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

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

teabelly wrote: »

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.

I'm sure the meter readers that frequent here will be along shortly, but I would have thought that the type of inaccesible room where meters are located in blocks of flats is among the least likely targets for energy theft.

Force eon to do what? They only have to read it once every two years. The OP needs to have an urgent discussion with someone about reading the meter, but it isn't eon!

Cardew

This is the Government guidance document on the subject

Guidance-Electricity meter accuracy disputes

https://www.gov.uk/electricity-meter-accuracy-and-disputes

Estimated or incorrect meter readings

Suppliers are required to read and inspect your meter(s) at least once every two years, although some suppliers may visit more frequently.
Where bills are issued more frequently than actual meter readings are recorded, suppliers can use estimates of energy used, based mainly on past consumption, as the basis of the charges. As there can be a lengthy period between supplier readings, it is important you ensure that the estimated reading is close to that actually recorded by the meter. You can do this by recording the reading on the meter yourself and comparing this reading against the estimate soon after you receive your bill.

If a large difference is found, contact your supplier

who should make adjustments to your account. If your actual consumption is not similar to that estimated by your supplier the gap will need to be closed at the time the meter is actually read. This may mean that your supplier will require more money for the energy actually used or will arrange some form of refund where use is less than estimated.
There is also a chance that a meter could be incorrectly read. Once again, a quick check of the reading stated within the bill against the register of the meter will ensure that errors are quickly detected.

That clearly places the onus on the OP for checking meter readings on the bill against actual meter readings.

The OP has been paying £38 and then £45 a month which is very low for(presumably) an all electric flat. Many people pay that for electricity alone, and have gas for heating.

Yes our initial meter readings were given to us by the owners of the building.

Does readings(plural) mean there are two meters - i.e. gas or Economy 7

Presumably the OP didn't check those readings?? That means he could be paying for some of the previous occupant's electricity.

Andy_WSM

Cardew wrote: »

Presumably the OP didn't check those readings?? That means he could be paying for some of the previous occupant's electricity.

It's OK, it will be someone else's fault.

That's certainly the impression the thread gives...

[Deleted User]

The suppliers routinely go a lot further than 2 years to read/inspect meters.. a lot further. 2 years is only a guide, they just ignore it. I think the wording is "attempt " to read/ inspect the meters. OFGEM dont push the suppliers neither. Many are read 6 monthly or even quarterly with BG but the hard to get ones go for as long as they fancy, so long as the bills are paid. We have a BG one where its gone well over 10 years without an inspection.. The lady of the house says "no entry " for anyone , even meter changers.Shes paying the right amount so RPU are happy
The OP is probably in an all electric flat with an eco 7 meter. I know blocks of flats where all the eco 7 meters were billed transposed reads leading to nice low bills of ....around £45 for an all electric heavy use flat. when I got in , I made sure to correctly read the day and night in the correct fields,i.e. rate 1 day..not night

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

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.

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?

Hi AndyBolton and welcome to the Forums.

I'm sorry you found the advisors you spoke with less than helpful. Already some good advice on here. Thought I'd pop on and try to add to the points made.

As others have said, we're only obliged to read meters once every two years but we try to see them much more often. As we've an email address for you, I suspect the emails you've received are system produced communications to make you aware a meter reader will call. When they visit, as sacsquacco says, they'll face the same difficulties with access as anyone else.

Where they visit but can't gain access, they'll report back and this will trigger an estimated bill. This will be based on the usage history we have for the flat. The longer we go without readings, the less accurate estimates are likely to be. This is particularly the case where the only information we have is based on a previous occupant's details/lifestyle.

Where appropriate, bills are clearly marked as estimated. There's also a note asking customers to contact us about this.

As with the bills, without readings, the monthly payments would've been based on the usage estimated for the flat. As above, the longer this goes on, the more likely the recommended payments are to vary from the actual usage. Now we've readings, the billing will have been brought up to date.

Going forward, we'll be happy to look at setting up a payment arrangement to spread the balance over a more manageable period. This will need to be a formal arrangement which we'll confirm in writing.

Sorry again you were unhappy with our advisors but hope this helps point you in the right direction.

Malc