Debt Recovery Agent C.A R.S

MGB43

yesterday I received a call from a debt recovery agent CARS, on behalf of E.On claiming I owe £330 for unpaid energy Bill's. I moved into a rental property on the 14.1 and through my estate agent I appointed SPARK as my energy supplier and I received a confirmation mail from them 11.1 my account and DD was setup. the owner of the property and previous occupants cancelled the E.On contract they had and settled their final bill 14.1 and supplied the final meter readings to them. 4 months on and out of the blue I get this bill from E.On, i have contacted them, sent a copy of my Tennant agreement and the SPARK email confirmation all with dates clearly shown. I have never been approached by E.On prior to this bill and I pay a monthly DD to SPARK for all my energy. I called E.On once again yesterday and was told they continued the gas to the property until the 21.1 and they asked for my reading on 21.1 as this bill is estimated but I dont have this extra reading, only the final reading/start reading from the 14.1 when I did the handover with the owner. £330 bill for 7days gas is ridiculous and now they have passed on the debt. What can I do?

Gerry1

Unfortunately if you didn't register with E.On you'll have been on an expensive Deemed Contract. It also seems like you relied on the previous occupant to supply the closing meter reading. If they just happened to 'misread' it, you'll be paying for their consumption !  Sadly there may not be much you can do now, especially if you haven't been taking monthly meter readings.

Estate and letting agents love Spark because they get a kickback at your expense.  Whatever the outcome with E.On, you need to move away from Spark PDQ because you're likely to be paying far more than you need.

MGB43

so what your saying is I need to pay an energy supplier who i have never appointed as my energy supplier? the final meter reading was taken with me and the owner the day I moved in and she cancelled the contract with E.On as she was no longer living at the property. regardless of kickbacks the estate agent gets how can I be paying two energy suppliers for the same property when I only have a contract and T&Cs with SPARK? 

Gerry1

Sadly that's the way the system works: the moment you enter the property and switch on a light you are in a Deemed Contract with the existing supplier, and the rates will be expensive.  Even though you started a switch promptly, it takes about three weeks to happen, and you'll have been paying only E.On for usage during that period.

Did you verify the meter reading that she took? If so, you should be able to look at your readings since then (you have been sending them, haven't you?) and to work out whether E.On's estimated reading is realistic.

You agent hasn't served you well.  You now need to focus on getting a better deal than the one you've been lumbered with.

brewerdave

The landlord cannot "cancel" the supply with EON - just give closing readings for their "occupation". As the new tenant you are immediately on a deemed contract with EON until you arrange a switch which normally takes 17 days plus to go thru, so I'm surprised that EON are only looking for effectively 7 days supply. Its easy enuf to work out your daily consumption ,so you can work out  a figure for the 21st which will be good enough to sort the EON bill out . You will then have the problem of persuading Spark (OVO) to accept a new ,higher opening read.

MGB43

so can I demand a refund from SPARK for charges paid when clearly they weren't my energy supplier? a £330 bill for 7 days is daylight robbery!

Gerry1

MGB43 said:

so can I demand a refund from SPARK for charges paid when clearly they weren't my energy supplier? a £330 bill for 7 days is daylight robbery!

Spark haven't charged you £330, you said it was E.On.  E.On were your supplier for around three weeks until until your contract with Spark came into effect.

dogshome

You do have the Gas reading taken from the Start of your tenancy and the Eon bill is ESTIMATED, so read your gas meter today and send it to Eon

This mess is down to your letting Agent, ( though they will never admit it )  - The way Spark get their customers is to pay the LA a kick-back to Switch a dwellings provider to Spark whilst the the dwelling is in Limbo between tenants - The Switch process usually takes a minimum of 21 days - In your case although the tenant change was almost instant, the LA's greed drove them to initiate a Switch to Spark as you moved in. but you would still be with Eon till the Switch was completed.

Hopefully your new Gas read to Eon will sort out their demand to a sensible level, but I'm sorry to say that if you think Eon's bill is ridiculous, wait till you see your Spark bill - Get away from them a.s.a.p.

Talldave

Never allow letting/estate agents to meddle with any utilities associated with a rental property. Most are incompetent at anything property related and massively incompetent at anything utility related.  As said above,  their helpfulness is financially motivated. 

This includes not trusting any meter reading taken by an agent unless you've verified it with your own eyes.

When anything goes wrong with accounts they have set up in your name you won't see them for dust.