EON PASSED DEBT MY FATHER DOESN'T OWE TO COLLECTION AGENCY

A_Lert

Yes, there are templates around for prove-it letters, for example https://debtcamel.co.uk/prove-it/ has a brief one. (There's others that quote a bunch of laws).

Your father, not you, needs to send the letter, or at least read it and sign it after you draft it. And send it to the debt collection agency.

Anousha1978

HeinzVarieties said:

Ultrasonic said:

HeinzVarieties said:

 Do you have any evidence you were resident somewhere else?

How would that help?

Because it would at least show that he was resident somewhere else rather than the property. It's not conclusive evidence that he wasn't responsible for the electricity in the property, but it's better than nothing.

Do you always make such needlessly aggressive responses on a forum intended to help people?

I could prove it easily for myself as I was the sole Bill owner during the time my father lived with me in all rented before properties and the house i bought into which we both moved in on the 28 Dec 2017). We could  probably check with his GP when was new address advised (he is disabled so thsi would have been done the latest on the 18TH Dec when moving out to ensure all surgery comms are heading to the new address) would that help?

Anousha1978

A_Lert said:

When did the tenancy agreement end? It's the tenancy end date that marks the end of obligation to pay the bills (and also the rent). The tenancy end is sometimes after the move-out date.

Anyway your father needs to send a "prove it" letter in the first instance.

Edit: If your father was not the tenant, then the debt is almost certainly not his. The ex-landlord may have fraudulently given his details to the energy company.

Goodness, just checking my old email. Actually the landlord was ok with me moving on 18th but charged rent till 8 January 2018 as she wouldn't agree to less than 4 weeks notice even though she stated she will not seek new tenancy as she is planning to sell. I do have chain of emails tho where I confirmed to her I moved out on 18th and also that I advised energy company of final readings that day. She asked me by return to drop the keys to property to an agent managing the property for her once we have left.

Is this going to be an issue, the length of notice? 

Anousha1978

Anousha1978 said:

A_Lert said:

When did the tenancy agreement end? It's the tenancy end date that marks the end of obligation to pay the bills (and also the rent). The tenancy end is sometimes after the move-out date.

Anyway your father needs to send a "prove it" letter in the first instance.

Edit: If your father was not the tenant, then the debt is almost certainly not his. The ex-landlord may have fraudulently given his details to the energy company.

Goodness, just checking my old email. Actually the landlord was ok with me moving on 18th but charged rent till 8 January 2018 as she wouldn't agree to less than 4 weeks notice even though she stated she will not seek new tenancy as she is planning to sell. I do have chain of emails tho where I confirmed to her I moved out on 18th and also that I advised energy company of final readings that day. She asked me by return to drop the keys to property to an agent managing the property for her once we have left.

Is this going to be an issue, the length of notice? 

Even tho I can prove I did no longer lived there and had no access to the place after 18th?

Anousha1978

Anousha1978 said:

Anousha1978 said:

A_Lert said:

When did the tenancy agreement end? It's the tenancy end date that marks the end of obligation to pay the bills (and also the rent). The tenancy end is sometimes after the move-out date.

Anyway your father needs to send a "prove it" letter in the first instance.

Edit: If your father was not the tenant, then the debt is almost certainly not his. The ex-landlord may have fraudulently given his details to the energy company.

Goodness, just checking my old email. Actually the landlord was ok with me moving on 18th but charged rent till 8 January 2018 as she wouldn't agree to less than 4 weeks notice even though she stated she will not seek new tenancy as she is planning to sell. I do have chain of emails tho where I confirmed to her I moved out on 18th and also that I advised energy company of final readings that day. She asked me by return to drop the keys to property to an agent managing the property for her once we have left.

Is this going to be an issue, the length of notice? 

Even tho I can prove I did no longer lived there and had no access to the place after 18th?

Obviously I took pics of last readings before I vacated the flat, I wouldn't have access to the property after moving out so these wouldn't change, whether provided on 18th Dec or 8 January. 

worrywart_3

That makes it far more ambiguous as you still had a tenancy agreement until a later date. 

QrizB

There are two issues here.

1. Your father. He wasn't the tenant and has no liability. He should send them a "prove it" letter and find out why they think he owes EON anything.

2. You. From the sound of it, you might have still been the tenant, at least until the 8th of January. Exactly what does your correspondence with your old landlord say - did your tenancy end on the 18th of December, or did it continue to the 8th of January? Nevertheless, no-one is currently askling you to pay a penny so you should wait until the collection agency contact you.

Anousha1978

QrizB said:

There are two issues here.

1. Your father. He wasn't the tenant and has no liability. He should send them a "prove it" letter and find out why they think he owes EON anything.

2. You. From the sound of it, you might have still been the tenant, at least until the 8th of January. Exactly what does your correspondence with your old landlord say - did your tenancy end on the 18th of December, or did it continue to the 8th of January? Nevertheless, no-one is currently askling you to pay a penny so you should wait until the collection agency contact you.

I have let the landlord know I will be moving out on the 18th however she didn't agree to shorter notice period than 4 weeks and requested payment till 8 January. The tenancy agreement hasn't been amended with the end of tenancy date, it was all concluded by email, the landlady is London based. I physically moved out on the 18th, which I confirmed in an email to her and let Eon know this has happened on the 18th and provided meter reading then. 
The debt agency has contacted my father by letter on his new address, there is no mention of me anywhere, they chase him for this debt.
As I said I can pay that amount and this would go away. My dad doesn't plan to borrow money in the future, he doesn't have a credit card or any other borrowings. He is on UC so I assume they would try and collect money by taking it of it.
If we dispute this as its not his debt, is there a chance now I would be liable for part of it until 8 January and so would that create an issue for my credit history. The period Eon claims for is 19 December 2017 to 2 February 2018, so way past the 4 weeks notice I gave. 

MWT

Anousha1978 said:

If we dispute this as its not his debt, is there a chance now I would be liable for part of it until 8 January and so would that create an issue for my credit history. The period Eon claims for is 19 December 2017 to 2 February 2018, so way past the 4 weeks notice I gave.

From what you have said, there is no doubt that you are liable for the period up to the end of your tenancy on 8th January, but you should not be liable for the remainder of the period claimed up to 2nd Feb.

The problem is you don't have a meter reading for the 8th Jan, but that could be estimated.

Your landlord should have put the energy contract in their own name from the 8th Jan but like a lot of landlords decided to let that slip until the new tenants arrived in the hope they would inadvertently cover the missing period.

The one certainty is that your father is not liable for any of this, they probably pulled his name off of the electoral register and just sent out the letter in hope of prompting a payment.

Re your credit history, yes, you could get a 'late' marker for this which would probably be better to avoid.

EssexHebridean

First - and at the moment ONLY thing to do is to send (from your Dad, not you!) the “Prove it” letter you will find in the Debt Free Wannabe board stickies. This is almost certainly a DCA “fishing trip” - they’ve found a name associated with the property and so they’re trying it on to see if they can get an easy payment. Ultimately you know they CAN’t prove it, so chances are that is the last you’ll hear from them. 

Doing ANYTHING else risks you (your father) acknowledging the debt, which you absolutely do not want to do! If you have any further questions post over on DFW - that’s where ALL posts of this type really need to be as that’s where the experts on dealing with the shark-like underlife aka DCA’s can be found!