E-ON Bill for £12,753!! Help!

[Me.x]

We have received a bill for £12,753 for electricity supplied to a property we own that has been changed into a Sunbed shop...
Various people have leased the property and quite frankly we had a nightmare with different leaseholders coming and going, even 1 of them dying on us, another disappearing etc. From the start of us having the shop we were billed by BG for the electricity against a meter that didn't exist. That all eventually got sorted out and we were re-imbursed the money we paid. We then decided to tell the leaseholders they were responsible for their own Electric bills, in Jan 07 our last Tennant disappeared and we got totally fed up, my partner was fed up in his job so decided to take the shop on himself... Meter readers came and went we asked who supplied our electric to be told either BG or EON and eagerly awaited a bill.. It never came until yesterday!! For a total of £12,753 from EON apparently outstanding since 2005, I phoned to ask what was going on to be told that they hadn't ever connected up properly and that was the bill for the last 3 years. I tried to explain our situation to be told we would be liable for the lot!! Is this right? Do we have any rights on this? if not we will be going under and made bankrupt.... Help anyone!! is the 1 year rule only for domestic use?

[df1970]

IMO you need proper legal advice on this one. I would like to know how they got to £12k How they can prove the usage from 2005.

Damon30

[Conniff]

I would certainly demand a breakdown of this bill which would give you a chance to chase up the people that incured it.

I trust you have names etc that you are satisfied are genuine.

You will need to delay the payment of this bill to give you a chance to see if you can recover at least part of it. I can't see the company not agreeing to a stay of payment for a while if you ask them.

Although we all hate them, give one of the debt collecting agencies a ring and see if they could help and how much their fee would be.

I would also do as above and take some legal advice.

[mooreda]

Remember you can complain to Energywatch and Ofgem.

[Me.x]

Thank you all for your support so far... Well. We have managed to get E-on to agree that we only pay for the amount of time we have actually been in the shop.... However, they are now saying that we have to pay on a higher rate tariff!! which will now make the bill £6000. Still more than what we have put aside for what we believe we should pay. We have a breakdown of the bills and there were regular meter readings. But, my argument is, that had we known E-on were supplying us we would not have signed up for the higher tariff, so why should we now? They cannot tell us who signed up for E-on it certainly wasn't us!! Does anyone know of our rights? now they are trying to make us pay a higher tariff for the time when we didn't even know we were with them?? Thank you for your help so far.... Chris

[Chickenlicken]

I can't offer much advice, only that British Gas are known for this type of mistake. My fella lived in a one bedroomed flat and was billed for £903 - even though he was on a card meter!!
He also had many meter readers come and go and they could never even find his meter let alone give a reading. Anyway he fought and won. Additionally, BG have been on watchdog many times over this sort of behaviour-bullying, issuing court claims etc, I would recommend that giving BBC an email wouldn't hurt.
Meter readings is what it all boils down to, have you got any from day 1 to current?

[Me.x]

We sorted it all out with BG.... It's E-on we have the problem with... wanting to charge us a higher tariff.

[raydetinu]

its simple really, if they say they have acontract with you for the supply of electricity ask them to prove it, signed contract etc. maybe it was one of your tennants that signed it, then they have to chase them.
Even if you accept responsability for the electricity supplied whie you owned the shop they cannot impose a rate that you have not signed uo for, no contract! seek advice from CAB or energy wattch or even legal advice. dont pay, or pay something on account but not the full amount until you have negotiated an acceptable rate for your usage. then change supplier. I had a similar problem on a smaller scale when my supplier was changed without my knowleged, one of these ghost authorisations and got three months free electricity as no evidence could be produced that I had signed any contract or authorised any change. Stick to yuor guns!

[Bizzman]

Hi

The rate they are charging is what is known as a "deemed contract rate". They are charging this as you do not have a contract. The "deemed" part is that you have used the supply. People who sign a contract get preferential rates. I hope that makes sense!

By entering a property and switching on a light, you are entering into an agreement. You choose to use it therefore you are obliged to pay.

I bought my daughter an I-phone for Xmas and the label on the box states if you break the label, you are entering an 18 month contract!! Technology these days huh!

