EON taking money from an old bank account

BoroSteVo

Hope someone can shed any light on this problem, have raised with EON and have not made progress so just getting some research completed before I (if it is indeed appropriate to do so at all) go to the Omb...
The story goes I moved home and realised I had a large balance to be paid back to me, EON, somehow have (eventually, after 4 times asking) paid the money back, but here's the catch. They paid it back into account I haven't used for over 4 years. The account used to be my main account, but switched 4 years ago and left the account with no balance and nothing coming out. I actually forgot about it altogether until this happened.
So EON have now paid this money into the account, not a problem you say... well.... The old account is not used at all, I have no debit cards, cheque books or even login machine (for online access) Telephone banking is suspended due to the length of time that it has proved inactive and I have since moved address, meaning I have no ID which links me to the account.
TO make matters worse EON are now taking my monthly direct debits out of the account.
Could anyone shed any light as to if EON has even been legal in this.
- I have not provided a direct debit mandate, or instructed my bank to make payment
- EON say i have to sort it out with my bank, which so far has proved very difficult and I suspect might not even be possible

My main gripe is EON taking money from the account, could anyone advise if this is OK

Cheers in advance

lvf

Simple matter is, they have not been illegal. General rule is any DD refunds are sent to the bank account in which the DD was originally taken. If the details are unavailable, then a cheque is issued in the post.

Regarding the new DD, you can either call them up and request to change the bank account in which it is taken from, or change these details yourself from the online account. I find it hard to believe you have done this to be told "sort it out with your bank", because changing the bank details is fairly straight forward.

Finally, have you even contacted your bank directly (the actual branch, not over the phone/online)? I had an account a few years ago under similar circumstances in that my address had changed, but the branch worked with me to get access by going through what details I did have, what little ID I could produce and when I could recall some of the transaction information.

BoroSteVo

Thanks for your reply

If that's the general rule it wasn't applied in my case, the account hadn't be used for over 4 years, my bill was always paid from my main, 'new' account. As far as Eon were concerned that bank account should no longer have any connection to my energy account. They received instructions to dd my 'new' account, removing (or so I thought) the old account details in the process over four years ago.

In terms of Eon telling me to sort it out myself it's more to with the balance which is now in an account which is difficult to access. The advice about going into branch is good and I hope they take a pragmatic view as they did in your case. My local branch is now closed however, (part of the reason I switched) and the branch is about 20 miles away.

The main thing I'm trying to establish is if there was a data protection breach in the three instances they interacted with the old account. Those being the payment in, and two direct debits out.

brewerdave

Can't see that its in breach of data protection, after all,they originally had all the information about the old account HOWEVER, it certainly sounds like a major billing co**up by EON.Suggest you raise a formal complaint with them in writing.

Pincher

A family member had problems proving she is who she is, because she couldn't get her birthdate right. After several phone calls later, she had to go to a branch with her documents. Guess what, the bank upgraded their computer, and the data was transferred using data entry clerks, who were obviously too lazy to actually read the old birthdate, because it was blank!


You never know what legacy prehensile reflexes will show up.


I updated my DD with Scottish Power to take money from Santander, instead of an old account with some other bank. Switched tariff online recently, and the old account showed up as the account they intend to take money from. So had to fill in the Santander details again, and apparently they will set up the DD afresh, even though they have been merrily taking money from Santander for months.


My fantasy is, E.On brings out a decent five year fix, so I switch to E.On. By the time I switch back to Scottish Power, they will have upgraded their computer, so I can set up a brand new account.

brewerdave

Pincher wrote: »

A family member had problems proving she is who she is, because she couldn't get her birthdate right. After several phone calls later, she had to go to a branch with her documents. Guess what, the bank upgraded their computer, and the data was transferred using data entry clerks, who were obviously too lazy to actually read the old birthdate, because it was blank!

