Enormous Bill for €11k

kaner64

My elderly mother is a pensioner who lives in a rented house where the meter is inaccessible to her as it is located behind locked gates which meant that she has received (and paid) estimated bills for the past 18 months. The meter was read in the past couple of weeks and she received a standard letter from the ESB enclosing an updated invoice for €11,706.11 for 590 days of useage. Understandably she is very upset and worried by this. She is 74 and in poor health and now very stressed. She has a washing machine and tumble dryer and used an electric blanket on winter nights but has not been running a factory! She sent me a copy of the bill, but I don't know where to start! I think that the estimated bills were roughly €180 bi-monthly. If my mother wasn't so upset I would find the situation laughable. She has been in touch with Electric Ireland to try to sort this out but she hasn't slept since she received the bill and I am very concerned about her. Can someone please advise me what to do?

Bullseye1

Surely a typo?

kaner64

Bullseye1 wrote: »

Surely a typo?

That's what I thought when she received the bill but Electric Ireland say it is correct

A2LUE42

That was my first thought, that they have put the decimal in the wrong place. €90 a month for one person is quite high usage in the first place. Best bet is to go look at the meter yourself. and compare to the reading. What is the normal usage compared to the actual readings?

A2LUE42

Other possibility is that the readings have been wrong for a very long time. But they are supposed to have an actual reading every six months.

Or that the meter is faulty.

kaner64

The local meter reader did come back when she received the bill to double check the reading and said it was correct but he did say there had been problems with that meter in the past.

EI: Una

Hi Kaner64,

Unfortunately I cannot discuss particulars of the bill with you by private message here because it is not in your name - however I can appreciate that you would wish to be able to do so. If your mother, as the account-holder, could contact our customer service line 1850 372 372 (open 8am to 8pm Monday to Saturday) and advise that she would like your name added as an authorised contact, then the account can be discussed with you.

Is the meter digital or an older style one?

Regards,
Una

kaner64

Thanks for the info Una. Mum is going to ring customer services to add me as a contact. She thinks the meter is old.

EI: Una

No problem.

To test an old meter, if everything is powered off and the disk continues to spin rapidly after several minutes, this would indicate a malfunction.

Regards,
Una

goldenhoarde

I would dispute this bill as you have it that there have been issues with the meter in the past as accknowledged by their meter reader. sounds like it should have been replaced but was not.

If the meter was not read in 18mths then that is their fault as you are supposed to be read as follows (read by ESB networks who pass on the readings to your supplier - Electric Ireland in this case.) -

Q. How often do you read my electricity meter?

A. There is a two-monthly cycle for meter reading i.e. 6 readings per year. Four of these are actual readings taken by an ESB Networks' representative who calls to your home. The other two readings are estimates based on your previous usage patterns.

taken from https://www.esb.ie/esbnetworks/en/domestic-customers/faqs.jsp

If they could not gain acess they should have contacted her or left a card stating this. See what bills you can dig up and get the total paid for the timeperiod. also check the bills and see if there are all estimated or not?


Open a dialogue and offer to pay a weekly amount untill this is resolved. also get on to them and ask them to provide you the date and reading of the last actual reading prior to the one they have now.

ted1

€11706/.18 (average unit price)=65033kwh/(590*24)= a constant load of 4.59kW.

not completely impossible. does she use electric heating?? is there 2*2 bar heatrs on 24 7?

when did she move in? was the estimate based on previous tenants usage?

kaner64

ted1 wrote: »

€11706/.18 (average unit price)=65033kwh/(590*24)= a constant load of 4.59kW.

not completely impossible. does she use electric heating?? is there 2*2 bar heatrs on 24 7?

when did she move in? was the estimate based on previous tenants usage?

No she has oil central heating + a Super Ser and also has back boiler on coal fire for hot water. She moved in about 2.5 years ago (I think). Even the immersion heater which only works on "sink" and is seldom used has a timer for 30 mins.

Electric Ireland: David

Hi goldenhoarde, appreciate your input.

goldenhoarde wrote: »

If they could not gain acess they should have contacted her or left a card stating this.

This would normally be done; a card is left with the MPRN and a number to call (1850 33 77 77). Also, on the bill, it will state if the readings have been actual/submitted/estimated, and whether there have been consecutive estimates (in which case we recommend the customer contact us to submit their own readings).

goldenhoarde wrote: »

Open a dialogue and offer to pay a weekly amount untill this is resolved. also get on to them and ask them to provide you the date and reading of the last actual reading prior to the one they have now.

In the case of very large bills, we would be eager to set up a realistic payment arrangement that would help the customer, and one which takes into account the amount of consecutive estimates, if any.

Hope this helps.

Thanks,

David.

kaner64

David there is no way my mother ran up a bill of €11,000 so I don't think you can talk about a payment plan for this outrageous amount. The meter needs to be investigated by engineers to see what has caused this problem.

Electric Ireland: David

kaner64 wrote: »

David there is no way my mother ran up a bill of €11,000 so I don't think you can talk about a payment plan for this outrageous amount. The meter needs to be investigated by engineers to see what has caused this problem.

If you need any help getting to the bottom of this do let me know. It certainly needs to be investigated. I mentioned the payment arrangement more as a general point.

kaner64

Sorry David, didn't mean to be rude but got a shock when you mentioned payment plan. I won't be working on Monday so hope to talk with Electric Ireland to find out what to do.