EON Energy Bill | Bought a house | Switching Energy Bills

webjaved

Hello, 

I recently purchased my first home and took pictures of the meter on the day I got the keys. 

Before that, the homeowner sadly passed away and the property was vacant for a few months. 

I've not moved to the property yet as we are still doing some renovation work, I noticed a bill for the previous homeowner and got in touch with EON to say that the billing name needs to be changed as I am the new homeowner. So they got me set up with my own account and that was all fine. 

I've initiated my switch to Utility Warehouse for my gas/electric and broadband, and now the broadband/phone line has been active for around a month. 

I don't believe we have used the gas in the two months since we got the keys to warrant such a high bill. The gas meter there is no power on it, I can't see any readings on it, but I can see the readings on the electricity meter. This was the case when I got the keys and is the case now. My UW switch seems to have gone through as I can see the service numbers on the app and the following in my account if I log in on a browser: https://prnt.sc/CeXLp11-CY29

On the 22nd of August 2022, I got the following email stating the following: Your energy services will go live on 02 August 2022 (Weird - I'll have to ring up and get this confirmed with them)

On Thu, 18 Aug 2022 - I got the following from EON saying "We’re sad to hear you’re leaving us". Shouldn't my services with EON have ended on 02/08/22?

Now look at the readings from the old bill and check the readings, then look at the readings for the bill that I received in my name. Does that look okay to any of you? I've not even moved into the house and have a £400 bill for 2 months. The most that have been used in that is the electricity in the house and the water. 

Previous owner bill breakdown. 

Electricity
25th June 2022 - 2119.3 smart meter reading
25th July 2022  - 2125.4 smart meter reading
Energy Used     - 6.1kWh @ 28.11p/kWh (£1.70)
Standing Charge - 30 days @ 45.613p/day (£13.68)
Total: £16.15

Gas
24th June 2022 - 2544.6 smart meter reading
24th July 2022  - 2544.6 smart meter reading
Consumption - 0.0 units
Energy Used 0.0 kWh @ 7.366p/kWh
Standing Charge - 30 days @ 30.506p/day
Total: £9.61

Total charges for the bill: £25.76

My bill breakdown

Gas (No electricity bill?)

29th July 2022  -  2126.0 Customer reading
23rd Aug. 2022 -  2564.0 Closing reading
Consumption 438.0 Units (m3 ) Energy Used* 5001.7 kWh @ 7.366p/kWh £368.43
Standing Charge 25 days @ 30.506p/day £7.63

If the gas meter readings are not showing at all, how on earth do I know if this bill is correct? You can't be trusting any of these energy companies. Apart from the pictures, I don't know the exact meter readings. I've shot myself in the foot here haven't I by not bringing this up sooner with EON or with myself! Life of a new homeowner. Doh!

Is there anything I can do to double-check that the meter readings for the gas are correct? As I've mentioned, the house is vacant at the moment with renovation work going on and the gas cooker hasn't been used! The warm water on the other hand has been used - lots of water has been used, could that be why I've nearly got a £400 bill? I'm trying to make some sense of it but I just can't. 

Please refer to the uploaded images on the links below;

- https://imgur.com/a/wQTYcdV [Utility Bills]
- https://imgur.com/a/UMOpUDC [Old Meter Pictures - when I got the keys 29/07/2022]
- https://imgur.com/a/18bDzst [Meter Pictures Taken 11/09/2022]

The guy that sorted my bills out with UW said that they would come out and install smart meters, but that never happened, time to give him a nudge and call UW up tomorrow to confirm that everything is okay. 

I hope I've not bored anyone with the long post, if I have, I do apologise. 

Thank you, 
Javed

[Deleted User]

Who gave them that reading on 29 July?  That's what you're being charged for.

The closing reading on the old account was 2544.6.  "The customer" has given a reading of 2126.0 on 29 July, and then a closing reading on 23 Aug of 2564.0 

You've actually used 20 units on the meter (2544 to 2564) but because someone has given them a reading of 2126 they think you've used 438 units on the meter.

Looks like that was reading the electricity meter but they think you've told them it was the gas meter.

webjaved

Deleted_User said:

Who gave them that reading on 29 July?  That's what you're being charged for.

The closing reading on the old account was 2544.6.  "The customer" has given a reading of 2126.0 on 29 July, and then a closing reading on 23 Aug of 2564.0 

You've actually used 20 units on the meter (2544 to 2564) but because someone has given them a reading of 2126 they think you've used 438 units on the meter.

Looks like that was reading the electricity meter but they think you've told them it was the gas meter.

Who gave them that reading on 29 July?
Not me, all I did was tell them that the previous owner has passed away and that the bills need to come in my name. I've not at any point given them readings for gas or electricity since I got the keys to my house. 

These readings, I've not given these to EON - this bill just landed in my email inbox yesterday. I've had no communication from EON since they set my account up. 

It looks like they have messed up somewhere so now I am going to have to ring them up and battle it out with them. Wonderful.

QrizB

webjaved said:

If the gas meter readings are not showing at all, how on earth do I know if this bill is correct?

You've got a smart gas meter and the supplier say they are getting smart readings from it.

You can read it yourself, but you need to press a button on it to make it display a reading. Have you tried this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sg-JNLj5Jw

I agree with SparkyGrad that the 2126 reading is incorrect; it looks like your opening electricity meter reading was recorded incorrectly.

jbuchanangb

E.ON Next do generate separate gas and electricity bills, so to have a bill for gas without electricity is not unusual. Bill for electricity to follow.

