eon taking money direct from benefits?

olivia84

hi all,

my dad is on income support and tells me that he had arrears for his gas with eon (his electricity is also with eon) he is now on a pre-payment metre for the electric and i was under the impression it was the same for his gas. he now tells me that apparently he pays £12 per fortnight towards his gas debt and that eon take this direct from his income support before it goes into his bank. he also tells me that his usage is being taken direct from his benefits as well. he says he never gets a bill for his gas, he never tops any metre up and he has never been cut off.

has anyone else experienced this? i hope this is the case as it means his gas is taken care of before he gets his money into his bank, it's just that i'd never heard of this before. i just want to make sure that this is what is happening as it would put my mind at rest and can it be done with the electric also?

thanks for any replies

x

spikeripley

I have never heard of this, personally I would phone EON get your dad to tell them he gives them permission to speak to you on his behalf and find out whats going on. Even if they are taking the money directly he should still get bills showing his payments, usage and a bill each quarter.

Anubis_2

They can take money off benefits for arrears, but not sure about usage unless the payment covers arrears/usage. I would speak with Eon.

bored_at_home

yes relax its perfectly legit, im with eon and have both my gas an electric paid direct to eon by the dwp every month.
he will still get bills, unless hes subsctibed for electronic bills and doesnt print them off, but he doesnt need to do anything with either version of them anyway.
if the amount needs to be changed itl be done via the dwp and hel get a letter. think its 6pounds a week for arrears on mine and the rest of the 40 pounds a week combimnation taken weekly is for current usage. he will get a prompt payment and direct payment discount off both bills too and will not be in any danger of being cut off.
if you get in a mess with these utility bills able bodied people would be put on a prepayment meter but they cannot insist on this with people with a disability or who are classed as vulnerable so its done by direct payments via dwp.
if he gets in trouble with the water board the same can be arranged with them by ringing them and just giving national insurance number and they will apply for weekly payments via dwp. hope that puts your mind at rest.

bored_at_home

sorry just spotted hes on prepayment for electric so dont know if he would get a paper bill for that or not, possibly not. so yes you could ring and ask for direct payment for electric too, and as said water bill too.
it makes it easier for me, all i have to pay myself monthly is my car insurance and my tv licence the rest is sorted before i get whats left.

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Hi olivia84,

It sounds very much like he has a payment arrangement called Fuel Direct, this is only available to customers on certain benefits.

He will pay an amount to cover his usage, then an amount to pay off the arrears.

He should however, still be getting his normal statements, as this will give him info about his tariff, meter readings and usage etc. If he has an online account he won't get paper bills through the post, he will need to log in to see these.

The electricity should just be paid as a normal pre-payment meter, topping up at the shop with the key or card.

If you need any more info, just ask.

Helena

olivia84

thanks everyone - that puts my mind at rest. my dad lives in england and i live in scotland so it makes it a bit harder to understand with me not actually being there; yea he probably will get bills/statements but i know he never has to physically pay anything to eon for his gas so i was worried he was building up arrears on his usage and only paying towards the debt through his benefits. it sounds like a good idea anyway so will have him look into doing it with his electric as well.

thanks everyone

olivia x