Lowell PAPLOC now Claimform - old E-ON £3K+ bill

[autumn53]

Thanks DX for pointing it out. I got carried away as before. I am rewriting a much shorter and precise version of it. Will upload shortly.

Thanks Manxman for your help.

1. I have attached the reverse of the bill now. Sorry about this.

2. There was no obstruction, just that our meter sat next doors and the farm was rarely manned. I faintly remember my husband getting the meter reading via text message with the estate agent once.

3. Yes the address is of the Farm but the name is Mine.

4. Yes the meter was the main issue while buying the property back in 2018.

A retention fee of over 10K was held by our solicitors while the seller ensured the electric work gets carried out to bring the power line to our garage following the installation of a new meter at our property.

Our sellers being an elderly couple in their 90s, all the following-up was done by the Estate Agent and the work finished on 28th July 2020. 

This is when this account linked to shared meter was closed to start us on a fresh account.

 

5. Yes we used to have E-On people turn up at our door looking for a reading and I would tell them that the meter is in this building next door. My husband requested the Estate Agent to provide us the readings on several occasions from time to time to no avail.

 

6.The elderly couple who owned the Chicken Farm are the same people who sold us our house. Our Estate Agent never introduced us to the sellers. They owned both properties, which is why there was just one meter. I feel that the farm building has now been sold to some new party but this is just a guess as I see some farm vehicles come and go now and there are some signs of development taking place on the property. 

 

7. Our house was owned and lived-in by this elderly couple who also owned the Chicken Farm till we moved in on the 6th of Dec 2018. 

 

8. I would not know if E-ON got an actual reading at some point or the property has a new meter now. I just guess that the property is with a new owner for sure since at least last summer.

 

9. My average electric bill is roughly £150+ including VAT and Standing charge while the direct debit we paid back then was £58/month.

 

 

2021-12-01 revised final bill.pdf

[Manxman in exile]

OK.  So the bill is dated 01 December 2021, but it covers a period ending 28 July 2020 - so it's clearly trying to charge you for electricity that you consumed* over 12 months ago.  So according to the link provided by BankFodder on page 1 right after your opening post, they can't enforce it(?).

 

*  I say "you consumed", but I note that the detail on that bill only starts off with an Estimated and not an Actual meter reading.  It finishes on 28 July 2020 with an Actual reading.  What would concern me with an estimated reading as the starting point, is that (without knowing the meter reading history) you might be getting charged for electricity consumed either before you bought the property or that has been consumed by the "chicken farm".

 

6 hours ago, autumn53 said:

 

4. Yes the meter was the main issue while buying the property back in 2018. A retention fee of over 10K was held by our solicitors while the seller ensured the electric work gets carried out to bring the power line to our garage following the installation of a new meter at our property. Our sellers being an elderly couple in their 90s, all the following-up was done by the Estate Agent and the work finished on 28th July 2020. 

This is when this account linked to shared meter was closed to start us on a fresh account.                                         

 

So the bill presumably relates to an apportionment of the electricty consumption while you shared a meter with the chicken farm?  If your solicitor withheld a retention of £10k regarding the electricity supply, I presume you had some agreement with your vendors as to how bills would be apportioned prior to installing your own meter?  And presumably you must have had - or your solicitor would have asked them for - an actual meter reading when you took possession of the house?  To me it would seem essential that your solicitor should have asked for that because of the shared supply issue**.  If it was worth withholding £10k in the first place, I wouldn't have finally released it to the vendors without a verified meter reading - otherwise you run the risk of hitting problems exactly like this.  I also would have wanted an agreed basis for apportioning consumption in the interim before your own meter was installed.

 

Have you checked your paperwork from the house purchase?  Is there no mention of an agreed basis for apportioning electricity prior to your own meter being installed?  Have you asked your solicitor about this bill?

 

It may all be a moot point if they can't pursue you for the debt anyway because it goes back over 12 months ago.  I suspect dx100uk and BankFodder are better placed to advise on this aspect.

