Eon Underestimated electricity usage!

andy3050

Hi,

Last year me and my girlfriend moved into our own place. It's a one bedroomed apartment with just electricity. As the old tenant was with eon I just took out my energy with them.

I had no idea what my yearly usage would be so the woman on the phone said its okay and they can do an estimation, no problem I said and she asked a few questions and told me we would pay £31 per month for our usage and that if we use more the direct debit would change to reflect that! With me being new to all this I didn't question it.

Now I've been giving my readings and noticed the bill was creeping up and my direct debit wasn't covering it, however, on the part of my bill that said if my direct debit would go up or down it always said that we are still on course with estimation and that nothing needs to change.

I've just got a bill through now and because of the under estimation we still owe 285 pound! 160 was carried through from the last bill hat said "we don't need to change your monthly dd". Now they have adjusted it to £99 per month so that we can clear the debt before our review in September!

We can't afford £99 per month due to my girlfriend being freelance and work is a little slow at the moment. Is there anyway eon would reduce the amount owed as it was there mess up with massively underestimating our usage?

dogshome

Even for a 1 Bed apartment £31 a month seems too low for an electric only dwelling, particularly over the winter with heating.

So far a the debt is concerned, phone Eon and negotiate a lower D/Debit - They have a duty to take your personal circumstances into account

You must get a handle on what your annual consumption actually is - You have the reading from when you moved in, take another on the the anniversary - Then look at the switch sites for a better deal.

For more response, post your type of meter - Standard or Eco7? - and the type of heaters you have

ASavvyBuyer

e.on have a very good system for entering your meter readings on line, as often as you want. Worth doing at least once a month to make sure you are on track; especially if money is tight.

If you just took over the existing supplier, you would have been put on their most expensive tarriff. So worth switching to another tariff or supplier. It's no hassle and can be done in less than a month.

Recently helped mother in law to switch and saved her over £500 a year!

andy3050

Thanks for the replies. The meter is a standard meter and the heaters are just electric wall type (not used over winter)

My bill says that my estimated usage is around 4000 kW/h a year, uswitch puts that at £680 per year with eon and that I can save 180 per year if I switch.

I'm thinking I might use some of my money saved for a mortgage and pay off the 280 debt and move now rather than wait.

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Good morning andy3050 and thank you guys for the helpful replies

It can be difficult to set a Direct Debit up initially as previous tenants/owners usage will be different to yours.

I agree with the others, pop your meter reads on your online account once a month and produce a real time bill or balance, then you can use the Direct Debit manager tool online to adjust your Direct Debit to keep on top of everything. It also makes it much more accurate for the future.

However, for now with the balance that has built up, you said you may pay it off, that would be fine, you can then set the Direct Debit to cover ongoing usage, alternatively, you can speak to us again and we can discuss spreading the balance over a slightly longer period of time, so the payments would cover usage and the balance.

You may also want to have a look at the tariff's and make sure you're on the best deal, ours are on our website and there's always the comparison sites to have a look at for a full picture.

But please let me know if you need me

Helena

matelodave

If you've got an electricity meter then you have the tools to check your own consumption. You don't have to rely on on estimates at all.

You really need to check your bills or statements on line to make sure that they do actually reflect your consumption and to correct them if they don't.

When using comparison sites, input your consumption in kwh for the year. I don't know when you moved in but 4000kwh for an all electric place sounds suspiciously low - you should have a good idea of how much you've actually used (subtract your moving in meter reading from today's meter reading) and you can then make your own estimate of how much you'd use over a whole year.

When using comparison sites look at the cost - not the saving as the savings can look to be wildly optimisitic depending on what tariff you are on and whether you are on a fix, especially if it's coming towards the end.

Taking your own readings every month and keeping a spreadsheet, takes 5 minutes or less and enables you to keep track of your consumption and helps you identify when you could save energy. You can also check that your DD is actually covering your consumption and do something about it if it isn't.

andy3050

Hi, I've been updating my meter readings every month, even though I saw the balance going up the website and bills informed me that I was on the right direct debit amount. I've looked at your best offer tool and it says I'm currently on your best offer. But other suppliers can save me 180 a year at least.

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

andy3050 wrote: »

Hi, I've been updating my meter readings every month, even though I saw the balance going up the website and bills informed me that I was on the right direct debit amount. I've looked at your best offer tool and it says I'm currently on your best offer. But other suppliers can save me 180 a year at least.

Thanks andy3050 for the reply

You can always use the DD tool online and change the payment amount by up to 20% as long as the account is billed to accurate reads.

I do agree though, as Direct Debit's should be adjusted if it appears you're falling in to a debit balance. I know we have teams here doing a lot of work around Direct Debit's and getting this right for our customers.

It's great you're looking at things on the online account, it's really useful and some interesting stuff.

I can't give advice about other suppliers tariff's but I'm pleased you've done a best deal for you with us, you can decide if you'd like to stay or change and do what you feel is best.

As I say, I'm always here to help out as much as I can

Helena

Shrimply

andy3050 wrote: »

Hi, I've been updating my meter readings every month, even though I saw the balance going up the website and bills informed me that I was on the right direct debit amount.

But if the direct debt isn't covering the usage is it not common sense that the direct debt is too low. Yes, E.on should have advised on this, but seriously you could see the balance rising, was this not a better indication that you weren't paying enough than the statement by E.on?

andy3050

Shrimply wrote: »

But if the direct debt isn't covering the usage is it not common sense that the direct debt is too low. Yes, E.on should have advised on this, but seriously you could see the balance rising, was this not a better indication that you weren't paying enough than the statement by E.on?

Like I said, this is my first home and I'm not sure about all this, all I'm going off is what eon told me when the account was opened and what they said on bills since that the direct debit doesn't need to change.

Obviously I saw the direct debit wasn't covering it and I wasn't sure if by them saying that the dd wouldn't change due to lesser usage in summer months!

dogshome

Do not rely on the annual 'Estimated' useage shown on your billing - It's just another way of saying 'Guess'
You have been in residence for under a year - You don't know what you will use in a year, Eon don't know either and it was their 'Guess' that got you into this situation in the first place.

Get on the phone, talk to a senior manager and negotiate a D/Debit plan that you can afford, it matters not that the debt won't be clearedat the end of Eon's year end for your account - What does matter is Eon's duty to reach a settlement that you can afford