Chased by agency for e.on for bill that was paid in full by previous resident. Widespread issue?

crlong

Hello,

I am trying to determine if being chased for "non-existent" debts by e.on or other energy companies is a wide-spread problem.

The previous resident of my flat was an e.on customer and settled the amount owed in full and the account was closed with no money owed to e.on.

I have never been an e.on customer.

Through a debt-collection agency (I don't think the error is theirs, so at this stage I haven't identified them - they have been given incorrect information be e.on), I am being chased for about £120.

I have provided clear evidence, as final accoutn statement from e.on to the rpevious resident, to the agency that no money is owed to e.on and I was never an e.on customer. The agency do not acknowledge receipt of the final account statement. The agency do not provide information of their complaints procedure.

I have contacted e.on asking them to tell the debt agency that no money is owed. e.on have only return automated emails but no engagement with the problem. I have tried to contact e.on online though their chat and that system does not work.

I have to wait a few more weeks before engaging the Ombudsman - and e.on are at greater fault from initiating chasing a non-existent debt.

At this stage I am trying to find out if other people are experiencing similar problems with e.on or other energy companies starting debt collection actions for non-existent debts. If this is a problem that affects a number of other people does anyone have experience or knowledge of how to start some kind of "class action" to raise the profile of this problem get the parties involved to sort it out?


Thanks for any information or suggestions,

Clive Long

stewie_griffin

If E.ON were the supplier of the previous occupant then you would have inherited them as your supplier when you moved. If you didn't set up an account with them and simply switched to another supplier then they would have passed the details to a debt collection agency and asked them to find out who was responsible for the few weeks.

Ask for the dates that the alleged bill covers and if it coincides with when you moved in then it's yours to pay.

MalMonroe

Hi, yes this seems to happen a lot with E.ON.

There is also an @E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena  on this MSE forum site, perhaps we can summon her up by mentioning her here? 

She does pop on from time to time to answer people's queries and that'd be great if she could do it for you. Or you could do a search for her on this site. Or even click on the link!  (Sorry about that!)

Neil_Jones

crlong said:

Hello,

I am trying to determine if being chased for "non-existent" debts by e.on or other energy companies is a wide-spread problem.

The previous resident of my flat was an e.on customer and settled the amount owed in full and the account was closed with no money owed to e.on.

I have never been an e.on customer.

Through a debt-collection agency (I don't think the error is theirs, so at this stage I haven't identified them - they have been given incorrect information be e.on), I am being chased for about £120.

I have provided clear evidence, as final accoutn statement from e.on to the rpevious resident, to the agency that no money is owed to e.on and I was never an e.on customer. The agency do not acknowledge receipt of the final account statement. The agency do not provide information of their complaints procedure.

I have contacted e.on asking them to tell the debt agency that no money is owed. e.on have only return automated emails but no engagement with the problem. I have tried to contact e.on online though their chat and that system does not work.

I have to wait a few more weeks before engaging the Ombudsman - and e.on are at greater fault from initiating chasing a non-existent debt.

At this stage I am trying to find out if other people are experiencing similar problems with e.on or other energy companies starting debt collection actions for non-existent debts. If this is a problem that affects a number of other people does anyone have experience or knowledge of how to start some kind of "class action" to raise the profile of this problem get the parties involved to sort it out?


Thanks for any information or suggestions,

Clive Long

Class action?  What for exactly?

As above you would have inherited E.on as a supplier when you moved in regardless of what state the previous occupant left their account in, and with any luck you phoned them up and said hey I've moved into 17 Cherry Tree Lane as of October 9th (or whatever) can I have a new account please, my meter readings are xxxxx and yyyyy, thanks.

You did phone them up when you moved in, right?  If not... oh dear.

tim_p

crlong said:

Hello,

I am trying to determine if being chased for "non-existent" debts by e.on or other energy companies is a wide-spread problem.

The previous resident of my flat was an e.on customer and settled the amount owed in full and the account was closed with no money owed to e.on.

I have never been an e.on customer.

Thing is, you were. When you moved in e.On we’re the incumbent supplier and by moving in and using power (electric and/or gas) you became a customer. Presumably you set up an account giving banking details and meter readings before you moved to a supplier of your choice? 

Good luck with the ‘class action’. Let the forum know how it goes please. 

Londoner_1

Many years ago when i bought my home , first thing i done is took meter readings then phone up the energy co and handed them the details. They sent me a small bill in the name of the previous owner, i phoned up and complained they reversed the bill.

Reed_Richards

Sadly the "widespread issue" that crops up again and again on this board is the failure to understand what happens when you move in to a new property.  Surely when someone applies to the energy company of their choice they are told the start date and asked for meter readings on that date?  So people must know that between the day they moved in and that start date they used electricity (and gas if they have it) that they have not paid for.  Even so, a lot of people are confused and some respond angrily when asked to pay for that energy. 

The_Fat_Controller

Oh dear Clive, @crlong

You have obviously not followed the correct procedure.

You became an E.ON customer when you moved in, what date was that ?

Did you take opening readings when you moved in ?

Who do you think is actually your energy supplier, how did you contact them and when did you supply the opening readings to them ?

niktheguru

I get a feeling we aren't going to hear from Clive again.

Mister_G

Oh yes we have!

Smart meters - meter readings and switching suppliers ? — MoneySavingExpert Forum