Gas meter never registered

BSCoulby

Hello, I'm hoping for some advice please.  
I've lived in my home for nearly 8 years, my husband recently passed away and I've taken over the affairs he dealt with which included house bills.  I remember when we originally moved into the new build he had no end of issues with the gas and electricity supplies.  He finally sorted the electricity after huge over payments had been taken, but continued experiencing problems with the gas, being told there was no meter registered.  The company then was First Utility.  It appears he eventually gave up chasing and getting nowhere, after being told in his last contact (6 years ago?) that someone would get back to him!  
I've now taken over and am extremely worried about what I will owe if this is ever resolved.  I have tracked down that Eon supply the gas, contacted them, given meter readings, and they confirmed no meter is registered and that they would have to pass on to new connections dept.  This was back in February and I've today chased for an update, but don't hold out much hope of any progress.
I've been trying to read up on other cases of this and have become aware of the backdating rule and 'shipperless sites' which we appear to be, but please does anybody know what more I can or should do now?  Has anybody experienced the same and can advise me on how they managed to resolve the issue?  In the future I may want to move home which may present difficulties with this issue, but I would also want to move with a clear conscience that I'm not passing this problem on to somebody else.  
Thank you. 
Suzanne 

macman

It appears that both your and your late husband made every effort to establish who the supplier was. As long as this is documented, you should have nothing to worry about. The backbilling rules should certainly apply in a case like this, so the worst case is that you'd be billed for the last year only.
Have you made a formal complaint to Eon, in writing, just to cover yourself?
You would not be passing the problem onto a new owner, as their liability could only start from day one of their occupancy.

BSCoulby

macman said:

It appears that both your and your late husband made every effort to establish who the supplier was. As long as this is documented, you should have nothing to worry about. The backbilling rules should certainly apply in a case like this, so the worst case is that you'd be billed for the last year only.
Have you made a formal complaint to Eon, in writing, just to cover yourself?
You would not be passing the problem onto a new owner, as their liability could only start from day one of their occupancy.

Thanks for your reply.   

I’ve had an email response from Eon who yet again stated the meter isn’t registered and they need to pass it to their new connections department.  They asked me to confirm the meter serial number (again) which I’ve done.  I now await  their response.  If I don’t get anywhere I’ll complain and also possibly complain to OFGEM.  
I have a paper trail of my own contacts with Eon but not of my husband’s as I no longer have access to his emails and his contacts were such a long time ago.  

Re. possibly moving home in the future, how can I give a last meter reading of a meter not registered? 

Crazy situation and a stress I can do without right now ☹️    

Gerry1

As it's been so long, you might as well go to the Ombudsman now (not Ofgem, they don't deal with individual complaints).  The worst that can happen is that they ask for a deadlock letter and you have to wait up to eight weeks.

macman

You take a photo, dated, of the meter on the day you move out.

BSCoulby

Gerry1 said:

As it's been so long, you might as well go to the Ombudsman now (not Ofgem, they don't deal with individual complaints).  The worst that can happen is that they ask for a deadlock letter and you have to wait up to eight weeks.

Thanks for the link which I’ve saved, but it does say before I can proceed with the Ombudsman I have to log a formal complaint with Eon which will now have to be my next step because I’ve had no response again since confirming my meter serial number for them to pass on to their ever more mysterious ‘new connections department’ 🙄

MotoCrossy

I find myself in exactly the same position. 7 years ago my fiancé and I bought a property between us. The property was a 1920s bungalow that had been converted by a professional carpenter who had lived there for some considerable time. Having done some research on him he seems to be a bit of a dodgy character having been a part of a couple of businesses that have gone bust, one of which went bust in 2013 just before he sold this house. He sold the house to an elderly couple who only lived here for 6 months at which point myself and fiance approached them to buy the house. They were asking 400,000  we offered them 390,000 which is what they paid for it and much to my amazement they accepted and seemed in a rush to move, on leaving very few details about themselves. And so we moved in, we had no problem paying for electricity but when it came to gas we could get no joy , no gas bills are received , we were told British gas are their provider which was totally denied by BG . To cut a long story short my wife (married by then ) spent a huge amount of time trying to trace the supplier of gas and arranging  for us to pay a bill but no joy, all we ever heard was you have  no supplier, we cannot trace  you and the bill appears to have been paid by a registered business somewhere but we don't know who. So zooming on 7 years sadly me and the partner/ wife have split and we are no further forward in paying for gas. I just want to get it sorted and get whats owed paid and pay from here onwards. So where do we go from here ?? I  am beginning to think the original owner did not register the meter and was not paying for gas, then he sold it to an elderly coupe who were doing the same and panicked and move on leaving us in a totally confused state. so where do we go from here ???

