Gas supplier

[david7]

Does anybody know how long an energy supplier can legally leave a meter reading? EON the company I am with have told me they hav'nt had a meter reading since 2004 and have sent me a bill for �3206 although I have been paying the estimated bills. Surely as a company the fault is theirs for not pursuing an up to date reading?

[kira000]

Try looking at the energy watch website for good advice on issues with energy company billing.
I believe that under the voluntary customer charter, energy companies have agreed to only back bill 2 years. So it wont help you with the whole amount, but it should enable you to reduce it a bit.
There was another thread i posted on which had some useful info for you to quote at them. I'll try and find it for you.

[kira000]

It appears Energy Watch site has been replaced by a new site- Consumer Direct.

I have had a look and this info is relevant to your case, and if you quote it at them, should be enough for them to reassess your bill.

" I haven�t had a bill for ages � do I still have to pay?

Consumers are legally bound to pay for their utilities. However, the Limitations Act 1980 prevents charges being recovered if the electricity or gas was used more than six years ago. In Scotland this period is five years.

Suppliers should at least offer a payment plan that allows you to repay any debt over the same length of time that it has built up. In other words, if you have not had a bill from your supplier for three years then, when a bill does finally appear, you should be able to spread the repayments over three years. However, if you accept a payment plan then you will not be able to change your supplier until you have cleared the outstanding debt.

However, as a result of the �super-complaint� submitted in April 2005 to the energy regulator, Ofgem, energy companies have been told that, as of July 2006, they should no longer bill for any energy used by consumers more than two years previously where the company themselves has failed to provide a bill. Energy companies are not expected to bill for any amount that dates back longer than a year"

Hope this helps.

[bednobs]

i dont think that wuld apply in this situation kira - david HAS been recieving bills. I would imagine its up to you to let them know your meter readings - all companies accept your own readings instead of their estimated ones. If they cant gain access to read the meter, what else are they supposed to do? The thing is, you culd have told them the meter reading at any time since 2004 but you havent, so you must accept some responsibility

[bednobs]

also meant to say, even if the fault is theirs, for not reading the meter, dosent mean you havent used th energy and you dont have to pay for it

[david7]

hey thanks for your views.. Also like to point out to bednobs I have had my meter read numerous times but they ask to read your meter they dont specify gas or electric and I would gladly give them a reading if they have not been able to gain acess but its not up to me to do their job aswell as pay them. If someone came to you for money from 5 years after I can imagine you'd tell them to **********

[buildersmate]

I don't believe you.
It is inconceivable that you did not know that you were not paying anything like the going rate.
To say that reading the meter is the Utilities job beggars belief.

[redcrx]

its a shame you didnt give them readings at the time (regardless of whether you feel you have to do their job) as you may have then been charged at the correct rates. Now prices have gone up how can you prove you didnt use the power when the rates were high

[bednobs]

But they send you a bill, and if they have estimated the reading they will put "E" next to it. All you have to do is read the bill, and then you would know if it's gas or electricity thats been read!