EON increasing electricity bill yet again pls help

[Helen2264]

Hello All,

 

I am desperate for some help. I am a single parent on Income Support I am not working because of ill health. I suffer from severe rheumatism, gynae problems and panic attacks/anxiety. I am on a on price protection and fixed tariff products with EON, the fixed rate is run until 12/08/09 when I would just need to pay £18.48. Last year EON sent me a contract letter with all the fortnightly dates when I need to pay £47.00 for my electricity bill, I have been paying religiously on all the dates they've given. Jan this year I was very sick with flu and could not get out of bed therefore I miss the date of payment, I caught up with the next fortnightly date and pay £94.00 so not to fall behind, without a warning letter EON has taken me off the price protection and demand that now I have to pay £66.00 instead of £47.00 fortnightly, they said I broke the contract, I told them I was very sick and could not pay my bill on one of the date given, but they would not budge at all, I received a letter from their debt collector asking for immediate payment of the outstand bill of £558.81 because they say I fail to pay my electricity, I've only receive the letter yesterday and they've given me until the 21st Feb 09 to pay for the outstanding debt. EON is acting as if I have not paid my electricity at all. They demand that I have a prepaid meter putting in, I am very reluctant as I suffer from severe rheumatism also I feel if I put £20.00 in the meter £15.00 will go to them leaving me with just £5.00 a week with electricity, I've seen how many of my neighbours struggle to keep warm and I do not wish to go through this, because of ill health..

 

Is there any help out there I can get to get me back on the price Protection scheme? This is making me very ill with anxiety. How can this company treat needy sick people like this, its beggar’s belief.

 

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance

 

 

Helen

[zazen.warrior]

You need to call eon and explain your health situation and ask to speak to the department who deal with vulnerable customers.

[raydetinu]

Speak to energy watch, they give consumer advice.

[zazen.warrior]

Consumer Direct

[Helen2264]

Hello All,

 

 

I am very desperate each quarter Eon keep putting the payment up to £6.00 saying I need to increase the amount I am paying in order to pay some of the arrears. At the moment I am receiving £228 a month of Employment Support Allowance which is paid every fortnightly. I am paying EON £56.00 every fortnightly which is £112.00 per month as you can see half of my Income support money is going on Eon I am left with £114.00 pound a month to live on.

 

 

 

My Bill for March 2009 was £894.14 by the 10th of June it was down to £558.14. then I receive the new bill for this 19th June 2009 which is £802.55. I then minus the £802.55 from the £558.14= £244.41 from 18th of March to 10th of June 2009 I've paid £336.00 I then minus the difference of £336.00 which I've paid with the difference of £244.41 = £91.59 but Eon still saying I am not paying enough to cover my arrears, i've spoke to them on the phone first the lady couldn't understand why they are saying i am not paying enough then she went and talk to her manager and come back saying I am not even covering my electric usage also they won't give me a breakdown of which part is the arrears and which part is my actualy bill, she then ask me to increase the bill to £142.00 per month to cover some of the arrears this is the third times they've done that and whenever i've increase the payment they keep saying is not enough, but this time I am in trouble if I increase the bill to £142.00 per month I will be left with just £86.00 to live on, I've even reduce to just eating lentil and spinach which cost me £1.00 for three bunches at the market I only live on this as I cannot afford to feed my fifteen years old and myself, I've already told EON I am paying you already half of my monthly income and I cannot increase the payment any more but they won't budge, I am in desperate help, is there someone I can get in contact with I am prepare to go to court because I am sure the court would agree with my situation the Eon lady first say they will take me to court when I say to her please do because then I will be free of suffering she kept quiet because i agree with going to court, i suppose she knows she is going to loose this battle. I am prepare to do what it take because i think the way EON is treating me is Inhuman. I would love to email Gordon Brown has anyone done that I would love to have the email address or perhaps I might send him a letter direct to him and showing him what's look on the otherside. I cannot take anymore of this suffering.