However, there is light at the end of your particular tunnel due to the fact you were billed (therefore contracted) to British Gas, so you rightly assumed you were entitled to preferential rates.

The simplest way of getting a standard rate for the debt amount is to agree an ongoing contract with E-on and having it backdated to the start of the period of supply. As long as their future rate is ok with yourselves i cannot see it being a problem.

The one year rule applies for businesses too, but I would tread lightly first, be calm and pleasant! (You owe them money!).

This is my first post, is there any way to private message on here? There are a few things I want to run by you, without any E-on employees, potentially getting a step ahead!

Don't panic though as there are a million ways round this!

[Me.x]

Ahhh thank you so much. Any help/ideas are gratefully recieved. We are still on good terms with E-on at the moment, because we have explained that we have been putting money aside.. Just not as much as they would like. We haven't made any payments yet, we just seem to be circling eachother at the moment!! I was suprised that you say the 1 year rule applies to businesses as I cannot find this anywhere, all seems to refer to domestic, but if that is the case it would be really helplful. I am currently wading through a load of paperwork they have just sent us regarding current rates etc.... I need to do comparissons to see if the rate is favourable. I have PM'd you by the way...

Thanks again.

[elizabeth1]

Originally Posted by Bizzman

Hi


The one year rule applies for businesses too, but I would tread lightly first, be calm and pleasant! (You owe them money!).

This is my first post, is there any way to private message on here? There are a few things I want to run by you, without any E-on employees, potentially getting a step ahead!

Don't panic though as there are a million ways round this!

Can anyone explain to me the "one year rule" please?
Which utilities does it cover (gas, elec, water?)

Just reading this thread and am curious that's all. It's firs time I been in this part of CAG - so I am just looking for any useful information etc..

Thanks

[chantac]

Hi, just browsing through this thread and came to the same question as elisabeth1: what is the "one year rule"???
Having problems with BG Business who billed me 4 years ago for the wrong meter reading, now being hassled by Westcot for the same inacurate bill...
Many thanks

[ozzywizard]

The one year rule is only for gas and electric and only pertains to certain companies that signed up to the code of prectise for accurate bills with the energy retail association.

The companies are BG, scotish power, Powergen, EDF, Npower and scotish gas.
They have to read your meter at least every two years.
The one year rule used to be the two year rule were if you had not received a bill for more than 2 years from July 2006 any outstanding debt would be cancelled. From July 2007 this dropped to one year hence the one year rule.

Code of Practice for Accurate Bills

Under what circumstances will suppliers agree not to charge customers for
energy used?
If the supplier is at fault, and the customer has not received a bill for more than two
years, then from 1st July 2006 any outstanding amounts that relate to energy consumed
more than two years ago will be cancelled. From July 2007, this will reduce to one year.
For customers on credit payment arrangements, suppliers will not be at fault where they
can demonstrate that they have taken all of the following four actions:
a) Attempted to read the meter at the customer’s premises within the last 24
months within the first year. From July 2007 onwards this will reduce to
within the last 15 months.
b) Provided opportunities for the customer to submit their own meter reading at
any time on any day
c) Ensured that it was clear on the bill that energy consumption had been
estimated
d) Used a system to ensure estimated bills relate to foreseeable actual
consumption (that is, the estimate was based on previous history, where
available, or on average energy consumption for a similar type of property)
Where the customer pays by direct debit, in addition to a) and b) above, the supplier
must be able to demonstrate that it has taken all of the following actions:
. the customer has been correctly set up on their billing system by both taking
deductions from the customer’s bank account and sending statements to them
. within the last 24 months in the first year reducing to 15 months for year 2
onwards it has re-assessed the customer’s direct debit payment to ensure that
the payments are sufficient to meet (either the actual or a reasonable estimate
of) the customer’s energy usage.

Also might help to check this link out.
Energy Ombudsman Service : FAQ's

[chantac]

Thank you ozzywizard, VERY useful info there! Also the link to energy ombudsmen is definitely worth a read, if only to show that things recently seem to be changing a bit in the right direction

[ozzywizard]

Your very welcome, glad to help