BSCoulby

I never heard back from Eon until I received a bill out of the blue from Eon Next Energy who are apparently my new Eon gas providers since March 2022.  A random estimated bill with an opening meter reading but no explanation as to where they got that from as Eon never contacted me again since my last attempts in 2020.  
The estimate on this bill is half the actual meter reading and Eon Next say that if this is the case this will result in a “massive charge”.  
I feel sick with stress having had no joy in 10 whole years of this miserable business.  To-ing and fro-ing with emails and phone calls but never any progress.  
I am currently dealing with Eon who only go so far before stating they can’t help anymore and I must ring Eon Next (Eon next will not ring me).  
Eon are saying after looking on the National Database they can see that the transportation of gas to my property since 2012 was with Independent Pipelines who “can be problematic to deal with, with delays” - its been 10 years!  I asked whether this could be a reason for nothing having been done and was told “quite possibly”.  
Eon have requested yet another copy of my meter and an up to date meter reading.  I now await their contact again.

I did mention that I know my rights regarding the Back-Dating Rule but I am as confused as ever and more stressed by each dealing with constant incompetence.  

ANY FURTHER ADVICE WOULD BE APPRECIATED.  WHAT WOULD YOU DO THAT I HAVEN’T?

Sue ☹️

BSCoulby

Further:  Eon stated that their reason for not contacting me back in 2020 will have been due to Covid and they weren’t dealing with new connections at that time.  Surely that is their fault then and not mine!?

Olinda99

You need to formally complain to them along the following lines:

1. where did they get the opening meter reading from?

2. wherever they got it from, they can only go back one year (backbilling rules) - and one year ago the meter reading was xxx (insert your figure) and ask them to produce a new bill using this figure

If you don't get a satisfactory answer you can ask for a deadlock letter (or, if you don't get one, wait 8 weeks) and then go to the ombudsman who will weigh all the evidence and come to a decision.

[Deleted User]

Olinda99 said:

You need to formally complain to them along the following lines:

1. where did they get the opening meter reading from?

2. wherever they got it from, they can only go back one year (backbilling rules) - and one year ago the meter reading was xxx (insert your figure) and ask them to produce a new bill using this figure

If you don't get a satisfactory answer you can ask for a deadlock letter (or, if you don't get one, wait 8 weeks) and then go to the ombudsman who will weigh all the evidence and come to a decision.

Be wary of going to the Energy Ombudsman too soon. EOS is a private company that comes to a decision based on the evidence that is submitted to it by complainant and the supplier. For example, would this be a complaint against E.oN or E.on Next: they are separate trading entities. EOS will not be interested in what wasn’t done 8 years ago. 

All gas-powered properties have a gas transporter. The gas transporter will have been contracted to do the work by the property developer who, in turn, would have been responsible for passing on the property address; MPRN and meter serial number to its chosen supplier. For example, I have both gas and electricity in my 3 year old new build. Scottish Power Energy Networks completed the electricity installation, and an IGT - Fulcrum Pipelines - installed the gas connection. (Developers use IGTs because they are cheaper than Cadent). Scottish Power New Connections undertook the administrative work to update both the electricity and gas databases etc. Scottish Power then became my supplier for both gas and electricity.

What is being described in the OP’s post is what is known as a shipperless supply which is subject to its own Regulations. Usually when a shipper is appointed, it will raise a bill from the date that it became responsible for the supply. Clearly, E.on Next has to explain how the opening reading was calculated: that said, the OP has to accept that she has benefitted from a free energy supply for a number of years.

Complainants mistakenly believe that EOS will always find in their favour. Sadly, this is not always the case. If EOS was to agree a supplier-provided estimated opening reading then this becomes the Final Decision which the complainant can accept or reject. If the Decision is rejected by the complainant, the supplier can then go to Court in the knowledge that it has a very sound legal case.

In sum, present all evidence carefully ( note that EOS investigates nothing, it just reviews evidence); get a trusted friend to read through the evidence before submission, and think through how you would react to a Decision going in the supplier’s favour. Alternatively, the OP could avoid a deal of stress by making an appointment to see a Citizens Advice Energy Adviser for an unbiased opinion/advice.