The gas customer reading for 29 July of 2126.0 looks remarkably similar to the electricity smart meter reading for 25 July. The "Closing Reading" for 23 August of 2564 looks remarkably like a gas meter reading! So they have calculated a gas bill based on an opening electricity reading and a closing gas reading. Your electricity meter reading in the photos today is 2752 which is not unreasonable considering the billed smart meter reading at 25 July was 2125.4. [IMPRT is the reading which matters].

Does pressing the buttons on the gas meter not cause it to wake up and display anything? It is possible for E.ON to receive the readings from the smart gas meter even if it is not displaying them.

At the very worst you could be charged for 19.4 m3 of gas. And you could expect to be charged for up to 628kWh (2752-2126) of electricity.

I hope my analysis is helpful. You need to get back to E.ON Next and have a discussion.

webjaved

QrizB said:

webjaved said:

If the gas meter readings are not showing at all, how on earth do I know if this bill is correct?

You've got a smart gas meter and the supplier say they are getting smart readings from it.

You can read it yourself, but you need to press a button on it to make it display a reading. Have you tried this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sg-JNLj5Jw

I agree with SparkyGrad that the 2126 reading is incorrect; it looks like your opening electricity meter reading was recorded incorrectly.

I did click all the buttons I could to see if there was any life in it but no response, I will check that video you've posted and go in the morning before work to retest it and I will let you know. Thank you. 

webjaved

jbuchanangb said:

E.ON Next do generate separate gas and electricity bills, so to have a bill for gas without electricity is not unusual. Bill for electricity to follow.

The gas customer reading for 29 July of 2126.0 looks remarkably similar to the electricity smart meter reading for 25 July. The "Closing Reading" for 23 August of 2564 looks remarkably like a gas meter reading! So they have calculated a gas bill based on an opening electricity reading and a closing gas reading. Your electricity meter reading in the photos today is 2752 which is not unreasonable considering the billed smart meter reading at 25 July was 2125.4. [IMPRT is the reading which matters].

Does pressing the buttons on the gas meter not cause it to wake up and display anything? It is possible for E.ON to receive the readings from the smart gas meter even if it is not displaying them.

At the very worst you could be charged for 19.4 m3 of gas. And you could expect to be charged for up to 628kWh (2752-2126) of electricity.

I hope my analysis is helpful. You need to get back to E.ON Next and have a discussion.

Clicking the buttons didn't do anything but I will check that YT video link and retry it in the morning when I go to work. I'll report back. 

They've definitely cocked up on the bill, that I'm near enough certain on. 

At the very worst you could be charged for 19.4 m3 of gas. And you could expect to be charged for up to 628kWh (2752-2126) of electricity.
- What would the rough cost of that be? 

[Deleted User]

webjaved said:

They've definitely cocked up on the bill, that I'm near enough certain on. 

I'm not so sure.  The bill is wrong, but I've not seen any evidence that they've done it wrong.  Don't go into this with "they've cocked up" and "they can't be trusted", you'll just get frustrated and get nowhere.

The only evidence I can see as to why the bills are wrong, is that there is a reading from the electricity meter on the gas account and we don't know what reading was on the electricity account.

All the other readings are marked as 'smart', so E.ON could read the meter fine.  The incorrect reading is marked as 'customer' which means someone has put them in manually.

Your gas reading was 2544 on 24 June and was 2564 on 23 Aug.
Your electricity reading was 2119 on 25 June and was 2152 on 11 Sept.

Just tell them that the customer read on 29 July was incorrect and ask them to remove it from the account.  That's all.

If you suddenly get an electricity bill with a customer read on 29 July also (which I suspect will be around 2550 or so), tell them that it was also incorrect and ask for it to be removed.  I expect that there is a closing read on the electricity account of about 2135 or so following that customer read.

webjaved

[Deleted User] said:

webjaved said:

They've definitely cocked up on the bill, that I'm near enough certain on. 

I'm not so sure.  The bill is wrong, but I've not seen any evidence that they've done it wrong.  Don't go into this with "they've cocked up" and "they can't be trusted", you'll just get frustrated and get nowhere.

The only evidence I can see as to why the bills are wrong, is that there is a reading from the electricity meter on the gas account and we don't know what reading was on the electricity account.

All the other readings are marked as 'smart', so E.ON could read the meter fine.  The incorrect reading is marked as 'customer' which means someone has put them in manually.

Your gas reading was 2544 on 24 June and was 2564 on 23 Aug.
Your electricity reading was 2119 on 25 June and was 2152 on 11 Sept.

Just tell them that the customer read on 29 July was incorrect and ask them to remove it from the account.  That's all.

If you suddenly get an electricity bill with a customer read on 29 July also (which I suspect will be around 2550 or so), tell them that it was also incorrect and ask for it to be removed.  I expect that there is a closing read on the electricity account of about 2135 or so following that customer read.

Thank you, I will tell them that. Let's hope this gets resolved smoothly. I'll give them a call tomorrow or Tuesday, Mondays are always hectic for me at work. It's been an expensive few weeks and getting this bill has added to that. 

I'm sure I'll get this sorted. 

Thank you both for taking the time out and helping me. Much appreciated. I'll update this thread once I have spoken to EON. 

I'll give UW a call too and make sure everything is okay with the switch. 

webjaved

Here is the gas meter reading after navigating through the mad traffic! @[Deleted User] @jbuchanangb

[Deleted User]

Looks like your closing reading has been estimated as well then.  You've actually only used 4m3 of gas rather than the 20 we thought.

When you switch suppliers, you need to make sure you give a reading so they don't have to rely on estimated ones (although in this case there were smart meters so they shouldn't have needed to).

E.ON should really be able to understand the mistake if they look at the account - I just don't think anyone has triggered them to look at it.  A simple phone call should sort it out.