energy bill....not paid

matelodave

I'm always fascinated by these people who suddenly discover that they haven't been paying their bills, especially energy.

Most people's energy bills are between £50-100 a month, that's £600-£1200 a year that's not going out of a bank account. I would certainly notice if my account had a couple of hundred quid more than I expected and would want to know what's gone wrong. I certainly wouldn't go out and spend it without investigating it thoroughly.

It would seem that most would notice if too much was being taken out but aren't all that bothered if there's not enough being extracted.

It's hard to have much sympathy for those who can't be bothered to check their accounts and then expect the debt to be written off, reduced or want some compensation.

ecsb

Hi,
I have never received a sorry you are leaving letter or a final meter reading before I was changed to eon to ovo.
I as yet still have not been asked by either company for a reading.


The gentleman I spoke to from eon said he dealt with this sort of complaint all day every day, it was his job. Maybe it is more common than I thought.



""As OVO were not getting paid anything, they could trace the OP's address from the meter serial numbers. If the email OVO were given 'was fictitious' why didn't they write(snail mail) or send round a meter reader or pass the account to a Debt Collection Agency."
I agree,I asked why there was no one knocking my door, to which they replied they had tried phoning and sending snail mail, which if was not addressed to me, I probably would have binned. The account was changed using a different name.


With regard to me not noticing the £63 a month going out of my bank this was fairly easy to do, as my finances over the last year have been very up and down, with job changes, children
leaving school and leaving home. I did not want an interest free loan, my bills are always paid on time and I am not in debt. I do not want sympathy or compensation.

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Good morning ecsb,

Thanks for the reply

To be honest, there's not much more I can add. It looks like you've got one of our specialist Erroneous Transfer (ET) guys on the case for you and this is the best thing.

They can look at why you didn't get the leaving letter and make arrangements for future payments etc.

I hope it's sorted out quickly for you.

Helena

ecsb

I have now got the billing sorted and have recieved a £700 bill. When I queried why I had not recieved a sorry you are leaving letter, I was told that this was not procedure 17 months ago, and because this sort of thing was happening a lot, they put the leaving letter in place.
When I mentioned about having to maybe only pay for a years supply I was told that I had to take it up with ovo, even though it is eon i am paying! work that one out.
I am having a complaints procedure booklet sent to me.

naedanger

ecsb wrote: »

I have now got the billing sorted and have recieved a £700 bill. When I queried why I had not recieved a sorry you are leaving letter, I was told that this was not procedure 17 months ago, and because this sort of thing was happening a lot, they put the leaving letter in place.
When I mentioned about having to maybe only pay for a years supply I was told that I had to take it up with ovo, even though it is eon i am paying! work that one out.
I am having a complaints procedure booklet sent to me.

So did it turn out that your transfer to ovo was an erroneous transfer and you have really been Eon's customer all this time?

ecsb

ovo transferred me back to eon, who are charging me as if i never left them. The erroneous transfer team are still working on my case.

naedanger

ecsb wrote: »

ovo transferred me back to eon, who are charging me as if i never left them. The erroneous transfer team are still working on my case.

That sounds to me like it has been accepted the transfer to Ovo was erroneous.

In that case, if I was in your circumstances, I would complain in writing to Eon. I would say that I considered Eon to be at fault in not billing me for 17 months and in not taking any action to check the validity of my supposed transfer to Ovo. Had they done so they would have easily established that I had not in any way instigated such a transfer.

I would then explain why I had not noticed their failure to bill me earlier. And I would also explain that had I received any notification of a supposed transfer I would have taken action to ensure the matter was resolved at that time.

I would state that I required them to waive their charges for any unbilled energy used more than 12 months previously, and to permit me to pay off the remaining balance in equal instalments over the next 12 months. I would also say that if they do not agree to this then I would follow their complaint process, ultimately to the Ombudsman if necessary.

I would further state that my complaint was with Eon (and not Ovo) because my contract was with Eon.

Finally I would demand that they respond in writing.

PS I would only take the above approach if I was fairly certain that Eon had taken no action to try to check the validity of the transfer. If they had taken such action, e.g. by sending you a "sorry you are leaving" type letter (even if you never received it), then they would not be a fault. In which case I would go for a much more conciliatory approach e.g. perhaps calling them to ask what was the best they could offer.

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

ecsb wrote: »

ovo transferred me back to eon, who are charging me as if i never left them. The erroneous transfer team are still working on my case.

Morning ecsb,

I'm glad that things do appear to be getting sorted out.

It's interesting that we're still working on your case, that's good, have you raised a complaint? This way you'll be able to be in contact with one person and can follow the complaints procedure if you need to.

It'll need to be investigated in to what's gone wrong, letters sent etc, this will determine resolution offers and payments arrangements.

I really hope this is sorted out quickly for you, it's with the right team here.

Helena

ecsb

Thank you naedanger.
Helena, i have one person dealing with my complaint but she seens to think that i have to take it up with ovo, and that is the end of it.

ecsb

Thanks to all, even to those who posted negative comments. I have now had my bill slashed from £679 to £449. I was contacted by eon earlier in the week before i had written my letter and offered compensation of £30. I refused and mentioned the back billing, the gentleman looked at account and said oh i hadn't realised this. My revised bill was sorted yesterday so i would say result. I would not have known about back billing without you lot. so thanks.