Huge E-on bill

[Whodidthewashing]

I've got a flat which I'm renting, it's a one bed flat newly built (well, it's 8 years old now) All appliances are energy efficient. When I lived the I used to pay £19 a month and at some point they reduced it to £12 as I had a large credit on the account.

My current tenants (a couple) have been paying £32 a month for a few years. They are hardly there, both work full time, they put the heating on for barely 3 months as it's a warm flat and all double/triple glazed.

I got a smart meter installed 18 months ago and so it started with 0. The current direct debit hasn't been changed and the amount has been right. I added a new reading yesterday which was over 23000 kw and so we now have a massive debit of almost £5,000. 😳 I called E-on today and they said they'd check the meter for accuracy but I'm worried. Has anyone experienced this?

I think you’ve misunderstood- I think the old meter wasn’t working properly so the amount was wrong. And now the new meter has moved to the appropriate number…I actually hope this is the case because there is a way out of paying for it if it is backdated for the last 8 years

@Whodidthewashing

check with them to see if it is a backdated bill, hopefully it is. If it is then you don’t have to pay more than 12m backdated.

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/energy/energy-supply/problems-with-your-energy-bill/you-havent-received-a-gas-or-electricity-bill-in-a-while/

There is clearly something wrong but I would also say you were probably underpaying by about 50% for the past 8 years.

Therefore it is not impossible that you owe a decent amount.

£32 a month is very low for an all electric flat.

Up until the end of my tariff fix in May this year, my gas and electric combined came to about £35/month - it's not impossible (I'm in a 1 bed flat - mind you, it's just me here).

Oops, ignore my last post - I'd missed that its all electric.

You just need to monitor usage for a few 24hr periods and see what it averages at

i think £32 is far to low but I don’t understand how suddenly. It’s a large bill that would imply in the last 6 months usage has increased? Or you’ve been paying estimated reads and now have an actual?
either way it doesn’t really add up

@Hutchy16 this is why op needs all half hourly interval data which is a list of what is used every half hour to see if it's right or not.

First she needs to see it and determine if it's right or not.

She can't do anything till she's seen the actual usage on a day by day.

If she has a smart meter then it will be available.

It could be right it could be wrong but until she sees it well who knows.

Maybe if it's on a crap tariff it might be correct but it all depends on the readings.

Apologies - if you know all this already, some people are aware of this some are not so again apologies if my post read like I'm teaching you to suck eggs. It's not meant that way.

If they are never there then it is high. It's high either way in my opinion.

I'm not entirely sure but to me it sounds like the meter may have been configured wrong when they fitted it and set it up. Maybe. Hopefully.

It's very very high though for the property type.

@BackT If we were underpaying why did they decide to reduce the direct debit back in 2016, after 2.5 years? My account was in credit

If they haven’t adjusted your payments in 6 years despite rising prices then something isn’t right there op

I live in a 1 bedroom flat . I live alone so less showers etc than a couple. I use on average £30 a month in the summer and about £70 a month in winter . I'm all electric with economy 7 ( so hot water and heating charging on cheap night time rate ). I work full time so I'm out of the flat most of the day .

I'm still on a fixed rate deal from 2 years ago so I haven't even been hit by the new price rises yet .
The quotes I've had for when my tariff runs out next week are between £90 and £130 a month . I'm with E-ON as well .

if your flat isn't on an existing fixed rate tariff , it's very likely that you will have already been hit with a big price increase .

I think it's quite a few years since I've paid £32 a month .
I normally get notified of my account goes into arrears or too much credit so I can change my direct debit .
I wonder if something has gone wrong and you haven't been notified that you should be increasing your payment?
does the bill go to your tenants address? Would they open it or notify you of it meant them having to pay you more ?
it seems like a big bill but at the same time it seems like you are under paying imho .

@limitededitionbarbie Yes, monitoring it on a daily basis sounds like a plan. I may have underpaid, but I really don't think £5000 is justified for this type of property.

I mean it's been over 2000 kwh only in the last 7 months, this can't be right!

Lots of people are talking about the DD saying that is low and has been low in the past.

It's the usage that people need to know about to make those comparisons. Not the actual cost.

Will be interested to see what happens on this thread

Thank you all, I'll keep you updated

Exactly. They will be able to see what's been used. A Smart Meter is supposed to send readings daily as far as I am aware - I know I can see my daily readings since I first had mine fitted - just by going to my online account.

@Montgomerymmoose I get the bills and I haven't been notified. Of course a courtesy note the prices were increasing but nothing about my property specifically. Will just have to wait and see. They very said they will be investigating the meter for accuracy.

@cakeorwine Yes, that's what I would expect from a smart meter, to send readings directly to supplier. I foolishly assumed that was the case and realised recently they needed my readings as soon as.

Is it an economy 7 tariff ? If so the day/night readings could be the wrong way round .

We have a big semi detached house and use around 400kWh/month so I could absolutely see how you'd use 2000 kWh in 7 months - and we heat our property using gas. Sounds like there's something wrong somewhere but I wouldn't lay bets which way around it was.

We're all electric too, 2 bed bungalow, economy 7, off peak immersion, electric shower, 3 night storage heaters which we don't turn on unless it's unbearably cold. We have a woodburner. Our electricity bill is averaged to £140 a month. There's no way your tenants are only using £32 a month.

I too would wonder what they've been growing in there! Have you been into the flat recently?

What you pay is irrelevant.
It's the usage that is key, plus whatever standing charge someone is on.

Hello,

I had this very problem last year. £1800, not £5000, but similar idea.

Luckily I'd taken meter readings reasonably regularly, and someone from eon had been in to check too. I'd drawn up a graph with the readings, which showed an ENORMOUS leap between July and august last year, in a month that we were barely there (away on holiday).

Sent them the graph. Got in touch over Twitter. Nice lady on there set my account back to zero. Heaved HUGE sigh of relief.

@flowerycurtain I have, there is nothing suspicious in there.

@GrannyAchingsShepherdsHut your property and my property are very different. My flat is on the second floor, with flats on both sides, very warm, is triple glazed. My tenants put the heating on end of Dec until beginning of March. It's never unbearably cold even when it's freezing cold out. This winter has been quite mild too. I can also see that the water bill has decreased over the last 6 months which means they are quite sensible with the showers/baths.

@barneymcgroo Thank you for sharing that, great you've sorted it.

Eeeep! I had a tiny flat, all electric, in maybe 2010. Never paid as little as £30 a month so think you've been underpaying - standing charge alone would be a fair chunk of that.