Darlington man has been hit with a huge £45,000 E-on electricity bill
Paul Lamb, from Darlington, received the bill after a problem with his electricity meter, which lasted for more than a year despite him complaining to Eon, resulted in his readings showing horrendous energy consumption.
The former military man said the meter in his one-room assisted living apartment counts 1 kWh of electricity every five minutes. Most households use 7.5 kWh per day.
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In February he received the bill for the princely sum of £44,191. The energy company has now apologized to him after The Northern Echo contacted him.
Paul, 70, said: “It’s a crazy crowd. I could never afford that – I’m retired.
“It started at £4,000, then doubled, tripled and finally rose to £44,000 earlier this year.”
“I had complained long before and told them the meter was broken, but it took over a year for them to come out and replace it.
“It was broken for well over a year, then one and a half to two years after that.
“They replaced it but that was only after the ombudsman gave them a slap on the wrist and a £250 fine.”
After installing a new meter, Paul said Eon told him they would pay off the debts accrued by the faulty meter, but last month they sent him a bill for £4,000, which he said was part of the use of the old meter include.
According to Ovo, a medium consumption household would use 7.5 kWh per day, but Paul’s meter would measure the same amount in under 40 minutes. According to UKPower statistics, the average annual electricity bill for a one or two-bedroom home is £403 a year.
He says he reported the problem to his electricity supplier Eon in January 2022, but still had the dodgy meter a year later and had to pay a £44,000 bill in February this year.
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He continued: “I was under the impression that when they changed the meter they were going to remove the debt from my account.”
Eon said it had apologized to Paul for the issues and removed all “false” allegations.
A spokesman for the company said: “We have apologized again to Mr Lamb today for the problems he has had with his account.
“We have now removed all false charges from his account, setting out a goodwill gesture and advising Mr Lamb to contact the Independent Energy Ombudsman if he believes we have not correctly implemented the original remedial measures. We hope to have this matter fully resolved soon.”
