definitely used this much energy as an inaccessible cupboard sounds like the perfect cover for energy theft and meter tampering? An incorrect initial reading would also create this kind of problem.

Force them to read it again within the month or insist you must read it yourself to prove the most you'd actually use in a month and get them to revise the bill if their figure is way off.

If the meter cupboard is close enough then get a energy monitor installed on it so you can make doubly sure there isn't some rogue device taking lots of energy.