I/we don't have any other debts, but I am speaking with StepChange and CAB now/again. Yeah. But realistically I think running home to escape E.ON isn't going to happen, if only because I have my (British) husband to consider and also the fact I'm at the point of applying for UK citizenship - and I don't want my years here and the money I've spent on immigration to have been wasted. If I go home without citizenship, I'll have basically wasted my 20s. So, really, one way or another, E.ON has to be settled first before I make a decision on going home or not. Thank you for that idea. I will definitely do that.

Hi, Thanks everyone for your thoughts and help. I put off dealing with this further as we were on the prepayment meter, and that stopped everything, as we were paying both for usage and an amount towards the bill (though it somehow still seems to be creeping up?). However, we've now moved out and into a shared house, so E.ON is no longer a priority debt for us as we have a different, current electricity bill to pay. I just got the paycheck from my new full-time job, and, after rent/bills/food, we have 70p leftover each month. I thought I would have £20 leftover to offer them (not that they'd take it) but the council tax bill was higher than I'd budgeted for - I am querying this on Monday. This debt is not going to be going anywhere any time soon. I really am close to just going back home to the States. We've now had a letter from E.ON to inform us that they are going to take start legal action. With that plus the fact I now have a little bit of free time and energy left after work to hopefully deal with this once and for all, I'm back for - hopefully! - some more help. Thank you so much in advance. I will do my best to be clear, involved, and answer any questions. I'll also be taking time off work to see/talk to who I must, such as the CAB, though they weren't very useful last time. "When you took ownership of the property , why did you contract with EON, was it because the landlord recommended, did you shop around or what? The property was already with E.ON, and they showed up one day to take our names. I didn't really know you could shop around. Everywhere else I've lived previously, there's not a choice. Later how did EON get access to your meter when the property is locked? The meters are in a communal cupboard outside of the building. It was either left unlocked or they had another tenant let them in. Your bills are high. Go through the bills carefully. Yes, I know. I now have their estimated numbers from those years and recently + our actual usage as measured by the prepayment meter. The estimates are double the actual, but I don't know if would be possible to convince them to re-estimate their estimates and thus bring down the debt." Look for transposed meter readings i.e day/ night readings the wrong way around. We did do that, and they weren't transposed. Make sure meter readings follow on and there no gaps in the numbers of units noted in each bill. I will go through my bills to look for that. Thank you. They're asking for a "full response". What all can I include in my "full response"? Are there any charities I could apply to for some sort of grant towards the debt?

The back bill does only go back 12 months, but it covers 2013/14, since that was the 12 months prior to us receiving the bill. Prior to that, I paid the estimated bills we received in full but not necessarily on time. I think it's way too high, too. We have 1.25/2 bedroom flat, don't have heating on, turn everything off at the plug - and my mother-in-law, who lives in a giant two storey 5 bed house, has lower electricity bills with EON than we do. EON's suggestion was to hire a private electrician, but we can't afford that and I don't know anyone. Rental company doesn't seem keen on having one in either. The problem with proving it wrong are that I didn't take any readings over that period. I didn't realise that over here it's actually a thing you do that's necessary. I never ever had to read my own meter in the States, so I assumed that the meter reader coming would be enough. So all I have to go on are the like two readings that the meter reader was able to take and the ones I've taken since the back bill came in. As far as I can tell, they're reading the right meter. But he's hardly ever able to read it anyway, so...

In the last 12 months? Not nearly as much as I should have, most likely. From March - February, I've only paid like £350. At the time of the back bill, we were in extra bad straits. I didn't have a job and we were running out of money. Rent got behind, it was a mess. Then I got a job in June 2014 but wasn't making much, so I was only sending EON like £10-25 or so every time I got paid. But now that I've started earning a little more and am very slowly getting EON figured out a bit, I've sent more. February, for instance, I sent £95. I believe £65 a month would cover usage + a little debt when averaged out over the whole year. But this debt, assuming it stands which it most likely will, is going to take us years to clear. Unless something happens and I win a lottery I don't play. EON don't like that.

