Why is my email notification number incorrect?

[AC Question]

I have a bigpond email account (pop3) on my Samsung galaxy s4 smartphone.
Everything was fine till about a month ago and all of a sudden the following happens:
When there are no new emails, the number in the little red cycle on my email icon on my home screen, shows -1.
If there is 1 new email, it shows 0, if 2 it shows 1, etc.
I have tried to clear the data in applications manager/badge provider, it works temporary, but comes back whenever I start the phone.
Any fix?

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! What if you remove that email account from the Email app, then add it back again?