 

 

my closing balance before the new bill £558.14

New Bill Payment as at 19/6/09 £802.55

I've Paid from 18/06/09 to 10/06/09 £336.00

 

 

£802.55 -

£558.14

--------

£244.41

--------

 

 

Ive paid so far before the new bill arrived £336.00

 

 

£336.00 -

£244.41

--------

£ 91.59

 

 

Can someone please tell me at one point where I am not paying towards the arrears according to EON I am using more than what I am paying and haven't apid towards the arrears. I am well confused and very upset because by my calculation it shows clearly I am clearing the arrears.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

 

 

 

 

Many thanks in advance

 

 

 

 

 

helen

[PGH7447]

Best bet take all your statements to the CAB, someone there will work through them for you

[zazen.warrior]

I think you need to call Eon again and ask to speak to someone on the team which deals with their vulnerable customers. Explain your situation and see if they can help. Perhaps a pre payment meter is the answer with the debt set on it at a low rate of recovery. If you get some one akin to the lady you spoke to previously ask for their line manager.

[Clare_L]

You need to call and speak to someone in the Vulnerable team. They can then set your payments at consumption plus £3 pw for each fuel to clear the debt. Also contact your benefits office, they can make a payment plan for you via fuel direct.

[mattlamb]

May still be worth going to CAB Helen, so that someone unbiased can look at your bills to see if the amount outstanding is actually correct.

[nottslad]

go to the CAB and draw up a realistic income and expenditure statement. get a copy of this sent to the vulnerable customer team and for a period they may accept payments that are lower than your average monthly consumption if you can show that you genuinely cannot afford the consumption plus a minimum of £3 per week per fuel for the debt.

 

This is only a short-term measure while you find work as it means you will end up further in debt

[Helen2264]

Thanks very much guys for replying I would have liked to answer each of you individually but I am so stressed out at the moment so I hope you all don't mind this one thread where I am thanking you all for your replies. I have been to CAB and the lady was not very helpful I feel though she did managed to get EON to allow me the £56.00 temporarily but four days later EON wanted to put the money up again to £62.00. I have asked EON constantly if they would consider making the arrears as a debt away from my quarterly usage but for some reason they will not allow it. I believe with the arrears being a live debt they can ask for more money. Once upon a good time the electricity company would be very sympathetic and take up one's offer but times has changed and as fuel are no longer runs by a British Company the rules has changed with it. When I spoke to EON and told them why they are saying I am not paying enough we went through the breakdown of monies that I’ve paid for the quarter which was £336.00 and my bill she told me was some £200 plus pounds and she herself can't make out why EON keep asking me to pay more but she went and spoke to her manager and comes back lol telling me you need to increase the £112.00 to £142.00 per month LOL anyway to cut a long story short, I have been advice to write to the Consumer Focus OFGEM which I am doing this very minute to let them sort EON out for me. I cannot have EON keep asking me for more money every quarter if by September they want £142.00 I would hate to think what they'll ask for December all my benefit money will be going straight to the electricity bill, I have a feeling EON is estimating my bill for the winter quarter in advance hence they keep asking me to pay more and got the cheek to tell me I am using more than what I am paying it doesn't make sense. I've also been told to avoid pre-paid meter as they are much higher and will cost more EON love pre-paid meter if you put £20 you will only end up with £5.00 for usage I know people in my flat that are on pre-paid meter and are suffering I don’t want to go down that road, so much for Gordon Brown child poverty he want to end. By the way I send EON an Income and Expenditure they completely ignore it, two years ago when I told them can I send them an Income and Expenditure they refused point blank the Manager was very rude saying we do not want to see an Income and Expenditure we want you to increase the money since then that's all i've been doing but now that it has taken half of my money I need to do something about this and fast.

 

Anyway we shall see what happen would let you guys know.

 

 

Many thanks

 

 

 

helen

[zazen.warrior]

I honestly think you would be better off with a prepayment meter, the debt recovery can be set as low as £3.00 per week and certainly doesn't take £15.00 out of £20.00 unless you have agreed a higher rate of recovery or if you have not topped it up for a few weeks, in which case it would catch up on what was due.

 

Little and often into a PPM would leave you much better off IMHO.

 

In your situation this is what I would do without hesitation.

 

A trip to the ombudsman and back would at best result in the same but in the meantime you remain seriously out of pocket.

Edited July 28, 2009 by zazen.warrior

[mattlamb]

Do you have electric and gas Helen, or just electric?

