E.on prepay customers 'left without heating' after thousands of top-ups delayed

The energy provider told MoneySavingExpert.com it's experiencing "intermittent issues" with its online payment facilities for prepayment meter customers, who pay for energy on a pay-as-you-go basis in advance. This has caused delays to top-ups being credited to thousands of meters. Problems reported on social media since this weekend include: 

• Online or app payments being taken but not being credited to meters 

• Customers being unable to access meter top-up facilities through the E.on website or app

• Long waits to speak to customer services about issues

E.on insists it will ensure no one loses out financially - see below for more on this - and adds that it's "working to resolve" the problems. It comes just weeks after a billing blunder saw E.on take around 1.5 million direct debit customers' payments up to two weeks early on Christmas Eve, leaving some out of pocket over the holidays.  

See our Cheap Prepaid Gas & Electricity guide for more info on cutting your costs, and use our Cheap Energy Club tool to do a comparison to see if you could switch and save. 

'We have no electricity or gas and the top-up hasn't reached the meter'

Here are some of the complaints we've seen from unhappy E.on customers on Twitter. Though E.on says customers can top up using its automated phone service, meaning people shouldn't be left without heating or power as a result of the online issues, it's possible some customers are chasing customer services for missing online top-ups and either don't want to - or can't afford to - shell out the cash again over the phone in the meantime. 

I've made a payment but it's not reached my meter - what can I do? 

E.on says any payments made online or via its app should eventually go through and show up on your meter - though it's asked customers to "bear with it" for now.  

If you want a refund of the payment you've made or you're worried your supply may stop because you haven't been able to top up, E.on says you should contact it for help on 0345 366 5996, though some customers have reported long waits. 

I've gone into debt as a result - will I be charged?

E.on doesn't charge fees to those who go debt on their meter. Debt caused as a result of the top-up issues also won't be reported to credit reference agencies. Customers will still need to pay for the energy they have used though. 

I can't top up my meter online - can I top-up any other way?

As outlined above, you should still be able to make top-up payments online but E.on has cautioned customers to "allow extra time" in case there are delays. 

If you don't want to top-up online (or can't) you can call E.on's automated phone line on 0800 015 6368, using a credit or debit card or a top-up voucher bought from the Post Office. E.on says there shouldn't be any issues contacting this number.  

What does E.on say? 

An E.on spokesperson said: "We are aware of intermittent issues with our online payment facilities for our Pay As You Go customers and are working to resolve these. We have been proactive in telling customers about these issues... We apologise for any inconvenience and hope to have our online payment facilities running smoothly again soon."