Moved into flat, switched supplier, opening dispute?

Nothematic

Hi all,

I moved into a new flat in the middle of July. I read the meters on the day (with photos) and began a switch from Utility Point (the supplier at time of move in) to EON. This switch was completed on the 13th August and I submitted the opening meter readings a few weeks before as requested.

I should note that for the entirety of July and August I was interning in London, so I wasn’t actually living in the flat and everything was switched off.

I’m now living in the flat as of the beginning of September and the meter is increasing as expected etc. Today I’ve tried to submit readings to EON and it says the last reading was estimated on the 13th August (the day of the switch). As I was away these are much higher than what they should be (aka the same as what they were on move in day and what I submitted as an opening read).

Phoned them up and they told me that for some reason the old supplier (??) wasn’t using my submitted reads and that they need to open a dispute with the old supplier. This seems odd to me as when I log into my account at UP they seem to be using the reading I submitted - surely therefore it’s EON not using my submitted reading.

I’ve tried googling what a dispute is and as I understand it it’s when the customer believes the independent validation is wrong. I’m assuming the estimated values EON are using are these validated values.

So what exactly is going on? UP are using the values I submitted as far as I can tell, EON are using the estimated (wrong) values, and EON have supposedly opened a dispute with UP. Am I wrong in thinking it’s EON that have messed up here?

JJ_Egan

You registered first with the existing supplier ??before starting the transfer as per your deemed contract with UP .

Nothematic

Yes, that was all sorted.

spiro

What reading is the Final ready on your Final UP bill? Does it match what you submitted?
Does the opening Reading from Eon match the Final reading on the UP bill? If yes then they have both used the same reading bearing in mind it is Eon's responsibility as New Supplier to determine the CoS reading.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Nothematic wrote: »

Hi all,

I moved into a new flat in the middle of July. I read the meters on the day (with photos) and began a switch from Utility Point (the supplier at time of move in) to EON. This switch was completed on the 13th August and I submitted the opening meter readings a few weeks before as requested.

I should note that for the entirety of July and August I was interning in London, so I wasn’t actually living in the flat and everything was switched off.

I’m now living in the flat as of the beginning of September and the meter is increasing as expected etc. Today I’ve tried to submit readings to EON and it says the last reading was estimated on the 13th August (the day of the switch). As I was away these are much higher than what they should be (aka the same as what they were on move in day and what I submitted as an opening read).

Phoned them up and they told me that for some reason the old supplier (??) wasn’t using my submitted reads and that they need to open a dispute with the old supplier. This seems odd to me as when I log into my account at UP they seem to be using the reading I submitted - surely therefore it’s EON not using my submitted reading.

I’ve tried googling what a dispute is and as I understand it it’s when the customer believes the independent validation is wrong. I’m assuming the estimated values EON are using are these validated values.

So what exactly is going on? UP are using the values I submitted as far as I can tell, EON are using the estimated (wrong) values, and EON have supposedly opened a dispute with UP. Am I wrong in thinking it’s EON that have messed up here?

Hello Nothematic and welcome to the Forums.

As the gaining supplier, it's our responsibility to drive the switch. How long before the switch completed did you send us meter readings?

We use a meter reading window which is open 7-10 days before the Supply Start Date. Readings received during this window will be used to start the account. We also send these readings to the old supplier. As you say, they go via an independent third party who check they're in line with past usage. Sometimes, the third party makes a change and both suppliers need to use the amended readings to start/close their respective accounts. This makes sure the same energy isn't charged twice.

I suspect one of two things happened. Either the readings you gave were received outside the window I mentioned; or the third party changed them. If received too early, we'll have rejected them and used estimates. In both cases, the readings would be shown as estimated.

Don't worry, as you've actual readings backed up with photos, the readings used can be challenged. This is what our advisor will have done by raising what's known as an Agreed Reads Dispute (ARD). This is an industry-wide tool used for sorting issues like this. The two suppliers re-agree the opening/closing readings and re-submit them.

The difference needs to be above set thresholds before an ARD can be used. These are 250 units for electricity and 45/125 units for a 4 dial imperial/5 dial metric gas meter. As our advisor has gone down this route, the difference must have been greater than these thresholds.

As spiro says, it's important our opening readings match those used by the old supplier to close their account. Totally understand, this can mean paying one supplier for more units than expected. This is balanced out by paying the other supplier for less units than expected.

Hope this explains Nothematic. Let me know if you need any more information and thanks for switching to us.

Malc