Estimated vs Actual Meter Reading - New home huge discrepancy!

beebee20

Hi I'd love some advice please

I've contacted Citizen's Advice about this and am waiting for them to get back to me but in the meantime I thought I'd seek some help from here. 

I moved into my house on 26/07/2020 and foolishly did not take a photo of my gas meter reading.I wished to change gas supplier and applied to do so several times, but this was rejected due to an outstanding bill at this address from a previous tenant at the property. From speaking with eOn and discussing this, my gas supply from eOn was then cut off as on 01/09/2020. 

Based on the discussions with eOn I know that for the whole duration of time that eOn have been supplying gas to this address, there has NEVER been a physical meter reading, all bills have been based upon ESTIMATED gas usage. However, I provided a meter reading to eON (I am not 100% sure which date that this meter reading was provided to eOn), which was significantly higher than their estimated reading.

Consequently my bill from eOn jumped from £25 to £300 to cover the time period of the 36 days where eOn were supplying gas whilst I lived at this address.

I have spoken with eOn to explain that I have not used this amount, and it is a mistake on their part that their estimated gas usage was not aligned to the actual use because they had never been previously supplied with a physical meter reading. It is only upon me providing this physical meter reading that they have been made aware of this discrepancy.

Consequently I am now being charged for this discrepancy.

I appreciate that I SHOULD have taken a photograph of this meter when I moved in to the property. In have spoken with my landlord who also admits that they do not have a photograph of the physical meter reading either.

However, I cannot pay almost £300 for this gas supply. It is not logistically possible that I, as a single resident at this property, could have spent this much on gas use, in the 36 days I resided at this property when they were supplying my gas use. This was also the period of an exceptionally hot summer!

 

Based on two conversations with both the customer service department and the collections team at eOn, neither have been able to resolve this issue.They say they can set up installments as I can't pay it outright right now. 

Please can someone help / provide advice?!
Thank you BeeBee

tim_p

Can your landlord find out the end reading of the previous tenant?? Without this and without an opening reading from you or your landlord then I can’t see much else to do other than agree a favourable payment plan.
Whatever you do, go and photograph all your meters now.  Have you signed up with Eon?

cajef

Did you contact Eon to tell them you were a new tenant with the date you moved in and gave them the meter readings taken on that day?

Gerry1

Send E.On a letter by snail mail (get a free with a certificate of posting) marked COMPLAINT, asking for a deadlock letter.  Go to the ombudsman upon receipt or after eight weeks.

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

beebee20 said:

Hi I'd love some advice please

I've contacted Citizen's Advice about this and am waiting for them to get back to me but in the meantime I thought I'd seek some help from here. 

I moved into my house on 26/07/2020 and foolishly did not take a photo of my gas meter reading.I wished to change gas supplier and applied to do so several times, but this was rejected due to an outstanding bill at this address from a previous tenant at the property. From speaking with eOn and discussing this, my gas supply from eOn was then cut off as on 01/09/2020. 

Based on the discussions with eOn I know that for the whole duration of time that eOn have been supplying gas to this address, there has NEVER been a physical meter reading, all bills have been based upon ESTIMATED gas usage. However, I provided a meter reading to eON (I am not 100% sure which date that this meter reading was provided to eOn), which was significantly higher than their estimated reading.

Consequently my bill from eOn jumped from £25 to £300 to cover the time period of the 36 days where eOn were supplying gas whilst I lived at this address.

I have spoken with eOn to explain that I have not used this amount, and it is a mistake on their part that their estimated gas usage was not aligned to the actual use because they had never been previously supplied with a physical meter reading. It is only upon me providing this physical meter reading that they have been made aware of this discrepancy.

Consequently I am now being charged for this discrepancy.

I appreciate that I SHOULD have taken a photograph of this meter when I moved in to the property. In have spoken with my landlord who also admits that they do not have a photograph of the physical meter reading either.

However, I cannot pay almost £300 for this gas supply. It is not logistically possible that I, as a single resident at this property, could have spent this much on gas use, in the 36 days I resided at this property when they were supplying my gas use. This was also the period of an exceptionally hot summer!

