EON passed to debt collection agency.. grr

johkneebouy

Hi everyone, this morning i have recieved a letter from a debt collection agency claiming i had an outstanding balance on an EON account at my old address. When i moved home 2 and a half years ago, i stayed with EON and am still with them, i gave them last meter reading etc. As far as i was aware everything has been fine.  I noticed that the debt collection agency had an EON account reference which WAS not and IS not my account number (it is somewhat similar, but not the same) so i suspect that EON had set up an account in my name AFTER i had moved out. There is no new tennant in the old place as it has foundation issues which are (not) being fixed by the local housing association, i believe the housing association owe the debt (as i had moved out and they had taken back the property), and i believe that EON set up an account without my permission so that they had someone to claim some money off.  

Is it worth my time fighting with EON over this or should i just pay the debt company (£60, which 100% is not mine) ?  i dont want to 'admit guilt' by paying it.. but equally i know its not fair to me, especially 2 and a half years down the line.  Any help or opinion would be welcome, thanks.

edit: at no point did EON contact me at my new address to tell me of any outstanding money owed, they know where i am.

QrizB

Sounds like a case for a "prove it" letter:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2607247/letter-when-you-know-nothing-about-about-the-debt-aka-prove-it-letter

They need to be able to prove that you owe the money. Send them the letter and see what they come back with.

Ectophile

And open a formal complaint with EON too.  If you open a complaint, then they must start an investigation.

johkneebouy

I think thats going to be my 1st port of call on monday, calling EON and finding out what reasons they have for, at the very least not contacting me at current address, and why they (almost certainly) set up an account in my name after i had moved out.

JIL

This happened to me with ovo.

We were doing a lot of work on this house when we first bought it and I just added this onto my current provider.

It took a couple of weeks to go through, I then got a final bill from ovo. Addressed to the occupier. However it had a £6 paper bill fee on top of the £18 I owed.  I tried phoning but it was the height of covid, so I emailed.
I explained I was happy to pay but wasnt paying the £6. I got an email back to say as I wasn't registered with them, they couldn't discuss it.

I heard no more until a few weeks ago, where a letter addressed to me arrived from a debt company. They had bought the debt. 

I phoned them. We agreed a repayment amount and I paid £18,  which was less than half they wanted with the added charges. But was what I wanted to pay in  April 2020.

MalMonroe

johkneebouy said:

I think thats going to be my 1st port of call on monday, calling EON and finding out what reasons they have for, at the very least not contacting me at current address, and why they (almost certainly) set up an account in my name after i had moved out.

That's a good idea. I never pay bills I don't understand. Even if they are small - it all adds up! Don't forget to also ask EON why they didn't have the common courtesy to contact you before they called in a debt collector. It's really shabby treatment of a current, loyal customer. 

Don't pay up until you know what you are paying for. 

HeinzVarieties

MalMonroe said:

johkneebouy said:

I think thats going to be my 1st port of call on monday, calling EON and finding out what reasons they have for, at the very least not contacting me at current address, and why they (almost certainly) set up an account in my name after i had moved out.

That's a good idea. I never pay bills I don't understand. Even if they are small - it all adds up! Don't forget to also ask EON why they didn't have the common courtesy to contact you before they called in a debt collector. It's really shabby treatment of a current, loyal customer. 

Don't pay up until you know what you are paying for. 

Bills certainly add up when you don't understand things and refuse to pay bills you don't understand.

EssexHebridean

NEVER pay a bill for a debt that you do not believe is yours. Send the “prove it” letter, and wait for the DCA or billing organisation do just that. Paying debts “for a quiet life” or because it is easier is what will make life potentially a lot more expensive down the line as you are potentially paying the debt of someone with a similar name to yours - DCAs are renowned for sending “fishing” letter in the hope of finding just the sort of people who will pay up for the reasons above. 

Also - never speak to a DCA on the phone - in writing, always. That way there is proof of what has - and has not - been said. 

OP - leave the complaint until you’ve heard from the DCA or you risk inadvertently acknowledging the debt as yours. 

Curiousgirl1

johkneebouy said:

I think thats going to be my 1st port of call on monday, calling EON and finding out what reasons they have for, at the very least not contacting me at current address, and why they (almost certainly) set up an account in my name after i had moved out.

Just one little thing, if you rented the property did your tenancy agreement end the day you moved out or not? 

Know from experience that if you moved out, say 1st Jan & closed your account then, but your tenancy didn’t actually end until 1st Feb the HA would have contacted Eon to give the correct change over date & they would possibly set up a new account from when you closed. 

Hope that makes sense 

johkneebouy

Curiousgirl1 said:

johkneebouy said:

I think thats going to be my 1st port of call on monday, calling EON and finding out what reasons they have for, at the very least not contacting me at current address, and why they (almost certainly) set up an account in my name after i had moved out.

Just one little thing, if you rented the property did your tenancy agreement end the day you moved out or not? 

Know from experience that if you moved out, say 1st Jan & closed your account then, but your tenancy didn’t actually end until 1st Feb the HA would have contacted Eon to give the correct change over date & they would possibly set up a new account from when you closed. 

Hope that makes sense 

Makes sense, my tennancy ended 14th june when handing keys back.

The property is still vacant as HA have no money to fix the building.. i assume that because EON get no response from a resident or HA, they look for the last named person there.

EON should have contacted me at new address about any further debt, i am still with them so they know where i live.. its not rocket surgery, maybe its just all part of an automated system.

johkneebouy

EssexHebridean said:

NEVER pay a bill for a debt that you do not believe is yours. Send the “prove it” letter, and wait for the DCA or billing organisation do just that. Paying debts “for a quiet life” or because it is easier is what will make life potentially a lot more expensive down the line as you are potentially paying the debt of someone with a similar name to yours - DCAs are renowned for sending “fishing” letter in the hope of finding just the sort of people who will pay up for the reasons above. 

Also - never speak to a DCA on the phone - in writing, always. That way there is proof of what has - and has not - been said. 

OP - leave the complaint until you’ve heard from the DCA or you risk inadvertently acknowledging the debt as yours. 

You think i should just send the 'prove it' letter and NOT contact EON or DCA?

Part of me feels that i should contact EON and find out their reasonings for not contacting me at new address, and setting up an account without me even knowing about it, and tell them its the housing associations debt. Also, i'd love to know what the actual bill was supposed to be.