Eon Backbilling

Ayoung89

I moved from my last address in January 2018. I sent off the final meter reading for electricity but wasn’t able to for the gas as the meter was housed in the basement of the converted Cornmill and it was flooded out and unsafe to go down. Regardless, I received an email in March 2018 to say they were sorry my final bill was taking so long, that I didn’t need to do anything and that they would be in touch. Then in February 2019 I received my final bill. Over a year from when I’d left the flat. I have just had a baby and I’m on maternity leave so it’s quite an inconvenient time to get an unexpected bill.
As I understand it, energy companies can’t bill you for energy used more than a year ago, however when I asked eon about this I was told that as I was no longer their customer it didn’t apply to me. I can’t find anything to suggest that you still need to be covered by that supplier. I have sent a message to CAB but they haven’t got back to me yet. Can anyone clarify this?

nigelbb

Ayoung89 wrote: »

As I understand it, energy companies can’t bill you for energy used more than a year ago, however when I asked eon about this I was told that as I was no longer their customer it didn’t apply to me.

You are correct & eon are lying to you. Here is a link to the OFGEM backbilling rules including this statement

Your supplier can’t ask to be paid for unbilled energy used more than 12 months ago, if you haven’t been accurately charged for this usage before.

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/consumers/household-gas-and-electricity-guide/who-contact-if-its-difficult-paying-energy-bills/energy-backbilling-your-rights

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Ayoung89 wrote: »

I moved from my last address in January 2018. I sent off the final meter reading for electricity but wasn’t able to for the gas as the meter was housed in the basement of the converted Cornmill and it was flooded out and unsafe to go down. Regardless, I received an email in March 2018 to say they were sorry my final bill was taking so long, that I didn’t need to do anything and that they would be in touch. Then in February 2019 I received my final bill. Over a year from when I’d left the flat. I have just had a baby and I’m on maternity leave so it’s quite an inconvenient time to get an unexpected bill.
As I understand it, energy companies can’t bill you for energy used more than a year ago, however when I asked eon about this I was told that as I was no longer their customer it didn’t apply to me. I can’t find anything to suggest that you still need to be covered by that supplier. I have sent a message to CAB but they haven’t got back to me yet. Can anyone clarify this?

Hello Ayoung89 and welcome to the Forums.

I'm sorry you were told the Billing Code doesn't apply because you're no longer our customer. This is wrong.

The Billing Code applies in certain circumstances where we've failed to bill accurately or haven't billed at all. Where it's our fault, we cannot charge for any unbilled energy used more than 12 months from the point the problem was fixed.

As you've already spoken to us about this, I'd suggest going down the complaints route. A Complaint Resolution Manager will take ownership and investigate the circumstances behind the bill including if the Billing Code applies. There's more information about how we look after complaints on our website.

Sorry again we gave you the wrong steer when you called Ayoung89 and congratulations on the new arrival. Hope mother and baby are doing well.

Malc

nigelbb

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc wrote: »

The Billing Code applies in certain circumstances where we've failed to bill accurately or haven't billed at all. Where it's our fault, we cannot charge for any unbilled energy used more than 12 months from the point the problem was fixed.

The backblling code applies in ALL circumstances except where the customer has been obstructive e.g. denying access for meter readings. The Code applies whether the supplier hasn’t sent out any bills or where the supplier has made mistakes & is attempting to regularise the situation.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

nigelbb wrote: »

The backblling code applies in ALL circumstances except where the customer has been obstructive e.g. denying access for meter readings. The Code applies whether the supplier hasn’t sent out any bills or where the supplier has made mistakes & is attempting to regularise the situation.

Spot on nigelbb. The Back Billing Code applies where it's our fault for not billing accurately or failing to provide a bill for 12 months or more. This is included in our terms and conditions.

As you say, exceptions include circumstances where the customer has been obstructive and not co-operated with attempts to take meter readings or sort out any particular difficulties or queries like replacing a stopped/faulty meter.

From the OP's post, it doesn't sound like these exceptions apply. The investigation I mentioned yesterday will help determine the circumstances behind why we didn't produce a timely bill.

Thanks nigelbb.

Malc

Caz0775

Thank you for this, I'm having same problem with Eon, contacted them to advise I was new tenant
October 2017, then no communication whatsoever until I was sent huge bill demanding £1700.
My mum told me I didn't need to pay it as over 12 months but I wanted to clarify this, which you have done here.
I contacted them and said I will not be paying, so they have slapped it on my credit file in revenge and in the hope that i will panic and pay up!
Anyone know how I can have this removed from credit file? :mad:

mariusznuta

Don't want to create a separate topic, hope it's ok to post here.
I've had my meter exchanged to a prepaid in September yet still I'm receiving monthly bills on my account. The issue was raised before and the customer service said it's been resolved. They claimed that my prepayment meter was down as credit meter. As it turns out I'm still being billed and after I've raised the issue once more they want to send me a new electricity key and get my meter reading claiming that this will allow them to correctly balance out the money billed when I was on a prepayment meter.

Would someone be kind and explain to me what is going on and why is it so difficult to change the meter in the system from a credit to a prepayment?

Or should I just switch?

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Caz0775 wrote: »

Thank you for this, I'm having same problem with Eon, contacted them to advise I was new tenant
October 2017, then no communication whatsoever until I was sent huge bill demanding £1700.
My mum told me I didn't need to pay it as over 12 months but I wanted to clarify this, which you have done here.
I contacted them and said I will not be paying, so they have slapped it on my credit file in revenge and in the hope that i will panic and pay up!
Anyone know how I can have this removed from credit file? :mad:

Hello Caz0775 and welcome to the Forums.

I'm glad my earlier posts on this thread were of use.

As I suggested to Ayoung89 above and if you haven't already, make sure a formal complaint is raised. A Complaint Resolution Manager will take ownership and investigate the circumstances behind the bill including if the Billing Code applies. There's more information about how we look after complaints on our website.

If the debt isn't valid, the Complaint Manager will raise a request to have your credit file amended accordingly.

Hope this points you in the right direction Caz0775.

Malc

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

mariusznuta wrote: »

Don't want to create a separate topic, hope it's ok to post here.
I've had my meter exchanged to a prepaid in September yet still I'm receiving monthly bills on my account. The issue was raised before and the customer service said it's been resolved. They claimed that my prepayment meter was down as credit meter. As it turns out I'm still being billed and after I've raised the issue once more they want to send me a new electricity key and get my meter reading claiming that this will allow them to correctly balance out the money billed when I was on a prepayment meter.

Would someone be kind and explain to me what is going on and why is it so difficult to change the meter in the system from a credit to a prepayment?

Or should I just switch?

Hello mariusznuta and welcome to the Forums.

It can take time to update accounts following a meter exchange although I would've expected a swap in September to be through by now.

With any meter exchange, prepayment or credit, the Meter Operator responsible for carrying out the work sends us details of the swap including the serial numbers, readings and the date the work was done. We then need to let a number of industry third parties know about the change. These include the electricity distributor, meter readers and the National Database that holds details of all electricity meters in the country.

This can take time and I'm aware of certain delays that are causing backlogs and adding to the timescale involved. Once all is through, we'll bill up to the closing readings on the old meter and from the opening readings on the new meter.

As I say, I would've expected an exchange done last September to be through by now so would recommend you raise a formal complaint. A dedicated Complaint Manager will investigate what's causing the delay and arrange for this to be fixed. There's more information about how we look after complaints on our website.

I'm sorry this is taking so long mariusznuta and thank you for your patience.

Malc