E.ON is charging me tooo much! £248.47 for a 2-bed flat

saverbuyer

culpepper wrote: »

Don't know about it not being his job....
We rent out a flat and the meter is read as part of the inventory when a tenant moves out and again (if there is a time difference) when the new tenant moves in.
If there is a lapse between tenants,we pay any power costs during that time .If a tenant leaves still owing money to the energy company, that is paid out of their deposit.

You shouldn't do that and the deposit protection service shouldn't allow the deduction. The tenant's contract is with the utility company. The company should try and get the money from the tenant, it's got nothing to do with you.

culpepper

The meter in our property is a pay meter. The tenant pays the meter and the energy is available. There is an emergency button to allow £5 debit and the tenant can press the button if they cant get to the shops to pay on their meter tab but the cost of the energy is still theirs to pay. The button can be pressed more than once. To get the balance back once the tenant moves out if they deliberately miss topping up the meter to set it back to zero, we have to pay it ourselves and then claim the deficit from the deposit.
Its perfectly legal .
It doesn't matter which company it is with as far as I can see and we certainly wouldn't be telling our tenants they could not change supplier but they are all students on short term lets and so unlikely to be there very long anyway.

As far as the OP is concerned, I cant see how she can be expected to pay for more than she has used and in this digital age, I cant see why the energy company should not have a record of the last bill paid (before she moved in).

saverbuyer

culpepper wrote: »

The meter in our property is a pay meter. The tenant pays the meter and the energy is available. There is an emergency button to allow £5 debit and the tenant can press the button if they cant get to the shops to pay on their meter tab but the cost of the energy is still theirs to pay. The button can be pressed more than once. To get the balance back once the tenant moves out if they deliberately miss topping up the meter to set it back to zero, we have to pay it ourselves and then claim the deficit from the deposit.
Its perfectly legal .
It doesn't matter which company it is with as far as I can see and we certainly wouldn't be telling our tenants they could not change supplier but they are all students on short term lets and so unlikely to be there very long anyway.

As far as the OP is concerned, I cant see how she can be expected to pay for more than she has used and in this digital age, I cant see why the energy company should not have a record of the last bill paid (before she moved in).

That makes a bit more sense. Your original post suggested it wasn't a prepayment meter (reading at inventory and again at checkout). Basically you read the balance. It should be zero at check in and checkout.


Still, the fact remains if the tenant disputed the reading, it would be difficult to keep the fiver.

culpepper

I wonder how energy consuming the OP might actually be.
.....
It is very easy to wack up the bill if for instance, the heating is on all the time.
An electric oven is heavily used...
There is a tumble dryer being used for all clothes drying.
A Hair dryer is used for a long time..
The Iron is left on ..
A Kettle is constantly being boiled.

******The immersion heater switch is left constantly in the ON position****

Some of these things can be addressed by change of habit.
E.g. use a flask.When you boil the kettle,flask any non used water to use later.
Dry laundry outside at least partially .
Don't use washer every single day and towels only need washing every now and then as you are clean when you use them.
Wear more layers so you aren't heating everywhere just to keep your feet warm.
Only switch hot water on 30-45 mins before actually bathing and then off again .
Have showers rather than baths to use less hot water.
If there is a microwave, use it for cooking and have a microwaveable wheat bag for putting in bed or on feet for extra heat.

E.ON_Company_Representative

Hi melody1026,

I hope you don’t mind me popping on and giving you some advice from this end.

When you move in to a property, you should provide us with your start reading, this is normally taken the day you’ve taken on the responsibility of the property.

This will then make sure your bills are correct and you’re only paying for when you’d moved in.

Without meter readings, we rely on estimates based on the usage history we have for the property. This can lead to inaccuracies particularly when circumstances change or people move in/move out.

It’s your responsibility to make sure your account is correct and not your landlords sorry.

Have you asked your landlord, where your meter is?

Have you given us any meter readings since moving in?

Are your bills based on estimated or actual reads? This will tell you on your bills if we’ve read your meter or it’s based on an estimate.

If your bills are estimated, then this isn’t a true reflection of your usage and is only an estimate.

We could be estimating your usage too high or too low.

As soon as we get an actual read the better and we’ll be able to correct your bill for you.

If you’re struggling to pay, call us we’ll be more than happy to set up a payment arrangement for you to help spread the balance.

Also it’s not down to your landlord which tariff you would like to go on, like macman mentioned. It’s best to pop your details on to a comparison site to make sure you’re on the best tariff.

I hope this helps and if you have any other questions please let me know.

Amy:)