Letter from EON claiming i owe them money

Jerry1993

Hi all,

I bought a house in December 2019, refurbed it and sold it in May 2021. I never lived in the house and the idea was to flip it.

During this period, the house came with some debt on the electric and gas metres. I phoned  EON to confirm that the debt was not mine and they were wiped. With the debt wiped from the previous owner, I always ensured the metres were topped up and was always in the green as they were pre paid metres. The house was never lived in and the only electric/gas used was when workers or myself needed light and electricity for their tools. When the house was sold in May 2021, I informed EON I was no longer the owner. 

A few months later, I received two letters from EON claiming that have outstanding charges. Apparently I owe £150 for the gas and £450 for the electric.

I immediately called EON and explained the situation above and they say that the charges are because they had not received a metre reading from the date I sold the house and a "standard charge" would be added on. I asked were these based on averages which they said yes but did not acknowledge that the house was under development for the period in question. As the house was not lived in and there was minimal use of electric and gas, I find these charges ridiculous but EON are adamant I must pay.

I was told that the only way to clear the debt would be if I was able to show the metre reading at the time I sold the house which I don't think would be possible.

I am unsure what I should do and any help would be great.
Thank you

tacpot12

Call Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline and speak to the Energy team there. They will tell you what can be done. 

The number is  0808 223 1133.

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Hi Jerry1993, welcome to the forum.

Cases like this can get a bit complicated with pre-payment meters, as we still need the final read from the date you gave up responsibility of the property. This is so we can produce a final statement with the actual amount of energy used.

Also if the account was opened but backdated to a specific date then any payments made will be on the previous account instead so they need transferring over.

It may also be that the previous debt was not fully cleared, although it may have removed from the screens on the meter, it may not have come off the actual account.

It could also be to do with a build up of standing charge. A standing charge is what you pay us for providing your supply of gas, electricity or both. It’s part of your tariff, every tariff we offer includes a standing charge. You pay this daily, whether you’re using energy or not. Think of it like paying line rental for your phone. It works in a similar way.

If you don’t keep on top of your standing charge, it will build up and become a debt which you’ll need to pay off in order to use your energy again. Whenever the credit runs out on your meter, the standing charge will build up and we’ll collect what’s owed as soon as you next top up.

We have a pre-payment department that can help look in to the reason for the balance, they have the tools to investigate.

Helena

As a side note, we won't be posting anymore from around the end of September I'm afraid. 

Joyful

Surely Eon can take a reading from the last time you topped up?

welshmoneylover

Doesn’t take 2 minutes to read your own meter reading, plus it saves a lot of hassle down the line.