Help! I am a student and Eon sent me a wrong bill

Tai07

I moved into a 2 bedroom apartment with a friend 2 years ago as University students and we were told Eon would supply our energy (electric only). Without reading the meter, Eon brought us £950 bill after 2 months even though we were mostly in school during the day.  It took almost a year before both Eon and our house agent could show us where our meter was located and since then we kept calling them to send us the correct bill which they refused untill we moved out after 14 months. They brought us a total of £2400. I kept on calling after moving out but they insisted i pay the wrong bill of £2400. Now, they are sending bailiffs to my parents' house next week and i don't live there. I am ready to pay them the correct bill but they didn't listen to me, so is my former house agent. Please,  what do i do?
Thanks 
Tai07

Hasbeen

Tai07 said:

I moved into a 2 bedroom apartment with a friend 2 years ago as University students and we were told Eon would supply our energy (electric only). Without reading the meter, Eon brought us £950 bill after 2 months even though we were mostly in school during the day.  It took almost a year before both Eon and our house agent could show us where our meter was located and since then we kept calling them to send us the correct bill which they refused untill we moved out after 14 months. They brought us a total of £2400. I kept on calling after moving out but they insisted i pay the wrong bill of £2400. Now, they are sending bailiffs to my parents' house next week and i don't live there. I am ready to pay them the correct bill but they didn't listen to me, so is my former house agent. Please,  what do i do?
Thanks 
Tai07

Easiest way would be to pay half each and get rid of all the agro.

You appear to have made every mistake going?

Not providing opening readings with EON?
Did you?

Not providing regular readings. At all?

 And not providing leaving readings? 

But someone will come and give you advice to this self inflicted mess that has occurred. 

bradders1983

Bailiffs cant take anything that belong to them but assuming this dilemma is real, maybe they will pay them off for you to avoid a fuss and then you will owe your parents. Or, they may just tell them where you can be found.

Not that I believe for a minute High Court or any bailiff visits are happening at the moment to domestic properties in England..if you are in another part of the UK, no idea. 

Tai07

We couldn't give opening meter readings because the agent did not show us the location of our meter within the apartments (newly built then) until almost a year after so many calls to them. They just kept adding to the first huge bill. Even though we gave the final reading, they did not adjust the bill. Now my parents are scared of leaving the house because of the letter they sent to me using my parents's address. 

macman

Most likely debt collectors, not bailiffs. The former have no powers of entry whatsoever. Nor do bailiffs at a residential property, so your parents can relax.
If they really are bailiffs, then check your credit history, as you then already have a CCJ against you, in which case your problems are rather greater than just an overdue utility bill, as your credit history is now trashed for the next 6 years.
NB: a 2 b/r appt, and you couldn't find the meter for yourselves in nearly a year?  I don't find that credible. You could just have asked a neighbour? 
To challenge a bill you need to have both meter readings: you can't just say 'it's too high because I was mostly in school'. It's quite possible to run up a bill like that on an expensive single rate SVT if you use electricity for everything and have the heating on.

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Tai07 said:

I moved into a 2 bedroom apartment with a friend 2 years ago as University students and we were told Eon would supply our energy (electric only). Without reading the meter, Eon brought us £950 bill after 2 months even though we were mostly in school during the day.  It took almost a year before both Eon and our house agent could show us where our meter was located and since then we kept calling them to send us the correct bill which they refused untill we moved out after 14 months. They brought us a total of £2400. I kept on calling after moving out but they insisted i pay the wrong bill of £2400. Now, they are sending bailiffs to my parents' house next week and i don't live there. I am ready to pay them the correct bill but they didn't listen to me, so is my former house agent. Please,  what do i do?
Thanks 
Tai07

Hi Tai07 and welcome to the forums.

If we're not provided with a meter reading we will have to use an estimate to open the account from.

A couple of questions, I know you've got a balance now as we have produced the final bill, is this on top of payments that you were making throughout your time living there?

Has the final bill been calculated using the reads you provided when you moved out?

It sounds like it may have gone past the point of us being able to set up a payment arrangement to clear the balance, but it's something you can ask.

Thank you

Helena