 

 

** I don't know about the UK (as I said it's nearly 30 years since I bought a house here) but in the Isle of Man the apportionment of utility and rates bills used to be a normal part of the conveyancing process.  I suspect it used to be done to justify fees by demonstrating more work had been done

[dx100uk]

7 hours ago, autumn53 said:

3. Yes the address is of the Farm but the name is Mine.

you never owned that property.....

 

the meter number is not your present one...

 

the sum demanded is from dates outside of 12mts previous from the date on the bill..

 

you were £72.43 in credit from the period 13-06-2020 - 28-07-2020 on a bill dated 15/01/2021

 

your cottage used in 45 days 15KWHrs - that equates to 333W a day - thats not right, far too little

at night is 65W per night....not right either.

 

you could run your house on a car battery if thats true!

 

- need i go on 

 

you dont owe a penny to anyone and never did. 

 

 

 

[autumn53]

Thanks DX, that clears away a lot of confusion in my head.

This is straight and simple.

They are just trying to squeeze some money out of us before they archive the old account.

With all the points you bring up, we have a good chance of having this go our way. 

 

Thanks Manxman for your reply. I have read it carefully,

 

1. Yes that is exactly the case from the look of it. I think I will use the Back Billing example letter from the site shared by Bankfodder.

 

2. Our own Smart Meter was installed on 28th of July and this is also when the old meter was disconnected from our property. I am unsure if Western Power men who carried out the work ever took any readings. The chicken farm was vacant and remained so roughly up until summer of 21. 

 

I think the building housing that meter was locked and Western Power men were given access to it by the EA to carry out the works. The previous elderly owners occupied the house we bought till the day we moved in but their chicken farm was vacant. I would presume they paid for the usage up until we moved in.

 

3. I am attaching a few screenshots of the agreement wherein our solicitor ensures the retention is made and the meter relocation work is carried out. There is no mention of any apportionment. Despite every detail being discussed at numerous meetings with our Solicitors, a bill apportionment was never brought up. It never crossed anyone’s mind as perhaps the decrepit farm buildings were vacant. The work got carried out, we acknowledged and our solicitors released the retention.

 

I guess we being regular people who have never before dealt with a shared meter, it was our solicitors who should have ensured this apportionment and meter reading issue is also dealt with. Although, our solicitor tried her best to draft a fool proof contract, it seems she missed this bit.

 

4. I will dig deeper into our house purchase related paperwork to see if a meter reading was taken just as or before we moved in. It is more than likely that there is a record somewhere. Another reason why it is important that E-ON sends us our full SAR for my husband.

 

I hope I have made the attachments free from any personal data, may I request the admins to please delete any files I share if they feel it breaks forum rules.  

 

contract.pdf

[Manxman in exile]

On 27/03/2022 at 02:08, dx100uk said:

... your cottage used in 45 days 15KWHrs - that equates to 333W a day - thats not right, far too little

at night is 65W per night....not right either.

 

you could run your house on a car battery if thats true!

 

- need i go on ...

 

 

Perhaps I'm misreading the bill or I'm suffering some mental block... but haven't you got that wrong by a factor of 1000?

 

Isn't it 14872 kwh at day rate over 45 days, which 333kwh per day, not 333 watts?

 

That's why the amount over 45 days is > £3000 ...

 

@autumn53  -  OK, so if the late billing rule referred to by both BankFodder and dx100uk applies to this bill, then you don't owe it because it's clearly(?) out of time.

 

However, if for some reason it doesn't apply (although I can't see why it wouldn't - it wasn't your fault meter readings weren't supplied) there are a couple of other points to bear in mind:

 

On 27/03/2022 at 12:37, autumn53 said:

...I think the building housing that meter was locked and Western Power men were given access to it by the EA to carry out the works. The previous elderly owners occupied the house we bought till the day we moved in but their chicken farm was vacant. I would presume they paid for the usage up until we moved in...

 

 

Well - I agree that that is what should have happened (and your solicitor should have ensured, in my view) but I bet your sellers didn't pay for all their consumption.  I suspect a large part, if not all, of the bill you have received relates to the previous owners.

