Two suppliers billing me at the same time - help!

runnermarisol

I'd be really grateful for some help! I bought my first house in August and on completion day rang up e.on (who according to the property information form supplied electricity and gas) and had an account set up and the bills put in my name. I've been paying them for a dual fuel tariff by direct debit for the last few months and can see records of the bills and payments on my online e.on account. Today I got home to a £400 bill from GB (Co-Op) Energy to cover gas and electricity since August, which said that they were actually the suppliers and they'd like their money now please. I rang them and asked what was going on and they said that they were actually my suppliers and still supplied the property for electricity at least, although it looked like e.on had recently taken over the gas supply. I explained I'd been paying e.on for months, and they said, actually you need to pay us. Both eon and GB energy have the correct meter details.

I have no idea how to fix this! It's a huge bill from GB energy as it's their highest variable rate on estimated readings. I don't want to stay with them either as even their fixed tariffs are much higher than a lot I looked at.

E.on say they can't call back for at least 24 hours and I'm having a bit of a panic.Does anyone have any suggestions? Can I get eon to pay GB energy or I am liable for both bills? Thanks for reading.

System

Did you contact what is known as the Deemed Supplier (GBEnergy) when you first moved in to your property with your details and meter readings? I suspect not. It would seem that they may well have blocked your transfer as they have a right to do. You now need to speak to E.oN and ask them to confirm which supplier is listed on the National Databases for your property. If it is GBEnergy, then E.oN should return all money paid to them.

Sorry - this is a hard lesson to learn. Deemed supplier legislation exists so that the lights work when you first move in.

runnermarisol

Thanks for the quick reply. As far as I was aware from the documentation I got e.On had been the supplier which is why I called them. They were happy to set up the account. Do you know if I can stay with eOn or do I have to pay GB Energy now and stay with them until I can switch?

System

runnermarisol wrote: »

Thanks for the quick reply. As far as I was aware from the documentation I got e.On had been the supplier which is why I called them. They were happy to set up the account. Do you know if I can stay with eOn or do I have to pay GB Energy now and stay with them until I can switch?

You need to find out which supplier is listed on the two National Databases. You can do this yourself but it is probably easier to ask E.oN. If E.oN is listed as the nominated supplier, then GBEnergy does not have a claim. If GBEnergy is listed, then you are their customer and not E.oN’s. The fact that GBEnergy has billed you from the date you moved in suggests that is a Deemed Supplier problem and not an erroneous transfer.

If GBEnergy is the listed supplier, they clearly have your details. You are free to initiate a switch but GBEnergy will continue to bill you until the transfer goes through.

To be clear, worst case, we are talking about the tariff price difference here - not paying two suppliers for same consumed energy. As I say, the important thing is to find out who was the nominated (deemed) supplier - ideally, on the date that you took over responsibility for the property.

https://www.uswitch.com/gas-electricity/guides/who-is-my-energy-supplier/

runnermarisol

Hmmmm, eon is now listed as the supplier for both gas and electricity, but there were two entries under electricity which makes me think it may have recently changed. I have to call back tomorrow as the meter office for my location isn’t open at the moment. I really hope eon can sort this out.

System

runnermarisol wrote: »

Hmmmm, eon is now listed as the supplier for both gas and electricity, but there were two entries under electricity which makes me think it may have recently changed. I have to call back tomorrow as the meter office for my location isn’t open at the moment. I really hope eon can sort this out.

Ok - not so straight forward as I thought. You might like to contact the E.oN reps on this forum as they offer MSErs a lot of support.

runnermarisol

I will do, thanks for your helpful comments

runnermarisol

This just seems to get worse. Checked the second entry under under the electricity supply checking tool for UKPN using my other email account and it turns out I have two MPAN numbers, one registered to Eon and one registered to GB Energy. I only have one electricity meter! I can see me spending a lot of time on the phone tomorrow.

System

Out-of-interest, is it a new build? Recently, I had to get my supplier to resolve a new build problem. Developers talk in plot numbers whereas owners and databases 'talk' in term of a postal addresses. My new home was Plot 6 but number 14 xxxx. My MPAN was registered to 6 xxxx not to Plot 6 or 14. It took about 4 weeks to get the two databases updated to my correct address details. My postcode was also wrong.

I would take photographs of your meters - making sure that the serial numbers can be read - and send them off to E.oN.

runnermarisol

No, it's a Victorian terrace - I think it might be easier if it was a new build!


It turns out there are so many issues going on I'm not even sure what to do. Apparently Eon have to come and look at the meter to find out why there are two MPANs, but neither company knew there were two different MPANs so they seem to have one each, and nobody knows which one is the correct one, or even whether both are live. Fortunately the new company has seemingly agreed to put the bill on hold so I may not be massively out of pocket just before Christmas. Thanks so much for responding.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

runnermarisol wrote: »

I'd be really grateful for some help! I bought my first house in August and on completion day rang up e.on (who according to the property information form supplied electricity and gas) and had an account set up and the bills put in my name. I've been paying them for a dual fuel tariff by direct debit for the last few months and can see records of the bills and payments on my online e.on account. Today I got home to a £400 bill from GB (Co-Op) Energy to cover gas and electricity since August, which said that they were actually the suppliers and they'd like their money now please. I rang them and asked what was going on and they said that they were actually my suppliers and still supplied the property for electricity at least, although it looked like e.on had recently taken over the gas supply. I explained I'd been paying e.on for months, and they said, actually you need to pay us. Both eon and GB energy have the correct meter details.

I have no idea how to fix this! It's a huge bill from GB energy as it's their highest variable rate on estimated readings. I don't want to stay with them either as even their fixed tariffs are much higher than a lot I looked at.

E.on say they can't call back for at least 24 hours and I'm having a bit of a panic.Does anyone have any suggestions? Can I get eon to pay GB energy or I am liable for both bills? Thanks for reading.

runnermarisol wrote: »

Hmmmm, eon is now listed as the supplier for both gas and electricity, but there were two entries under electricity which makes me think it may have recently changed. I have to call back tomorrow as the meter office for my location isn’t open at the moment. I really hope eon can sort this out.

runnermarisol wrote: »

This just seems to get worse. Checked the second entry under under the electricity supply checking tool for UKPN using my other email account and it turns out I have two MPAN numbers, one registered to Eon and one registered to GB Energy. I only have one electricity meter! I can see me spending a lot of time on the phone tomorrow.

Hello runnermarisol and already some excellent advice from Hengus - thanks Hengus. A couple of things come to mind.

With two different MPANs, the metering set-up will be what's known as a complex arrangement. These apply to multi-rate meters that are wired into the heating/hot water circuits. They're found mainly at all electric properties with storage heaters and electric water immersion heaters. As you've gas, do you know if this was installed later or if there've been any major developments at the property?

How many different readings are on the meter?

Do you know if there's been a change of supplier in the past? With complex arrangements and following a switch, sometimes the company taking over only applies for one MPAN. Here, the account needs to return to the original supplier to be re-registered so both MPANs relate to the same property. Whoever originally held the supply needs to do this using the Erroneous Transfer process agreed by all suppliers.

This assumes the second MPAN is still active. If not, our Disconnections team will be able to help. They'll remove the meter from the record. They need evidence the service has been removed and correctly disconnected. I suspect this is the reason behind the visit.

Hope this helps point you in the right direction runnermarisol and that you've settled in to your new home.

Malc