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

EssexHebridean

Template for “Prove it” letter is here - https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2607247/letter-when-you-know-nothing-about-about-the-debt-aka-prove-it-letter

MWT

EssexHebridean said:

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! 

That is certainly good advice, but the OP does need to make it clear when posting there that even though the father has no possible liability, they do personally have liability for the period up to 8th Jan and a good reason to want to avoid any 'late' markers on their file...

Ultrasonic

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?

Apologiies if you thought my reply was somehow 'aggressive'. I certainly didn't mean it to be. It was however late when I posted (00:13) so it was a quick reply to try not to give the OP false hope for a simple resolution, by means of something that you acknowledge would not be conclucsive.

Anousha1978

MWT said:

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.

Thank you for your reply. How do I avoid getting the late marker in this situation?

Anousha1978

EssexHebridean said:

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! 

Thank you for your reply, where exactly should I post this, apologies, I am not frequent here and so not sure what a DFW is. Thank you 

QrizB

Anousha1978 said:

Thank you for your reply, where exactly should I post this, apologies, I am not frequent here and so not sure what a DFW is. Thank you 

DFW - Debt-Free Wannabe, one of the other MSE Forums:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/debt-free-wannabe

EssexHebridean

MWT said:

EssexHebridean said:

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! 

That is certainly good advice, but the OP does need to make it clear when posting there that even though the father has no possible liability, they do personally have liability for the period up to 8th Jan and a good reason to want to avoid any 'late' markers on their file...

At the moment they aren’t personally being pursued, it *may* be relevant down the line, but if they can prove they handed the keys back ahead of the tenancy then their actual liability for any power use in the time between losing access and the tenancy would be distinctly questionable I believe. (For example, it would have been unreasonable for the landlord to have gone into the property the day after the keys were returned and turned heating up to full, then expected the former tenant to pick up that bill!) I agree that it’s relevant to make that cross over of dates clear if posting on DFW though.

 Anousha1978 said:

MWT said:

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.

Thank you for your reply. How do I avoid getting the late marker in this situation?

for now, worry about getting the Prove It letter sorted for your Dad  - if you subsequently get contact personally from the DCA then post on DFW for advice. (By the way absolutely do NOT give your own contact details on that Prove It letter!) It’s highly likely that the DCA haven’t bothered with you because they have already decided you are not liable - you dealt with closing readings etc correctly and so they “probably” see you as fully paid up and out of the picture - they’re looking for someone else who they can get an easy payment out of. 

wild666

The landlord should have changed the name on the bills into their name after they got the keys back. It doesn't matter, IMO, if you moved out earlier than a period they were charging the occupants for the bills should be the responsibility of the landlord if everyone moves out on the date you say. 
Also what is the letter of the first name on the letter your father received if both you and your father have the same letter to start the Christian name they would send both of you letters. These companies will just put Mr, Miss or Mrs on letters, otherwise, hoping that both paid the amount requested.  A copy of a final bill normally is enough for any claim to be dropped. 

If anyone should have got the letter it should have being you and not your father, sometimes Debt collection agencies buy copies of open registers and match multiple names against a property, i.e. registering to vote, I always opt out of the open registry, if you are someone who never votes then why register at all. 
Send them a prove it letter, I did that with a company many years ago and sent a copy of my final bill stating that if they pursued it further I would take county court action, I didn't hear from them again.

EssexHebridean

Absolutely do NOT send a copy of the final bill with your Father’s prove it letter OP, please! That would simply give them another name to go after if they were so inclined. You are best staying fully out of it right now, other than assisting your father of course! 

wild666

EssexHebridean said:

Absolutely do NOT send a copy of the final bill with your Father’s prove it letter OP, please! That would simply give them another name to go after if they were so inclined. You are best staying fully out of it right now, other than assisting your father of course! 

The name on the bill could be edited out either by blanking out the name or reediting the bill so that there is no name shown on the bill just the address. I should have mentioned this in my post, sorry.