[aaabbbccc]

Hello can someone help. I've been happily paying my Smart meter bill for a year or so on a pay-as-you-use basis with my account in debit for no more than £30 or £40 at any one time. I had a problem with the old pre-payment meter from before showing up on my account even though it had been removed. After calling Customer service the lady made a few adjustments, though she didn't know why the old meter was still showing, and this was all about a year ago in April 2024 (ish). Everything OK for a year. Paying off my Smart meter bill, on a clear as I go basis, as advised by users on this forum. Thought I was free of any old meters but no. Eon suddenly brings back into play my old pre-payment meter from before (there was a credit meter installed between the pre-payment meter and the Smart meter for 6 months approx), and now they have used this (the pre-payment meter) to say I am now £600 in debt to them, and they are taking this in one foul swoop on May 30th 2025 along with my normal payment. They have simply added the £600 to it and because I have agreed 'to clear my debts to nil from either manual or Smart readings' they are going to clear my bank of about 640 pounds. Can they do this ? I've already rang customer support, who are trying to sort it, but they won't be getting back to me immediately. Is there anybody who can tell me anything, or are my hands tied ?

[meldrewreborn]

@aaabbbccc

Unless the £600 relates to corrections to the readings on your current meter, then no the adjustment is not correct. I suggest you log into your account online, and note down when the credit meter was in use and when the smart meter was installed. Look at past statements to check whether any of the amounts you have paid have been based on estimates rather than actual readings. Check also whether your current readings are being recorded as “Smart Readings” as opposed to anything else.

Report back with your findings.

[aaabbbccc]

Hi thanks for a quick answer. The meter in question was a prepayment meter from April 2022- August 2023. In October 2023 I was put on a credit meter with a different serial number. This was until March 2024 when a smart meter was installed which, as far as I can tell, was still really the same meter with an IHD. I'm sure they didn't actually change the so-called credit meter, simply attached the radio to it so it could function as a smart one with the IHD. Not too sure on that, but it seemed that's what they did. Anyway back to readings. In the beginning the smart meter didn't send readings so i did it all manually online so no estimated readings. After 6 months or so it sent readings itself and I sometimes sent my own manual ones so the bills weren't too much. So no estimations if I had anything to do with it. I have attached the bills from the prepayment meter from April 2022 to August 2023 which are the cause of the problem plus the recent bills they have added it to.

[meldrewreborn]

@aaabbbccc

suppliers are not allowed to back bill for energy consumed 12 months or more previously. Challenging this bill on that basis should work, but if the large direct debit is taken, phone your bank and get it instantly reversed on the basis that the computation is in error.

[aaabbbccc]

OK thanks for that, its reassuring. I will see what customer services have to say when they get back. I'm not that old yet, but when I get there I don't want heart attacks from bills like this. Some jobsworth finds an old meter discrepancy from 18 months ago and the firm decides it wants the money back within 2 weeks. Great. The direct debit system is there to make our lives easier, but it needs both sides to co-operate. Tricks like this aren't co-operation in my view. So the debt is old, but they hid that from me right till the last two weeks and want immediate recompense. No contacting me about it, if I wasn't reading my e-mailed bills because of a family crisis or if I had alzheimer's, they take the money straight out. I'm glad all the companies I have direct debits with don't do things this way. I wouldn't know where I was if they did. Perhaps Donald Trump has something to do with it, give someone a huge bill or tariff then negotiate when you contact him. Because he's just going to do it if you don't.