Backdated bill

Johnjones76565667

Hello

Looking for some advice please…..

My 90 year old mum is with eon next and she’s just had an £800 gas bill because when eon changed from eon to eon next her smart meter didn’t register properly and wasn’t sending gas readings for 9 months. We don’t really get involved with her bills as she’s generally quite self sufficient and she just assumed her direct debit was fine. She didn’t realise anything was wrong! Do we have a leg to stand on with a complaint??? She’s a pensioner on state benefits and has no way of paying this!

Okey00001

Hello John, it appears that the gas company have over estimated the meter reading.  What you need to do is to take the meter reading, note the date and contact Eon as soon as possible. They will ask for your mother's permission and add your name for any queries on her gas account. Take a photo of the gas bill to keep as reference.

Utility companies are a nightmare with communication so persevere and don't give up.  Make notes each time you call them.

They will then clear their own estimated readings and take your meter reading. The bill will be adjusted.

Good luck

Nebulous2

I don't think you or her have any recourse I'm afraid.  

How does she get her bills?

I'm with Sainsburys energy, which is basically a rebrand of Eon Next and I submit readings monthly and get a monthly statement. Has she had regular statements? Do they show that the gas is estimated?

How did they catch-up? Has the smart meter started working, or did they send a meter reader? 

It would be worth going through her bills to check back to the last real reading. £800 deficit in 9 months suggests either very low payments or very high usage. 

Okey00001

I had a similar situation with my mother.  The Smart meter was not working. She had DD set up.  They over estimated the bill over 6 months and a huge bill.  All sorted, after reading meter and forwarding it to the gas company. It took many phonecalls though and got there in the end.

Why should she pay for something that has incorrect or over-estimated meter reading? 

Okey00001

"£800 gas bill because when eon changed from eon to eon next her smart meter didn’t register properly and wasn’t sending gas readings for 9 months."

This is something they are responsible for and not her fault. It happens and they have to amend it.

Nebulous2

Okey00001 said:

"£800 gas bill because when eon changed from eon to eon next her smart meter didn’t register properly and wasn’t sending gas readings for 9 months."

This is something they are responsible for and not her fault. It happens and they have to amend it.

My reading of the OP is that she has been paying based on estimates, and now they have taken an accurate reading, which shows that she owes them £800. 

If that is the case, unfortunately it will be something she is responsible for. 

DE_612183

Just make sure she hasn't been billed for the same usage by both eon and eon next....

400ixl

Okey00001 said:

"£800 gas bill because when eon changed from eon to eon next her smart meter didn’t register properly and wasn’t sending gas readings for 9 months."

This is something they are responsible for and not her fault. It happens and they have to amend it.

Not quite, they have a responsibility to ensure there is an accurate reading, but it is over a longer period (2 years I believe).

You are making the assumption that this situation is identical to your mothers, it could be, but maybe not.

With that in mind.

The first thing to check would be if the meter reading they have used to calculate the bill is correct. If it is an estimated reading and well above the actual reading then you supply them with the current reading and ask then to re-bill.

The tricky part there if she is on a standard tariff is over 9 months, how much applied to when as you have both summer vs winter and the rate rises that occurred. Hopefully the supplier has an algorithm to calculate that or you may be able to use last years readings to make a calculation.

If it is based on an accurate reading then I don't think there is much you can do other than engage with them to work out how it can be paid over time.

Gerry1

If the £800 is correct (based on an actual meter reading rather than an estimate) then she will have tp pay it.  However, she should then ask for a payment plan to spread the repayments over 12 months.

Also consider raising a formal complaint.  She'll still have to pay for all the energy that she has used, but she might get some compo to make up for their technical problem.

Johnjones76565667

Thanks everyone. She wasn’t paying for gas at all during that time. They weren’t billing her at all. It looks like now the systems have linked up and the £800 is correct unfortunately. 

Johnjones76565667

Eon are offering £50 in compensation. Anyone have any experience of the omsbudman? Are we likely to get more through them?