Help needed about pre paid meter debt

silver.squirrell

The FIRST communication I had from Eon, simply asked me if I lived at the property in question.

I told them I didn't live there I owned the property and let it out once the renovation work was done.

In their next communication (via email) they asked me when did I purchase the property and when was it let.

I willingly gave them the information they wanted because as I wrote in my last message I will always pay bills that I know I owe. and i have nothing to hide.

So it was the information I gave them that they put in their last email to me.

[Deleted User]

silver.squirrell wrote: »

The FIRST communication I had from Eon, simply asked me if I lived at the property in question.

I told them I didn't live there I owned the property and let it out once the renovation work was done.

In their next communication (via email) they asked me when did I purchase the property and when was it let.

I willingly gave them the information they wanted because as I wrote in my last message I will always pay bills that I know I owe. and i have nothing to hide.

So it was the information I gave them that they put in their last email to me.

Don`t forget that you would be responsible for all standing charges that can build up whilst property is vacant or being refurbed. That would show on the meter as debt on screen A of the electric key meters with either a minus sign or the word "debt " next to the amount..
Although the standing charge is probably only £2 a week it can build up if no one is crediting the meters .
. True debts are seen on screens "S " and "T " on electric meter s and screens 26 /27 on prepay gas meters. To see the electric meter debt screens the key has to be inserted then scroll through the screens pressing blue button

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

silver.squirrell wrote: »

Hello Malc,

I REALLY appreciate your message! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!

I read your email thinking this chap knows a lot, then I realised you work for Eon. :-)

I very genuinely don't know if I contacted Eon when I bought the property as its was the first rental property I bought with a Key meter in it, and I knew nothing about them. In fact I learnt more since I posted my question on this site than I EVER knew!!!!

As for the Key to the meter I think (but couldn't be 100% certain) that we used the key that was already there but.....????.

The tenant who occupied the property before it was sold to me had LOADS of people chasing them for money!!!! Most of them I managed to sort out while the property was being done up, but a few were not. So I got the tenant who moved into the property to send me ALL letters that were either addressed to the former tenant, or addressed to the current Occupier or to anyone else. I dealt with these letter one by one, either by replying via email, letter or me phoning them. I did this until the tenant in the property stopped getting letters. This is why I know Eon didn't contact me, as it would have been dealt with.

The first thing I knew about an outstanding debt was a letter arriving in the post to MY HOME ADDRESS (not the property that I let). I instantly contacted the debt recovery firm to see which firm thinks I owed them money. They told me it was Eon. A few very amicable emails have passed between us. In their last email to me they said I have 14 days to reply to it. So I thought I would ask for help/advice from MSE members.

What is sort of interesting in their last email to me they wrote:-

"I understand that you owned the property from XX/11/2013 which is when the supply for this account began. I can confirm that the supply for this account ended XX/02/2014 which is when you said your tenant moved in, which is why we and E.on Energy Solutions Ltd believe you are liable for this account".

"With this in mind, if you dispute your liability for this account, please can you clarify why this is"?

What was interesting to me was they used the words "believe you are liable for this account" The word "believe" implies uncertainty from their side. In the same way I am uncertain if I contacted Eon.

In the second paragraph they are asking me to almost prove "clarify" why I don't owe them money, when in fact the onus is on them to prove I do owe them money. To date they haven't come up with anything to prove I do. They haven't sent me any meter readings, or copies of letters they (Eon Energy) said were sent to me.

The other thing is, my tenant switched suppliers a few weeks after she moved in. Eon didn't contact her to say there was this debt. If they did, she would have contacted me or sent me the letter to deal with.

I am not the person who tries to avoid paying bills I know I owe, as its not the way I do things. If I get a bill I owe, it gets paid and gets paid ASAP!!!! But with this one, because of the passage of time, I can't remember everything that happened or what I did/didn't do.

Hello silver.squirrell and thanks for coming back to me.

It's good you're in touch about this. Is the period mentioned from November 13 to February 14 the time you were responsible for the property? If it was, it seems an account was set up for you.

I'm guessing but it could be this account was inserted between the old occupier's account and that of your tenants to cover the period you were responsible. This tends to happen where we're not originally told of a change and then updated later once one of the parties are in touch with proof they weren't responsible for a set period.

We still issue statements for prepayment customers even though energy is paid for in advance. These statements show the energy used and payments made. Usage is based on readings we're able to download remotely from key meters.

If you were using the existing key, the top-ups you made would've have registered against the old occupant as the keys are linked to individual accounts. Consequently, I suspect the account for the period you were responsible shows energy used and no payments made, leaving a debt balance.

You need to see the statements these charges are based on. If the above is right and your payments are on another account, they need transferring to your account to offset all or part of the debt.

Houbara makes an excellent point. Daily standing charges would've continued to build up even if no energy was used. Also, if Emergency Credit was used, we'll have looked to reclaim this once the meter was topped up. If we couldn't reclaim it this, too, would register as a debt. These charges would be valid.

As t0rt0ise says, we wouldn't talk to your tenant about a debt that wasn't theirs.

Hope this is useful silver.squirrell and sorry if some of my speculation is off track.

Malc

silver.squirrell

Hello Malc, and ALL the others who have kindly sent messages of help and advice!

Although there does seem to be some fort of "ambiguity" and I am not even sure if this is the right word, but it seems either due to me possibly not contacting Eon (which if I didn't) I needed to do then the consensus from the messages seems to indicate this bill became my responsibility.

Well the brutal reality is the bill isn't £8,000, or even £800 its under £80! and life is too short to be spending loads of time arguing over a "petty" amount like this. So for that reason I will contact the debt recovery firm and pay the bill and bring this matter to a close.

So I would like to thank EVERYONE (especially Malc from Eon) who willing gave their time and knowledge in helping me. But for me the case is now closed. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

silver.squirrell wrote: »

Hello Malc, and ALL the others who have kindly sent messages of help and advice!

Although there does seem to be some fort of "ambiguity" and I am not even sure if this is the right word, but it seems either due to me possibly not contacting Eon (which if I didn't) I needed to do then the consensus from the messages seems to indicate this bill became my responsibility.

Well the brutal reality is the bill isn't £8,000, or even £800 its under £80! and life is too short to be spending loads of time arguing over a "petty" amount like this. So for that reason I will contact the debt recovery firm and pay the bill and bring this matter to a close.

So I would like to thank EVERYONE (especially Malc from Eon) who willing gave their time and knowledge in helping me. But for me the case is now closed. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You're welcome silver.squirrell. Happy to help and thank you for your kind words. They're appreciated.

Malc