EON Central Heating Policy - Help!

sharika

I cancelled my direct debit for the central heating care, which EON give customers free for the 1st year back in November 09, (before the end of my first year). A few days ago however they called my 16 yr old son on his mobile (used to be mine) to arrange a free health check for the boiler. I spoke to them and checked it was free, they confirmed and never mentioned it was linked to this policy, which I don't have. Now today they are querying the fact that they did the check on my boiler even though I have never paid for the policy...because I cancelled it over 6 months ago.

They are threatening to charge me...even though I cancelled the policy in good faith. Where do I stand? I have my gas and electric with them so didn't think it strange they were offering this free check. Have no-one to ask about this, would love some advice. Thanks in advance

Premier_2

What was the terms of the agreement regarding cancellation? Presumably you needed to actively cancel the agreement? Did you do that? Cancelling the DD mandate simply prevents them from collecting payment in that way, but does not necessarily cancel the underlying contract which the DD mandate was originally set up for.

If they confirmed the checkup was free, then they can't charge you for the checkup (but you may have difficulty in proving that is what they said if they now deny having said that. If you are lucky, they recorded the call, but may not have as they called you ... or did you call them back to get this confirmation?), but they may still say the contract is in force unless you can prove you cancelled it.

sharika

Thanks for responding.

They did talk about the terms and conditions, and lets be fair most of us don't read them, well I'll be honest I didn't. Usually you stop paying for something then they contact you to chase payment, but this never happened...for six months!

The Health check as I understand it, is free, to holders of the policy so when I asked if it was free and he said yes he obviously assumed I was a policy holder and he never mentioned it was in relation to the policy.

My argument is that for six months I had not paid for this policy and they had not made any contact with me about the lack of payment yet they then offer to check the boiler knowing I had not paid for 6 months. They told me that their system had problems and they were short staffed so had not been able to chase up missed payments in all this time.

mjm3346

Regardless of the health check you owe 6 months payments, if you still haven't cancelled the policy the number of months owing will continue to rise. They are well within time to chase the payments.

sharika

Even if it was unsolicited and I have not signed any agreement to continue the policy past the renewal date? I don't see how that can be right?

mjm3346

sharika wrote: »

Even if it was unsolicited and I have not signed any agreement to continue the policy past the renewal date? I don't see how that can be right?

Didn't realise it was one of those, maybe the original agreement was of the type "this policy will continue/auto renew if not cancelled before the first payment becomes due".

Lots of "free" offers where you part with Direct Debit details rely on people forgetting to cancel in time.

Premier_2

sharika wrote: »

Even if it was unsolicited and I have not signed any agreement to continue the policy past the renewal date? I don't see how that can be right?

Again, refer to the terms & conditions of the agreement.

You may not have read them previously, but you'll find all your answers therein. You don't need to sign anything to continue the policy, and as you haven't informed them of your wish to cancel it, you'll actually now have to not only pay for the 6 months since the renewal date but you'll also end up owing the amount until the next renewal date (12 months in total).

And if you don't actively cancel prior to that date, you'll also be contractually obliged to pay another 12 months fees, and so on until you do cancel.

It is right because those were the terms you originally agreed to ... whether or not you bothered to actually read them.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi sharika

I have had a word with our Central Heating people and confirmed our policy regarding the renewal of existing agreements.

These policies are automatically renewed unless a customer actually calls in and cancels. I'm afraid if you didn't talk to us to cancel your policy, then it will have automatically rolled on.

I suspect the health check you mention will have been the annual inspection of your central heating system. This is a service provided on all our Central Heating Plans.

As Premier says, the above will be outlined in your Terms and Conditions.

I have also checked about free ad hoc central heating health checks. We are not currently offering anything of this nature.

I'm sorry for any confusion caused and would recommend you talk to our Central Heating team directly if you no longer require this service.

Malc

DVardysShadow

sharika wrote: »

Even if it was unsolicited and I have not signed any agreement to continue the policy past the renewal date? I don't see how that can be right?

'Free year' deals always roll on and you have to stop them. Stopping the DD is just stopping payment, not the same as stopping the contract.

wapow

always always always read the small print. dont go on the notion that 'not everyone reads them' or 'my friend doesnt read them' everyones case is different.

mobile phone contracts, bt telephone line contracts, most are the same. once the contract is up for renewal, it will continue rolling unless you call them to make changes otherwise.

as some of the above posters have said already, everything will be outlined in the terms and conditions, including the rolling of the service if you havent bothered to cancel.

to just 'leave it' and let 'them chase you'...well, sounds like you like the fellas chasing after you and giving you attention. the same doesnt go for energy companies or others at the mention lol!