 

What should have happened is that a meter reading should have been taken and agreed when you took possession of the property and started consuming electricity on it.  Your sellers would have paid for all consumption up to then.  There should then have been an agreed basis for apportioning consumption through the original meter for the interim period between you taking possession of the property and your own meter being installed.  That apportionment would have been between your consumption in your house and consumption on the "chicken farm".

 

I note that para 11(b) of the agreement you posted says that you "shall pay the appropriate contribution [my emphasis] for the supply of electricity to the Property in accordance with the meter reading until completion of the Works."  So who decided what "the appropriate contribution" was, and how was it calculated?  Did you say previously that you and your husband just paid whatever electricity bills you received during the interim?  I'd have thought those bills should have gone to the then account holder - the "chicken farm"/your sellers? - and they should then have billed you for your share of consumption.  However that was calculated.

 

I suspect that what has happened is that either (a) E-on have got the meter readings completely wrong, which is not impossible, or (b) that until 28 July 2020 there had not been a proper meter reading for months or even years* and that your sellers had been significantly undercharged over that period and it is they who owe the money and not you.

 

But without knowing the meter reading history or having sight of several years worth of bills, it's impossible to be sure.

 

For now - if I were you - I think I'd go down the "you're trying to bill us for consumption from over 12 months ago - you can't do that" route.

 

But if E-on try to dig their heels in (and I have no idea if they might have grounds for that or not) you might need to dig deeper into the history.

 

*  I know for a fact that our electricity meter has not been read officially for several years.  I make sure I supply a customer reading at least every year or if our estimated consumption is significantly different from actual.  E-on have happily relied on my readings for years.

[autumn53]

Hi thanks very much.

 

I will be replying soon. I don't have my study with the carpets being cleaned today. Thanks for your patience.

[autumn53]

HI,

I am sorry about the delay. My study is still upside down, I will soon be responding with more details.

Meanwhile I received another payment reminder. I have drafted a shorter reply for them. Please could you spare a moment and eyeball it. 

 

To

E. ON Energy

 

Closed Account number  000000000

 

Kindly note, I have been receiving email and text reminders for a bill that is currently under dispute for the closed account number 0000000

 

My husband Mr xxxxx, (who I act on behalf of) also held and paid-for this account via Direct Debit. had sent a full Subject Access Request dated 14th of January 2022 and a reminder dated 18th February 2022 to which there has been no response from your end and a formal complaint has been raised with the Information Commissioner’s Office under the current Data Protection Act.

 

Please note that the said account was linked to a shared electric meter between our property and a large neighbouring farm building. We have no information on this other user. May I also mention that this disputed bill has the neighbouring Farm’s address not mine. This suggests that there is some discrepancy in your records.

 

To add to this, I am unsure if you can present any bill to me in 2022 for an account that has been closed since mid 2020. Please note that we are protected under the back billing rule.

Thanking You

 

 

Thanks very much

[Manxman in exile]

@autumn53  -  before you send anything off, can you just remind me whether you have actually raised the issue of backbilling with E-on yet?

 

Because to me that really ought to be the first thing you draw to their attention in any communication.  I wonder if at this stage* the SAR stuff is a bit of a distraction from the main issue - which is that they are too late to try to recover this money either from you or from the previous occupiers?

 

Because it seems to me that if you win the backbilling argument it's game, set and match to you and your husband.

 

So have you raised it with them yet?

 

*The SAR stuff will become important if E-on won't accept the backbilling argument, but I'm not sure how they could reject it...

[dx100uk]

Arguing the BB rule is admittance you owe the bill but this trump's that .

 

The truth is it is not owed, the op paid fair usage for their property and should not be billed for chicken farm use. They did not own that. Eon put their name against the address.

 

Dx

[autumn53]

Hi Manxman, no I have not raised this back-billing thing with them yet. Only denied owing to them over the first phone call upon receiving the bill (8th Dec 2021). 

 

They tried to convince me that I must owe them this money from the 'shared' time period and was asked to prove that I never lived on the Chicken Farm. I told them that I would not know how to do that. At this point I was almost crying.

