Billed for another property!

  • JennyTP's Avatar
    Level 2
    A new member here, looking for help. We had Eon come to fit a Smart Gas meter recently for our flat and it was fitted with no problems. (At the moment it is not "Smart"). When one of the Eon men switched of the power at the isolation switch in the communal hall cupboard in order to fit a "hot shoe" (?) to the Electric meter, it cut the power to the neighbouring flat! And when we switched the isolation switch for the neighbours supply it cut off power to our flat. So the job could not be finished as it looked as if the meters did not match the supply addresses.

    Experiments were carried out over a few days by a member of the management committee, turning off the power within our property at the consumer board, and observing the meter when appliances were switched on at the adjacent property. Result was "our" meter clocked up usage. The test was carried out in reverse, with the same results. So it appears we have been paying each others Electricity bills, (for at least 4 years in our case but presumably this would have been the situation for previous owners from when the properties were built approx 2005 ).

    We have had no reason to switch off the power with the isolation switch, as when any electrical work was carried out the power was switched off within the flat at the consumer board. When the Smart meters were first fitted I would have thought the power would need to be cut at the isolation switch though?

    As we and our neighbours are only at the relevant flat occasionally no anomalies stood out with our bills. Sorting out the matter of who paid/should have paid what won't be a problem with access to records online. But how do we go about getting the right meters connected to the right supply? The neighbour is not an Eon customer.

    Any help as to who to contact at Eon would be appreciated. Thank you.

    Jenny
  • 6 Replies

  • Andy65's Avatar
    Level 48
    Hi @JennyTP

    I've never come across anything like this myself before but my first thought is that the responsibility lies solely with whoever is responsible for the management of the flats.

    Are the meters for the two flats close together ie in the same cupboard?

    Correcting the supply to and from the meters seems to be the right solution to me rather than trying to get the meters swapped over.
  • JennyTP's Avatar
    Level 2
    @Andy65 Thanks for your thoughts. The two meters are side-by-side in the same cupboard, which houses meters for 5 properties in one part of the development. I'll get on to Eon today to get their take on this if they have a department for such things! I have just received an email from them asking how our Smart (Gas) meter fitting went, so will get it recorded there too. The Eon (hot-shoe) man said he would report the situation to them but not sure if that happened. Thanks again.
  • Andy65's Avatar
    Level 48
    @JennyTP Let us know how you get on with E.onnext, I would be surprised if they will understand or help but you can only try. My experience of companies these days (the most common ones), is that you have to contact them multiple times in order to get through to someone who has good product knowledge and a good understanding of the business.

    If the meters are side by side then the management company should just arrange for the rewire of the supply in/out of the two meters. I doubt very much that you would get any recompense from the energy suppliers for historical bills, they're just billing the meter number that they've been given.
  • JennyTP's Avatar
    Level 2
    @Andy65 Thanks for this. To be honest the matter of historical bills is not our main concern. Our neighbour moved in about a year after us and we will just sort out the bills between us covering the period from then to now. Your suggestion for the management company to sort out rewiring looks good to us. But I'm not sure what they will think! I ran out of time with E.onnext today but I'll report back any progress as it comes. Thanks again. Jenny
  • meldrewreborn's Avatar
    Level 92
    @JennyTP

    I agree with @Andy65, but probably the DNO will have to be involved too.
    Current Eon Next customer, ex EDF, Zog and Symbio. Don't think dual fuel saves money and don't like smart meters. Chronologically Gifted. If I offend let me know by private message, but I’ll continue to express my opinions nonetheless.
  • JennyTP's Avatar
    Level 2
    @meldrewreborn thank you for this. I'm having to do a bit of Googling, starting with DNO! ..... Is this the same as my electricity network operator? (If so it is UK Power Networks - East.)