E.ON Heatwise Electricity Meter

pezz18

Hi,
I am hoping Malc / any E.on representative on here may be able to advise? I have seen posts on here stating there is a special Heatwise E.on team set up to deal with the phase out of these meters, how can I get their contact details? I have also seen posts that mentioned people are receiving letters explaining they are being phased out. We haven't had a letter yet, am I likely to get one at any point soon? I live in LE67. Finally, can you provide me with the details for my electricity tariff? My online account states we are on the E.on De Energised (Rolling Monthly) tariff, yet I cant find any information about this on the E.on website.

See my story below:
We moved into a property a few years ago which has a Heatwise meter. Shortly after the move, we decided to replace the large water heating storage tank with a combi boiler.

As our meter states 5 different readings, we noticed straight away that the ordinary night and day readings continued to increase and the remaining 3 are now frozen and no longer record any power usage (due to the water tank system being removed).

Until last September, I didn't really understand what Heatwise meters were all about, how they worked etc and never realised we had 2 separate serial numbers which in effect means we have 2 accounts with our energy supplier. With all the advertising you see around these days about switching to cheaper tariffs etc I decided to join the MSE Energy Switch Club and took advantage of one of the switch deals! - not realising how it would effect me, and again at this point not understanding I was on a Heatwise meter and thinking I was on the Economy 7 meter.

Not long after the switch, our previous supplier (Utility Warehouse) sent us a letter stating our electricity had been mistakenly switched. We also had issues trying to submit our meter readings to the new supplier (E.on) yet when calling E.on to submit them instead, they never mentioned anything about how the switch hadn't happened, and for the first few months (until the letter arrived) happily took our readings!

After numerous confusing phone calls between both suppliers (in which each time we rang we had to go through the whole scenario again with each different phone operator!:mad: ) we have now eventually got something sorted - however are losing out on the initial deal we signed up for (which may be our own fault by not understanding the heatwise meter) and I don't think were taking advantage of any duel fuel discounts as we have 2 separate accounts, 1 for gas, 1 for electric!!

Our gas is on the MSE switch as we initially signed up to, however our current electric tariff is called E.on De Energised and is a rolling monthly tariff. I can't see any information about this tariff on the E.on website?

On asking E.on if we could replace our Heatwise meter, they said we would have to wait until they roll out their smart meters and they don't know when they will be in our area - and seen as the government have given a deadline by 2020, who knows how soon it will be!?

Thanks
Andy

spiro

Tell Eon you want to go on a 24/7 tariff. If this requires a meter change they have 10wd to do that under the OFGEM standards of performance. If they wont do it write a formal letter of complaint.

Wolf3

Hi Pezz18

As you have had a gas combi boiler fitted and presuming all the storage heaters have been removed from the property, i would expect the rates on the off peak meter to remain at their current levels.

I just wanted to clarify something with you as you stated there was a complication with the transfer of the electric supply and you stating that your Eon tariff is listed as a de-energised tariff.

The heatwise meters and similar meter setup's have 2 separate supply numbers, one for the regular 24/7 electric supply, in your case the first 2 registers of the meter that are still moving and another for the off peak element, the 3 rates that are not moving. This can either be set up as a single meter or 2 separate.

I just wanted to make sure / check, both of these supply numbers are with Eon. As this could be quite complicated if the Off peak supply has transferred to Eon and the Regular supply number is still supplied by Utility Warehouse.

If both supply numbers have transferred I would ring your Eon again and ask them to book an appointment to remove or disconnect the off peak part of the heatwise meter, if the storage heaters or underfloor heating have been removed. An additional appointment can be booked at the same time for the normal part of the meter, if needed.

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Morning pezz18,

I'm sorry that you appear to have a had such a complicated time with this

Some good information on the thread, so thank you.

I can get you in contact with the team about having a meter change, we can then move on to getting the accounts on a OneBill.

Heatwise meters were designed mainly for all electric properties with storage heaters and electric water immersion heaters. They’re designed to give 10 hours of cheaper off peak electricity for heating and water heating purposes. This is spilt into 3 time slots during the afternoon, in the evening and at night. some Heatwise comes with a conventional Economy 7 meter and this records all other usage.

[FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]Due to the specialist nature of this type of metering we only have the one tariff available.

It does sound the heatwise part of the meter isn't recording as you now have gas and this is the de-energised bit, but I think the tariff and the set up needs looking at, again this can be done when you speak to the team about having a meter change as I think this is the best thing to do.

You can email me and I'll give you the number that you need, I'm sorry I can't post it on the forum.

Thank you

Helena
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pezz18

Wolf3 wrote: »

I just wanted to make sure / check, both of these supply numbers are with Eon. As this could be quite complicated if the Off peak supply has transferred to Eon and the Regular supply number is still supplied by Utility Warehouse.

Hi Wolf3,
Yes, this is where things did get complicated! as the regular day/night rate electricity supply transferred from Utility Warehouse to Eon, yet the defunct supply didn't - and because the 3 meter readings on the water/heating supply no longer increment, we were getting billed for £1.50 from Utility Warehouse - a standard bill protector fee, yet when you looked at the actual bill, the cost for the electric was £0.00, so my initial reaction was that the switch hadn't completed correctly or that Utility Warehouse hadn't closed our account correctly.

Whilst this was going on, we were paying Eon the regular monthly direct debits - which we assumed was covering both gas and elec due to the switch - but in reality this was only covering the gas - which in turn now means we are massively in credit with the gas account as we have effectively been over paying each month!

We haven't actually had an electric bill from Eon yet as we are set up to be billed quarterly! So, no idea how much this is going to cost!