 

They asked me to send some purchase/Land registry related proof that I live on the house and not the farm. I emailed them the land registry that shows our property as our address. Satisfied, the gentleman on the other end asked me to speak with his accounts colleagues in 15 days time.

 

He reassured me that they may be kind enough to lower the charges keeping in view the meter was shared. Meanwhile, I got extremely worried about the bill and started seeking help here. I never called them back since. Only sent my SAR that they responded to and then my husband's SAR that they never replied to. 

 

Also, to answer your question about the meter reading upon the house exchange, my husband confirms there was none. We tried to get the meter reading via the EA several times, but the house purchase had been so arduous that refusing to move without a meter reading was not an option. The EA rarely answered his phone or text messages. My husband might have a record of those messages. 

 

Hi DX, during the above phone call, the person on the other end deduced that the bill could be a final payment from the shared meter time. My husband was not home so I could not confirm the monthly DD payments for the average usage. I did not know at that time about the BB rule but I did dispute the massive bill. My SAR response documents show the bill as 'disputed' in their call transcript. 

 

Thank you people. May you be blessed.

[Manxman in exile]

@dx100uk  -  Isn't the truth that we don't really know enough to make any assumptions or to make definite statements about what might or might not be owed?

 

All we know is that the OP moved in sometime in December 2018 and shared an electricity supply and meter with the chicken farm next door.  Twenty months later the OP got their own supply and meter.  During that 20 months there was an agreement ( that no one seems to know the details of ) that the OP would pay an "appropriate contribution" towards electricity consumption measured through the chicken farm's meter.  We don't know how that appropriate contribution was to be calculated or who it was to be paid to - although I assume it should have been paid to their vendors as I assume electricity bills would have gone to the vendors.  (But I don't actually know that.)

 

The OP has also been a tiny bit vague* about what they paid in respect of electricity consumption in the 20 months between moving in and getting their own dedicated meter.  They initially set up a DD (although I'm not sure how that would have fitted in with paying an appropriate contribution to their vendors - if that's what the agreement was), and also paid "bigger sums" upon receiving "random bills", and throughout this time neither they nor E-on were able to access the chicken farm meter to take readings. 

 

So at the moment I'm not sure if even the OP is certain what bills they received and what readings those bills were based on, and what they paid during the time they were using electricity through the chicken farm's meter.  (The OP did say back in December that they would collate all these bills and payments but I don't know if they did or not.  At the moment they could equally well have overpaid as underpaid, and if I were them I would want to check!)

 

And apart from not knowing how much electricity in total was consumed via the chicken farm meter during that 20 months, we don't know how much of that total was used by the OP - was it as little as 10% or was it as much as 90%?

 

I would certainly agree that it's highly unlikely that the OP and her husband have used £3000 worth of electricity that they weren't aware of between December 2018** and the end of July 2020, but without seeing all the readings (estimated or actual) and bills and payments for the period, nobody can be sure.  I wouldn't want to tell the OP that they definitely don't owe the money, or that there's nothing E-on can do about it, or that there's nothing to worry about, and then find myself a couple of months later possibly having to backtrack and apologise.  I'd rather have more information now.

 

As regards the other point - I'd never heard of back-billing before and didn't know that energy companies weren't allowed to do it, so this thread was the first I've heard of it when BankFodder and you raised it.  Am I to understand you to be saying that a consumer can only take advantage of any "prohibition" on back-billing by an admission that they owe the money?  Are you saying the OP should not attempt to take advantage of it?

 

*Not being critical of the OP but it is light on detail!

 

**  I know the revised final bill says it covers a period of only 45 days, but it starts off with an estimated reading and I bet this £3000 has its origins in under-estimates dating back a lot further.

 

@autumn53  -  ok, we cross-posted while I was responding to DX100UK

 

Hold on the back-billing as DX100UK seems to be suggesting it's not a good idea because you can only take advantage  of it by admitting the debt(?).

 

From what you've said above - are you saying that the root of this problem is simply that you have been unable to get E-on to understand the simple fact that you and your husband are (1) different customers from the ones who own the chicken farm and from whom you bought your house in December 2018, and (2) that you have never had any connection with the chicken farm?  (Apart from sharing the meter for 20 months that is).

