I think I'm being scammed by EON

anonymous_poor_lady

Hi all,

This morning I was surprised with a debt collection letter from bw legal.

Here is a summary of my situation:
- My husband and I were both tenants at another flat until 25th November 2020 (we have the tenancy agreement to prove that).
- My name was the only name in the electricity bill, when we moved out I closed the account (I have the final bill to prove that, and I even received a refund from EON for left over credit).
- Today my husband received a letter from bw legal (working for PRAC, which apparently bough the debt from EON).
- They claim he owes £96 for the period of 26th Nov to 6th Dec 2020, which we were not living in the property anymore.
- They are offering a discounted price of £33 to settle, which we can easily afford, but I do not think it's fair, given that it is not his debt.

What is the best action at this moment?

Should I pay and forget about this? Or else who should I contact? 

Thanks!

Gerry1

You're the fourth this week...

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6318063/scam-or-glitch

Curiousgirl1

This must be a scam, never known an energy company to give a discounted price for clearing a debt. 

This is the 3rd of 4th if these. Either Eon is having a purge on passed unpaid bills or something odd going on 

EssexHebridean

Eon will have just sold a load of debts to DCAs. 

Same advice as on the other threads - send the prove it letter, only the prove it letter, and nothing else, to the DCA. If you get anything further from them, post on the Debt Free Wannabe board on here for more advice. 

anonymous_poor_lady

EssexHebridean said:

Eon will have just sold a load of debts to DCAs. 

Same advice as on the other threads - send the prove it letter, only the prove it letter, and nothing else, to the DCA. If you get anything further from them, post on the Debt Free Wannabe board on here for more advice. 

Thanks! Should I sent it to PRAC or the legal company (bw legal)?

Also, should I send via email? Post? Or both?

EssexHebridean

Send it hard copy, in the post, to the organisation that has written to you, and make sure you get proof of posting. Full instruction is within the “sticky” thread on the DFW board where the template can be found. 

It’s not a scam by the way, and Eon now have nothing to do with it really - it is a fishing trip by the DCA though - their hope is that people will just pay up without arguing, in which case they make a decent profit! Generally once the prove it letter is received by them that’s the last you’ll hear. 

Fyne

If this has nothing to do with Eon, then surely it should be reported as a scam to Action Fraud. Why would a 'fishing trip' not be a scam, a company is trying to get money by false pretences.

https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/reporting-fraud-and-cyber-crime 

MWT

Fyne said:

If this has nothing to do with Eon, then surely it should be reported as a scam to Action Fraud. Why would a 'fishing trip' not be a scam, a company is trying to get money by false pretences.

https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/reporting-fraud-and-cyber-crime 

E.ON have represented to the debt collectors that the debts are valid and owed and then sold them to the debt collectors for pennies on the pound.

Having sold the debt, E.ON have no further legal interest in the debt so to that extent E.ON have nothing to do with how the debt is being collected any more, that does not make it 'fraud'.

The 'fishing' comes in because the debt collector who have bought these debts do not want to spend a lot on collecting, so they fire off a bunch of letters using what they can find easily, from a mixture of the information E.ON have given them, and other sources like the register of voters.

That again is not in itself 'fraud', just the nature of their business, they are attempting to collect a debt they have been told is real, if you believe you are the wrong person or the debt is not owed then send the 'prove it' letter....

EssexHebridean

In some cases a fishing trip can simply and safely be ignored - but in the cases highlighted here,  it's a better route to send the prove It as there is the possibility of a genuine account associated with the person involved in some way. You send the letter demanding they prove it, they can't, so they go away. 

anonymous_poor_lady

Thanks for the advice. My husband is sending the prove it letter today. I'm confident that we do not owe them any money, I have all the proof that we were not living at the property anymore, together with evidence that I informed EON about moving out of the property. Fingers crossed.

MWT

Just a guess, but I suspect that many of these 'debts' are being caused by people moving in and not registering with the existing supplier before switching elsewhere.

Net result is the only details E.ON have associated with the meter point are those of the previous occupier.

This isn't likely to be a very profitable batch of accounts for the debt collectors.