Eon - sudden huge bill

[wb123]

I have just received my quarterly EON bill and it is suddenly 4,977. They have reversed the past 3 years bills and put a whole set of new ones with supposed meter readings (not estimates).

The wierd thing is they replaced a meter on 18 October 07 unknown by us and seem to have a similar reading going from one meter to the next.

I haven't been able to speak to them as they emailed the bill after their customer service(?) lines were closed.

What does someone do in this case as I haven't got 5,000 to pay an electricity bill ?

[caro]

What a nightmare for you wb. Have you managed to speak to Eon yet as there has clearly been a mistake here. If not I suggest that you do so asap.

For information, you can't be billed for anything from over 12 months ago anyway so don't worry too much about it. I'm sure it can be sorted without you having to find silly money.

BTW I moved your post to start your own thread on this. Let us know what Eon have to say for themselves.

[wb123]

It seems that every quarter E-On's computers rejected the readings for one of the 3 meters I have for the 3 1/2 years I have lived here. This started with the first bill after I moved in and continued the entire period until last week.
I am currently questioning if the back billing falls under the 12 month restriction.
I have to admit that e-on has been sympathetic so far but we will see how this resolves itself.
The biggest problem is that if I had known that my electricity was costing so much I would have made lifestyle changes to reduce the cost. Due to not being billed for a large portion of my usage during the past years I am now unable to economise in this way.

I am now actively investigating wind and solar power to see if either is economical

[caro]

One of my colleagues has solar power and in the summer he sells any unused electricity back to his energy supplier, which help offset winter bills too.

[Diane243]

Hi, did you get this resolved? We also have had a bill for £1245 this week. We were going to change energy suppliers so thought that I would put our meter reading on the internet, whilst doing this I noticed that the readings had been transpossed when I had put them in previously (we are on economy 7) I contacted Eon to advise them and also spoke to energy watch, one advisor from energy watch said that the one year back bill rule applys the other said it does not, the back bill rule is only for people who have never been sent a bill!!!!! We realise that we have to accept some part of the mistake but Eon have had 8 readings in the last two years all of which have been ignored, they have chosen to use our transpossed readings instead. They have backbilled us 5 years to when the meters went round the clock at the same time and the readings were entered incorrectly by me. I think that it is likely that our meter has been read 20 times since the error first happened!!!! Why send meter readers round if readings are going to be ignored? Eon have said we can pay the arrears off at £200 per month, but we would rather make a full and final settlement as we do not think that we should be the only accountable parties in this............... Any advice would be gratefully received.

[wb123]

Diane123

I eventually received a reply from EnergyWatch who stated that this error in billing did not qualify for the 12 month backbilling restriction as I had received bills albeit incorrect ones.

From my experience I don't think you will get Eon to budge except to spread the repayments to at least one year

[Diane243]

Thanks, I am going to write to them and will also write to the ombudsman if problem is not resolved. We do feel really cheated, we have never missed a payment and the day I spotted the error I rang them to tell them. I bet that you feel the same way..... Will let you know if I get any joy, but got to say not that hopeful. You live and learn

[vietnam]

here the defence I served on behalf of a family relative re; an electric bill of 7,000
ANY ADVICE GRATEFULLY RECEIVED particularly regarding last Para

Defence Claim No.


The Claimant is not able to
1) Rely on the accuracy of the electricity meter installed at the Defendant’s property & the readings obtained by its agent EDF to measure the Defendants electricity usage and therefore its claim for the monies as detailed in its claim.
2) Calculate interest on the disputed bill where the delay has been caused by the failures of the Claimants agent, EDF.

The Claimant failed to have the meter read from March 2005 to 26th July 2007 despite the Defendant
i) Informing the Claimant on numerous occasions in writing & by phone from as early as March 2005 that the estimated electricity bills [& usage ] were excessive relative to either her usage or her past meter readings &
ii) Making numerous appointments for the meter to be read by the Claimants agent, EDF, who did not attend the property until the 27th July 2007

The Claimant advised the Defendant on or around August 2007 after discussions regarding the bill compared to her likely electricity use based on her circumstances, that a check meter should be installed at the property .

The Claimant's agent EDF failed to attend on a number of appointments to install the check meter and as result of this & the prior delays at least 4 penalty payments were made to the Defendant.

The Claimant agent EDF finally installed a check meter on the 21st February 2008 however the procedure undertaken on the day of the check meter removal on the 28th invalidated the purpose of the check meter.
i) The EDF operative at the time of removing the check meter also removed the existing installed meter, removed the tamper proof seal & made an adjustment to the centre adjusting screw unit before reinstalling the existing meter.
ii) The EDF operative employed by the Claimant did not show the readings on the check meter or electricity meter to the Defendant.

The Claimant’s agent EDF on or around early April 2008 returned to the property to remove the installed meter [which the Defendant prevented] as it considered the meter to be faulty or at the end of its operational life.

The Defendant seeks an order* for an examination of the meter for tampering, the installation of a 2nd check meter and the use of an alternative method of calculation for her electricity usage over the relevant period.
[* as advised at Magistrates Court 15th July 2008]


Signed as True & Accurate Statement