 

Based on two conversations with both the customer service department and the collections team at eOn, neither have been able to resolve this issue.They say they can set up installments as I can't pay it outright right now. 

Please can someone help / provide advice?!
Thank you BeeBee

Hi BeeBee and welcome to the forums.

Did you talk to us when you first took over responsibility for your new home? Totally appreciate the stress involved when moving and that you'll have had lots of competing demands on your time. It benefits us both, though, if we can set up accounts quickly and accurately. Helps keep the complications to a minimum. We ask for the date responsibility changes, meter readings for that day and, if possible, a forwarding address for those previously responsible. To help, we've a specifically designed form on our website to let us know when moving in or out of properties. We've also a specialist Home Moves team who are happy to do this for customers not wanting to use the website.

I know you've spoken to your landlord but did they or a letting agent do a check out report/check in report reading?

I understand that you have provided a read to us, was this from the date that you moved in?

If no one has taken a read from the date the property changed hands, we will have to use an estimated start read. As you have changed supplier, please check that the final read matches the start read you have given to your new supplier.

Estimates are based on the previous usage at the property. They can be altered where actual meter readings are available. We do, though, need to be sure they're accurate as changing them will have a knock on effect for the previous occupier as it will lead to a revised bill for them.

Thank you

Helena

binao

beebee20 said:

Hi I'd love some advice please

I've contacted Citizen's Advice about this and am waiting for them to get back to me but in the meantime I thought I'd seek some help from here. 

I moved into my house on 26/07/2020 and foolishly did not take a photo of my gas meter reading.I wished to change gas supplier and applied to do so several times, but this was rejected due to an outstanding bill at this address from a previous tenant at the property. From speaking with eOn and discussing this, my gas supply from eOn was then cut off as on 01/09/2020. 

Based on the discussions with eOn I know that for the whole duration of time that eOn have been supplying gas to this address, there has NEVER been a physical meter reading, all bills have been based upon ESTIMATED gas usage. However, I provided a meter reading to eON (I am not 100% sure which date that this meter reading was provided to eOn), which was significantly higher than their estimated reading.

Consequently my bill from eOn jumped from £25 to £300 to cover the time period of the 36 days where eOn were supplying gas whilst I lived at this address.

I have spoken with eOn to explain that I have not used this amount, and it is a mistake on their part that their estimated gas usage was not aligned to the actual use because they had never been previously supplied with a physical meter reading. It is only upon me providing this physical meter reading that they have been made aware of this discrepancy.

Consequently I am now being charged for this discrepancy.

I appreciate that I SHOULD have taken a photograph of this meter when I moved in to the property. In have spoken with my landlord who also admits that they do not have a photograph of the physical meter reading either.

However, I cannot pay almost £300 for this gas supply. It is not logistically possible that I, as a single resident at this property, could have spent this much on gas use, in the 36 days I resided at this property when they were supplying my gas use. This was also the period of an exceptionally hot summer!

 

Based on two conversations with both the customer service department and the collections team at eOn, neither have been able to resolve this issue.They say they can set up installments as I can't pay it outright right now. 

Please can someone help / provide advice?!
Thank you BeeBee

Helena, re your post and others in this thread.

The OP said change of supplier was rejected.

The OP said the gas supply was cut off 1/9/2020, we are now more than 2 months down the line.

Are supply disconnections not covid restricted. 

Is the £20 and £300 in the OPs opening post, DD or bill pounds.

What happened to the leecy. If EON cut off the gas, did the lights not dim as well. It's all about gas readings. Normally rented prop would not be dual fuel.

Good luck OP

beebee20

Thanks all for comments.
Re questions from Helena / Binato:
This is my first house and so I didn't realise that not getting a meter reading straight away would be so vital! Obviously I'll never make this mistake again!

Regarding the cut off on 1/9/20 - I should have said the change of supplier was finally approved and they stopped providing my gas. 

My electric is on a meter so I don't have a problem with that one thankfully (although there was a separate issue which has now been rectified!). 

Also since I was never signed up with eOn they thankfully don't have my bank details so nothing was taken by DD. These are just estimated bills I've been getting in the post for differing and increasing amounts. 

