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E.on Next - gone from £250 in credit to £2300 in debit?!

159 replies

FLA92 · 07/02/2023 20:04

This surely can not be possible?

We have gas and electric with E.on Next. It’s always in credit, it was over £200 in credit the last time I had checked.

We got asked for meter readings which we gave - it said they were high for what was expected but they were correct so we submitted them.

I have just checked my account and it’s now £2,300 in debit!!!

We have lived here for 2 years and obviously this was nowhere near what we paid last year - it’s just the 2 of us living here and I didn’t put the heating on until late November / early December!

I do work from home most days but even so - surely it cannot be this high?

I’m going to call them first thing in the morning, but has anyone else had a similar situation?

OP posts:
cptartapp · 07/02/2023 20:25

We are with Eon Next paying £60 a month for a four bed and around £200 in credit. I submitted a meter reading last week and nothing was changed.

Woolandwonder · 07/02/2023 20:25

Mine has been 350 for both Dec and Jan and about 250 for the previous couple of months before the heating was on much so unfortunately it could well be accurate (there's only 2 of us in a small semi, no kids/tumble dryer etc so not overly heavy users)

cptartapp · 07/02/2023 20:25

Fixed tariff until October though.

dementedpixie · 07/02/2023 20:26

cptartapp · 07/02/2023 20:25

We are with Eon Next paying £60 a month for a four bed and around £200 in credit. I submitted a meter reading last week and nothing was changed.

Are you on a fixed rate or SVR?
If on the SVR you are likely not paying enough

WaddleAway · 07/02/2023 20:26

Fx its a mistake OP.
one of the reasons I’m so militant with meter readings is that this happened to me a few years ago. I had a new (disabled) baby and just let it all slip. By the time I submitted a reading we were over £1000 in debit, and we spent the next year paying the debt off. Since then it’s weekly readings!

cptartapp · 07/02/2023 20:27

dementedpixie x post. Fixed tariff.

OnTheBoardwalk · 07/02/2023 20:29

Have they been to try and take a reading for you?

I wasn’t great at taking readings but they came knocking at my door every couple of months which I’m now grateful for and am now taking monthly readings myself

WaddleAway · 07/02/2023 20:30

OnTheBoardwalk · 07/02/2023 20:29

Have they been to try and take a reading for you?

I wasn’t great at taking readings but they came knocking at my door every couple of months which I’m now grateful for and am now taking monthly readings myself

I’m with eon like the OP and they only come to us once a year to take a reading, usually in April.

Mrsmozza123 · 07/02/2023 20:31

This happened to me last year with eon next.
i was silly and didn’t keep up with meter readings and my catch up bill was enormous, close to yours.

speak to them though, they spread the excess over 4 years so I was paying an extra £40 a month to clear it. It played on my mind though and I scrimped and saved to clear the balance sooner. I now have a smart meter and panic if it stops giving readings for a couple of days even.

Whatever you do don’t avoid it, work with them and they will give you time to catch back up. 😓

suchamessughh · 07/02/2023 20:32

Best advice OP is to switch suppliers tbh. I currently have done the same because Eon next always do this with payments. They're so expensive for no reason. Sometimes they like to add estimated bills randomly so make sure you check your bill statements every time to make sure they give the correct amount. I'm so done with those money grabbers .. I have literally changed suppliers. Best of luck.

ladymacbeth · 07/02/2023 20:32

£62 is NOT that low. If you're sensible and live alone/no kids it's doable. My dual bills are only £70 a month with accurate readings

Mrsmozza123 · 07/02/2023 20:33

cptartapp · 07/02/2023 20:25

Fixed tariff until October though.

Enjoy!!!!!

Mrsmozza123 · 07/02/2023 20:35

ladymacbeth · 07/02/2023 20:32

£62 is NOT that low. If you're sensible and live alone/no kids it's doable. My dual bills are only £70 a month with accurate readings

Are you on an old fixed rate?