 

Your usage does sound pretty high. Are your bills based on estimated or actual readings? Are you at home all day, how big is your house? Regardless of how you pay your bills, you are going to be struggling on your income to pay for the electric you use if the bills are correct and/or without cutting down on your usage.

[nottslad]

i would definately recommend a ppm for you, as mentioned by zazen, the debt could be collected at £3 per week and EON have actually changed their prepayment pricing structure so that it is the same as a credit meter.

 

The reason for the push to increase payments will be that as the year-end approaches, the less debt on the books the better it will seem for the accountants

[welshcake]

How many people live in your house?

[Helen2264]

Hi everyone

 

first thanks for all who post a reply it is much appreciated. I am sorry I cannot answered you all individually as I would like to but I am so stressed by the electricity i cannot function i probably talk giberrish. I have after a very long very stressful fight I've a success results well I was helpd by Consumer Direct they are very good and demand that EON tell me what my arrear is and what my usage are and work a plan that suit my budjet so all I will be paying is £58 every two weeks which is not bad at all as i was paying £56 every two weeks. I am happy very happy with it and can now chill out where EON is concern, so please any of you who are having problem with EON and don't get anywhere the Consumer Direct is the way to go.

 

 

Many thanks

 

 

helen

[zazen.warrior]

Please make sure you stick to the payment plan Helen, or it will all start up again, and if you can't let them know and consider the Prepayment option. Glad it's worked out for you.

[GamekeeperToPoacher]

Helen,

 

Many utility companies have a 'charity' trust which can help with arrears. In the past Severn Trent used to help out deserving cases - might be worth a try

 

GK

[GamekeeperToPoacher]

Hi Helen again

 

Take a look here

[Helen2264]

Hello Everyone,

 

I'm seeking some advice I was in debt with EON and have managed to clear all the debt which was back in 2009 I then made a new plan with EON that I pay my bills every fortnightly I have been doing so without fail since.

 

Having cleared my debt and paying my fortnightly bills I manage to clear my new bill to zero balance before the next quarter is due when I've got to zero balance I stop paying until the next new quarter bills arrive then I would start paying my fortnightly until it's cleared and so on i've been doing this since 2009 without any complain from EON.

 

Recently i've been getting letters from EON one of them computer generated letters telling me I need to increase my electricity bills up to 59.00 pounds lol when I am paying 60.00 pounds fortnightly. I rang them up and says I have already made a plan with EON since two years ago and I am actually paying 1.00 pound more than what they are asking one guy told me to ignore the letters as he can see from my record that I am paying duly without fail anyway the letters keep coming of course I ignored as the guy from EON told me too do.

 

Recent I received a letter another computer generated telling me I have default my payment plan and to pay all my bills immediately I was of course very confused as I have not stop paying my bills until it's zero balance the woman told me because when I got to zero balance you've stop paying your bills I told her EON took two years to tell me that and why would I pay a zero balance bill I didn't think I owe anything when the balance has reach to zero then she started to offer me some other payment plan which she said instead of paying 60.00 pounds you can pay any amount you want like 20.00 pounds stupid idiot she thinks I am mad i've had massive problems with EON in the past and I do not wish to be in that same situation again then she mentioned slot meters which they've been trying for me to have since 2 years ago but I fought tooth and nail that I will not have a meter in my property EON keep hassling me for no reason.

 

Please I would like to ask if anyone has a number where I can ring and sort this problem out one person from EON is saying my account is ok then another department is hassle me. I am on benefit at the moment and the 60.00 pounds fortnightly bill is already crippling me these companies just don't care about anybody but there profits it's so unjust.

 

Many thanks in advance

 

 

helen

[nottslad]

it sounds like you had a payment arrangement set up called a Regular Cash Payment, the idea of which is that you pay the same amount every week/fortnight/month through the year and build up a credit to cover your bills, rather than paying in arrears. This should be paid even when there is no balance for this reason.

 

In effect what you have been doing is paying in arrears, when infact the on demand payment terms for residential customers is to pay the outstanding balance in full within 14 days. If you cannot pay this, it is at the discretion of the supplier what terms they will offer you. This will normally be a Direct Debit or a prepayment meter to cover your ongoing energy usage and repay the arrears balance.

