Huge Bill / Meter Read Advise Need Help!

theoretica

If the current reading is correct I wonder if the 2019 one was wrong - if rather than being in credit then you had been slightly in debt and continued using power at about the same rate it could give the reading you have now.  To have been £1000 (20 months not counting the standing charge) in credit does seem fairly unlikely and need to have been a long time since the reading before that.

MWT

Reed_Richards 

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.

I’ve not seen anything to suggest that is true…
The customer cannot obstruct their efforts to obtain a meter reading, but it does require action and activity on their part, not passive negligence.

Reed_Richards

@MWT, I don't understand what you think is untrue or what the practical consequence is.  If it turns out that the energy company made no efforts to obtain a reading between 2019 and recently in 2021, which, if true, is seemingly negligent of them, does the OP have any come back?

Robin9

Wainwright125 said:

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.

Could you scan and post this bill please (blank our the personal and account references)  - this will have an item showing how much credit/debit was transferred to Eon.    I suspect it will also show lots of Estimated readings

As requested by other posters - photo of the meter would help a lot.

welshmoneylover

The OP needs to take regular meter readings himself. The energy companies hold millions of accounts and can’t possibly chase every customer for a reading. Sometimes we had to do it ourselves, takes 5 minutes and £50 a month is far too low for electricity.

I do wish people would stop blaming energy companies for catch up billing,. 

rebel_2

welshmoneylover said:

The OP needs to take regular meter readings himself. The energy companies hold millions of accounts and can’t possibly chase every customer for a reading. Sometimes we had to do it ourselves, takes 5 minutes and £50 a month is far too low for electricity.

I do wish people would stop blaming energy companies for catch up billing,. 

Unfortunately, energy companies are very poor for customer service. Consumers can do everything they have to do, but energy companies still get it wrong. 

What the OP can do is request a Subject Access Request from the energy companies he's dealt with for a period of 6 years (sometimes they holder info beyond 6 years). Get all the information, it's free.

At some point it would have been correct. He would of being the correct amount. He can use that 'monthly' amount to demonstrate what his monthly usage should be.  

https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/individual-rights/right-of-access/

  

Wainwright125

Thanks for all your replies, it has been hugely helpful reading through. 

Having looked at bills more thoroughly, it looks like they have massively underestimated my electricity usage. On my final bill it states projected usage of £110.00 a year which I know is not enough. It looks like a combination of that, and reducing my payments to £5 a month has resulted in the position I'm now in.
 
I have myself questioned whether I was actually £1000 in credit, but I am no longer able to view n-power bills except the final one, so can't work out how they arrived at that. I have always just paid the amount they advised and didn't realise it had been so long since an actual reading was taken. 

The advise above about checking actual usage rather than money is one I will definitely be following in future. It is my own stupid mistake. You would just think there would be things in place to stop it getting to this stage. I could accept owing money its just £2000 I never expected in my worst nightmares.

It seems my only option is to go down route that a reading should have been taken before this time, or at least a request made to me to do so. I just don't get how n-power and the estimating system could have got it so wrong, when I have lived in property as long as I have

Please see final bill and meter read 

Robin9

Did you realise that you are also on a standard tariff and paying through the nose for it as well.

Did you actually look at this bill when you got it ?  Between April and July it was estimated that you used 18 units !    That's not just possible -  even  a fridge or freezer ticking over could use 10 times that.

[Deleted User]

The OP will now have had his account transferred to E.oN Next which uses Octopus Energy’s Kraken technology platform. Unless E.on Next has disabled the function, Kraken will generate a statement each time that a customer reading is entered into the account. It is worth remembering that credit/debit balances are meaningless unless they are based on actual/customer readings - and then only valid for the day that the meter reading/s was/were taken. This is the type of situation that could have been avoided with a smart meter. Not checking energy bills can be a hard lesson.

Robin9

Going by the date of the meter 2004 - there is an annual consumption of 4000 units and a cost of £700 a year

Change tariff within Eon