Eon and Scottish power and overcharged bill

mr_ottermole

Hello

I was unlucky enough to be moved to Scottish power when my energy supplier went bust.  After a 6 month long fight I've managed to get them sorted out after much stress and worry and sleepless nights.

However I have moved to eon and their first electricity bill has been generated on an opening estimated reading.  When I rang them about it they first said they would correct the bill.  They haven't so when I rang back again today they told me it was they were using a reading from Scottish power!!!  However the reading doesn't match with either the opening or closing readings from Scottish power and I have no idea how to get this sorted.  I've put a complaint In today asking for to speak to a complaints manager which I apparently am not allowed to do but have to wait ten working days for said manager to ring me back.

I can't face the prospect of another lengthy fight with another one on the big six but as they have over charged me by about 3 months energy use I can't afford to let it go as I am barely managing to afford.my bills as it is.

I have my bill from Scottish power showing the closing reading for electricity but eon don't seem to want it.

I'm again back to being worried sick about bills I might not be able to afford through the big six mismanagement and they don't seem to give a crap about the stress and worry.

Can anyone offer advice on what to do as the ombudsman isn't a solution and neither it seems are eon?  Thanks

Gerry1

This is probably The Mysterious Third Party at work.

The main thing is to make sure that Scottish Power's closing reading matches E.On's opening reading.  You can only challenge the 'deemed' figure if it differs from the true reading by more than 250kWh.  Crazy system, but that's how it is.

Chase E.On if it doesn't match, asking for a deadlock letter and if necessary escalating it to the Ombudsman after eight weeks.

MWT

If the difference is less than the 250kWh tolerance level, it is Scottish Power you’ll have to chase, not E.On.
SP should have waited for the official figure from E.On, and not billed on the actual closing reading. 

mr_ottermole

Thanks both the difference is 278 which is about 7 weeks electricity use for me as I can't afford to use any more.  Although they will see it as a small amount it is huge amount to me and is money I can't afford to waste paying for the same energy twice.  Sp billed on the reading so I could get done with them as they were charging 25p a day standing charge for both which was 3 time my previous supplier and had to get off their tariff as soon as I could and moved to eon as soon as I was able.  

Thanks for advice!!

MWT

In the end you will only pay for the energy once.

Your choices are:

#1 - Complain to SP that they have not used the industry approved final reading and get them to re-bill using that number.

#2 - Complain to E.On that the reading is outside the allowed tolerance.

If you follow #1 that will be the end of the matter once SP re-bill you.

If you follow #2 you may still need to do #1 as well once E.On get a new 'approved' reading.

Reed_Richards

It's common practice for an energy company to send a "final" bill and then revise it.  In this instance it sounds as if Scottish Power should be revising your "final" bill in your favour and sending you a refund.  Maybe a call or an email can prompt them to do this?

[Deleted User]

mr_ottermole said:

Thanks both the difference is 278 which is about 7 weeks electricity use for me as I can't afford to use any more.  Although they will see it as a small amount it is huge amount to me and is money I can't afford to waste paying for the same energy twice.  Sp billed on the reading so I could get done with them as they were charging 25p a day standing charge for both which was 3 time my previous supplier and had to get off their tariff as soon as I could and moved to eon as soon as I was able.  

Thanks for advice!!

The opening and closing readings must agree. The losing supplier is required to use the industry-validated reading passed to it by the gaining supplier’s data collectors (validation process) to close your account. This may be an estimated reading. If the losing supplier is not using the same readings as your new supplier, then raise a written complaint against the old supplier.

If the agreed opening reading is, say, 200kWhs more than the index reading on your meter, then do not panic. Yes you may end up paying your old supplier for units it has not supplied; however, the offset is that you will only pay your new supplier a daily standing charge until the actual meter reading passes the industry agreed opening/closing reading. The ‘true’ cost to you is therefore 200 times the difference in unit prices.

E.ON_Company_Representative

Hi mr_ottermole, sorry to hear this is happening. There's been some great advice in this thread already. 

The regulation dictates that a losing supplier should send your final bill within 6 weeks of the account closing. In order to do so they will need to receive the reading from us, your new supplier. It's done this way to entirely avoid situations such as this, and is in place to ensure we're both using the same changeover figures.

It sounds like your previous supplier haven't used the figure we've sent, or they haven't received a figure from us. With the 6 week regulation getting stricter it could be that they've produced a "placeholder" type bill based on their figures to allow them to have this with you within 6 weeks. And then as and when they get the reading from us it will be adjusted. I'm not too sure of the timeframes involved here?