FLA92 · 07/02/2023 20:38

What should I look at before I call them tomorrow? I want to make sure I have all of the facts before I give them a call. I’m useless at this sort of thing, is the debit for what we owe over the last year?

(Lesson well and truly learned to be less useless...).

OP posts:
OnTheBoardwalk · 07/02/2023 20:41

@WaddleAway maybe it’s a location thing. I'm in the NW and it’s about 3 times a year even during lockdown. Obviously they couldn’t come in but would get me to put readings in window. My meters are under the stairs so not that difficult to read it was just laziness on my part

OP I think the problem is you’ve been unable to build up a large amount of credit over summer and the readings have now come back to bite you

good luck on your call tomorrow I hope they work with you to resolve

dementedpixie · 07/02/2023 20:41

Double check your readings. Check that if the meter measures in m³ that the bill also says m³ and not ft³

dementedpixie · 07/02/2023 20:42

dementedpixie · 07/02/2023 20:41

Double check your readings. Check that if the meter measures in m³ that the bill also says m³ and not ft³

This refers to the gas meter btw

Elsiebear90 · 07/02/2023 20:43

£62 is incredibly low, there’s only two of us living in our house, we are out 11 hours a day five days a week, leave the heating on 14C all night and day, turning up to 18C for a few hours in the evening and weekend and are using £360 a month.

bluesky45 · 07/02/2023 20:44

We're with eon next too. We pay £70 a month and obviously have the government grant of £65ish each month and that's about right for what we use. We are, I believe, a low energy house. The house is fairly energy efficient as it's new and well insulated but it is cold a lot because we don't put the heating on much (couple of hours a day) it's usually around 15-16degrees. No tumble dryer etc.
Last year we paid £60 a month and obviously didn't have the government grant so the price has basically doubled (probably more because we're more careful now).

JemimaTiggywinkles · 07/02/2023 20:45

Double check that the reading on your bill is the reading you gave them, and then check that you read the meter correctly.

£60 per month isn't that far out if you're careful with energy use. Certainly not far out enough to be £2k in debit after a could of months! I'm on the standard rate, pay £80 per month and I'm in credit - single adult in a three bedroom house.

Ariela · 07/02/2023 20:46

Double check your meter - if it's inaccessible use your phone to take a clear photo of it. Do be aware of the position of the decimal point eg your meter might be 12345.67 , if you couldn't get your head in their properly to read it could you have mistaken it for 1234567?

FLA92 · 07/02/2023 20:47

Didn’t mention in the OP but to add, it’s a 2 bed lower ground floor, newly built flat. It’s really well insulated and only 2 of us living here which is why I’m so surprised too. Anyway, I will check all of my statements and my readings.

OP posts:
JemimaTiggywinkles · 07/02/2023 20:47

leave the heating on 14C all night and day, turning up to 18C for a few hours in the evening and weekend and are using £360 a month.

You heat your house when you're not in it for hours at a time, and while you're asleep?! No wonder your bill is so high. I heat mine in the evenings (about 4-5 hours) and that's it.

WaddleAway · 07/02/2023 20:48

FLA92 · 07/02/2023 20:38

What should I look at before I call them tomorrow? I want to make sure I have all of the facts before I give them a call. I’m useless at this sort of thing, is the debit for what we owe over the last year?

(Lesson well and truly learned to be less useless...).

Have you got an online account? If so, you can see what your last meter readings were (last time you submitted), and your current ones, which will show your usage. If you post them here alongside your current tariff rates we’ll be able to figure out if it’s roughly correct.

WaddleAway · 07/02/2023 20:50

JemimaTiggywinkles · 07/02/2023 20:47

leave the heating on 14C all night and day, turning up to 18C for a few hours in the evening and weekend and are using £360 a month.

You heat your house when you're not in it for hours at a time, and while you're asleep?! No wonder your bill is so high. I heat mine in the evenings (about 4-5 hours) and that's it.

Ours is set to 14 when we’re out but that doesn’t mean we’re actively heating it, because it very very rarely drops lower than that anyway.