Since I moved into my house in Novemeber 2007 I had my central heating on 24/7, I didnt know how to use the control box on the wall, (yes I know thats daft!!) anyway after 5 months I received a massive bill for gas and electric (yes my lights were on too!) I was expecting a big bill and I came to terms with the amount that it was. I explained to E-on what had happened and have now paid the bill in full, however after speaking to E-on they have now told me they will not except a monthly direct debit payment of less than £70 per month for gas and £58 per month for electric! Obviously I don't use a fraction of what I initially used (and they can clearly see that on my bills) I work full time, no gas fire and no bath so I'm not in my house to use it, how can this be?? E-on said they will re-evaluate it at the end of April 2009!! My question is can they do this? Any advice would be helpful, Thanks.

What I'd do is (if you've got a years worth of bills) is add the elec bills together then divide by 12, do the same for gas. Then you'll have an average figures for both. Remember there's been a couple of price increases in the last couple of years, but if you add say 3-5 pound more then you can't really go wrong. Ring customer services up and discuss it with them. There's also looking at your tarrif. Online ones tend to be cheaper, E.ON have their EnergyOnline Extra Saver version 9 which is REALLY competitive!!!

Why don;t you go on a comparison site and switch to another company ,you may find out that you will be payin a lot less ,british gas have just brought out a new one call click energy 6,but its up too you if you trust british gas, maybe there will be another company that will come up cheaper ,give it a try .

From a supplier side,

You say you wont use that much energy any more but Chamberlain said Hitler wouldn't invade Poland.. and look what happened there. It doesn't make sense for them to set payments lower than your proven historical usage, as this may lead to problems for you in future. They have an obligation to ensure you aren't putting yourself in debt.

However, that said, if you were to contact them and explain (which I'm sure you have done) and confirmed if there was any shortfall at your next billing, you'll make payment to clear that and review your payments, it should be hard for them to say no. As long as you confirm you understand your payments are lower than they would recommend and accept responsibility for any shortfall, it should be OK.

If needs be, ask to speak to a manager so you can discuss your case with someone with the authority to make that kind of decision.

If not, and you can't afford or don't want to pay what they are asking of you, switch.

Thanks for the reply, unfortunately I have been on the comparison site and E-On are the cheapest apart from a company that I personally have never heard of! Looks like they have me by the short n curlies!!

Thanks for that Gabriel, as for for the Poland issue I absolutely agree. It wouldnt make sense to set payments lower than needs be, it would be irresponsible of them, however it was on literally 24/7 and now its on for a few hours on a Sunday! Thats how I know I wont be using as much. I have worked out from my recent bills that I am using approx £20 gas per month so I wouldn't mind if they set my bills at £35-£40 per month just in case but not £70! Same with electric. I will ring them though and try again. I have looked at switching but the comparison sites show me that E-On is the cheapest!! Thanks again.

Yeah, Poland wasn't the best metaphor, but you got the idea lol :)

Try speak to them again and if that doesn't work and you want to stay with them as they are the cheapest, you may just need to deal with it for a little while until they get a better picture of your usage.

If your usage has come down that much, you'll just build a credit on your account anyway, which you will be entitled to get back at a later date (probably after winter and based on an actual reading). Your not losing that money after all.. think of it as a little savings fund for your summer holiday :)

Confused123,

Yes they can they calculate your usage on your previous (high) consumption. Your best bet is to register for selfserve at www.eonenergy.com and operate your account online. You can then set your direct debit to an amount that you see fit also paying one off payments to keep your account inline. You may be interested in the Energy Saver v5 which is supplied with an energy monitor whereby you can see how much 'electricity' you are using at any one time.

Cheers,

Maverick05

Thanks a lot for all yours replies. I am now in credit with E-ON and just yesterday received a letter saying they need to up my monthly direct debit to £89 just for gas!!!!!!! 4th Aug 08 til 20th Sept 08 I used £20.65 inc VAT its on my gas statement so how on earth do they get £89???? This just isn't going away, I did try to ring yesterday but obviously they were shut til Monday. Am I within my rights to (if I still get nowhere with reducing my payments) cancel the direct debit and go back to a quarterly bill? At least I will be paying only for what I use.

Am soooo frustrated and angry with this, I am a single person living alone and simply cannot afford £89 on gas alone not to mention the £48 per month electric!

www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/

Complain to them...

These guys replaced energywatch, who were excellent in my opinion, they even sorted out British Gas for me!?

I am also with EON and have never received a correct bill so have to provide meter readings every quarter. The last bill (July) was apparently read by their sub contracted meter reading company but when i read the meter, it was just over 1000 units less than the bill so I rang to report a faulty meter, EON customer services did not see the funny side of me telling them that obviously the meter was faulty due to it being 1000 units less than it was when the meter was read 5 days ago or how impressed I was that the meter was read without anyone getting into my house to read it. Since then they requested I set up a direct debit of £70 a month which I did and am still waiting for them to action it so am still paying when the bills arrive.

Well, here I am eating humble pie............... I spoke to E-On yesterday regarding the last letter they sent me and the amount of gas and electric I was actually using and to be honest I was ready for for a battle!! It was a lovely man called James, who really knew what he was talking about, told me that for the amount I was using it would be better for me if I just paid quarterly on a bill! This was done immediatly for both gas and electric, he advised me to also cancel my direct debit at the bank. Problem solved within a few minutes! I just wish I'd spoken to this guy a few months ago instead of the ho-bo's I got! Feeling tonnes better and I really wish you all luck with your fuel problems................my advice ask for James !!