Huge Bill / Meter Read Advise Need Help!

Wainwright125

Hope everyone is having a fab friday

I'm desperately in need of some advise on meter readings/electric usage, if possible. 

In short I was paying around £50 a month electric (one bed flat, live alone, work 5-6 a week, no gas electric only), and ended up around £1000 in credit in July 2019. Due to this I foolishly took my eye of the ball with meter readings. The next thing I receive a bill stating I am £2000 in arrears and payments will go upto 460 a month!! According to themselves I have used over £3000 pounds worth in 22 months (works out to around £140 a month). I am now in a battle over how my electric usage can have almost tripled, when nothing has changed and I've lived in property for 9 years! They maintain I owe them this money, and bill is accurate.

My main questions are regards meter reads. So they say the last actual reading was July 2019 and this was a reading by myself, therefore I could taken this wrong. I asked when the last physical reading they themselves had taken, however they have no record of one. Is there no legal obligation for an electric company to check this from time to time? They admit that it is company policy to check every 6 months  however I have never been asked, either by email, letter or phone. I should point out it changed over from N.Power to E.ON in Nov 20. Again surely a reading should be taken when they took over, but again they say not? 

I just don't know where to go from here. Theres no way I could use that much. 

Any help/advise would be appreciated! Giving me sleepless nights

theoretica

Is the current reading correct?  Can you post a picture of the meter to enable the reading to be checked against various potential misreads.

Do you have your old bills to check the closing and opening readings match and you aren't paying two companies for the same electricity?  Because you have been in the property for so long if the current meter reading is correct then the 2019 one being wrong won't change the total electricity you have used - unless every meter reading since you moved in was wrong, which seems unlikely.  The 2019 meter reading being wrong would only change when you used the electricity, not that you did.

elsien

What about all the other bills you’ve had since 2019? What do they say about readings and usage? 

Robin9

I am a little confused - you say a bill for 22 months but you changed supplier in Nov 20 - at which time you would have had a final bill from nPower and given readings to Eon - what were they.

Wainwright125

Thanks for your replies.

Yes definitely correct, received photo proof from landlord and he sent 5 days in a row as they requested. I expected that to sort it. Bull all that happened is I recieved another bill with an extra £1200 added on top!! They say that they checked the meter 31/03 (for the first time) hence first big bill . That bill was then what they call quarantined (his exact words), and then another bill created based in my 5 days hence second bill which is the true one?? I'm sure they try and baffle you in purpose!

I will scrutinise the bill's more closely. Thay reckon they have gone over them with a fine tooth comb, so I thought it was a bit pointless going through all the figures.  

Robin9

Can you post a copy of the landlords photo and also the final bill from nPower please.

PS Generally relying on landlords / caretakers and agents is not a good idea - DIY

Wainwright125

Robin9 said:

I am a little confused - you say a bill for 22 months but you changed supplier in Nov 20 - at which time you would have had a final bill from nPower and given readings to Eon - what were they.

It was a forced changeover as N power were bought by E.ON. No final bill received just a change of letterhead on my next bill.

I’ll admit I’ve never really looked at bills closely, as I can’t say I understand it, and have always thought it is what it is with electricity, if you need heating you need heating sort of thing. Don’t get me wrong have always been frugal and make sure to turn sockets off etc. It’s always just been around £50 a month. Then when they said I was £1000 in front it was changed to £5 a month to bring back in line. Next thing huge bill. I know It’s my own fault and should have paid more attention.

Robin9

Have you any of the bills ?

Gerry1

Stop thinking in ££ per month, start thinking in kWh and start sending monthly meter readings.

• Bad News 1: As you haven't been checking things, any fixed rate deal will have expired long ago and you're probably on an expensive standard tariff with an expensive company.

• Bad News 2: Unless you've read the meter incorrectly, you'll have to pay for what you've used.  It's not an impossible amount, £50 per month was probably unrealistically low.
• Good News 1: You can arrange a payment plan to spread the debts over a manageable period.
• Good News 2: Might be worth submitting a formal written complaint that they hadn't obtained a meter reading for over 12 months, and this meant that you weren't alerted to the arrears that were mounting up so you didn't change tariffs or reduce consumption.  Nothing to lose, ask for a deadlock letter and go to the Ombudsman upon receipt or after eight weeks.
• Good News 3: Although you won't be able to leave E.On until you've paid off the debt, in the meantime you can do your homework and switch without penalty to their cheapest tariff, which will probably be a fixed rate contract.
• Good News 4: When you have paid off the debt, you can switch without penalty to E.On's variable tariff, and then you can switch to the cheapest company you can find.  Start comparing tariffs with Citizens Advice and 'Which? Switch', entering your annual kWh usage derived from actual meter readings a year apart.  Just compare annual costs, always ignore all projections and savings claims: they aren't realistic because of Ofgem's daft rules. Also have a look at the customer service ratings on Citizens Advice and the 'Add your feedback on energy supplier xxxx...'

Don't forget to come back and tell us how you got on.

MWT

Wainwright125 said:

Is there no legal obligation for an electric company to check this from time to time? They admit that it is company policy to check every 6 months  however I have never been asked, either by email, letter or phone.

Although there is no obligation to read the meter at any point at all, they do have an obligation to provide you with an accurate bill at least once every 12 months.

They can do that using meter readings you supply, or readings they obtain from a smart meter, or they have to send out their own meter reader.

If they do none of those things then they can only bill you for the last 12 months...

Point them at the 'back-billing' rules...

Reed_Richards

Wainwright125 said:

My main questions are regards meter reads. So they say the last actual reading was July 2019 and this was a reading by myself, therefore I could taken this wrong. I asked when the last physical reading they themselves had taken, however they have no record of one. Is there no legal obligation for an electric company to check this from time to time? 

Ofgem says "Suppliers must take all reasonable steps to obtain meter readings at least annually".  But it seems that asking the customer for a meter reading or signing-them up to a contract that commits them to supply meter readings is deemed to be sufficient.

If an old reading was wrong then that does not matter to the supply company so long as the new reading is correct.