E.ON cancels £12,960 bill for deceased account holder but still owes £3,360

A 26-year-old London customer says E.ON Next cancelled a £12,960 bill issued in the name of her late mother but has not repaid £3,360 it deducted from a credit balance. The woman says her aunt, who had adopted her and died in 2024, had been charged inflated bills. In 2022 the aunt’s E.ON account was closed, a new account opened in the daughter’s name, a smart meter was installed and a final statement showed more than £6,000 in credit.

The credit was transferred to the new account and used over the next two years, the customer says. In 2024 E.ON deducted £3,360 from that credit for energy it said was used since early 2022, and then issued a £12,960 bill in the name of the woman’s late mother for energy back to May 2021.

The customer contested the bills and says debt collectors were instructed. The Energy Ombudsman intervened, cancelled the £12,960 bill and ordered E.ON to comply with back‑billing regulations, but the customer says E.ON has not repaid the £3,360. E.ON told the paper the original credit was based on incorrect estimates, said the actual 2022 credit was £2,633, cited human error in transferring the balance and blamed a smart‑meter malfunction for undercharging that led to the £3,360 figure.

Key Topics

Business, E.on Next, Energy Ombudsman, Smart Meter, Back-billing Regulations, Debt Collectors