 

Is that all that the confusion is about.  (Apart from the fact that you never ensured you got proper meter readings on completion and thereafter).

 

Well - I think that must be quite good news and quite easy to resolve with e-on...

 

@autumn53  -  I'm going to have to ask some really stupid questions so I can make sure I understand something   !!!

 

In your post #79 there are extracts from agreements relating to your house purchase.  Your solicitor would withhold a retention until your sellers had arranged the provision of a separate electric supply to you and a meter.  This they did but took about 20 months to complete.  (Is that all correct so far?)  During the period between you moving in and the separate supply and meter being installed, you and your husband agreed to pay an "appropriate contribution" in respect of your consumption through the chicken farm's meter.  But the agreement said nothing about who was responsible for providing readings from the chicken farm meter during that time or - indeed - on the original completion back in December 2018.  (Still OK so far?).

 

So - some questions:

 

1.  Was it only your property that was drawing electricity from the chicken farm meter, or was the chicken farm drawing electricity too? 

 

(It's not clear from your posts whether the chicken farm was run-down and no longer operating, so that you were using all the electricity through that meter, or whether the farm may have been using even more electricity than you).

 

2.  What did you and your husband think an "appropriate contribution" meant, and how did you think it would be calculated and paid, and to whom? 

 

(I am assuming that because the meter was not situated on your property the intention was that your sellers would remain the account holders with E-on in respect of the meter, that E-on would continue to bill them based on meter readings, and that you and your sellers would then apportion the bills between you on an "appropriate contribution" basis.  Your sellers would pay the total amount to E-on and you would reimburse your sellers "appropriately".  Is that what you understood?)

 

3.  Why did you immediately set up a DD with E-on in December 2018 and why did you pay subsequent random bills from them?

 

(I ask this because if - and I stress if - it was intended that your sellers would remain as the account holders and you would reimburse them an appropriate contribution for your usage, I don't quite understand how you could set up a DD on an account that wasn't yours.  Or why you would want to set up a direct debit on an account where you did not have access to the meter.  It's asking for trouble... )

 

4.  Is it possible that when you set up the DD in December 2018, that you and your husband somehow inadvertantly allowed yourselves to take over responsibility for the totality of the electricity account associated with the meter on the chicken farm?  Were you receiving bills between December 2018 and July 2020 and if so, to whom (and where) were they addressed?

 

( I wonder whether when you set up the DD, E-on thought or assumed that you were taking over the chicken farm account.  Presumably you or your husband would have had to reference the meter and/or account to be able to set up a DD on it, and E-on would have transferred the account from your sellers to you)

 

What I think might have happened is that the chicken farm account has been running on estimated electricity bills for a very long time, and that the reading on or about 28 July 2020 was the first actual reading for ages - perhaps years - and that E-on have charged you the accumulated underestimates because they think you've been the account holders for the chicken farm since December 2018.  Or it might be that E-on have been billing both you and your sellers for the same consumption.  Or it might be that E-on simply can't read electricity meters properly.

 

If E-on are going to dig their heels in and insist that you owe them the money, I think you'll need to consider the above questions and dig out all the old bills and paperwork you can find.  You need to provide a paper trail showing that you can't possibly be responsible for this bill.  Which I'm sure you can do.

 

Incidentally, where are your sellers in all this and why were you relying on their estate agent to provide meter readings?  I'd sya all this mess was foreseeable and your solicitor should have seen to it that the sellers were respeonsible for providing actual meter readings etc between you completing on the property and having your own meter and supply installed.  I'm sure all this could have been avoided if your solicitor had thought more about the implications of buying a property where the electricity meter was located somewhere else.

 

Also you (or your solicitor) really ought to have ensured that you got a meter reading on completion.

 

If you can answer the above four question it might help make more sense of things.

 

(I won't comment on the back-billing issue until DX100UK explains about the debt admission issue)

 

 

Edited March 29, 2022 by Manxman in exile

[dx100uk]

On 27/03/2022 at 17:23, Manxman in exile said:

Isn't it 14872 kwh at day rate over 45 days, which 333kwh per day, not 333 watts?

yes true, but a cottage will not be using 333KW a DAY!! 