The read I gave the new supplier is the same as the read I gave eOn when I "left". 

I know I really should have taken a photo and that is a faux Pas on my account but surely eOn are at fault to some extent for never having obtained a meter reading from this property to begin with. Perhaps it's because they are still chasing a previous tennant and know they won't be able to get the money off them so figure I'm an easier target? 

Thanks all again, appreciate it! 

macman

So the gas was not 'cut off' (disconnected); you simply switched supplier?
Had you registered with Eon on occupying then you could not have been considered liable for the previous tenant's unpaid bill, and your opening read would have been recorded. You cannot switch on occupation, you must register with the existing supplier first, and then start a switch. 
The supplier only needs to read every 2 years. all intermediate reads are down to the customer. Eon are not psychic and have no idea when a tenancy changes.

[Deleted User]

macman said:

So the gas was not 'cut off' (disconnected); you simply switched supplier?
Had you registered with Eon on occupying then you could not have been considered liable for the previous tenant's unpaid bill, and your opening read would have been recorded. You cannot switch on occupation, you must register with the existing supplier first, and then start a switch. 
The supplier only needs to read every 2 years. all intermediate reads are down to the customer. Eon are not psychic and have no idea when a tenancy changes.

The 2 yearly meter reading requirement was removed from SLCs some years ago. The new requirement is that suppliers have to obtain a meter reading once every 12 months: SLCs do not state how the meter reading is to be obtained. The change reflects the fact that there are now Millions of smart meters. That said, suppliers are still required to carry out meter safety checks and as happened with me a meter reading was sent in for my smart meter. As the reading was twice what was showing on the meter, I can only conclude that he must have looked at another household’s meter. Fortunately, smart metering came to the fore and the meter reading was deleted from my account. Of note, readings taken by meter readers are apparently not subject to industry validation so are entered into an account come what may.

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Morning beebee20,

Thanks for the reply, that makes things a bit clearer. I see the gas wasn't cut off it was a change of supply.

macman and Dolor have answered things really, we do need customers to contact us when they move in to a property and take over responsibility, as we don't know when people move in and out. This is when we would take the reading.

It's good that the account has been billed to an accurate final read, without any accurate start reads this will have to remain estimated.

I'm sorry that I can't help further.

Helena

Petriix

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena said:

Morning beebee20,

Thanks for the reply, that makes things a bit clearer. I see the gas wasn't cut off it was a change of supply.

macman and Dolor have answered things really, we do need customers to contact us when they move in to a property and take over responsibility, as we don't know when people move in and out. This is when we would take the reading.

It's good that the account has been billed to an accurate final read, without any accurate start reads this will have to remain estimated.

I'm sorry that I can't help further.

Helena

That's utter nonsense I'm afraid, and if that's E.ON's official line then I can understand why the OP is frustrated. If an opening meter reading was not supplied then E.ON are obliged to attempt to make an accurate estimate rather than simply attempting to charge the new customer for the previous occupier's usage. The gas bill for an entire year in my house (with four occupants, gas CH, water heating and hob) is under £250. The estimated start reading is obviously wrong and there is no way that the OP should pay that bill.

The way to get a fair opening reading is to take the date of the first 'actual' reading and work backwards using the industry standard estimate for the type of property and number of occupants at that time of year. Alternatively they can monitor actual usage from the period after that first reading and project it backwards, accounting for seasonal change in usage. It might help if you have a record of heating usage (possible from smart heating controls) or at least look at temperature data for the period to make a reasonable guess as to whether any heating was used at all (hint: likely not).

As E.ON are clearly being unreasonable, you need to jump through a couple of hoops in order to get the case to the ombudsman for resolution. If I were the OP, I would simply make a reasonable estimate and then go back to E.ON and say that you've found the original opening reading from when you moved in. You are likely to have used less than £10 worth of gas.

OP: If you want more detailed help then:

• please try to find out what the first actual meter reading supplied to E.ON actually was and on what date it was taken
• also provide a new reading taken today
• confirm the current status of the supply: is it cut off, still supplied by E.ON or with a different supplier
• let us know if there are similar issues with electricity