When I spoke to them a long time ago and asked why this had suddenly happened, they said it was because they'd realised it when updating systems. I don't have that written anywhere except from a letter I sent to them on 31 March 2014. Evesir's question I answered in response to another person's questions - they did apply the backbilling code as they should have. Timeline: Jan 2012 - 1st Bill (husband's name) Jan 2012 - Jan 2014 - Bills come as normal Feb/March 2014 - Get account put into my name March 2014 - Back bill arrives 31 March 2014 - Complaint letter asking for Energy UK Back Billing Agreement to be applied 08 April 2014 - They write to advise that back billing code has already been applied and that they've set up a payment arrangement of £201/month, sent me a payment card 23 June 2014 - Proposed temporary token payment plan of £10/month as I was unemployed but about to start my new jobs 28 July 2014 - Debt collector visit 30 July 2014 - Letter from me asking EON to consider writing off the debt as my circumstances are unlikely to improve in the future and I have no assets to sell 06 August 2014 - Another debt collector visit 07 August 2014 - EON wanting to spread the debt over 30 months, refusing the £10/month and suggesting prepayment meter August 2014 - Letter from us regarding customer service/bill complaint 05 November 2014 - EON writing to tell us they're applying for a warrant to enter our home to install a prepayment meter 19 December 2014 - Letter from Wescot "further to our recent request" (that we never made) for a paypoint barcode confirmation February 2015 - Letter saying they've looked at our financial statement and suggesting £188/month, refusing our offer of £55 24 February 2015 - Sent a response letter to the above questioning accuracy of back bill and offering £65 a month 03 March 2015 - Prepayment meter apparently fitted (I haven't been down to check); above letter e-mailed There are a few other communications that have happened via e-mail/phone, but I don't have them.

The first complaint was 6 April 2014. I have a letter from 12 August 2014 stating they can't write off the debt, but they could put in a prepayment meter and set up a repayment plan of £385 a month. Then I have a follow up to that from 18 August 2014, which I unfortunately responded to via phone and can't remember what was said. The second complaint was 16 November 2014 and received a response in February. I believe they said "prepayment meter" and £188 a month. Supposedly they looked at the financial statement we sent, but they must have got ours mixed up with somebody else's, because I have no idea where else they'd get £188 from. We sent a reply to that about a week ago, but I guess they didn't get it, since they've apparently gone ahead and installed a prepayment meter today. I e-mailed that letter to them a few hours ago.

There are individual meters for the apartments, but they're all housed in a little locked room with the door located on the street. Each tenant (I think) has a key to the cupboard/place but the meter reader person does not. So unless someone is home and able to let him in, he can't access the meters to read them.

Complaints: We've been in and out of complaints for a while. But I know now that I need to re-open a complaint and ask for a deadlock letter, yes? Checking Meter: If by that you mean reading it, they've been like twice in the 3.5 years we've lived here. The cupboard is communal, and the reader doesn't have his own key to it so relies on tenants to let him in. Home Front: Is that the one that has applications open for a bit and then closes? If so, I only just heard about it a few days ago. I've registered for updates about next year, but... Amount of Bill: The original back bill was for £3,291.49, which was then reduced to £1,862.46 after applying the billing code. How Long Before Back Bill: They realised they hadn't input the couple readings they had after we'd been here about 2.5 years. I understand (now) I made a (big) mistake by not responding to requests for me to read the meter in between meter reader visits.

We have been updating them with meter readings. That is when I noticed the stark difference between the estimated bill and the actual bill. I do have all the old bills - but they are nearly all estimated, because before then, I didn't understand why I was being asked to take my own meter readings especially when they have a meter reader. I understand that was my fault, but I do have a niggling feeling, now, that they were still wildly over-estimated. How to prove, though, I don't know. I will add a subject access request to our list of possibilities. But wouldn't I need two, since the first two and a half years are under my husband's name?

No. The only other debt is council tax, we arranged to pay it in installments through the end of March. Then, of course, we'll get the next year's bill. Other than that, we have no debts and don't spend. We pay food, rent, council tax, electricity, phone, and that's it. I've also noticed, since I got an estimated bill last time, that their estimates seems to always be more than double what we actually used. So I'm wondering if the back bill was similarly over-estimated, too.

So. This is a long story - sorry about that! In March 2014, my husband and I received a very large back bill. Apparently, they discovered they hadn't input what few meter readings they had into their system upon changing the account from my husband's name to mine. We'd originally wanted the account in both of our names, for visa purposes, but they refused. We were completely shocked, and there was/is no way for us to pay it, as we just barely scrape by paying the normal bills. The amount was also very high for our living situation, and I still don't think the amount is correct. We've argued back and forth for a year about the repayment amount. They won't accept anything. When we sent in a financial statement with an offer based off our last bill amount, they wrote back asking for more than double what we offered, saying it was "unconscionable" to "leave a customer in debt". Well if it was that unconscionable, they could just forgive the back amount and let us go forward with a clean slate to pay our bills in full/on time. But no. I haven't won the lottery yet, so we sent another letter. today, I got a hand delivered letter from them saying they've now installed a pre-payment meter. Fantastic! Even higher rates for a bill we could only just about afford before! It's really only a matter of time now before we just won't have the money to keep the lights turned on and won't be able to cook at home. They "suggest" we load £32 onto the meter each week to pay for "our usage" and the repayment amount of £8/week. We cannot afford that much per month. It's just not possible. I'm not sure if we would otherwise qualify for benefits, but it's really a moot point because I'm a US National, here on a spouse visa, and one of the conditions of those visas is no access to public funds. Is there anything we can do? I'm so stressed out, and I really didn't need even more stress.