EOn Charges after closing account

[Deleted User]

I suspect that there must be a cohort of renters that move out of a property without providing a meter reading, and those who deliberately give a reading which is lower than the actual meter reading in an attempt to save a few £s on a Final Bill. I suspect also that there are a number of people who forget that they are liable for daily standing charges until the date that their letting agreement runs out, or until A N Other takes on responsibility for the property. It is not surprising that ts and cs are written as they are.

rp1974

Not so much that the OP put someone else into that situation without a backwards glance that irked me,what tipped me over the edge was the cavalier attitude at having done that,then seeking to avoid payment.
Just cant understand why anybody thinks the OP's conduct warrants a there,there,poor you response.

Vegarelife

Neil_Jones said:

Vegarelife said:

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!

You get "anger" because the issue you've posted about is entirely self inflicted.  Cancelling your accounts because you've moving house doesn't automatically write off anything that has been outstanding when you gave it.  You may have been on a quarterly billing cycle, so the bill you thought was your "final" bill clearly wasn't.  And they don't need a forwarding address, if you move house you'll normally take yourself off the electoral register at 221B Baker Street and add yourself onto your new house at 17 Cherry Tree Lane or update your ddetails with the bank, and that goes into credit report.  Debts don't just vanish into thin air because you move house, and even then they would have had six years to enforce it anyway.

Of course if you'd read your meter properly in the first place it might not have been £116 owed.  But you'll never know now so...

Best thing I would suggest is to learn from it, and when (or if) you move house again, read your meters.

I still don't agree that it deserved the agitation. Again, it was naive, and thanks to your explanation here it entirely makes sense and I wasn't looking it in that way initially - now I am, so thank you. People are just far to quick to attack online hiding behind their computers rather than providing helpful, unemotional advice!

Vegarelife

Reed_Richards said:

I don't know what provoked such a hostile response; I don't think you deserved it @Vegarelife   However you should be aware that a final bill is not final.  It's the energy companies exploiting a loophole in the regulations whereby if you ask for a bill they are obliged to respond quite promptly but they can change their mind and issue a revised bill for any time up to about a year afterwards.

Thank you! This makes sense now and it wasn't something I'd considered before as it was a 'final bill'! And thanks too for being a decent human being!

Vegarelife

Reed_Richards said:

What @matelodave and others say is based on reading more into what the OP told us than we know for certain to be true.  It could be that the demand for £116 is the difference between the estimated reading and the true final reading but we don't know that for sure.  If it is then Eon is being ridiculously obtuse sending this bill to "the occupier" without explanation.  If Eon agreed to a "final" bill based on estimated usage then they really should have mentioned that they would almost certainly revise the bill later.  And taken note of an address to send it to.     

Yes that's my point really! There was no explanation that the final bill wasn't actually a final bill - so it's come as a surprise, and I wanted to make sure I really was liable to pay it before just handing over the money without questioning it! Apparently that gets people's backs up and it's my fault for not knowing! Hey ho - thanks for being reasonable and sane in your responses, and taking the time to do so !

Vegarelife

Gerry1 said:

Reed_Richards said:

You've really taken against the OP, haven't you @Gerry1 ?

No, I just feel sorry for the new occupier.

Moving house is stressful and expensive even at the best of times, but during a pandemic it must be a nightmare, especially if you are furloughed or worried about job prospects.

Ideally when the big day comes and you open the door you'd find the vendor had left a bottle of wine, some flowers and a Welcome To Your New Home card.  Perhaps even a few handy tips: read the meters, call X for electricity, Y for gas, and don't worry if you hear A in the middle of the night it's only caused by B, Doctor C is very good, there's a good butcher at D, pub E has good beer and serves a delightful F, etc.  Only little things, but they can make all the difference.

We can only speculate, but perhaps the buyer will look back and instead only remember the undeserved hassle and worry of being hit with a bill that wasn't hers, having to fight off bailiffs, and all at at time when all her available funds had been swallowed up by the house purchase and move.

But all the OP is worried about is whether they can evade payment !

I think that sort of behaviour speaks for itself, but obviously we have different values and will have to agree to disagree.

Wow - there really are a huge number of assumptions being made here. Congratulations on being so judgmental! I actually had, and still do have a very good relationship with the person who bought the house. They haven't been under undue stress, and have been understanding in my confusion over the situation. I was merely on here asking for factual advice about the billing processes of the likes of Eon. Letting you know how apologetic I've been or what actions I've taken personally with those people is totally off topic and nothing to do with the facts required in this instance. People like you are exactly the reason people don't like to stand up and ask for advice when they're not sure on something. I definitely was not trying to evade payment if I was liable for it - which it's clear I am so I've paid it - I just wanted to be sure I actually WAS liable before handing the money over without knowing the facts. How dare I eh?

Vegarelife

rp1974 said:

Not so much that the OP put someone else into that situation without a backwards glance that irked me,what tipped me over the edge was the cavalier attitude at having done that,then seeking to avoid payment.
Just cant understand why anybody thinks the OP's conduct warrants a there,there,poor you response.

Erm, I wasn't looking for sympathy? Just facts to make sure I'm taking the right action. Seems that's not allowed on here without people making massive assumptions and taking the moral high ground. Says far more about you lot than me I'm afraid.

Reed_Richards

@Vegarelife , I suggest you just pay attention to the response from @E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena over on page 2; it's far and away the most apposite.  Helena is always diplomatic and does credit to the company she represents.

Vegarelife

Reed_Richards said:

@Vegarelife , I suggest you just pay attention to the response from @E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena over on page 2; it's far and away the most apposite.  Helena is always diplomatic and does credit to the company she represents.

It’ll all been sorted and paid now, thanks

Reed_Richards

I'm glad you got it all sorted.  I'm sorry you encountered so much unfair criticism with people leapfrogging over each other's false assumptions rather than attending to what you actually wrote.