When we initially inquired about what was happening with our old UW account, UW agreed that the account hadn't closed and assured us that they would close it and that was the end of it - no investigation at this point from them. Yet, as the following months progressed we noticed the account was still open as we were still getting charged the £1.50.

Then eventually 2 letters came through 1 from each supplier, Eon saying sorry we are leaving, UW suggesting someone has switched accounts by mistake!

So, it turns out we were actually in limbo and theoretically didn't have a supply with anyone, so once we eventually switched both supplies to Eon, UW then calculated the amount of electric we had used from October (the switch date) to March (the date we realised things weren't correct) and sent us a nice big bill for this period and closed our UW account!

So, thats where we are at now, again, I totally get now that it is our wrong doing, but I just wish there was some sort of error detection earlier in the process to prevent this from happening,,, such as the switch failing as we had 2 supplies or something,, also, when we contacted UW the first time when we noticed the account hadn't closed, wish they had said at the time, you still have a supply with us, not just agreeing that it hadn't been closed properly!!

And finally, when were unable to submit our readings online with Eon, and so had to telephone them through each month (how did they manage to take them if we didn't even have our electric with them!?) and told them about the error each month, we were just given a case number and each month we mentioned this case number (as nothing was been done) we were told the team dealing with this were really busy and someone would contact us about it - why couldn't they have looked at the account which could have told them our supply was still with UW?

Anyway, hopefully this should get sorted soon now!

Andy

pezz18

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena wrote: »

You can email me and I'll give you the number that you need, I'm sorry I can't post it on the forum.

Hi Helena,
Thanks for your reply, can you let me know your email address please? I tried sending a private message, but you have disabled them Or, you can private message me.

Thanks
Andy.

molerat

WebForumAdvisors@eonenergy.com

Wolf3

Thanks for clarifying pezz18,

You should get things sorted with Eon, As Helena has noted your meter setup is classified as a complex meter, which are in the process of being phased out. A legacy of when electric was cheap and it was easier (and cheaper) for builders to install electric heating.

As i said earlier it can become confusing if your not aware of the situation and never had the meter setup described before. I think i understand what has happened from what you have described.

I wouldn't attach any blame to yourself if you have never had this type of meter before. Yes you were aware of the Heatwise meter at the property but i bet a fair % of people who have them know nothing of how their setup. It can be confusing and you should only have one account number, usually a single meter but 2 supply numbers.

So, thats where we are at now, again, I totally get now that it is our wrong doing, but I just wish there was some sort of error detection earlier in the process to prevent this from happening,,, such as the switch failing as we had 2 supplies or something,, also, when we contacted UW the first time when we noticed the account hadn't closed, wish they had said at the time, you still have a supply with us, not just agreeing that it hadn't been closed properly!!

The original error occurred with your transfer, both of the supply numbers need to transfer to be complete. Now this could have occurred if you used a comparison website. As I've found they do tend to be quite lax in allowing the complex meters to transfer without quoting the secondary MPAN.
Secondly, the information held on the national database wasn't correct, as there are specific codes that flag up there should be 2 supply numbers to request for a transfer. This could have been amended incorrectly by a previous Meter Operator or Supplier.
Thirdly, UW should have realized this and rejected the transfer request, which would have allowed Eon to double check the transfer details.

When we initially inquired about what was happening with our old UW account, UW agreed that the account hadn't closed and assured us that they would close it and that was the end of it - no investigation at this point from them.

This was the wrong advice as i said earlier the transfer has not been completed correctly

So, it turns out we were actually in limbo and theoretically didn't have a supply with anyone, so once we eventually switched both supplies to Eon, UW then calculated the amount of electric we had used from October (the switch date) to March (the date we realised things weren't correct) and sent us a nice big bill for this period and closed our UW account!

As you have described, Eon will have sent the primary supply number back to UW as an erroneous transfer. This will be because the transfer has not been sucessfully completed, not taking over both supplies. Its an arrangement used in the industry fairly regularly, whilst Eon technically supplied it from October they agree not to bill for this period. So you wont be in limbo without a supplier, as part of this arrangement means UW should bill you for this period, hence the reason they sent you a bill.
Eon will then have arranged to transfer both supply numbers across completing the transfer successfully.

Then eventually 2 letters came through 1 from each supplier, Eon saying sorry we are leaving, UW suggesting someone has switched accounts by mistake!

Probably an automated letter from Eon, generated by mistake when transferring the supply back to Eon

We haven't actually had an electric bill from Eon yet as we are set up to be billed quarterly! So, no idea how much this is going to cost!

As part of the Erroneous Transfer you should not get a bill for the electricity supply for the period between October and March. I would expect Eon to refund the payments they have taken for the electricity supply since October, so you can cover the UW bill.

And finally, when were unable to submit our readings online with Eon, and so had to telephone them through each month (how did they manage to take them if we didn't even have our electric with them!?) and told them about the error each month, we were just given a case number and each month we mentioned this case number (as nothing was been done) we were told the team dealing with this were really busy and someone would contact us about it - why couldn't they have looked at the account which could have told them our supply was still with UW?

The person you have spoken to, probably has less knowledge about your meter than you do. As for not being able to input readings online, this is probably down to the fact the system wanted 5 reads instead of 2 or vice versa.

Hope that all made sense, in any case, once both the supplies have been transferred you should be able to get your meter exchanged and the secondary supply number disconnected, so you wont have the same issues again.

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Morning guys,

Thank you all, I've got the email and sent a reply so things should now get moving forward from here

We're not allowed private messages on here, so thanks molerat for providing my email, I'd finished work by then:o

Thanks again.

Helena