Eon - Undercharging then huge final bill on Death

Flugelhorn

As to the question about where the money will come from to pay the bill - how much money was there in the estate? The expenses for the funeral would come first and then any debts would be paid out later.

No-one needs to pay anything to EON until it is clear whether there is money in the estate

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

thyphs wrote: »

Hello MSE Forums,

Looking for a little advice on behalf of my Mam and Dad.

A few weeks ago my Nan Died age 87, my Mam rang her Energy company (Eon) to settle the outstanding Bill. My Mam was told over the phone that the total bill to settle up would be just over £1600.

This is where i cant get my head around it, My Nan was on a payment plan, that was set by Eon, she got weekly letters telling her exactly how much to pay, this was paid in weekly installments and not a single payment was missed.
My mam was told that because no payments were ever missed then it possibly never flagged as being in Arrears.

I think its really Disgusting practice that a huge multi billion pound company can put older people in such large debt because of their own failings, then demand the money at the end.
Granted such money may have been owed, but an extra £20 a week paid over a few years is not anywhere near as bad as getting a huge bill at the end.

my question is
1) how can they do that
2) how does my mam then find £1600 out of thin air

thanks in advance

thyphs wrote: »

thanks people,

after a little digging Ive found out the following

my nan was on the Staywarm programme - for well over 10 years
This is setup through Eon
according to my Mam, the paperwork that has being coming through has been requesting £29 per week for the last 2 years, before that it was £26
the letter states that you should continue to pay the value on the letter.

I see the point about meter readings, ill enquire about that.

thyphs wrote: »

Hi All,

Just checked with my Mam and i slightly misunderstood.

It seems like what has happened is that between meter readings my nan has gone into arrears.
however, Eon have done nothing to solve the issues, they have continued to send weekly bills saying to pay the £29 per week.

now to generate arrears of £1600 this must have gone on for years, but Eon for whatever reason haven't changed the weekly payments. I imagine if this had continued the debt would have spiralled further.

My mam also said that she tried to speak to Eon several times about it, but as she wasnt the account holder they wouldnt deal with her, despite being told that my nan couldnt hear over the telephone. my mam said that she had assumed that the weekly amount covered the arrears, but on reflection it doesnt.

so yes the money is owed, no questions about that
But its very worrying that
a) Eon could see the debt rising and did nothing to stop it
b) when contacted about it wouldn't deal with my mam, even though my nan wasnt able to.

Hello thyphs and welcome to the Forums.

I'm really sorry to hear about the loss of your Nan. We totally appreciate this is a very difficult time and have set up a dedicated Bereavement Support team to help look after situations where a customer has passed away. More details of what they do and how to contact them are on our website.

Please ask your Mam to deal with this team only (they're open from 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday). They'll make sure all the necessary actions are taken and keep her up to date with what's happening. They'll ask for a copy of the death certificate, close the account and put it into the name of the executors or solicitors. They'll also open a new account in the name of the person taking over responsibility for the property.

They'll let your Mam know the final balance on the account and what to expect if the estate is going through probate. They'll also give her a direct phone number so she doesn't need to contact different areas of the business.

Your Mam should've been transferred to the Bereavement Support team by the advisor she spoke to and I'm sorry this didn't happen.

I hope this helps point you and your Mam in the right direction thyphs and please accept my condolences again for your loss.

Malc

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

wavelets wrote: »

The Eon Staywarm tariff was scrapped 5 years ago.
If your nan did not transfer to any other tariff, she would have been on the suppliers standard variable tariff (the most expensive) for the last 5 years.

It's not your mum's bill, it's your nans; it would need to be settled from your nan's estate.

Spot on wavelets. Our former Staywarm tariff was withdrawn from sale back in 2013. Once these contracts ended, unless we were told differently, customers would've been put on our Standard Variable Tariff, Energy Plan. We wrote to all those impacted at the time to let them know what was happening and to ask them to contact us to talk about suitable alternatives.

Malc

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Ms_Chocaholic wrote: »

It's a shame your mum didn't pretend to be your nan on the phone - I know this amounts to fraud but I often did this with my mum (in her presence) and at least it got things sorted, things that my mum found too anxious to deal with.

Hello Ms Chocaholic and just a quick heads up for E.ON customers in similar circumstances to yourself.

Totally appreciate there are situations, particularly with elderly relatives and friends or those with disabilities, where account holders aren't able or don't want to talk to us directly. To help, we've a Letter of Authority that can be used to give third parties permission to handle accounts on behalf of someone else. This can be downloaded from our website (Help and Support page) or we can send it through the post.

This only needs doing once. When we receive a completed form, it's logged on the relevant account and a headline created so there's no need to repeat the exercise.

Sorry to latch on to your post Ms Chocaholic. Thought it might help customers in difficult situations.

Malc