eon £50 late payment charge

glenandemm

hi guys,looking for advice.
basically i get my bill every quarter and when i do i pay £100 a month off it as its usually around £300 so by the next bill date its up to date,i'd been doing this for the last year or so until recently when i got a knock at my door by one of their representatives who said we was behind which we was but this is usual and if they'd looked at my history this is how ive always paid,well basically the guy said he had to take a payment that date and there would be a £50 charge which i thought was a tad unfair given that i wasnt majorly behind or in bad arrears?
now does anyone think i have a case that either the charge for £50 was excessive or just unfair on the fact i wasnt not paying my bill?
any advice would be greatfully recieved!

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Hi glenandemm,

This all sounds a bit odd to me to be honest.

When you receive a bill, this needs to be paid within 14 days and then you would get the prompt pay discount.(unless you have a payment arrangement in place).

If the bill is not paid within this time, you will start to receive debt follow up letters asking you to pay.

To get a visit from one of our representatives is really one of the last resorts and you will have received letters, phone calls first.

I think the best way to get all in order is to call us, give your up to date meter readings, get the account billed, check your on the best tariff for your needs and most importantly set up a payment arrangement.

Just paying as and when and not clearing the bill within the 14 days with no agreement in place, will force the account down the debt collection path.

Hope this helps a little.

Helena

spiro

If you want to pay month go onto a monthly billed tariff or pay by monthly DD.

Terrylw1

Based on the Eon reps post, this needs flagging to rule out a dodgy caller or to see if you have advanced further than you are aware.

glenandemm

hi guys,cheers for replying.
firstly i give all my meter readings when theyre due and your right i did get the calls and letters but explained over the phone to the eon rep that we always pay the bill by the time the next one is due which is 3 months and not the 14 days as you say but they checked our history and agreed that we've always done this and cleared the debt by the next quarterly bill.
next thing we know is weve got some guy knocking on the door asking to sort a different arrangement out as it wasnt good enough even though it seemed to be before for the last two years!
we agreed to pay slightly more to pay the bill earlier and he said there would be a £50 charge which i checked on my online eon account and it was there,personally i dont feel it was fair and abit over the top as i'd spoken to the rep on the phone and theyd seen my account history and said everything was ok and to carry on doing what we doing and dont worry about it!
also why would it cost £50,is that not a tad dear?

abwsco

So are they charging you extra as you get a quarterly bill but pay your bill over the following three months and not within the required 14 days.

If that's the case why not just go on a monthly DD or pay your bill in full and on time. If you won't I can't see the problem with them charging you personally.

glenandemm

i dont mind not getting the dd discount but its the fact somone told me over the phone what i was doing was ok then a week later i have a call out and a £50 charge for that call out!
can somone tell me what that £50 charge covers as its seems alot of money?

notbritishgas

I am afraid £50 is about right for a home visit, travel time, hourly wage, vehicle costs, admin time, pension costs, National Insurance, and I am sure many other things.

But to the cause of the problem, despite what you were apparently told over the phone, what you were trying to do was against the T&C's of the account, ie bill to be paid within 14 days not 3 months. So in this case Eon were correct especially as you had received letters informing you of your error.

To sort it out the best thing is to go onto monthly Direct Debit.

jalexa

notbritishgas wrote: »

So in this case Eon were correct especially as you had received letters informing you of your error.

I am not normally sympathetic to posters who are "economical with the truth" and the Original Post did not mention the calls and letters.

That said the OP alleges a "satisfactory" call on the issue with an E.ON adviser. I believe that call is relevant in determining whether the subsequent doorstep call was reasonable.

Certainly the OP's payment regime isn't.

notbritishgas

glenandemm wrote: »

hi guys,cheers for replying.
firstly i give all my meter readings when theyre due and your right i did get the calls and letters but explained over the phone to the eon rep that we always pay the bill by the time the next one is due which is 3 months and not the 14 days as you say but they checked our history and agreed that we've always done this and cleared the debt by the next quarterly bill.
next thing we know is weve got some guy knocking on the door asking to sort a different arrangement out as it wasnt good enough even though it seemed to be before for the last two years!
we agreed to pay slightly more to pay the bill earlier and he said there would be a £50 charge which i checked on my online eon account and it was there,personally i dont feel it was fair and abit over the top as i'd spoken to the rep on the phone and theyd seen my account history and said everything was ok and to carry on doing what we doing and dont worry about it!
also why would it cost £50,is that not a tad dear?

jalexa wrote: »

I am not normally sympathetic to posters who are "economical with the truth" and the Original Post did not mention the calls and letters.

That said the OP alleges a "satisfactory" call on the issue with an E.ON adviser. I believe that call is relevant in determining whether the subsequent doorstep call was reasonable.

Certainly the OP's payment regime isn't.

Not like you to miss things jalexa. Post 5 I think.

jalexa

notbritishgas wrote: »

Not like you to miss things jalexa. Post 5 I think.

Indeed, not like me not to choose my words carefully, "the Original Post (Post 1 I think:D) did not mention the calls and letters". In fact I spelled out "Original Post" over "OP" perhaps for the very reason you cite using Post 5.

Or are you making another point?:)