@eonhelp transposed meter readings. Eon. Large bill.

[Jam2028]

Hi,

 

I am requesting assistance on behalf of my pensioner parents' who have today received a bill for their Gas and Electricity of over £600 for usage since 2nd Oct. They have had no estimated readings since March and have had no new appliances, for this period of time they were actually away for 3 weeks, Their cooker and fire are Gas, however their Gas usage is fair.

 

The problem arises with their Electricity, they are on an Economy 7 meter and have night storage heaters. I have called EON on their behalf this evening who inform me that since 2nd Oct they have used £500 worth of day units and £6 worth of night units. Considering that their only daytime usage is lights, microwave, television, shower, kettle etc. while their night usage incorporates all washing and night storage heating this seems to me to be disproportionate.

 

The gentleman whom I spoke to at EON also agreed that it did not appear to make sense and he would investigate further. He has since contacted my father and told him that he needs to pay the bill and his payments will be doubled! My parents are in no financial position to pay this and more to the point the bill cannot be right. Their average usage over the last year was 5.7kwh & according to EON it is now 64.5, as I say nothing has changed. Their bill for the same quarter last year (1 extra month included and not having taken a holiday) was only £200.

 

This is causing them so much upset and stress, can anyone please advise me.

 

Thanks hopefully

Jam

[topcat1802]

First think you should probably do is get some meter readings to confirm the readings are correct!

 

Also remember due to their age your parents would also be classified a "vulnerable" so they should not worry about being cut-off!

[Jam2028]

Thank you Topcat.

 

I have checked the readings myself and they are correct, my worry is also that if the readings are the wrong way around they will continue to receive incorrect hefty bills...

[topcat1802]

Contact the supplier to get the meter checked just in case its been installed incorrectly!

[E.ON Company Rep: Malc]

Hi Jam

There's a few possibilities that come to mind.

I'm wondering if we've charged your parent's usage the right way round. That is, the night usage at the higher day rate rather than the lower night rate and vice versa.

Electric storage heaters charge up during the cheaper off peak night hours. This is usually where the bulk of the electricity is used with this type of heating arrangement. If this usage has been charged at the higher day rate, this would inflate the bill.

This is easy to check. Just take two sets of meter readings on the same day between 9am and 9pm but at least an hour apart. See which register has moved.

Compare this with your parent's latest bill. If we've charged this day reading at the night rate then this is the wrong way round. This is called transposed readings and we've a specialist team who deal with these issues.

They'll fix the problem and re-bill the account correctly.

Another possibility is a faulty time switch. This could mean a large part of the usage is being recorded on the wrong register. Again, this will affect the billing.

You can check this by keeping an eye on the meter and noting what times the off peak rate kicks in.

If this is the case, we'll arrange a visit to fix the fault. Once fixed, we'll re-bill the account based on the past usage history before the fault occurred.

We've a specialist Time Switch team for this, too.

If either of the above applies, contact the relevant team (Transposed or Time Switch) and give them the meter readings/times taken. They'll be able to sort the account out from there.

You haven't said how your parents heat their water. Properties with storage heaters often have electric water immersion heaters as well. Sometimes, customers leave these on 24/7. This can really rack up the usage.

I'm not saying this is the case with your parents, it's just something to be aware of.

You mention an estimated bill in March. There could be an element of a catch up bill here. How many bills to actual readings have been sent since March?

I do understand the anxiety an unexpected large bill can cause. Therefore, if the billing does turn out to be correct, ask for the balance to be spread over a more manageable period. We'll be happy to do this.

If the billing is correct and your parent's usage has gone up alarmingly, we can work with them to try to help them understand what's caused this sudden spike.

Hope this helps point you in the right direction Jam. Give me a shout if you need any more information as will be happy to help.

Malc

[Jam2028]

Hi Malc,

 

Thank you so much for your information and advice. Mum will take the readings tomorrow, she has done a mini test this evening and it is rate 1 which has moved, rate 2 is static. We understand rate 1 is listed as night rate on the bills so this would appear to confirm the problem or at least a proportion of it. They will take a 12 hour reading as you suggest and take it from there.

 

In answer to your questions their hot water boiler is also Gas, as is their cooker & fire. The estimated bill in March has I think been followed by 3 actual readings according to the EON gentleman in the call centre.

 

Are you able to provide me with the numbers for the departments mentioned in your post please?

 

Thanks again for your response,

Jam

[E.ON Company Rep: Malc]

Glad to help Jam.

 

If the mini test was done before 9pm and only rate 1 moved, this will be the day rate. If we're charging this at the off peak night prices, this will be wrong and the readings will be transposed as above.

 

The test your mum is doing today should confirm this. She only needs to take the readings about an hour apart, though. Please ask her to take one set of readings, use a high capacity appliance like a kettle and then, about an hour later, take another set of readings. This will usually be enough to tell us what's going on.

 

As a guide, depending on the region, the off peak rate will be somewhere between 6.5p and 9p per kWh(without VAT). The day rate will be significantly higher.

 

You've answered the hot water question so this rules out the immersion heater possibility I mentioned.

 

Do you know if the actual readings since the March estimate have been used to bill the account and, if so, when?

 

I'll be happy to let you have the relevant contact numbers. I've tried sending a PM but it's not letting me. If you PM me or drop an email to the address in my Biography, I'll give you the numbers.

 

Alternatively, just call the number on the bills and an advisor will put you through.

 

Hope this helps Jam.

 

Malc