With the reading discrepancy being over 250 units, as had been mentioned, we should be able to get this fixed quite easily by following the 'Agreed Reads Dispute' (ARD) process. It can be sorted one of two ways;

- Speak to your previous supplier and ask them to revise your final bill based on the reading we've sent. If they've not received it yet and it's been less than 6 weeks then it may still be on it's way. 

- We can change our opening reading to match their final reading. This is where we'd need to raise an ARD, and will likely need another up to date meter reading just to allow us to get this raised. 

I know we have a backlog of complaints at the moment but someone should be in touch with you in due course to discuss this further and let you know of the actions we're going to take. In the meantime you could try contacting your previous supplier.

Thanks, Matt

mr_ottermole

E.ON_Company_Representative said:

Hi mr_ottermole, sorry to hear this is happening. There's been some great advice in this thread already. 

The regulation dictates that a losing supplier should send your final bill within 6 weeks of the account closing. In order to do so they will need to receive the reading from us, your new supplier. It's done this way to entirely avoid situations such as this, and is in place to ensure we're both using the same changeover figures.

It sounds like your previous supplier haven't used the figure we've sent, or they haven't received a figure from us. With the 6 week regulation getting stricter it could be that they've produced a "placeholder" type bill based on their figures to allow them to have this with you within 6 weeks. And then as and when they get the reading from us it will be adjusted. I'm not too sure of the timeframes involved here?

With the reading discrepancy being over 250 units, as had been mentioned, we should be able to get this fixed quite easily by following the 'Agreed Reads Dispute' (ARD) process. It can be sorted one of two ways;

- Speak to your previous supplier and ask them to revise your final bill based on the reading we've sent. If they've not received it yet and it's been less than 6 weeks then it may still be on it's way. 

- We can change our opening reading to match their final reading. This is where we'd need to raise an ARD, and will likely need another up to date meter reading just to allow us to get this raised. 

I know we have a backlog of complaints at the moment but someone should be in touch with you in due course to discuss this further and let you know of the actions we're going to take. In the meantime you could try contacting your previous supplier.

Thanks, Matt

Thanks Matt personally would prefer not to contact Scottish power as it was 6bmonths of hell!!  I'm waiting for a call back from a complaints manager but your post is helpful as I can mention this when they ring back.  I'm at the end of my tether with this switch as it wasn't something I wanted and not a single thing has gone right!

mr_ottermole

mr_ottermole said:

E.ON_Company_Representative said:

Hi mr_ottermole, sorry to hear this is happening. There's been some great advice in this thread already. 

The regulation dictates that a losing supplier should send your final bill within 6 weeks of the account closing. In order to do so they will need to receive the reading from us, your new supplier. It's done this way to entirely avoid situations such as this, and is in place to ensure we're both using the same changeover figures.

It sounds like your previous supplier haven't used the figure we've sent, or they haven't received a figure from us. With the 6 week regulation getting stricter it could be that they've produced a "placeholder" type bill based on their figures to allow them to have this with you within 6 weeks. And then as and when they get the reading from us it will be adjusted. I'm not too sure of the timeframes involved here?

With the reading discrepancy being over 250 units, as had been mentioned, we should be able to get this fixed quite easily by following the 'Agreed Reads Dispute' (ARD) process. It can be sorted one of two ways;

- Speak to your previous supplier and ask them to revise your final bill based on the reading we've sent. If they've not received it yet and it's been less than 6 weeks then it may still be on it's way. 

- We can change our opening reading to match their final reading. This is where we'd need to raise an ARD, and will likely need another up to date meter reading just to allow us to get this raised. 

I know we have a backlog of complaints at the moment but someone should be in touch with you in due course to discuss this further and let you know of the actions we're going to take. In the meantime you could try contacting your previous supplier.

Thanks, Matt

Thanks Matt personally would prefer not to contact Scottish power as it was 6bmonths of hell!!  I'm waiting for a call back from a complaints manager but your post is helpful as I can mention this when they ring back.  I'm at the end of my tether with this switch as it wasn't something I wanted and not a single thing has gone right!

Also the figure given for the open eon account doesn't just cover the 6 week I was with SP but also Yorkshire energy and I can't go back to them as they have gone bust.  This shows how much the opening balance is out from my actual usage!