 

On 18/12/2021 at 09:20, autumn53 said:

We bought this house back in Dec 2018.

 

On 18/12/2021 at 09:20, autumn53 said:

At the time we purchased the house, there was only one electric meter that supplied both properties (our house as well as the chicken farm next doors). This meter sat in the chicken farm. Neither E-ON nor we could record any actual readings.

 

On 18/12/2021 at 09:20, autumn53 said:

Therefore, we kept being charged an average of £58 by E-ON.

 

On 18/12/2021 at 09:20, autumn53 said:

on 27th July 2020, we had E-ON install our very own (smart) meter on our property

 

there are two ways to deal with this: 

1. eventually run this till it's conclusion replying with the back billing rules, you dont owe this and most certainly were NOT using 333KW per day!!

2. interrogate your smart meter, that will give you an avg use per day/week/month since its been fitted  (this info will also be on your log-in for the EON site. ) offer EON a sum commensurate per day from the day you moved in, till the day the smart meter was fitted.

 

i know what i'd do.

 

the danger you have here is EON could load your smart meter with the full debt, BUT it smacks to me they have NOT done this since 27-07-20 and know very well they are on dodgy ground if they do!! 

 

most probably they pulled your string to see if they can mug you as they cant get a hold of the chicken farms owner to try it on with them!!

 

no need for any further speculation or (un) intended confusing posts 

 

on the front of back billing,

its their (EON) mistake, the BB rules clearly state you cannot be responsible for any mistakes by a supplier under them.

 

 

 

 

 

[Manxman in exile]

If you know what you'd do, can you spell it out for the OP without being all cryptic about it?  That might lessen any confusion and give her some proper assistance.

 

20 hours ago, dx100uk said:

yes true, but a cottage will not be using 333KW a DAY!! 

 

Yes - but I was drawing attention to your mistaken and confusing statement that they were using only 1000th of that amount.  Anybody taking what you had said at face value and without checking it for themselves might have ended up very confused or making entirely the wrong argument to E-on ...

[dx100uk]

16 hours ago, dx100uk said:

there are two ways to deal with this: 

1. eventually run this till it's conclusion replying with the back billing rules, you dont owe this and most certainly were NOT using 333KW per day!!

2. interrogate your smart meter, that will give you an avg use per day/week/month since its been fitted  (this info will also be on your log-in for the EON site. ) offer EON a sum commensurate per day from the day you moved in, till the day the smart meter was fitted.

 

[autumn53]

The House Agreement does not show any ratio or any figures for this ‘appropriate contribution’. It has no description of this ‘contribution’.

My husband started the account and DD with E-ON in January ’19 after moving.The house underwent major renovations from this point on till late may. Not fully unpacked, our lives were up-side-down.

Digging into my our Bank Statements, we found the following outgoings towards E.On. A few big bills like I had mentioned in one of my previous messages.

 

Mar 19                     £294    (The account is set up in my husband’s name)

June 19                      £58

Aug 19                       £58

Sep 19                       £58

Oct 19                        £58

Nov 19                       £58

Dec 19                       £58

Jan 20                       £58     (The account is now in my name)

Feb 20                     £263

Feb 20                       £45

Mar 20                       £45

Apr 20                        £45

May 20                       £45

Jun 20                        £45

Jul 20                         £45    Our own Smart Meter installed. This A/c should now be closed but we kept getting billed                                                     although we got a fresh account number.

Aug 20                       £45    Closed account still billing us and we paying via DD

Sep 20                       £45     As Above

Oct 20                        £45     As Above

Nov 20                       £45      As Above

Dec 20                       £45      As Above

Jan 21                      -£43      Refund - we were still being billed as they owed us this £43 and that was aborting the                                                            automatic closure of our account in their system.

