[MaidofKent]

Writing on behalf of my brother, for whom i hold power of attorney due to disability.


Today he has received emails stating he is nearly £500 in debt because Eon Next had not charged him during May and Sept 2022. His statements from that time clearly state that he is up to date with this payments. He pays via direct debit.

They have also stated that his bills have been estimated due to not receiving meter readings, despite it being requested several times that his meters are read by eon next due to his disability.

I feel it is unfair to ask him to pay as this is clearly due to eon next's clear incompetence as a company......but where do i stand legally?

[meldrewreborn]

@MaidofKent

Sorry to hear this. If the energy had been used in greater quantities than have been billed previously then he is liable for the charges. In a way he’s had an interest free loan for a while.

just make sure that the new billing reflects price increase in October and January properly and that consumption in the period pre October and post are reasonable revised estimates.

morally though there are grounds for complaint especially over their failure to read the meter as requested. See the blue box below.

[retrotecchie]

@meldrewreborn

The other thing to bear in mind is that if the regular direct debit payments have never been reviewed at tariff increase points, then the amount paid every month will be getting less and less able to cover regular bills if readings had been submitted.

I had been paying £45 a month happily for the last three years, and that had never needed reviewing as I was often in credit and paid 3% interest on my credit balances. I chose to change to variable direct debit when I was SOLR'd to Eon Next, and my cheapest monthly bill was more than double my original DD payment. My current usage is roughly 2.5 times what my original monthly payment would have been!

It would only take six months to be nearly £500 adrift.

[retrotecchie]

@MaidofKent

The utility companies (suppliers) haven't made billions...most are actually running at a slight loss as they are not allowed to charge as much for energy as they bought it in at on forward contracts. The generators, on the other hand, are making billions between them, so they are the ones being targeted by the windfall tax on excess profits in order for the government to not have to borrow quite as much to subsidise domestic energy costs.

Sure, they are making some profit, which they can then use to offset ongoing losses, but it isn't 'hundreds of billions'. Nowhere near.

[MaidofKent]

EON announced 3bn profits 5 months ago - so i stand corrected on the 100's of billions....and that was in just 6 months.

[meldrewreborn]

@MaidofKent

So is that Eon as a UK supplier, Eon as a UK generator or Eon as a European supergiant? Please be specific. And on what turnover?

None of us like the current high prices but I think its important to point the finger in the right direction.

The fundamental cause of the current high prices is one V Putin. The rest of us are just suffering the consequences of his invasion of Ukraine.

[Bennie_R97]

@MaidofKent I am sorry to hear about your brother's account.

Have you tried to get in touch with our customer service to discuss this matter in details ? I can understand that it can be very challenging having to deal with such a bill although, between the advice from @meldrewreborn and @retrotecchie are a good start point.

You can ask them to have a break down and question what these periods weren't taken in consideration. Does your brother have smart meters ?

I am here in any possible way so feel free to ask me any questions around your brother account and I will do my best to help.