Electricity tariff after death

lisyloo

My father has passed away and his house is unoccupied.
Electric is with EDF.
he was on DD but that is now Cancelled and at the moment there is no money pending probate which can take a while.

Should his tariff have gone to cash/cheque?

I am just asking if this is the process for the deceased. I am not complaining or saying its wrong. I just want to make sure as I don’t trust them or their customer service.

thankyou 

ariarnia

hi lisyloo. very sorry for your loss. 

i dont know why you dont trust them but i'm assuming youve notified the edf bereavement team why the dd has been cancelled? https://www.edfenergy.com/for-home/help-support/bereavement-support

at the bottom of that page are some links to cruze (a bereavement charity) and citizens advice who can help with any questions or if you need someone to talk to. 

but. as far as i know cancelling the dd is normal and what's supposed to happen.

edf should have the details of whoever is administering the estate and when probate is being worked through that person will get a final bill for the account and standing charges at the point the house is either sold by the estate or settled by being inherited/signed over. that final bill can then be paid by the estate by cheque or bank transfer. no payments normally need to be made until then as long as the house is still empty 

(if someone still lives in the house or starts renting it from the estate or whatever then they should contact edf to set up there own account as the estate should not be liable of that use. but the estate pays for any use during house showings or renovations if your selling it)

lisyloo

Thanks for the info.
my question was whether the Tarrif they are charging be should now be the DD one or the cash/cheque one as that’s more expensive.

yes they have been informed, so they knew in advance DD would be cancelled. 

pochase

If the DD is cancelled you will no loner get a DD discount.

Mobtr

First of all sorry for your loss. 

When the direct debit is cancelled then the account will revert back to cash/cheque as this is now your payment method. It is more expensive but you can’t get the direct debit rate if you don’t pay by direct debit regardless of the circumstances unfortunately 

ariarnia

lisyloo said:

Thanks for the info.
my question was whether the Tarrif they are charging be should now be the DD one or the cash/cheque one as that’s more expensive.

yes they have been informed, so they knew in advance DD would be cancelled. 

thats something i dont know about. i think probate is handled differently as its the banks that freeze the dd.

if it is more expensive with the house empty the use will be minimal hopefully (just stoping any freezing) and probably less hassle to leave it than arrange for someone else to set up a dd then reclaim the cost from the estate. 

but if you try calling that citizen advice number on the bereavement page they should know for sure (and hopefully be more trustworthy to you as independents) 

pseudodox

Do make sure you speak to the energy company bereavement team & get correct advice.  When my Mum died the house would be empty until sold.  I spoke to the energy company as her bank account was frozen for probate and I was going to pay any charges that arose (and claim them back later when the estate was completed), which would be minimal as my brother lived close by and could check the house.  The heating was LPG so he ran the boiler only occasionally which meant electric usage for pump and lighting was tiny.  However I was continuing to also pay the standing charge for electric, until I had to speak again to the company (think it was EON) when the house was sold and was told that I had not been given correct full advice.  The agent I originally spoke to should have told me the standing charge could have been suspended from date of Mum's death.  And they very kindly arranged to refund everything I had paid except for usage.  I am pretty sure the usage was charged at the standard rate that Mum had always paid by DD, but it was so small it would not have been worth worrying about.  This was 3 years ago.  It might not apply now but the main point is, especially re the s/c - ASK!

JohnPo

Sorry to hear about your loss, have been through this process myself. As executor or administrator of the estate you can take over the utilities and put then in your own name, in my case and I also switched supplier, although if money owed the existing supplier can stop a switch.

The executors unfortunately can end up funding out of their own pocket quite few things awaiting probate, e.g  empty house insurance, other utilities, gardener etc.

I attach link to useful information at citizens advice about the whole process of dealing with the affairs of someone who has died

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/family/death-and-wills/dealing-with-the-financial-affairs-of-someone-who-has-died/

Keep_pedalling

As his bank accounts will have been frozen the obviously a DD is not possible, unless you set up a new account as the executor and reclaim the costs from the estate once the property is sold or transferred. The alternative is to settle the account once you have wound up the estate which will be based on the SVT. The additional cost should be minimal as you should only be using enough heating to prevent frost damage.

Are you dealing with EDFs bereavement team?

jbuchanangb

Energy companies understand that when the account holder has died, and the property is unoccupied, then they will have to wait until probate for the bills to be paid. If someone does occupy the property, as previously mentioned, they open a new account and take over responsibility, with the estate only covering the period when it was vacant. It is wrong for an executor to behave as if they are personally responsible for paying the bills at the deceased's property.

lisyloo

Thanks for all the replies.

no one is living at the property but I do put the fire, immersion on when I’m there doing house clearance.
Unfortunately there is little money temporarily as it exceeds the probate limit at the bank.

we won’t be paying any bills unless we have to (house insurance will have to be paid). I already have 4 figure expenses on the estate due to the front door being broken down by the police when he was ill, so I’m not keen to rack up more expenses.
So we will just suck up the extra from cash/cheque.

thanks for confirming the situation