EOn Charges after closing account

Vegarelife

I recently sold my house. Was with Eon, so I cancelled my electricity and gas with them (closed on an estimated final bill as I wasn’t near the property at the time to get a reading) and paid my final bill. The new owner took readings when they moved in and signed up with whoever they signed up with (don’t know who that is) but now they’re getting demanding letters addressed to ‘The Occupier’ saying £116 is owed and they might send the bailiffs around. She’s now chasing me to pay it. My question is, do I (or either of us) have to pay it if I was allowed to close my account on an estimated reading? I’m sure she’s not liable as she has proof of readings when they moved in, so why are they threatening her with bailiffs? Any advise welcome before I call Eon to try and sort it out! Thanks.

Neil_Jones

Vegarelife said:

I recently sold my house. Was with Eon, so I cancelled my electricity and gas with them (closed on an estimated final bill as I wasn’t near the property at the time to get a reading) and paid my final bill. The new owner took readings when they moved in and signed up with whoever they signed up with (don’t know who that is) but now they’re getting demanding letters addressed to ‘The Occupier’ saying £116 is owed and they might send the bailiffs around. She’s now chasing me to pay it. My question is, do I (or either of us) have to pay it if I was allowed to close my account on an estimated reading? I’m sure she’s not liable as she has proof of readings when they moved in, so why are they threatening her with bailiffs? Any advise welcome before I call Eon to try and sort it out! Thanks.

Estimated readings to close your account was the first mistake.  Never do this.

When the new owner moved in they'd have been on a deemed tariff with Eon from the off.  Even if they decided to move provider that wouldn't have happened for anywhere from 17 days up to six weeks, so six weeks worth of energy charges from Eon would apply.

Letters to "the occupier" would suggest the new owner didn't contact Eon and set up their own account with those readings.

Reed_Richards

Would Eon have permitted the switch to another provider if £116 was owing on the account?    

Gerry1

Why do you think E.On should take the hit because you failed to get your estate agent to take the final readings?  If you were allowed to get away with it then everyone would be able avoid paying their dues.

Pay the bill in full without arguing and send a bunch of flowers to the new owner for all the aggro you've caused her.

rp1974

She should be chasing you to pay it yes,your problem not hers.
Their threatening bailiffs because you haven't paid your debt.
If new occupant didn't register upon moving in your liable for what was used until they did so,and provided an actual meter reading,that's not fair but then neithers moving into somewhere with bailiffs knocking on the door.
OP you've got a bit of a cheek really,as you know fine well that the new occupant's not liable for it,just who do you think should be paying for it then?.

Reed_Richards

@Gerry1, if the bill had been intended for the OP, surely it would have been addressed to the OP, by name at least.  

Gerry1

Reed_Richards said:

@Gerry1, if the bill had been intended for the OP, surely it would have been addressed to the OP, by name at least.  

Yes, it does sound like the new occupant may not have registered with E.On, and if so she'll have the problem of being on an expensive deemed E.On tariff for a few weeks rather than the provider to whom she thought she had switched.

However, assuming her opening reading was accurate there's no reason to expect her to pay for any of the OP's usage.

Reed_Richards

Gerry1 said:

....assuming her opening reading was accurate there's no reason to expect her to pay for any of the OP's usage.

What reason do you have for thinking she is being asked to pay for the OPs usage?  If she took opening readings and supplied them to Eon then Eon would know who the occupier is.  If she took opening readings and supplied them to her new provider then she hasn't been looking carefully at her bills and noticing that they don't start from the day she moved in.

Gerry1

Reed_Richards said:

Gerry1 said:

....assuming her opening reading was accurate there's no reason to expect her to pay for any of the OP's usage.

What reason do you have for thinking she is being asked to pay for the OPs usage?  If she took opening readings and supplied them to Eon then Eon would know who the occupier is.  If she took opening readings and supplied them to her new provider then she hasn't been looking carefully at her bills and noticing that they don't start from the day she moved in.

The OP admits that she’s not liable because 'she has proof of readings when they moved in.'

So who else does the OP think should be liable for the shortfall which was caused by the OP's failure to arrange for a final reading to be taken?

It's likely that the estimated readings turned out to be too low because it has been a cold winter.

Hasbeen

Vegarelife said:

I recently sold my house. Was with Eon, so I cancelled my electricity and gas with them (closed on an estimated final bill as I wasn’t near the property at the time to get a reading) and paid my final bill. The new owner took readings when they moved in and signed up with whoever they signed up with (don’t know who that is) but now they’re getting demanding letters addressed to ‘The Occupier’ saying £116 is owed and they might send the bailiffs around. She’s now chasing me to pay it. My question is, do I (or either of us) have to pay it if I was allowed to close my account on an estimated reading? I’m sure she’s not liable as she has proof of readings when they moved in, so why are they threatening her with bailiffs? Any advise welcome before I call Eon to try and sort it out! Thanks.

The advice you are looking at is to call EON. Not to try and sort it out, but to actually pay for the energy you have used, and seemingly now do not want to pay for it.

Oh and the flowers/box of chocolates is good idea. But sadly with some peoples attitudes these days, will presumably not happen? 

Vegarelife

Wow - so much anger amongst people on here! I actually closed off the account in good faith and as they said I could do it on an estimated reading, I assumed they were happy that it may not be correct. Naive maybe, but not malicious. I’m just baffled as to why they would allow you to close an account on that basis without letting you know you’d be liable for any excess (especially as they don’t have a forwarding address for me)!

O now have the advice I asked for - rather more aggressively than I expected - but thanks I guess. I think I’ll ask elsewhere if I have a future request!