Energy Ombudsman & E.ON

Wolf3

I too have a complaint with Eon and found that their complaints resolution system is useless.


In a nutshell, in 2011 Eon installed a smart gas meter with an initial reading of zero. In April 2017 I decided to switch from Eon to nPower and sent nPower an initial reading of 12020, and they took over the account on 10/05/2017. For various reasons I didn't get a final bill from Eon until September, when I was shocked to find they claimed I owed them over £1800 for gas. After I complained they upped this bill to £2009.


On checking I found that they had not read the meter since April 2016 when the reading was 5685, so what they are saying is than in just over 12 months I had used more gas than I had used in the past 5 years. In kWh this means that whereas my average yearly consumption between April 2011 and April 2016 was round 13,000kWh, they were saying I had used 70,000kWh in one year.

Are you sure the reading you have submitted to NPower is the correct one? is the reading provided already converted to kWh or is in cubic meters. modern gas meters measure in cubic meters so the read you provided of 12020 would confirm a consumption of around 70000 kWh if your last actual read was 5685 from a year ago? or are you trying to dispute the meter is faulty?

northernpainter

Hi Hengus,

this is a different complaint from a different poster -
I already did the SAR, and got what I needed for the complaint - the EO is still investigating.

TomShaw1949

Yes the reading of 12020 on 10/05/2017 is correct. And the meter does read in cubic metres. I even sent photos of the meter to prove it.
And this is the whole point. Eon are claiming I used 6335 cubic metres of gas between April 2016 and 10/05/2017, whereas I had used only 5685 cu. m. of gas in the previous 5 years since they installed the meter, which is ridiculous in itself.
Of course energy consumption is not constant throughout the year, which is why I wanted historical data to weight the usage seasonally. Using the historical data that I do have, it works out that the average weekly usage during the period of peak consumption would work out to 2750kWh per week, whic is one-fifth of my normal annual usage. It also means my 30kW* gas boiler would have to be burning continuously for 14.5 hours each day during this period.
To use the old "one-bar electric" fire analogy, this would be like having 30 electric fires in my house switched on for 14.5 hours each day.

*OK I know that the boiler rating is 30kW input, not output, but it is a very efficient condensing boiler.

Wolf3

Eon are claiming I used 6335 cubic metres of gas between April 2016 and 10/05/2017,

They are claiming this because that is what the meter has recorded you have used, based on the readings you have given to your current supplier which have been passed to Eon as the final read. There is nothing dodgy about the billing as far as i can see. I think that is pretty obvious you have a fault with the meter and will need an OFMAT test with your current supplier to confirm this. If the meter is found to be faulty then your bill with Eon can be adjusted.

northernpainter

Just thought I'd come back and close the loop here - I got my response from the EO and E.ON:

The ombudsman changed their original decision, and advised that E.ON is now bound by the following remedy:

- provide an apology in writing for the shortfalls in customer service;
- apply Energy UK’s Code of Practice for Accurate Bills, the ‘code’, for the period covering 30 October 2014 to 2 May 2015 and arrange a direct payment for the amount calculated; and,
- provide a direct payment of £50 as a goodwill gesture to acknowledge shortfalls in customer service.

so - while I wasn't entitled to the full final bill back (which I knew anyway) - the backbilling principle did apply according to the EO, for the following reason:

In this case, you received an accurate bill dated 2 May 2016. E.ON (Residential) is entitled to back bill 12 months. My view is the back billing code applies between 30 October 2014 (the date of the previous bill using actual meter reads) and 2 May 2015.

thanks for all your responses.