HELP! What can I do if an energy company are advising I owe them money but I have pre payment metres

rebjones97

so I have lived in my rented property for over a year now, I was originally with eon then I signed up to the company I had seen on dragons den advising to save money on my bills, I registered with them then without knowing I was changed over to a different supplier (was only made aware when I had a power cut phones eon to be told in no longer a customer of them) BUT advised me that I owed me just under £900 and received a closing statement from them, now I was confused by this as the property has pre payment metres and I just pay as I go, eon are trying to tell me I owe them this money but I really don’t, I’ve had letter after letter advising if I don’t pay they will send a debt recovery etc, what can I do have I got a leg to stand on? When I asked eon to advise me why I owe this money they have said that I haven’t been topping up my electricity but obviously I have been otherwise I wouldn’t be able to survive! Someone please help

RelievedSheff

When you moved into the property did you set up your own accounts with EON or did you just use the existing account holders top up cards/keys?

dogshome

I guess you signed up to Look-after-my-Bills, or was it someone else offering this so-called 'Service'

These companies make their living by getting paid a Bounty from the suppliers they move you to.

The problem is that not all suppliers pay a Bounty, so you will only be Switched to the one's who do, and more often than they are not best for Price or Service - only a couple of weeks age there was a thread on this forum from a customer of L-a-m-b who moved him to a supplier that went broke 3 weeks later - CANCEL your contract NOW

So far as the immediate problem is concerned, it could be that there was a foul up on the Switch

How long ago was it that LAMB change your supplier, ( And who to ?), and did they send you their own Top-up cards

MalMonroe

Your first step could be to contact the energy ombudsman, click on this link for details:
https://www.ombudsman-services.org/sectors/energy

They will be able to help you. I'm just about to switch away from EON, they are a terrible company.
I'm sure that the ombudsman will be able to help, or at the very least, point you in the right direction. 

MalMonroe

dogshome said:

I guess you signed up to Look-after-my-Bills, or was it someone else offering this so-called 'Service'

These companies make their living by getting paid a Bounty from the suppliers they move you to.

The problem is that not all suppliers pay a Bounty, so you will only be Switched to the one's who do, and more often than they are not best for Price or Service - only a couple of weeks age there was a thread on this forum from a customer of L-a-m-b who moved him to a supplier that went broke 3 weeks later - CANCEL your contract NOW

So far as the immediate problem is concerned, it could be that there was a foul up on the Switch

How long ago was it that LAMB change your supplier, ( And who to ?), and did they send you their own Top-up cards

How is this helpful?

Smodlet

MalMonroe said:

How is this helpful?

Incredibly.  It is exactly what I was thinking.  How else could this happen?  When is the current generation going to stop relying on "apps" and begin (for the rest of us, resume) thinking for itself?  They are called comparison sites and are free; there is one on here, it's called the Cheap Energy Club.  It takes as long to use a free comparison site as it does to sign up to one of these shafting "switch services".  The "Dragons" should be ashamed of themselves but no-one ever got rich without shafting other people, did they?

kazwookie

I have just had the pre payment meters taken out in my new property I have purchased, only 2 days later to get a letter saying I owe £780.90.........................I ring them up explain it is a pre payment meter that has been taken out and how long I have been in the property, only eventually to be told it was from the vendor had tenants in the property and they owed the money, I have made the supplier send me a letter saying I don't owe anything and it is their mistake.

So ring them up and question what has happened.

MWT

We've seen a few of these from E.ON recently.

The problems mostly seem to relate to the start of the period of occupancy as they don't seem to be recording the opening meter reading at the point when you got your new key and took responsibility for the account, so they are using an opening reading from some earlier point before you moved in and the n of course the amounts you have paid don't cover the total they believe is owed...

So look at the bill and see when the opening reading was taken, odds are it will not be your actual start date...

The problem though is that most people on PAYG don't bother to take a meter reading when they move in ...

PixelPound

Often prepayment meters are put in when there is a debt to be paid, so that when you top up it pays part towards the debt. So it could be that the debt has not been cleared, hence the final bill.

You need to request info where the debt came from

tim_p

Maybe if the OP answered the question in the second post we’d be a bit nearer an answer, without that it’s all conjecture at the moment. 

MWT

tim_p said:

Maybe if the OP answered the question in the second post we’d be a bit nearer an answer, without that it’s all conjecture at the moment. 

That would certainly help, but there have been a few here recently all from E.ON where the incoming occuplier did all the right things but the E.ON system doesn't seem to record the meter reading at the point where the new key is issued and the 'problem' doesn't show up until the occupier leaves and E.ON then use an earlier opening meter reading and there is of course a difference...