Eon Transferred debt to new owner

misssarahleigh

My friend bought a flat (reposession) and recieved demand latters from a balif acting on behalf of Eon for unpaid bills. After contacting the agency and telling them she was now the occupier and not reponsible for the bills they asked for evidence of the date she took over and she supplied this informaiton.

They were happy with the evidence and sent the debt back to eon. Eon then rang and asked for the evidence again, so she sent this direct.

She has now had letters from another debt collection agency. She spoke to the woman at eon who has been dealing with her problem since contacting her as she was informed.

"we have evidence that you were the landlady of the flat before moving in yourself and therfore the debt has been transferred into your name".

I'm quite positive this is illegal, what what part of the law deals with it. I have advised to stop communication with Eon and go to the watchdog. Is that the best thing?

P.s. Debt is over £1k

Mark_Hewitt

Well the first question is, is the statement "you were the landlady of the flat before moving in yourself" correct?

spiro

No you should not stop communicating with Eon.

She needs to raise a complaint and provide the following to aid in its resolution.

1) Date she bought the property - estate agent/her solicitor should be able to provide written evidence of this.
2) If she has moved into the property (assuming this isn't 2nd property) proof of her previous address and that she was living there.
3) If the property was empty for a period of time between reposession and purchase any proof she can get from seller that they were responsible for the property and that she had no connection with the property.

The problem is people try and use all sorts of tricks to get out of paying debts so suppliers have to assume everyone is not necessarily telling them the truth and therefore written evidence of not only when they moved in but also where they were before is required to prove it.

jd87

Even if she was landlady (which the OP still hasn't clarified) how does that make a difference? Landlords are never responsible for tenants utilities are they?

misssarahleigh

Mark_Hewitt wrote: »

Well the first question is, is the statement "you were the landlady of the flat before moving in yourself" correct?

No she was not. This is the first property she has ever owned and the first time she has moved from the family home.

spiro wrote: »

No you should not stop communicating with Eon.

She needs to raise a complaint and provide the following to aid in its resolution.

1) Date she bought the property - estate agent/her solicitor should be able to provide written evidence of this.

This she has supplied to both the debt collection agency and eon.

2) If she has moved into the property (assuming this isn't 2nd property) proof of her previous address and that she was living there.

I don't understand how this is relevant. It doens't matter where she lived before.

3) If the property was empty for a period of time between reposession and purchase any proof she can get from seller that they were responsible for the property and that she had no connection with the property.

The property was empty (for how long i'm unsure) but I assume the seller will be charging to provide this information. Eon have also refused to explain why they believe her to be the previous landlady or provide any evidence to support this.

The problem is people try and use all sorts of tricks to get out of paying debts so suppliers have to assume everyone is not necessarily telling them the truth and therefore written evidence of not only when they moved in but also where they were before is required to prove it.

jd87 wrote: »

Even if she was landlady (which the OP still hasn't clarified) how does that make a difference? Landlords are never responsible for tenants utilities are they?

And thats my point. Regardless of whether they believe she was the landlady before moving into the property, this doesn't make her responsible. I live in a council house. If i leave the council aren't going to pay my debts!

Mark_Hewitt

misssarahleigh wrote: »

And thats my point. Regardless of whether they believe she was the landlady before moving into the property, this doesn't make her responsible. I live in a council house. If i leave the council aren't going to pay my debts!

Well since we've established she wasn't the landlady there's no need to argue that point at all. It's easier to refute their allegation than it is to show that the question shouldn't be asked in the first place.

spiro

In repsonse to your post:

2) If she has moved into the property (assuming this isn't 2nd property) proof of her previous address and that she was living there.

I don't understand how this is relevant. It doens't matter where she lived before.

It is relevant to prove she did not live there before the date she is claiming she moved in. As an example person A & B live in a property with all the bills in A's name. A runs up a big debt. B then phones supplier and says "I've just moved into house x". They would be attempting to 'escape' the debt by claiming A is no longer there and B never lived there. In your case your friend is B and has to prove she lived elsewhere.

misssarahleigh

spiro wrote: »

In repsonse to your post:

2) If she has moved into the property (assuming this isn't 2nd property) proof of her previous address and that she was living there.

I don't understand how this is relevant. It doens't matter where she lived before.

It is relevant to prove she did not live there before the date she is claiming she moved in. As an example person A & B live in a property with all the bills in A's name. A runs up a big debt. B then phones supplier and says "I've just moved into house x". They would be attempting to 'escape' the debt by claiming A is no longer there and B never lived there. In your case your friend is B and has to prove she lived elsewhere.

Ah, i see! Well i don't think she would have very much, maybe bank statements as she lived with her parents and didn't have bills.

But then again, they are not saying she lived there. They are saying she was the landlady (even though the information she sent shows the details of when she purchased the property) and as landlady is responsible and chasing her for the debt (although they will not supply informaiton to show why they believe this).

Even if she could prove she lived at her parents. That clearly isn't going to make a difference to them chasing her.

spiro

misssarahleigh wrote: »

Ah, i see! Well i don't think she would have very much, maybe bank statements as she lived with her parents and didn't have bills.

But then again, they are not saying she lived there. They are saying she was the landlady (even though the information she sent shows the details of when she purchased the property) and as landlady is responsible and chasing her for the debt (although they will not supply informaiton to show why they believe this).

Even if she could prove she lived at her parents. That clearly isn't going to make a difference to them chasing her.

Bank Statement, driving licence, electoral register. As already said she needs to put in a written complain. This stops all debt chasing while the complaint is investigated. If they do not accept the complaint (continue to say she was landlady) then she can go the energywatch (she cant do this until supplier has investigated complaint).

Mark_Hewitt

Isn't it the case under the Data Protection Act they must disclose all information they have about you? So if they have 'evidence' they are using but won't show it to you, that makes it pretty pointless. Anyone can say they have evidence of anything and then refuse to show it - a good tactic of government in the past too.

Mark_Hewitt

misssarahleigh wrote: »

Ah, i see! Well i don't think she would have very much, maybe bank statements as she lived with her parents and didn't have bills.

But then again, they are not saying she lived there. They are saying she was the landlady (even though the information she sent shows the details of when she purchased the property) and as landlady is responsible and chasing her for the debt (although they will not supply informaiton to show why they believe this).

Even if she could prove she lived at her parents. That clearly isn't going to make a difference to them chasing her.

Obviously it's impossible for her to prove she wasn't the landlady as you can't have documents which say you don't own something! It's surely up to them to prove that she was!