Edf trying to con £1400 for a quarter ??? SORTED THANKS

Streaky_Bacon

bimma wrote: »

i will speak to them on monday again, ask for evidence of tampering if they have it i,e pics to be emailed to me and then go from there. they will have records of the previous tenants top up history and as i say since Oct 18 the property has been empty. hence little to no use.

thanks for the info . i will update on monday

I would advise that you do this in writing rather than over the phone. Far better to get started on a good paper trail, and it gives you better control of the situation. You need to request all evidence that they have to support their claim against you.

9) this week i received a bill for £1400 for the QUARTER despite the house still being empty and the builders only using lighting from about a month ago

this is for a £399 RPS investigation charge
and a £1100 charge for THEFT OF ELECTRIC from over a year ago

How exactly is the bill worded? You may wish to post a copy of it here, with any identifying details removed.

D_M_E

Why did you continue using the tenant's topup cards/keys?

Why did you not contact EDF when the tenant left and get the accounts in your own name - or have I missed this?

Why are EDF chasing you if you continued using the tenant's keys/cards?

bimma

streaky bacon..i cant find a way to attach a file on the thread,,,so il try uploading it to google drive to post the link

but on page 1 it states your pre payment final electricity statement
This bill contains adjustments due to the detection of theft on the account.

page 2. about your charges: transfered item: 0.00
transferred item: 76.00 credit.
transfered item: £20.00

RPS damage: £80.10
RPS investigation charge: £399.60
RPS loss adjustment: £852.29 plus 5% vat

Total account activity: £1275.99

then further down eectricity recorded usage 18oct - march 19
01 april 19 - 30 sept 19
01 oct 19 to 15 oct 19
usuage £9.98
plus £107 standing charges plus 5% vat

d.m.e yes that was a stupid mistake of mine...i thought as its not quarterly billing its not as significant. the cards were there and the little usage for light or power tool plus standing charge was being paid for with those uptil april 2019 which they say they have records of. the meter went into 76 bebt due to it not being visited due to family berevement taking priority. the property needed major refurb top to bottom so when occupied i was planning on doing this altogether. but i saw a card had been posted in the previous tenants name in early oct saying they had visited and to call them urgently. so when i called them i told the lady that it was empty thats when she changed the details over and asked when the tenant had left. stupid oversight of mine i accept but again if there has been tampering then its not me responsble for it.

UPDATE:

spoke to them again this morning 23/12/19
the guy on the phone was basically very arrgant and implied that i the owner of the property was reponsible for charges.

i asked for what evidence he said...i dont have that information to hand all i can tell you is that they saw evidence of Marks on the tails and the consumer unit was wired in reverse

so i asked why did you not realise this whilst the tenant was living there that the usage was not right and investigate it before. i told him the usage was little to nothing since Oct 18 as the propert was empty. he was just taking me in circles.

He said it was the landlords responsibly to inspect the property to check ..i said why would any landlord open up an electric meter? its sealed unit. the reason to go near it is to take a meter reading and as it was pre pay the records were updated by key

he asked me now to prove that the owner was living elsewhere to show property was empty ...that is easy to do.. voters register , letters car insurance etc approx 5/6 different proofs from oct 18-dec 19

he was saying...are you implying it was not tampered...i said if you say its been tampered then you will need to provide evidence and secondly if it has been then it was done by the previous tenant so you will need to pursue them not me.

but he wanted proof to be sent of it being empty to there revenues dept: i have the structural engineers report carried out in dec 18 showing it needed a lot of work, with pics of lifted floor boards, broken plaster etc..uninhabitable. the report puts the adress of property and then is adressed to the owner at a different address. proof from water board letter showing that their records show property is empty. TV license email confirmation of empty property. their own engineers stated the property was under refurb on day of inspection too. how else could it be proven it was empty?

as it stands either there is no evidence or they dont want to send it to me

Streaky_Bacon

They won't be in a hurry to send you their evidence, but will push you to send them as much as possible to see if they can build a case.

I would again suggest switching to written communication only. If you do call them, make sure that you record the call.

You should write to them, disputing the bill, providing the reasons that you dispute the bill, and providing evidence as to who was in occupation prior to autumn 2018. If you have contact details for your tenant then you can provide those too.

Also demand that they send you all evidence that they have to support their claim. You can also send a Subject Access Request to see what they send you.

Your best bet is probably to simply use their complaints process and then the energy ombudsman in the first instance, so mark your letter to them as a formal complaint and ask them to resolve the matter and send you a final bill with just the charges you are liable for, along with providing all evidence that they are/were relying upon.

Send it in a letter and get a certificate of posting.

matelodave

Excellent advice.

Also keep copies of all correspondence (yours as well as theirs). I always follow up any e-mails with a hard copy sent by recorded delivery (so I know they've received it).

I avoid using the phone nowadays because so much either gets lost or is dealt with by someone who doesn't really know what is going on or hasn't got the authority to do anything about it even if they did.

bimma

will email them .
I found it strange that the operator wanted to be cc into any emails sent to the revenues dept.


I will email the complaints team and revenues dept.
the umbadsman said that they only take it on after the internal complaints is finished or a "deadlock"

Streaky_Bacon

bimma wrote: »

I will email the complaints team and revenues dept.
the umbadsman said that they only take it on after the internal complaints is finished or a "deadlock"

Better to send a letter (with certificate of posting or recorded delivery) and then send a copy of it as an attachment to an email. It will help with proof of service if there is ever any denial.

There is no reason that you cannot copy the revenue department to make them aware of the complaint but your main focus should be the complaints department. It is only the formal complaint to them that you can escalate, and it would also be easier for you to only be communicating with one point of contact in the organisation.

As you say there are rules regarding when you can escalate to the ombudsman.

bimma

update: 31/12/19

got this sorted , Thanks everyone who gave their input.
(bar the one user whose responses suggested i was guilty) (we all know who).

HAPPY NEW YEAR

here is the response i received via email:

Thank you for taking the time to write to us and provide the documents requested. As you have asked for a response in writing, I have not called, but if you would like to discuss this further please let me know.



The accounts for your property became subject to investigations due to the changed to the vend patterns, this was the initial reason we started to look into your property. The vends did not coincide with the dates the tenancy changed and we felt it was appropriate to complete a visit to check the meter was functioning correctly.


When we visited the property, whilst I note you mention the engineer did not relay his findings directly to you, his report confirmed a number of concerning factors surrounding the meters condition. The decision was made to replace the meter, to ensure it was left in a safe condition and at the same time a credit meter was fitted, as the positioning did not lend itself to topping up a prepayment meter.


Following all of the information you have taken the time to provide, we are satisfied that the broken seals and marks found on the meter are more indicative of the renovation work you are carrying out. Whilst we still feel there may have been historic tampering on the previous meter, we are satisfied that this was not during the period you took back responsibility of your property.


We have removed the previous charges applied to your account and noted clearly to show why these are not being recovered. I am very sorry for any inconvenience this situation has caused but are very grateful for your help and cooperation to explain some of the anomalies. Your account balance is now £38.57.


As we have been unable to speak, it is difficult to know if I have fully understood your concerns and if you are satisfied with the actions we have taken. Therefore I would be grateful if you could let me know if you are happy with this outcome by 7 January 2019.


You can contact our team on 0333 009 7021*. I work part time, so if I am unavailable any one of my colleagues would be happy to help. Alternatively you can respond to this email.


Yours sincerely


xxxxxxxxxxx

Swipe

Thanks for the update. Glad you got it all resolved. At least that will shut the naysayer on this thread up.