Jan 21                  £278.39    Three monthly DD set for Our own smart meter account as old account finally closes (it                                                       seems we were charged for both accounts between Jul 20 - Jan 21)

Feb 21

Mar 21

Apr 21                   £499.32    Three monthly DD

May 21

Jun 21

Jul 21                     £461.43    Three monthly DD

Aug 21                   £123          Switched to Monthly DD

Sep 21                   £123          Approx is when E.ON hands us over to E.ON Next and a fresh E.ON Next a/c opens.

Oct 21                    £123

Nov 21                    £123

Dec 21                    £123         We get billed for £3277 by E.ON as in the original post and I raise an SAR

Jan 22                    £123          My husband’s SAR raised to no response from E.ON

Feb 22                    £123

Mar 22                    £123

 

We have no information in case our sellers were also being charged by an electric company. There have been no successful meter readings from our side to E.ON as the farm was locked and the EA was taking no interest in having this sorted for us. I could not find any physical bills from that time. Although I have a few from their response to my SAR (image).

I think when I last spoke to E-ON upon receiving this bill back in Dec 21, they thought that the chicken farm address is mine. I was asked by their representative to present something in support of me saying that we never lived on that address.

I showed them my land registry images and they were satisfied that I have not lived on the farm and the two address confusion was cleared. But they still felt that the money is owed by us as at some point they were just charging us an average that did not reflect the true usage.

I reluctantly agreed as I did not know how to respond to such an argument. I did not even know how much my husband had been paying in the past as he was not home. I was offered to be helped by their accounts team if I rang them back in 15 days time which I never did. I instead raised an SAR.

1. The chicken farm was vacant to the best of out knowledge. Only very rarely there was some activity.

2. Honestly, we thought nothing, we did not even look into this clause. The purchase was so taxing as we were this close to being homeless, we were mentally exhausted.

We could not gather our bearings till late June. We lived out of boxes, slept on rolled out rugs, walked on concrete floors as the renovations sucked the life out of us stretching into agonising months.

Not sure if the Sellers were tied to E.ON or some other electric company and if they paid or not paid during or before above time periods.

 

3. The account was never with the sellers, we set this account up assuming we should be paying for the electricity in our property based on an estimated bill till our own meter was installed. This we felt would take a few months. Knowing that the Chicken farm is not in use and is locked, we assumed that all bills should be our responsibility.

E.ON started the DD with us but never took the actual reading, or we would have received this big 3k bill back then.

They did not even get an actual reading back when our own meter was installed and Western Power cut off the supply from the shared meter. Or we would have been given this £3k bill right then. Why now?

You are 100% right, only if we could reverse the time. We were unable to think straight at that time as we really had no home, it was just a lot of beams, nails, puddled floors and noisy power tools. I was getting treated with injections to my spine and was totally exhausted/ It never occurred to us that we could end up facing such a massive bill.

4. Yes we were receiving bills, I faintly remember that some were being addressed to the farm but they ended up in our post. I looked but could not find them now in our paperwork.

5. It is a huge possibility as you mention above. But, why would E.ON wait for so long to bill us. Why did they not bill us for an accumulated underestimate upon account closure?

6. Long story short. The EA never wanted us to buy this house and was discouraging us from the very start. They ensured we never met or spoke to the sellers. We tried many times but eventually gave up. Our solicitor was a keen lady who tried to get the agreement to suit us, but this she certainly missed. And so did we.

Also, we did not take the final meter reading for sure upon completion or even when our Smart Meter was installed. I could have easily asked the Western Power men to check the meter reading that day but I failed to be proactive. It was not on my mind at all.

I am a bit unsure about my next step. Will try changing the energy supplier tomorrow for sure. Please may I get some more advice. What should I do first?

Thanks a lot

 

2021-12-01 revised final bill.pdf

[dx100uk]

And your smart meter daily usage?

 

 

[autumn53]

Here, this is our Feb 22 bill from E-On Next last month. I hope this helps. Thanks

Eon Next.pdf

[dx100uk]

so real usage is about £250PCM whereby you were paying only £58PCM.

 

so they DO have a point ... you were paying £190PCM light from jan 2019 till july 2020 ...so 18*£190=£3420

 

but ... they didnt request this money (£3277) 21-12-2021 more than 18mts after your switch to a smart meter, back billing rules apply.

