Estate agent changing my energy supplier WITHOUT my permission?

eloisethelaw

A couple of weeks ago I handed in my one months notice to my estate agent to leave the house I am currently at now, meaning my tenancy will end on the 28th of this month. I have rang my energy supplier (British Gas) to inform them of my move and have been told I no longer have an account with them, and that my supplier has been changed to E-on?? I had no idea about this. I asked who had permission to do this as the account is all under my name, and British Gas told me they did not know and it is now completely out of their hands and all our outstanding bills/monies due have been passed on to E-on (around 4 months worth of bills were due as we pay quarterly). On calling E-on and giving them my address, they informed me the account for the house is now under the name of my estate agent, and they couldn't discuss anything with me!

Now on calling my estate agent to see what the hell was going on they have just said E-on will be sending me a letter with all the details, as the estate agent i spoke to couldn't get hold of anyone at his head office to get to the bottom of it.

I'm thinking that in my contract it says you cannot change energy suppliers without consent of either parties, but whether this is no longer applicable because I have handed in my notice I don't know. Surely if the account has been changed without my permission, and it is now not in my name, how can they charge me for what I have used? And could anyone explain why my estate agent might do this and is it allowed without my permission?

Any help would be muchly appreciated as I am a little confused/worried! Thanks

jimjames

If the account is in the name of the estate agent then surely they are the ones to pay it! I think they've therefore made a mistake and that you potentially have no liability with EON if you haven't taken out a contract with them and your name is not on the bill.

What does your tenancy say about bills? Pay direct or agent recharges you for use?

chris_m

It could be that the agent transfers utilities to themselves (rather than, or on behalf of, the landlord) pending getting a new tenant in, the plan then being to transfer them out to the new tenant - but got their dates wrong so the change has occurred too early.

DontLetGo

Personaly i would expect to pay but also forget it for the time being and see how they are going to go about getting you to pay a bill in their name. Like has been said, you have no contract with Eon and never have so they cannot pursue you for anything.

Ive heard before although not 100% sure how much truth is in it but that estate agents can get commision for these things but i would wait till someone who knows comes along and can confirm or deny this.

Yorkie1

Make sure you take leaving meter readings, and I'd suggest photos with a dated newspaper in the picture too. Doubtless this will come back at some point and you need to ensure your records are fine.

In the meantime, do find out if the contract is in your name or the EA's now.

mark?_3

i imagine the landlord has also pocked the ~£50-100 commission you normally get from switching energy suppliers

puppy999

British Gas should have sent you a letter asking for your final reading before any change and it takes up to 6wks they cant change suppliers without the final reading
You need to speak with B/Gas as the agent is not allowed to change suppliers
ask to speak to a supervisor ask them if they have the final reading who phoned to change suppliers and don't take any crap if they say that they cant speak to you say ok I will take it further I will get in touch with watchdog also you will hear from my solicitor ........
If you have a deposit with your agent it doesn't look like you will get it back as they will use it to pay the bill .............

princeofpounds

Make a formal complaint, and threaten to elevate to the energy ombudsman.

DRP

puppy999 wrote: »

British Gas should have sent you a letter asking for your final reading before any change and it takes up to 6wks they cant change suppliers without the final reading
You need to speak with B/Gas as the agent is not allowed to change suppliers
ask to speak to a supervisor ask them if they have the final reading who phoned to change suppliers and don't take any crap if they say that they cant speak to you say ok I will take it further I will get in touch with watchdog also you will hear from my solicitor ........
If you have a deposit with your agent it doesn't look like you will get it back as they will use it to pay the bill .............

yeah this^^

make sure whoever gave BG the final reading didn't just add on
'a bit' to estimate your final month at the property!!!!

newsgroup_monkey

puppy999 wrote: »

If you have a deposit with your agent it doesn't look like you will get it back as they will use it to pay the bill .............

I don't think this is quite right actually.

The previous tenants of our property did a runner. I notified Eon who said they will pursue them. They mentioned nothing of the LA.

I very much doubt the LA could pursue you for this bill as you have no contract with them.......

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi eloisethelaw

Accounts can only be switched between suppliers with the consent of the account holder.

If the account was in your name and we took it on without your permission, this is what's known as an Erroneous Transfer.

With this type of issue, there's an industry wide process to return the account to the original supplier as though it had never left.

We've a particular team who look after Erroneous Transfers and these are the people to speak to.

If, though, the account was in the name of the estate agent at the time of the switch, they're ok to change provider.

Do you know when the switch actually went through?

Hope this helps. Let me know if I can help further as happy to do so.

Malc