Please Help...

Ginganinja

My daughter, a 3rd year student nurse, took over a rental flat at the beginning of July. The previous occupants had Eon as a supplier, the flat is all electric supply with storage heaters.
When my daughter called Eon to take over the supply, she was told that she would have to provide a £200 deposit to be able to go on a DD scheme due to her credit history, which being a student she does not have. Incidentally my daughter has an exemplary credit history
She then researched other providers, and was offered DD at a cheaper rate of supply with EDF. She then asked them to take over the supply.
Within a week, she received an email from EDF telling her that Eon had refused to release the supply, because there was more than 1 meter.
She got back onto Eon, who confirmed that one of the meters had not moved for over a year but they were charging standing charge for the meter. She asked them to remove it and they said it was the landlords responsibility.
Having finally persuaded the landlord to tackle this, Eon refused to deal as they were not the account holder.
Again my daughter called Eon, distressed and frustrated by this point, who have agreed to remove the meter.
Further, Eon tell her that she is within her rights to refuse the £200 deposit which has confused her even further
Please can anybody tell us firstly is the onus on my daughter to sort all this in a rental property and secondly what on earth are Eon up to with the deposit, no deposit stance when dealing with vulnerable students??

Thanks in anticipation of any pearls of wisdom

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi Ginganinja

I'm sorry your daughter has been messed around like this.

As the account holder, we should only be dealing with your daughter. In rental situations, although it's always good to have the landlord's agreement, as the bill payer she is ultimately responsible for the account.

It sounds as though she has what's known as a Restricted Hour Tariff (RHT) metering set up. These are sometimes found in all electric properties with storage heaters.

RHT meters give cheaper electricity for heating/water heating purposes for a set number of hours during every 24 hour period.

Basically, there'll be two meters and two supply numbers (a 13 digit number). She'll need to ask EDF to take over both supply numbers. If they only apply for the one number, the request will automatically be rejected.

Alternatively, she can wait until the second meter is removed and the supply number withdrawn. At this stage, EDF need only apply for the one (primary) supply number.

For new customers with no credit history with us, we'll do an external credit check. The result of this check will determine what terms we'll offer. This can range from a credit account to prepayment meters or, in your daughter's case, a security deposit.

Provided payments are made ok, security deposits are refunded after 12 months.

Sorry again for the conflicting information your daughter received but hope this makes things a little clearer.

Malc

undaunted

Has your daughter had a bill issued for more than 28 days and failed to pay it?

If not on what basis do they claim that they can object to her switching supplier, regardless of how many meters they have fitted?

They should have helped her through administrative issues - as the rep now seeks to do when publicly raised) not used them to try and con her into staying, very sharp practice in my opinion!