HELP!! £400 pcm Electricity!

ChuggerChugger

Hi,
I would really appreciate some advice.
My Mother lived in a 3 bed linked detached house. When she passed away, I started dealing with her estate and found that she was paying £275 pcm to EON for electricity. I have taken over the house and thus the household bills. When I called through EON and gave meter readings in December 2020 they confirmed that the DD my Mother had been paying was correct. They suggested that the old storage heaters my Mum used were perhaps the culprit for the high bills. I therefore turned them all off apart from one which is in what is now my home office and is the only modern one in the house (having been installed in 2018). Given that I was going to do this and would be living alone and being electricity concious they agreed to reduce the DD to £69 pcm, which I was happy with. I asked for a Smart Meter to be installed and have heard nothing from them.

Today I rang to chase the Smart Meter installation up and provided updated meter readings. To my absolute shock they told me the system was telling them my DD should be increased to £399 pcm!! I immediately said I wanted someone out to check the meter because I have been making a conscious effort to reduce electricity consumption and yet the bill has gone up! I also said I wanted to complain because it had been over 3 months since I requested a Smart Meter and had heard nothing. They attempted to book an appointment over the phone but said they couldn't as it was showing my premises has a 3 phase meter (as far as I can see it has two dials - day and night rates for the Economy 7 tarrif I am on). The chap on the phone suggested that the error may be that their system had me down as 3 phase when the meter possibly wasn't. I have no way of telling by looking at it but I took a picture and emailed it to them. They told me there is a £103 fee for a faulty meter check which will be refunded if found to be faulty - I have agreed with this. However, they cannot give me a timescale for coming out only that someone would call to book an appointment within the next 10 days.

In the meantime I have ordered a Geo Minim Energy Monitor to try and establish what is going on myself. If it is not an issue with the meter then these are the things I can think of that may be consuming the energy:

• Washing Machine (less than 2 years old)
• Tumble Dryer (less than 6 months old)
• Fridge Freezer
• Small second fridge
• Small second freezer
• Television
• Microwave (less than 6 months old)
• Games Console
• Phone and Laptop Chargers
• Wireless Hubs
• Exterior light
• Storage Heater (fan assisted and installed in late 2018)
• Dishwasher
• Electric Shower
• Towel Rail and underfloor heating in bathroom
• Immersion Water Heater
• Oven
• Pedestal Fan

The House is run purely off electricity (no gas). I probably do one wash and tumble load per week. Same with the dishwasher. A lot of the use seems to be overnight even though the only things on at that time are my device chargers, pedestal fan, wifi hub and exterior light.

My previous property (2 bed semi) I paid around £50 pcm for electricity and £30 pcm for Gas. I would not say my usage habits have changed at all. Can anyone advise me on what to do next. Is this potentially one for the ombudsman? £400 pcm seems incredibly off the scale high to me and EON seem not to be too bothered at all. The payments are crippling for me. I could really do with some advice. Has anyone had a similar issue? Anybody have any suspicions as to what could be going on here?

Thank you in advance.

Robin9

Have you given any meter readings since those in December ?  What were Decembers and what ae they today ?  What is the tariff and supplier ? 

dave_dph

Check that the night and day readings are registered against the correct tariffs rates. One of my neighbours had a problem where the night and day readings were reversed on the national data base.

Hasbeen

All electric is very expensive to run.  

Electric showers and immersion heater on all the time??  Underfloor electric heating? Turn of ASAP

Why 2 freezers? And why second fridge

Is the account now in your name? Are you providing monthly readings? Do your bills have E after the readings?

If you are using energy then nothing to do with any ombudsman? You pay for what you use.

Have you compared energy prices at the CAB site or Switch With Which? to find a cheaper tariff?

When you called  EON  to put the account in your name. What tariff did they put you on? The expensive standard tariff or something else?

Are you reading the meter correctly regards night and day tariffs ? Is the "Clock" accurate and on time?

Please post a copy of your bill with personal details covered.

[Deleted User]

You cannot take a complaint to The Energy Ombudsman without following the supplier’s complaints procedure and waiting 8 weeks or agreed Deadlock. The first thing to check is whether the revised DD amount is based on actual or estimated meter readings. If it is the latter, then supply actual meter readings and ask for a revised bill. You then need to calculate your annual consumption and, using your tariff, how much you should be paying annually. It is possible that a debit balance has built up over time which has gone unnoticed: not least, because you appear to have made a massive reduction to the monthly DD payment based on what you used at your previous property with a little bit added. Electric showers, for example, use a lot of electricity.

You are right to look hard at your usage but going to The Energy Ombudsman with a case based on ‘I shouldn’t be paying this much’ will be laughed out of Court. Any Energy Ombudsman Decision is based solely on the facts that are presented. If you suspect the meter, then you have no option but to accept the supplier’s offer of a check meter. My advice, FWiW, do not consider a meter replacement until this issue is resolved.

Ectophile

A three phase meter should be fairly easy to spot.

Most houses have an electricity cut-out where the supply comes in (often a manky old bakelite thing) with one fuse holder.  Two wires (live and neutral) then go off to the meter.  Maybe a bit of copper wire also goes from the cut-out to the main earth terminal.