 

I can't see that E.ON have done anything wrong really as you have broken the terms of the regular cash arrangement, so the supplier is basically saying it isn't an option any longer as you haven't kept up with it in the past

[Helen2264]

it sounds like you had a payment arrangement set up called a Regular Cash Payment, the idea of which is that you pay the same amount every week/fortnight/month through the year and build up a credit to cover your bills, rather than paying in arrears. This should be paid even when there is no balance for this reason.

 

Thank you for your reply appreciate it. Yes I had an agreement and kept my agreement and paid accordingly but I was not told or made aware by eon that I had to carry on paying the fortnightly payment even if the balance is zero. Companies like EON never make things clear to their customers strange when I was in big debt with them I was using less electricity they told me I was using more LOL now I am using more electricity than ever and my bills is so low I can't believe my luck for example June last year my quarter bill was 354.28 pounds this quarter my bill is 255.74 pounds I've already clear that bill and now in credit I shall carry on paying they won't beat me but I will sort this hassling letter.

 

In effect what you have been doing is paying in arrears, when infact the on demand payment terms for residential customers is to pay the outstanding balance in full within 14 days. If you cannot pay this, it is at the discretion of the supplier what terms they will offer you. This will normally be a Direct Debit or a prepayment meter to cover your ongoing energy usage and repay the arrears balance.

 

I would let you know I got in arrears believe or not it was the fault of EON themselves they told me to pay 7.00 pound per week toward my electricity which I myself increased to 14.00 pounds per week because of the amount they told me to pay as I thought it is not enough which did get me into a big arrears then they come down on me like a tone of brick they were so bad with the bully that the ombudsman took over amazingly EON transfer me from a very high tariff to Pensioners tariff immediately my electricity went down to nearly 200.00 pounds per quarter compare to the year before. I managed to pay the arrears of 890.00 pounds robbing peter to pay paul but I clear the debt. That's when then I had the new payment plan of the 60.00 pounds fortnightly which i've paid without fail if you read my thread again you would see that I mentioned one department is telling me everything is fine don't do anything another department is hassle I believe that's the department where they mess people up.

 

I can't see that E.ON have done anything wrong really as you have broken the terms of the regular cash arrangement, so the supplier is basically saying it isn't an option any longer as you haven't kept up with it in the past

 

No you don't think they done wrong they took two years to tell me that I've broken the terms and then offer me a new plan telling me I can pay any amount less than what I am paying now which would get me back into trouble again then they force the slot meter business on me again have you read the teletext where the government is now checking on the big utility companies EON included because they are messing about with people meter reading and high fuel bills.

 

I am seeking for telephone number of their customer care I shall search for it. Please do not tell me these firm is ever right in what they do.

 

 

 

helen:-x

[mattlamb]

To be fair, you are paying them late - just as a customer that pays their bill on a red reminder inone go pays late. You may have paid part of the balance by the time a red reminder letter would normally be sent (if you were not on the payment plan) but there are still arrears remaining.

 

MInd you, EOn should have been much quicker on the mark in telling you this rather than waiting 2 years!

[Helen2264]

To be fair, you are paying them late - just as a customer that pays their bill on a red reminder inone go pays late. You may have paid part of the balance by the time a red reminder letter would normally be sent (if you were not on the payment plan) but there are still arrears remaining.

 

Arrears that I've paid and cleared in full nearly 900.00 pounds and EON telling me my balance is zero then I made the new payment plan with them of paying fortnightly and kept to that without fail and carrying on doing so.

 

MInd you, EOn should have been much quicker on the mark in telling you this rather than waiting 2 years!

 

Exactly my point and the fact that I rang them several times since a year or so ago about the default letters and was told constantly to ignore it my account is fine as I am paying regularly without fail then they decided to send me a default letter 'a computer generated one' a few days ago when I am actually in credit by 45.00 pounds is enough to make anyone furious.

 

I came here to ask for EON customer services telephone number and not about whether EON is right on not. Oh! well I shall search it for myself, I am wondering if there are EON staff on this very forum it wouldn't surprise me but I won't be beat googling for the number should help.

 

[victoriaN]

The Eon number on their bills is generally quite helpful (in my experience) howver its is a premium rate number. By doing a quick google search you can find a 01 or 02 number which is usually cheaper and even inclusive on your mobile.