Question regarding reasonable effort to contact bill supplier

Blender9901

mr_stripey said:

I am sure you are already doing this but it would be prudent to put aside a chunk of money each month for when you eventually do get billed.

I had a similar issue where my supplier did not bill me for over six months after taking over the property. I allocated £100 or so per month (it was a while ago) so when they finally did "collect" £ 900 in one lump it wasn't an issue

Yes, putting it aside. 
Proceeding on the assumption that it will at some point be payable.

Just a question of how long the gap is and, if that turns out to be a considerable period of time, am I under any further obligation to chase it? (Note that following Dolor's insight, the meter readings have been included in a resubmission of the complaint email, sent to 'hi@eonnext.com'. ) 

macman

You can't 'carry an account across' as you describe. You are in a deemed account with the existing supplier, with whom you must register before you switch. Some suppliers allow you to port a tariff over to a new property, but you will always have at least a few days on supply with the deemed supplier to pay for.
Once switched, you will be back with your old supplier, but it'll be a new account. Attempts to subvert this procedure invariably end in tears.

Blender9901

macman said:

You can't 'carry an account across' as you describe. You are in a deemed account with the existing supplier, with whom you must register before you switch. Some suppliers allow you to port a tariff over to a new property, but you will always have at least a few days on supply with the deemed supplier to pay for.
Once switched, you will be back with your old supplier, but it'll be a new account. Attempts to subvert this procedure invariably end in tears.

Completely agree as that that was my expectation.
 
However
As it stands the prior supplier have confirmed in writing, that they have no interest in the property. 
Regarding the normal 'Residual bill', the property was listed as vacant for an unknown  number of months prior to my purchase. Thus no bill existed to be carried.

I describe the account as carried across, technically this is clearly not the case, as you state. 
That said, EON does have an account assigned to my name and my new address, that is currently receiving money from the Gov scheme.

The prior supplier wants nothing to do with it.
Hence I am not sure what else to call that. 

The only other possibility, as i see it, is that i have been misinformed in regards to the who the prior supplier was. 
Solution to that is to ring around every supplier going and ask. Which is not massively appealing. 

At this stage I am content that I need to wait for a letter to drop. 


 

[Deleted User]

Unless the meters were removed from the property, there will be a standing charge levied on someone even if no energy has been used. Who was responsible for the property before you? Have they closed their account? There are ways of finding out the deemed supplier without ringing every supplier in the country.

FWiW, leaving it to the supplier to transfer a supply when moving home can result in the problems that you have encountered. It is safer, in my view, to contact the deemed supplier and then switchback to your old supplier.

Robin9

I am a little confused :   

From your original post 

"We have our initial meter readings noted for when this occurs.."


So  why can't you now find the meter ?  

By the Smart meter that the previous owner took away are you meaning the In House Display (IHD)  - the toy that sits in your kitchen ?   That's not your Smart Meter. That will sit in an outside meter box  -  not necessarily next to the fuse box/consumer unit. That may well be dated 1990 -  but any meter may well have been changed at least once over the last 30 years.

Blender9901

I have confirmed via those checks that my current supplier is EON. As stated, I currently have no reason to doubt this is the case. 

To sum up the above pages. 
Key points


EON hold my account, with my new address assigned. 
EON is receiving the Gov scheme payments within this account. 
EON have asked for a meter reading*
EON will not allow Digital submission of readings (Website error and/or no utilities assigned to address)
Reasonable attempts have been made to inform EON of readings via Calls.
EON has now been informed of the problem plus our initial meter readings (Thank you Dolor) via their email Address.
EON has been invited to enquire regarding our current meter readings, which are readily available.

EON are listed as the supplier within those checks, as suggested via OFGEN.
EON took over the property on the day of completion. 
EON have yet to respond via any channel, though emails have been CC'd to Ombudsmen. 
EON wrongly believe a smart meter is installed in the house. There is no evidence of this and it is not listed on the transfer documentation. (I am currently presuming this is an error stemming from my prior address utilsing one)  

The prior supplier had the property listed as vacant prior to completion. 
The prior supplier have confirmed that EON took on the property on the day of completion.
The prior supplier has confirmed no residual bill.
The prior supplier have confirmed no ongoing interest in the property.
The prior supplier has provided this all in writing

At this stage I am inclined to call it a day. 
Place the appropriate money aside. 
Resubmit my email, detailing the situation Bi-monthly. 
Wait for a bill.

*Upon digging through my own emails, I have recalled that the meter readings was wrongly requested by EON prior to my ownership of the property by some weeks. This is due to a delayed completion date. This was addressed at the time and rectified but the upshot is that I do not believe that I have received a valid request for a meter reading during my ownership.
 

Thanks for your time all. 

Will attempt to let you know when and how the hammer eventually falls. 

EssexHebridean

When you chase the matter up each time, include the current meter readings in that email also, would be my suggestion. Therefore meaning that you have quite literally done everything you could to ensure that accurate billing happens. 

[Deleted User]

I would call the DNO:

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/finding-your-energy-supplier-or-network-operator

I would ask them to confirm the meter serial number linked to your account. Normally, when you move home and stay with the same supplier they have to close your existing energy account and then open a new account using your new MPAN and meter serial number. If the supplier has just changed the address on your existing account then this type of error can occur.