EON confusion

Huggamugga

Hello all,
Has anyone been able to get a meter reader to come to the house recently?  My mum is 86 and my dad died in October and she’s been left with much confusion over her bills but as I don’t have power of attorney no one will speak to me.  She has had estimated bills since December 2019 and now has a balance of £723.19.  She has only been paying £41 a month and has now had a letter saying she needs to send a meter reading within the next 5 (now 3) days or she will lose any credit she may have.  She is obviously quite scared about it.  She gave them a meter reading which they did not accept and then I went to her house to make sure it was correct.  It is and i have tried to input it many times in the site, every time getting the answer, “this isn’t what we were expecting”.  Her meter is above the font door and she can’t keep getting on a chair to read it!  She just needs someone to come and believe her but we can’t get through and the clock is counting down.  I’m not sure if this is a question or a bit of a rant but it seems madness to let someone run up that much of a debt and not come out to check, pandemic or not!

Robin9

Can you or your partner pretend to be your Mum. ?

A letter headed COMPLAIN - don't phone ?

On entering the reading are you including the figure after the decimal point /

Loosing the credit is rubbish .

Is your reading greater or less than the estimate on the bill ?  Have you a photo of the meter reading ?

While you are involved look at the tariff she is on - find a reading from 12 months ago and do a comparison.

Hasbeen

It is the first five numbers you need to input?

If it says no call them.

Your mother will have to speak first to confirm you are acting on her behalf.

Then you can talk/discuss.
Perhaps also request smart meters.

macman

Have you got her on the Priority Service Register? if not, you should do so as a matter or urgency-this is exactly what it's designed for.
https://www.eonenergy.com/help/extra-help.html
And getting smart meters installed would make it unnecessary for her to submit readings.
The supplier otherwise only has to read every 2 years, other reads are down to the customer.
In the meantime, you can still set up access to her account online with her permission, you don't need a POA to do that.

Gerry1

Huggamugga said:

She has only been paying £41 a month and has now had a letter saying she needs to send a meter reading within the next 5 (now 3) days or she will lose any credit she may have.  She is obviously quite scared about it.

That threat is completely outrageous.  Can you post a screenshot? (Redact personal info.)

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Huggamugga said:

Hello all,
Has anyone been able to get a meter reader to come to the house recently?  My mum is 86 and my dad died in October and she’s been left with much confusion over her bills but as I don’t have power of attorney no one will speak to me.  She has had estimated bills since December 2019 and now has a balance of £723.19.  She has only been paying £41 a month and has now had a letter saying she needs to send a meter reading within the next 5 (now 3) days or she will lose any credit she may have.  She is obviously quite scared about it.  She gave them a meter reading which they did not accept and then I went to her house to make sure it was correct.  It is and i have tried to input it many times in the site, every time getting the answer, “this isn’t what we were expecting”.  Her meter is above the font door and she can’t keep getting on a chair to read it!  She just needs someone to come and believe her but we can’t get through and the clock is counting down.  I’m not sure if this is a question or a bit of a rant but it seems madness to let someone run up that much of a debt and not come out to check, pandemic or not!

Hi Huggamugga and welcome to the forums.

Thanks all on the thread already, I would also be interested to know some of the answers to the questions asked.

Agree with Robin9, loosing the credit isn't correct, it may be that the credit is used up once an accurate bill is produced. As the account has been estimated for quite a while, the online account may not be accepting the reads as they may appear out of line and 'look' wrong.

You mum can give her authorisation for you to be able to discuss the account, if that would be better, you can also use the letter of authority on the website.

The bills will have shown what meter reads we have been using to bill, it will have an E next to it to show it has been estimated. The bill will also have a line in red asking for a read to be provided. Along with the web address to put them in online.

macman makes a good point about the priority service register, there is also a page on the website about extra support that we can offer customers and I think it would be worth having a look at that and I agree a smart meter may be a good idea in this case.

As you have pictures of the reads, it may be a good idea to use the Live Chat facility, then you can send them on to us this way.

Thank you

Helena

Huggamugga

thank you everyone.  In the first instance I’ve asked my mum to send me the letter she has been sent so I can see what is actually being said in case she’s misunderstood, especially the part about credit as the account is in arrears.  I’m wondering if she means if she hasn’t used £700 of electricity she won’t get back the difference?  Is that something that happens?  I don’t have photographs of the reads, i took down a note of them and then tried to input  them for her and they were rejected, as they were when she spoke to someone on the phone 2 weeks ago.  She has become a bit overwhelmed with the whole thing.

thanks again to you all.  I will look at all the suggestions and then post when i have seen the actual letter

Huggamugga

UPDATE:
she has just had an email saying her direct debit is increasing from £41 to £321 per month.  She is an 86 year old that lives in a 2 bedroom cottage and hardly has the heating on because she is worried 

Huggamugga

Screenshot of email

Gerry1

What does she owe them, based on the meter reading you took?  Submit a formal written complaint if E.On's estimated value is more than 250kWh higher than the reading they refuse to accept.  Ask for a Payment Plan.

A photo from a mobile phone on a selfie stick (or even taped to a broom handle) might be a quick workaround to read the meter, thereby avoiding the need for a meter reader to enter her home during the Covid-19 lockdown.

E.On aren't likely to be the cheapest, so when this has been sorted out why not switch to a cheaper provider with better customer service?

Robin9

This I think is a meter reads problem - have you the rest of the bill (blank out the personal detail, account number,)_ - I bet it's full of estimates.  As a consequence the computer may look and say the reading you are giving is nowhere near what is expected -  may be too high - maybe too tow.

You need your readings.    Meters can be easy to misread -   particularly if you are standing on a chair to read over the door.

Did you dad used to read the meter - ?