EON just got a bill for back payment £1362!!!

Aisling108

I use EON as my gas and Electric since i moved into my house over 3 years ago; i used the same company for both so assumed when the bills came in and I'd paid them I was paying both in sequence.. HOWEVER... unbeknowns to me ;genuinely; it was only the electric and they have for the first time sent me a GAS bill and its £1362.61p ; the lady said I could do a payment plan but where do I stand legally on the payments If I have NEVER recieved a bill?? Do I actually pay it at all???

Ash
Any info would be much appreciated
Funny because i got good news today that Standard life dropped my mortgage rate and then i opened that letter; I nearly died.

Maldives_lover

This happened to me earlier this year, I came home to find a hand delivered letter from EON advising me that the were going to send the baliffs in as I hadn't paid my electricity bill. I have been in this house for 4 years and like you thought I was paying both gas and electricity. Anyway after a fairly long discussion with them they agreed that they would only backdate the arears for 7 months which is when they first read the meter, so I owed them about £700 which I am paying back over about 12 months. I think you should try and speak to them again and if you don't get any joy contact EnergyWatch. Last time I had a problem with EON they backed down as soon as EnergyWatch got involved. Good luck.

Premier_2

How far back does the bill for £1362.61 relate?

Why have they not billed you for 3 years?

There is a 12 month back-dating rule which prevents utility companies from back billing domestic customers, where it is the fault of the supplier.

Unless they have a good reason for why they were not able to bill you for 3 years, then they can only back bill you for 12 months. You can still negotiate a payment plan to pay off whatever debt they can claim.

Premier_2

Maldives_lover wrote:

I think you should try and speak to them again and if you don't get any joy contact EnergyWatch.

Energywatch are no more I'm afraid.

It's Consumer Direct if you want to complain nowadays

Aisling108

When I called up she asked" have you just moved in?" and I said I'd been there over 3yrs; apparently the buliders had not transferred me over or something; it was a new build.. If that makes sense?
As far as they knew I had only moved in in september; but I was honest as they'd have found out anyway as I pay electric with them. Also I used to live with my partner and his name was on the bill as we had bought the house together but I bought him out over a year ago; they say he might be part liable too. I hate asking him for it but .. credit crunch...

Is it possible to pay the excess at MINIMAL and i mean minimal like £5 a month??? and thanks for the tips ie consumer credit and the 12month term its helpful to know ;-)

Mrs_Boo_Boo

A mate of mine had this type of thing from EDF. She kept going until they wrote off all her arrears. she had been willing to pay half but they offered!!!

POSSETTE

i had bill from Eon and im not even a customer!! im with edf and have thier bills and dd to prove payments...so when they wanted £699 gas bill...the chap on phone agreed they couldnt claim back over 1 year also...and that they did check out my account with edf and wrote off debt!!

Cardew

The can't claim back over a year if they haven't sent a bill.

Note sent a bill.

Even if a bill was raised and addressed to 'The Occupier' or 'lost in the post' that still counts as if a bill was received by yourself.

Depending on what period the arrears cover(say 12 months) they normally allow the same period to pay it back.

Premier_2

Aisling108 wrote: »

When I called up she asked" have you just moved in?" and I said I'd been there over 3yrs; apparently the buliders had not transferred me over or something; it was a new build.. If that makes sense?
As far as they knew I had only moved in in september; but I was honest as they'd have found out anyway as I pay electric with them. Also I used to live with my partner and his name was on the bill as we had bought the house together but I bought him out over a year ago; they say he might be part liable too. I hate asking him for it but .. credit crunch...

Is it possible to pay the excess at MINIMAL and i mean minimal like £5 a month??? and thanks for the tips ie consumer credit and the 12month term its helpful to know ;-)

Are you suggesting that when you moved in, you didn't contact the supplier?

If so, the supplier will probably use that as the excuse that it was not their fault that they didn't bill you earlier and you will then be responsible for entire consumption since you moved in 3 years ago.

With regards your suggestion of paying off the amount at £5 per month, do you really think they will accept a proposal that'll allow you to pay off the debt over 22+ years interest free? :rolleyes:

Surely you realised you were not paying for the gas you were consuming? Surely you realised they would want paying eventually? Why didn't you put money aside to pay the anticipated bill when it would eventually arrive?


Remember that whilst you have an outstanding debt, the supplier will probably not allow you to switch supplier. Unless you come up with a sensible proposal, they'll probably switch you to a pre-payment meter with the higher unit costs they attract (and use it make sure you pay off the debt at a sensible rate too)

spiro

When you moved in and contacted EON did you ask them to supply both fuels? If you did check the 'joining letter' they sent you to check if it covers both fuels, if it did and they then fail to bill for one then its their fault and they can only go back 12 months. If it didn't the part of the blame sits with you. Phone them up and ask for copies of the bills they have sent you over the last 3 years, if they can't produce them then they obviously haven't tried to send them and that means the 12 month rule applies. If the bills have arrived to 'the occupier' and you ignored it or just thre it in the bin then its your fault and they can claim the lot. Best you can hope for is to repay it over 12 months unless you go onto a prepayment meter when they have to take into account your ability to pay when setting the debt recovery rate.

Premier_2

Companies don't usually send bills addressed to "The Occupier" as it has no legal meaning. A debt in law is outstanding 28 days after it has been billed. The debt can only be enforced if it is addressed to a legal entity e.g. a person or a company. Any bill addressed to 'The Occupier', whilst it may entice someone to pay, cannot be enforced.

Companies more usually write letters addressed to "The occupier" asking the recipient to contact them so that they can set up an account and bill them properly so that (a) a large bill doesn't build up and/or (b) the supplier doesn't start taking action to disconnect the supply as no customer is registered.