EON Final Bill £800

Kopitecalling

I have been living in an apartment block. 1 bedroom apartment. Electric only. And one choice of supplier. (EON) With no access to my meter. Without requesting a caretaker to get one for me. 

I looked on EONs website and said if I set up a direct debit for £54 a month I do not have to give meter readings.
I left the apartment last week and submitted a final meter reading. And I have a charge of over £800. As EON underestimated my bill. I work 6 days a week and don’t even have the heating on all year round. 

I had no requests to check my meter readings from the company. Is there anything I can do or do I just have to take my medicine.

TheMilkmansDad

assuming the opening meter reading from when you moved in was an actual figure (not estimated) and that the final meter reading given was also actual (not estimated), then yes, the balance would be due.
Go through your statements to check the meter readings (e = estimate; a/c = actual/customer) are correct.
How did you supply the final meter reading; did the caretaker give this or did you actually see it/take a photo of it? Also, check the meter serial number and ensure this matches the serial number shown on your bill to ensure it's your electric you are paying and not someone else's!

Robin9

No way are you going to heat etc your all electric flat for £54  - think £80/90.

You have a big catch up bill due to no readings.

Read those meters at least monthly and keep your own records.

Kopitecalling

I don’t have access to the meter to check the serial as all the meters are locked away in a room in the building. It was my first flat so I didn’t realise how much it should cost. It’s not until recently the caretaker started to write the meter readings on a board. That’s how I got the Final Reading. 

I guess it sounds as if there is nothing I can do. I just don’t know what the point in estimating my bill if it’s going to be so wrong anyway? 

Robin9

Make sure you can get access to your meters at your new place.

[Deleted User]

Kopitecalling said:

I don’t have access to the meter to check the serial as all the meters are locked away in a room in the building. It was my first flat so I didn’t realise how much it should cost. It’s not until recently the caretaker started to write the meter readings on a board. That’s how I got the Final Reading. 

I guess it sounds as if there is nothing I can do. I just don’t know what the point in estimating my bill if it’s going to be so wrong anyway? 

Suppliers no longer have to read meters. They are however obliged to obtain one meter reading every 12 months. It follows that the onus is now on occupiers to provide meter readings. When we set up energy contracts we do so on the basis of an assumed amount of energy usage in a year (in kWhs). If you were unable to provide that information, then the supplier should look back to the previous Estimated Annual Consumption for the property. Until you provide actual meter readings, the estimated usage will be based on this EAC. Ny the sound of it, you have been using more energy than the previous occupant.

It is a hard but important lesson to learn: monitor your usage and provide monthly readings. This will avoid future bill shocks.

JJC1956

Robin9 said:

No way are you going to heat etc your all electric flat for £54  - think £80/90.

You have a big catch up bill due to no readings.

Read those meters at least monthly and keep your own records.

Myself and my girlfriend live in a 1 bedroom flat, we have been at home for best part of 15 months due to Pandemic, our Monthly bill for Gas and Electric is approx £60 per month, that is for 2 people, all day every day, our supplier is Octopus Energy.
PS I Pay by DD and am in credit at the moment £206.00. My Elderly Mother and Brother live in a 2 bed flat, their DD is also £60 per month, at the moment they are £1.18 in debit. They are also with Octopus Energy

Energy companies have a bad track record for underestimating, so that when you want to change supplier, you cant afford it, It happened to me about 15 years ago with British Gas telling me that I couldn’t change supplier for my then business as i owed them money, they then slowed things down when i tried to pay off my outstanding arrears, approx £350.

PS I am not trying to big up OE, only trying to make the point that there are cheaper options out there.

OP Needs to dig out Meter Readings from when he moved in.

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Kopitecalling said:

I have been living in an apartment block. 1 bedroom apartment. Electric only. And one choice of supplier. (EON) With no access to my meter. Without requesting a caretaker to get one for me. 

I looked on EONs website and said if I set up a direct debit for £54 a month I do not have to give meter readings.
I left the apartment last week and submitted a final meter reading. And I have a charge of over £800. As EON underestimated my bill. I work 6 days a week and don’t even have the heating on all year round. 

I had no requests to check my meter readings from the company. Is there anything I can do or do I just have to take my medicine.

Morning Kopitecalling welcome to the Forum,

Good advice from the others here already

I'm a bit unsure where you will have seen a message that you don't need to give reads if you set up a Direct Debit?

If you have the read from the date you moved in, you can check this against your bills and ensure we started your account from this.

If we were producing estimated bills, it shows on the bill as an E next to the read. 

It does sound like a catch up bill, so now we have received an accurate read we have been able to bring the account up to date and bill for all the energy used. 

I know it can come as shock, but please do speak to us as we may be able to discuss a payment arrangement to help you clear the balance.

Thank you

Helena

niktheguru

It always frustrates me a bit when i read these sorts of threads.

I dont understand how anyone thinks that if you are having bills "estimated" they will  be accurate. If you use more energy the bills will go up, if you use less they go down. With so many variables such as heating, appliances, whether people are in the building or not, how many people live there etc etc how can anyone possibly think the suppliers can get an accurate estimate rather than a vague ball park figure

If your meters aren't accessible then you need to do something about it. Ask the caretaker every 3 months for the reading, for your own knowledge and to inform your supplier. Ideally it should be every month, but 3 months is a reasonable compromise so the caretaker isn't always checking.  Either that or upgrade to a smart meter so its all done for you. That way you would've spotted these discrepancies earlier!

The providers are damned if they do or damned if they dont. You'll moan if they overestimate and take loads of your money and put your account in too much credit, then take a while to refund you. Then you'll also moan if they dont take enough money, then attempt to bill you later for the amount youre owed.

A compromise would be for companies to set a cut off of say £300 either way which automatically triggers a need to relook at direct debits. But again, that would depend on them getting accurate usage figures.

Moral of the story.....ensure accurate meter readings are submitted regularly!

Robin9

Equally frustrating  - "I have a Smart meter - my DD is £xx -  I don't have to do anything"..     Yes you do - at the very least read and understand those bills/statements.