Eon Transferred debt to new owner

misssarahleigh

The information she sent showed the date she bought the property.

This is proof she didn't own the property before that time, which they seem to be ignoring. So it shows the debt is prior to her buying the flat, therefor nothing to do with her.

They seem to be ignoring this

But!!! Even if she was the Landlady. The debt still can't be transferred to her name. A landlady isn't responsible for tennants debts. (I know this is a mute point, just wanted to state that their argument is pointless as it makes no difference whether she was or wasn't).

undaunted

Indeed it is.

You don't say when she bought the property but if the problem with the energy co. has been reported to them & remained unresolved for more than 8 weeks you can make your complaint to the Energy Ombudsman immediately

http://www.energy-ombudsman.org.uk/links/3-52-making_a_complaint_to_an_energy_company.php

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi misssarahleigh

When a property changes hands it is the responsibility of the owner/tenant/letting agent to advise us of the change of circumstances.

We will then close the existing account to the date and meter readings, if available, advised. A new account will be opened to cover ongoing usage at the property.

It is often necessary to provide proof of a change of responsibility, particularly with properties with a high turnover rate or where debt may have built up previously.

From your post, it looks as though the proof your friend has provided has been challenged.

I would do as spiro recommends and ask your friend to contact us and make sure a complaint is raised. An individual agent will take ownership of the complaint and follow this through, escalating to senior management if necessary.

If, after 56 days, a resolution cannot be agreed your friend can refer the matter to the Ombudsman for an independent ruling.

As others have said, whilst there is an open complaint on an account, debt follow up will be suspended.

Hope this helps point your friend in the right direction misssarahleigh. Give me a shout if you need any more info as will be happy to help.

Malc

misssarahleigh

Thanks for the reply.

She informed eon as soon as she moved in that she was new in the property and would like to keep them as suppliers and took meter readings.

She moved in over 6 months ago and this is obviously coming to a head now.

I will sit down with her tonight and form a letter togather along with details of the lady she has been speaking with.

The evidence has been challanged to say she was previously the landylady. As stated before, even if this were true it still doens't mean she is responsible for the previous tennants debt.

And, it's unclear how the information is being challanged since they refuse to discuss that with her, but as said I shall write all this out with her and post back what happens.

fluffnutter

Right, who's harassing your friend? Eon or the debt collection agency? Or both? First things first, she needs to tell any debt collection agency that this debt is denied and that they must return it to the originating company. She doesn't need to speak to them any further; if they continue to harass her, she can call the police. Legally any debt collection agency is not entitled to chase a disputed debt.

She then needs to sort this out with Eon. What evidence does Eon have that suggests she lived in the property before? What happened to the original evidence that your friend supplied? Has she supplied this again? She needs to write a letter to Eon (keeping a copy of course) enclosing her evidence and explaining that this is being sent for a second time, re-confirming the date she moved in together with a meter reading from that point (I hope she took one!) and stating that the matter is now closed and that they are to cease chasing her for a debt she doesn't owe. I'd also want to see this 'evidence' that they have. She should stop phoning them up, and do everything in writing. She also needs to make sure there are no adverse notes on her credit file; if there are she needs to ask Eon to remove them.

Hopefully that will bring an end to things. I think it's a little premature to go to whomever regulates Eon (Ofgen I assume). They need to be given a chance to sort this out, and, to prove this claim by showing this 'evidence' (which I assume they can't).

I hope she gets this sorted out. It sounds very stressful and frustrating.

Edit: This is a copy and paste from misssarahleigh's original thread so some of the questions I asked might be answered above.

fluffnutter

misssarahleigh wrote: »

The evidence has been challanged to say she was previously the landylady. As stated before, even if this were true it still doens't mean she is responsible for the previous tennants debt.

And, it's unclear how the information is being challanged since they refuse to discuss that with her, but as said I shall write all this out with her and post back what happens.

That's pretty crazy. As far as I can tell, this is the entire premise of their argument. So they've got to share it. You can't just say "Give us this money, we don't believe you didn't live here but we're not going to tell you why". It's nonsensical! And would look ridiculous in court, frankly.

magyar

Does your friend have a very common name? It could be that she shares a surname with a previous owner or tenant. Alternatively it could be a simple error on a date (either in a computer or on an actual piece of paper).

In any case, it's up to E.ON to prove that any money is owed, not your friend to do otherwise.

misssarahleigh

magyar wrote: »

Does your friend have a very common name? It could be that she shares a surname with a previous owner or tenant. Alternatively it could be a simple error on a date (either in a computer or on an actual piece of paper).

In any case, it's up to E.ON to prove that any money is owed, not your friend to do otherwise.

The names of the previous tennants are not similar and considering she rang as soon as she moved in to change everything over fully infomring them the other people had left as well as providing documentation of the date she bought the property somebody should be able to spot a problem if it were a date issue.

mattcanary

Sounds like Eon were short-changed by the previous owner of your friend's flat and are trying to recoup this money from your fried now - under the (wrong) assumption that your friend has owned the flat for some time.

mattcanary

Aah -just seen your other thread. Sounds like you share my suspicions!