Can I be charged a late payment fee when I have a direct debit set up?

Qotn

I moved into a new house in July. In the first week I phoned the energy company and set up a direct debit. 

August, no payments taken.

I have a theory that the old occupiers phoned and said they'd moved out, so the energy company removed the current occupier (me) from the address.

I phoned the energy company up, was told that they will sort it. I went away feeling fobbed off but gave them the benefit of the doubt.

I started receiving bills addressed to "the occupier" for £71.

I phoned them again end of August and was told that that my theory may be correct, gave them my details again, direct debit set up again. I was told my DD amount is high so that at the end of 6 months I'll be on track from the 3 months I'm behind.

September, direct debit comes out. So far so good.

October, I recieved a final notice bill addeessed to me (the first letter in my name) for £71 and threatening late payment fees. I took no action as I have a direct debit set up already, and this is one of the methods of payment mentioned in the letter.

Yesterday I noticed a charge on my online account for a late payment fee. I rang up and was told this is correct, it's because I owe money, my DD amount is not enough, and the bill and late payment fees are correct. 

I made a complaint and was told that someone will contact me within 30 days, but I may accrue further late payment charges in that time- it doesn't matter that the account is in dispute. It doesn't matter that it's their error that put me behind.

So, my question is- can they send me bills above and separately to my direct debit, complete with late payment charges?

ariarnia

you now have a formal complaint so i would let that trundle on. i don't think (but could be wrong) they can add charges to an account in dispute during the dispute. or (if you can afford to) you can pay the outstanding amount then get it refunded if/when you are proved right. 

in 8 weeks you can escalate the dispute to the ombudsman, then you will need to make your case and give your evidence. they will then consider who did what and why. 

if i were you i would ask for the recordings of the calls and customer service notes (you can have them under an foi request) they only keep them for 90 days and the important thing would be to have the evidence of the call when you set up the dd for the second time and what the adviser said about your dd being set at the level needed to cover the months when they didn't take the dd. that will hopefully justify why you didn't do anything about the letters for a couple of months and that the whole problem was because your supplier cancelled your dd incorrectly after you had set it up. 

wild666

The payment of £71 could be for the previous occupier and they think it's you. If your DD is paying for the usage from when you gave your opening reading, the reading should have been done on the day of completion, not days or weeks later.
They shouldn't have removed you as the occupier if the past occupier phoned to say they had moved they should have, IMO, just removed the previous name associated with the address, theirs and not yours. 

If the previous occupier has given correct readings and you took a while to give an opening reading then you are libel for the usage from the date the previous occupier moved out and they might have left the heating on so as not to cause any damp or mould until the next occupant took over the tenancy.

Bacman

You are not liable for bills from the previous occupier and as the bill it was addressed "The occupier" whereas your account you set up will have your name, this would tend to answer the question. If you know the names of the previous occupiers and ideally their forwarding address, you can pass that onto the supplier and insist they either delete the debt from the address or delete it from your account and chase the previous occupants. You will know from your bills if in fact they have charged you wrongly as you would have taken a note of your moving-in readings, yes?

Qotn

wild666 said:

The payment of £71 could be for the previous occupier and they think it's you. If your DD is paying for the usage from when you gave your opening reading, the reading should have been done on the day of completion, not days or weeks later.
They shouldn't have removed you as the occupier if the past occupier phoned to say they had moved they should have, IMO, just removed the previous name associated with the address, theirs and not yours. 

If the previous occupier has given correct readings and you took a while to give an opening reading then you are libel for the usage from the date the previous occupier moved out and they might have left the heating on so as not to cause any damp or mould until the next occupant took over the tenancy.

It's definitely us, the dates and meter readings match up. 

I know they shouldn't have done, but I can't think of another explanation. I phoned and set up an account and DD, got confirmation emails with account numbers. Then started getting bills for "the occupier" and the DD didn't go out. I phoned up and was told my account number wasn't attached to an address (though it was at some point or how did I get the emails?). The "the occupier" bills are from the period between us moving in and me re-setting up the DD

It doesn't apply here, because we have smart meters, took readings on moving in day, and made an account within days of moving in, but you are incorrect about us being liable from when the previous occupier moved out- the landlord is liable for any interim period between tenants. 

Qotn

Bacman said:

You are not liable for bills from the previous occupier and as the bill it was addressed "The occupier" whereas your account you set up will have your name, this would tend to answer the question. If you know the names of the previous occupiers and ideally their forwarding address, you can pass that onto the supplier and insist they either delete the debt from the address or delete it from your account and chase the previous occupants. You will know from your bills if in fact they have charged you wrongly as you would have taken a note of your moving-in readings, yes?

It is for us, the dates and meter readings match when we moved in. I phoned and set up an account and DD in July, got confirmation emails with account numbers. Then in August started getting bills for "the occupier" and the DD didn't go out. I phoned up and was told my account number wasn't attached to an address (though it was at some point or how did I get the emails?). The "the occupier" bills are from the period between us moving in and me re-setting up the DD

Qotn

ariarnia said:

you now have a formal complaint so i would let that trundle on. i don't think (but could be wrong) they can add charges to an account in dispute during the dispute.

I said this on the call, and the guy said he could not guarantee this because my payments are and still will be late.

ariarnia said:

if i were you i would ask for the recordings of the calls and customer service notes (you can have them under an foi request) they only keep them for 90 days and the important thing would be to have the evidence of the call when you set up the dd for the second time and what the adviser said about your dd being set at the level needed to cover the months when they didn't take the dd.

Thank you, I will do this.

ariarnia

i think if they are proved right you can be charged but if you are proved right they will be voided and any payment refunded. why i suggested you might want to pay if you can afford it then add it to the amount you are claiming from the ombusdman. they also have some service standards to meet which guarentee compensation of (i think) £30 per thing they do wrong so failing to take the dd on time or cancelling it incorrectly then billing you probably mean you will get something.