E-on...not had a bill for 18 months-help!

charliemaine1bee

Hi really hope someone can help me here as i feel so intimidated by this company...
from september 2006 i stopped receiving bills for gas and electic..ive rang on numerous occasions and been told i dont exist...or they will look into in and never get back to me...
anyhow friday just gone a debt collector knocks on my door demanding £1566.41 for electricity...i explained to her what has been happening and she looked as me as if i was a liar..ended up having to hand over the £566.41 as that was all i had and she was threatening to diconnect..she put me thru to eon who were demanding more money..i offered a repayment of £100 month which they declined saying it wasnt enough..i was in tears at this point..they have given me till friday to come up with a suitable payment method for gas and electric..with 3 young children things are hard as it is...
the thing that has got me really annoyed now is they have been sending my bills to a shop a few doors down and addressing them to the occupier??? but with my meter readings.-hpw was i ever to receive them....i had no problem before with bills coming and feel they should be taking some responsibilty for this..we just dont have that sort of money at the drop of a hat...
im not sleeping with worry about all of this..i have been on energywatch website and filed a complaint using their template but is this enough and can i refuse to pay the arrears until the have acknowledgwed this...
please help x

jd87

Have you been to the citizen's advice bureau? With something as complicated and messed up as this, I think it will be best to sit down with someone on your side, face to face, and figure out a plan.

karie

hi there

please think about this a little before you do anything more.

they are only allowed to back-bill you for 12 months. call energywatch and ask them to put you through to the eon complaints line. when they put you through explain the whle situation - calmly - and tell them you want them to re-send you a proper breakdown of what you owe - to YOUR address - and that you are requesting they apply the 12month back billing rule.

i really dont think that any debt collector for any company should be taking 560pounds from you like that.

ring energywatch as i said and do not pay any more debt collectors.
not all of this responsibility should lie with you.

let me know how it goes.

charliemaine1bee

Thankl you for that karie..i actually phoned energy watch this morning as it was all getting on top of me..the guy was fantastic...took down everything i said and said do not worry in this circumstance they can only backcharge you for 12 months...after he had taken all details he rang thru to high level complaints at e-on explained it all for me then put me thru..as soon as i was put thru the chap at e-on said he would ring me back as his pc had crashed..no call....BUT within 10 mins of the call there was an email repsonse to the letter of complaint i had sent via energy watch...
they have said i now owe a joint figure of £1444 for gas and elec for the last 12 months..thats with my 560 that debt collector took and minus the discount for anything past the 12 month mark..their reason for no bills was they thought the house was empty...hmmmm not very good as they billed me here previously...they have said i can spread the debt over 12 months but this is still a lot of money...do you think they would refuse it if i asked to spread it over 18 months as this is how long ive been without a bill...
thanks

karie

hello again,

sorry for taking a few days to respond - have been away.

does £1444 sound right to you after the discount?
look at past bills and estimate how much you think you would owe (bear in mind that prices have gone up). EDIT: Ask them for a full breakdown of this before you pay.

if it does, then tell them what you can afford to pay back per month. if it is less than they want, then try anyway. tell them this is the only way you will manage to pay them back, and you are happy to review this with them after 6 months or something like that.

alternatively you could try asking for a discount. tell them that it is their mistake for not billing you and that they have caused you great stress and worry, and you want to be compensated for this.

try calling energywatch again and ask them what they think about e.on giving you a discount as compensation.

if you cant come to a resoultion you could also call the energy ombudsman to help to resolve this.
http://www.energy-ombudsman.org.uk/

they might be worth a call too?
karie