Very interesting ..my wife has had a problem setting up Verified by Visa security for her new debit card to use online....that includes her birthdate and I wouldn't mind betting that something similar has happened as I don't remember ever giving birthdays to the Bank when we set up the new account online.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi BoroSteVo

This sounds a bit odd so hope you don't mind if I speculate a bit here. It looks like your old E.ON account was closed down when you moved home but the Monthly Direct Debit details weren't deleted. These details would've been logged when you originally set up the Monthly Direct Debit on the old account.

With the balance being on this old account, it looks like the refund's gone back to the bank account originally attached to it.

A new account would've been set up for your current energy use and this may have been placed directly under your old account on our system. I'm guessing, but the advisor handling your refund may have transferred details of the old bank account on to your current energy account by mistake thinking this was the one you're now using. This would explain why we're now taking your Monthly Direct Debit payments from the old bank account.

Your current energy account can soon be sorted if you contact us with details of the bank account you want the payments to be taken from. This can be done whilst you're on the phone. If you've registered with our website, you can change the details yourself on there too.

The refund will, though, need to be done by the bank. We've no authority to take this payment back.

Sorry if my speculation is way off the mark BoroSteVo. Also sorry if our advisor has done as suggested above. Drop an email to the address in my Profile if you'd like me to take a look. Happy to help.

Malc

BoroSteVo

Thank you Malc (and others) for your reply

The reason for the post on here is that I suspect that you guys are about to wash your hands of the matter, I have missed a call from the lady handling the case and that individual has kindly left a message. It has been a long process and the point of contention, and I must admit the main reason I was so cross, was that the DD had been taken from an account with no mandate or no instruction from a bank.

The person handling my case has informed me (in the above mentioned voice mail) that they have received some advice, but not clear guidance, that the instances do not constitute a DP breach. I disagree. It is a clear breach. No ACTIVE mandate was in place from me, and no ACTIVE instruction from the bank, in this case HSBC, was in existence.

I would call the lady back but this saga has resulted in, probably, a dozen calls, with the longest being nearly 3 hours long. With that in mind, I couldn't bear listening to Lumineers for a minute longer so I figured I would try and get some steer before looking into the Ombudsman. It has been 8 weeks next week since it was first raised.

The main reason being, I think its a point of principle that organisations should not be able to 'dip' into accounts as and when they feel like it, or when their own systems fail. Bear in mind there was no debt here, I understand there is precedent where a client owes funds, but that is not the case. Its a scary thought that a lax adviser or system failure could mean a company can draw funds from an account at a whim!

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi BoroSteVo

Sounds like you're a long way down the complaints route. Don't worry about us wanting to 'wash our hands of the matter.' We won't close the complaint unless you've accepted the resolution offered or haven't contacted us by an agreed date.

I suspect the lady who phoned is either the Resolution Manager or Resolution Reviewer depending on where we're at with the complaint.

If the complaint is still with the Resolution Manager and you disagree with the offer, you'll have the option of going to a Resolution Reviewer for a second opinion. If it's already with a Reviewer and you remain unhappy, you'll have the opportunity of going to the Ombudsman for an independent review.

At this stage and where complaints are under 56 days old, we'll issue a deadlock letter to say we can't agree a resolution and outlining our final position. This lets you go to the ombudsman straightaway. If, as appears to be the case here, the complaint is over 56 days old you can go to the Ombudsman whenever you wish. You don't need a deadlock letter.

Any decision reached by the Ombudsman that you accept is binding on us but not on you.

I totally understand your reluctance to listen to the Lumineers again but would suggest you talk to the advisor handling the complaint. You can email or write if you prefer.

After a time, if you don't tell us you're rejecting the resolution offered, we may assume you've accepted it and close the complaint.

Following the offer of a resolution and where we don't hear back by a set date, we'll try to make contact quite a few times before closing a complaint. I suspect the lady who phoned will try again or may even send an email/letter.

Hope this helps point you in the right direction BoroSteVo.

Malc