E.On Next massive Bill

[Shymama]

Hello,
As if we're not all already beyond stressed about energy bills, I received an electricity bill in march for £1300 (so before the shocking rise) I live in a 2 bed flat, just me and my 10 month old, as soon as I got the bill I phoned up querying it but as I was awaiting to be transferred from Eon to next they couldn't do anything at that time but could see the issue.

Fast forward a few weeks and I phoned again, to be told the bills right and DD is going from £53 to £200 a month (gas + electric) I don't use much electric as out most the day and even when at home not a lot gets used and always turn off and unplug anything that isn't used.
There's no way I've used to energy theyre trying to bill me for, what can I do??

Do you have a smart metre or submit regular readings?

Also, what period did the £1300 bill cover?

Do you have all the meter readings involved?
Was it a bill based on readings or was it an estimate?

Covered a 3 month period, december-feb, have all meter reads, worked out all costs and what it should be, sent all this to them and they've told me it makes no difference.

I send meter reads monthly to prevent estimations, currently emailing it daily so they physically have to look at them and slightly to annoy them to the point where they realise I won't give up

Can you pay the amount you think you owe?
Was your monthly direct debit covering your usage as £53 sounds low

@Shymama
call them and challenge it, I had a similar issue with Eon. I went from being £87 in credit, paying £93 a month DD to £997 in debit and them wanting a £500 DD. when it was sorted out I was back to £45 in credit and DD of £187 which is in line with the price rise

Is the main bulk of the charges for one of the fuels? If so, ask for historic meter readings to compare use and see if there is a charge for a check meter.

Yeah direct debit was covering, this was before the rise in price so price has changed since.

I just don't understand how they think I could possibly be using £400+ a month in electric, starting to question whether someone in the other flats has wired up and is growing something

I've now gone on to email their complaints department and the CEO email that's provided but just don't know what to do if they can let realise that something has definitely gone wrong here

I'm in the process of trying to challenge it but just get passed from pillar to post or them just completely denying that anything could be wrong, I was in arrears too, I had a similar issue when I first moved in and they tried charging me for the previous Tennant's bills

Mine is going from £150 to £480. Problem if going from a low tariff, supplier went bust and now on new rate. If it goes up again in October apparently I'm looking at over £600 per month.

It won't be Covid, parties or the like that will topple this govt, it's the cost of living. I'm already seeing people trying to book back to back shifts, so work nights and then follow on with an overtime day shift they are that desperate. It's tragic

@TheSnowyOwl yes all electric, do I just phone them and ask about a check meter?

[quote Shymama]@TheSnowyOwl yes all electric, do I just phone them and ask about a check meter?[/quote]
As you say you have emailed the CEO, once you get a reply I would raise it then.

Are they using the same readings you are giving them or are some estimated?

@dementedpixie January is estimated, which I was in hospital for 2 weeks of, which I've tried explaining to them but it's like talking to a brick wall

@TheSnowyOwl I'm hoping going higher up it can get sorted, just with the bank holiday weekend it'll take longer

If you're getting nowhere by phone, you could try and email them, either directly or via the resolver.co.uk complaints service.

Set out your readings multiplied by the current unit rate incl Vat and the standing charge on top.

Tell them this is cost of my monthly use so this is what I will pay.

Look on the cost of living help section on moneysaving expert if they're trying to set your direct debit above your April use plus any debt repayment.

www.resolver.co.uk/

Walks you through the complaint and directs it to someone who will actually look at it properly rather than general customer service.

Electric heating can cost £2 an hour if you have a strongish electric boiler. If you’d had it on 2 hours in the morning and 2 in the evening 2 weeks in Jan and 2 weeks in Feb plus the residual electrics like fridge freezer, hot water, lighting and tv on standby.

The above usage could be £400 in a 4 week period I mean.

@BarbaraofSeville Thank you I'll look into that!

@BeinBedEarly heating and shower are all gas and all electrics are unplugged when not in use and lights are only used when in a room, overnight the only thing plugged in and on is the fridge freezer, was brought up in a big family where we had to scrimp and save so some things have stuck with me lol

If you have gas central heating then it's even less likely for the electricity bill to be so high.

You say you want a meter check so presumably they have billed you for what your meter reading says you’ve used? When did they last read your meter before this bill?

@ForensicAccountant I've been in my flat for just over a year, I've never had anyone out to read the meter

Given that you're giving them regular readings, are you saying the bill you've had is based on a wildly inaccurate estimated reading instead?

Or, do you think your meter is faulty and it's this causing the inaccuracy?

Is your meter in your flat or in a communal meter cupboard ?

I look after the bills for my mother's cottage until she manages to move back from overseas (covid and health-delayed down-sizing). My sister and I use it sporadically. Under Eon our mainly estimated readings weren't far off, but just as we were switched to EonNext we'd had a "catch up" reading that included a longer period of occupancy over the summer than usual.

Despite having access to old records, we're now getting ridiculous estimated bills from EonNext at about 10x typical usage. It's taken me several goes phoning (after emailing got me precisely nowhere) to get someone sensible who helped adjust a couple of month's estimates until I could get a reading in. But the next bill after that still had a bad estimate, and we can't do monthly readings. I didn't want monthly bills in the first place!

I'm on a waiting list to change suppliers ...

Good luck getting yours sorted, if you can find time I'd recommend phoning (with something to do while you wait ...)