In a distressing case, a young bereaved customer has been grappling with a series of baffling and excessive energy bills from supplier E.ON Next. After the deaths of both his mother and aunt, the 26-year-old customer found himself saddled with enormous, nonsensical charges from the energy company.
The customer’s troubles began in 2022 when he discovered his late aunt had been paying vastly inflated bills for the flat they shared. He promptly closed the account and set up a new one in his own name. An E.ON agent took meter readings, installed a smart meter, and sent a final bill showing the account was over £6,000 in credit.
However, in 2024, after the customer’s aunt passed away, E.ON deducted £3,360 from the credit, claiming it was for energy used since early 2022. The customer contested this, only to then receive a staggering £12,960 bill in the name of his late mother, dating back to May 2021. E.ON sent debt collectors, but the Energy Ombudsman intervened, managing to get the £12,960 bill cancelled.
Despite this intervention, E.ON has refused to repay the £3,360 it had deducted earlier. The customer states the charges make no sense, as energy companies are forbidden from billing for unbilled consumption over 12 months old, and the smart meter was providing regular readings.
E.ON’s responses to the customer’s inquiries have been equally baffling. The company claims the £6,000 credit on the aunt’s account was based on incorrect estimated readings, hence why it couldn’t be cashed out. It then admits this was due to human error and the actual credit balance was £2,633. E.ON further acknowledges it incorrectly billed the customer for an outstanding balance outside the back-billing deadline.
Regarding the £3,360 deduction in 2024, E.ON states the customer’s new smart meter was malfunctioning, leading to undercharging. However, the company failed to explain this to the customer at the time.
Despite E.ON’s apologies and claims of enhancing its bereavement policy, the customer remains unsatisfied, insisting the £3,360 deduction was unjustified. With the Energy Ombudsman unable to resolve the issue, the customer has been advised to seek further assistance from Citizens Advice to explore a potential legal case.
This harrowing experience highlights the distress and financial burden faced by vulnerable customers when energy suppliers make repeated errors and fail to provide clear, transparent communication. Experts warn that such cases of erratic billing and unresolved disputes are all too common in the energy industry.