A three-phase set up will have a bigger cut-out with three fuse holders.  There will be four wires going to the meter: live, another live, a third live, and neutral.

Tallerdave

No mention of consumption figures? Random direct debit amounts mean nothing.

Read meter weekly and you'll get an idea of seasonal usage.

Robin9

ChuggerChugger said:

......................they agreed to reduce the DD to £69 pcm, which I was happy with. ...........

You can't run a 3 bed detached all electric for £69 !    

ChuggerChugger

Robin9 said:

Have you given any meter readings since those in December ?  What were Decembers and what ae they today ?  What is the tariff and supplier ? 

Hi, The Supplier is E.ON and the Tariff is Fix 1 year v5 (Economy 7). The readings I can see on the account history are:
15/01/2021 - Normal: 92175 Night: 201546
29/03/2021 - Normal: 93522 Night: 204441

dave_dph said:

Check that the night and day readings are registered against the correct tariffs rates. One of my neighbours had a problem where the night and day readings were reversed on the national data base.

What is the best way of doing this? Is it something I can do or do I need to get E.ON to do it?

Hasbeen said:

All electric is very expensive to run.  

Electric showers and immersion heater on all the time??  Underfloor electric heating? Turn of ASAP

Why 2 freezers? And why second fridge

Is the account now in your name? Are you providing monthly readings? Do your bills have E after the readings?

If you are using energy then nothing to do with any ombudsman? You pay for what you use.

Have you compared energy prices at the CAB site or Switch With Which? to find a cheaper tariff?

When you called  EON  to put the account in your name. What tariff did they put you on? The expensive standard tariff or something else?

Are you reading the meter correctly regards night and day tariffs ? Is the "Clock" accurate and on time?

Please post a copy of your bill with personal details covered.

The appliances are those that are integrated and were part of the house when I got here. Under floor heating has been turned off. The comparison websites ask for meter readings - I am not sure it is the tariff that is the issue rather the consumption or an issue with the meter. I cannot possibly think that I am using £400 of electricity per month when the heating is basically turned off. The tariff is stated above and was the cheapest Economy 7 one they had when I put the account in my name. In terms of reading the meter, there are just two windows with the figures in so not sure how I could misread. I haven't had an opening bill yet, it is due at the end of April.

[Deleted User] said:

You cannot take a complaint to The Energy Ombudsman without following the supplier’s complaints procedure and waiting 8 weeks or agreed Deadlock. The first thing to check is whether the revised DD amount is based on actual or estimated meter readings. If it is the latter, then supply actual meter readings and ask for a revised bill. You then need to calculate your annual consumption and, using your tariff, how much you should be paying annually. It is possible that a debit balance has built up over time which has gone unnoticed: not least, because you appear to have made a massive reduction to the monthly DD payment based on what you used at your previous property with a little bit added. Electric showers, for example, use a lot of electricity.

You are right to look hard at your usage but going to The Energy Ombudsman with a case based on ‘I shouldn’t be paying this much’ will be laughed out of Court. Any Energy Ombudsman Decision is based solely on the facts that are presented. If you suspect the meter, then you have no option but to accept the supplier’s offer of a check meter. My advice, FWiW, do not consider a meter replacement until this issue is resolved.

The increased DD is based on actual meter readings I supplied today. I have no idea what the procedure for the Ombudsman is, I was merely asking if this might be something to explore given that the bill amount seems grossly unfair for what I believe to be my actual usage. I struggle to see how it can possibly have gone up since my Mum had it when I have pretty much turned the heating off and shut down the majority of the house.Robin9 said:

ChuggerChugger said:

......................they agreed to reduce the DD to £69 pcm, which I was happy with. ...........

You can't run a 3 bed detached all electric for £69 !    

The DD was based on me answering a questionnaire with the bereavement team i.e. will you have the heating on, how many showers per week etc. They suggested the figure and I agreed. They have now suggested £399 and I have agreed so as to prevent a large unpaid bill in the future. I would not object to a reasonable figure but £400 seems incredibly high for a house that is not even in full use. There has to be either a rogue appliance or an issue with the meter to my mind. All friends and family I have spoken with that have similar sized houses are staggered at the figure I have been given, saying theirs tends to be around the £150 mark.

[Deleted User]

You are not paying £400 a month: you are making a contribution of £400 a month towards your actual energy charges. By the sound of it, E.oN’s systems have recalculated your monthly payment based on what you have paid and the historical data that they hold for your property. Winter switches (which this effectively is) are notoriously bad at throwing up strange DD increases. You need to do your own calculation and then you can adjust the DD payment online.

I always caution people who think that The Energy Ombudsman is the answer to their prayers. They are not investigators. They adjudicate on the factual evidence supplied by the complainant and the supplier. If The Energy Ombudsman finds in the supplier’s favour, then the complainant has little option but to pay up and shut up. The supplier can use the Decision to support its legal claim for payment.

In sum, E.oN is not demanding £4800 a year for electricity. It is asking you to pay £400 a month on account. You will only pay for the energy that you use at the agreed tariff price. 

tim_p

those readings, if correct (the night figures are suspect, too many digits) amount to around £430+ for that period, probably nearer 450 or more including VAT and S/C so £69 might sound good but it isn’t paying that bill.