 

incidentally that equates to about 333KWh per week as above ...good guess work..wrong calc mind... 

you must have electric heating as thats 41kw a day? or 1.7kwh per hour.

 

 

[autumn53]

Yes we have some electric heating and we use blowers too. The gas heating in this house doesn't work effectively. So we keep ourselves warm using blowers. We are trying to optimise it. Also my husband tried switching from E.ON next this afternoon, but all other providers are asking for exorbitant monthly sums right now.

 

Please, what should we do at this stage? 

[dx100uk]

why doesnt the gas work well, 

explain we can help too.

 

blowers / electric heaters are cost eaters so that explains the high bills.

 

what do you do...

 

nothing sit on your hands, IMHO yours is not the next move.

 

just to keep upto date, what was your last comms with EON regarding owing the money? and when? by what method?

 

dx

 

 

[autumn53]

1. Its an old house with an old boiler. We intend to save money for a new system and have it installed. Thanks, I might actually need help with that once we have the money.

 

2. I keep getting these reminders from them via text and email. Should I keep ignoring them while we wait for their move?

 

3. All this happened over the phone and mostly over one phone-call on the same day made by me to E-ON..

 

After seeing the bill, I called them on the 7th of Dec. I asked them to look into their records as this was a massive bill for a long closed account and I don't own the farm. 

 

I was asked to prove I have never owned the farm via a House Deed or other such document.

I emailed my land registry papers that showed I own the house not the farm.

 

I was asked if we have paid towards our bills and I did not have much information on that as my husband was at work.

The person assumed that the account was never paid for and that this money is due.

 

I asked them if there is anything that could be done about it and I was instructed to call them back in 15 days time (on the 21st of Dec 2021) 

 

I never called them back as I had already started seeking help here and had sent my SAR to them on the 18th Dec.

(I think I recorded this call, also I have received a CD in my SAR that may have the recordings too.  I am attaching a call transcript I got in my SAR. 

 

Thank You

Event History.pdf Transaction.pdf

Edited March 30, 2022 by dx100uk
formatting

[dx100uk]

na that confirms it, they cant just say because you are supplied by the 'meter' elsewhere, you must be responsible for the sum.

and it's only by phone too so , utter rubbish.

 

i'd let this run.

 

if it gets silly, then we'll use the BB rules.

 

block their number on your phone

report the texts to spam at 7726 .

 

block and bounce their email AD too.

 

comeback if anything else happens.

 

sorry this had gone on to 100 posts now, 99% of them are worthless and immaterial confusion by all parties.

 

post 2 was correct good call by Bankfodder!!

 

dx

 

 

[Manxman in exile]

And what does your post #93 mean?

[dx100uk]

2 hours ago, autumn53 said:

1. Its an old house with an old boiler.

have you tried the gov't boiler replacement scheme, you might well get one almost free.

 

dx

[Manxman in exile]

On 30/03/2022 at 20:36, dx100uk said:

so real usage is about £250PCM whereby you were paying only £58PCM. so they DO have a point ... you were paying £190PCM light from jan 2019 till july 2020 ...so 18*£190=£3420 but ... they didnt request this money (£3277) 21-12-2021 more than 18mts after your switch to a smart meter, back billing rules apply. incidentally that equates to about 333KWh per week as above ...good guess work..wrong calc mind... you must have electric heating as thats 41kw a day? or 1.7kwh per hour.

 

 

I've been out working all day and only just had a chance to look at this...

@dx100uk  - how can you now say that E-on could possibly have a point about this when you've asserted all along that they couldn't?  

I find it difficult to see what you have done actually to assist the OP, because all you've done is to tell them that E-on have no case.  I on the other hand have tried to coax out details from the OP that might help to explain what has happened - but you've dismissed my efforts as complicating matters!

Now that the OP has answered some of the (complicating!) questions that I asked, but which you couldn't be bothered to ask, we find that rather than you telling the OP that they have nothing to worry about, you are now saying that E-on DO have a point...   At the risk of complicating things further I'll wait til later on Thursday to post further...