EON final bills after my father's death.

Vincentrussell

Hi everyone,

So my father passed away in october. I've had to move in, to sort everything out and im still here alone. Due to personal circumstances, I didn't get to inform EON, until a few weeks ago(1st week of Jan).

My intention was to close the account,  ut the electric metre shut down, whilst still alive and with exception of gas. Electrics has been on estimates. I couldnt give them the final reading of electric, but gas i was able and the kast time before was around September time they read the gas meter and reported the fault with eletric meter.

They sent the final bills, which my father's bill was in credit of over £300. However, a second bill came titled "to the occupier". The bill came in at a £850 from october to January.

This is a 3 bedroom house in London. My stay has been economical weary of the energy rises. Cooked a few meals, stay in one room with only lights and tv sometimes, charge phone, a bath here and there. I turnt the heating on, only 3 times est. period of 24 hours altogether for that whole period.

The final bill  for the occupier, which was me, was all estimates. I wanted to change provider, but dont know what to do because i cannot afford to settle thw £850 after all my fathers funeral costs has wiped me out and still dealing with his estate and oaging lawyers.

I think my brain is not working well due to the kast months trying to sort this and just meed some guidence and advice please.

Do you think its likely that £850 is tok high, also my father lived by himself previously as well, and not sure was always on top of providing regular readings.

My questions are:

Can i challange the £850 bill or does that sound about right?

What happens to my father's £300 credit with EON?

If i ask EON to send a engineer to fix the metre, will i get a more accurate reading

Also, if I provided the final gas reading and it was read and reported in September 2022, why was it still estimated?

Will i still be able to change provider and is it reccomended at this point.

Any suggestions and advice is much appreciated. Thank you all in advance.

macman

When you closed the old accounts down, did you not register for the supply? If you did, why are the bills addressed to The Occupier? Any credit on your father's bill will be paid to the estate. Are you the executor?
What is your actual estimated usage for the October to Jan billing period (give dates and kwh's, because £££'s tell us nothing).
You can't 'shut an electricity meter down'. You still have to pay the standing charges even if you don't use it. To remove s/c's, the supply must be terminated and the meter removed, which would be crazy.
When did the gas meter fail, and when did you report it? Unless it's a smart meter, it isn't possible to retrieve the readings if broken: they don't get repaired, just swapped out.
Why were your father's funeral costs not paid from his estate? You don't need probate for this, the banks will always release funds for a funeral, or pay the bill directly from the deceased's account.

[Deleted User]

I am sorry for your loss. As stated above, all your father’s assets and debts form part of his Estate. Before his Will can be implemented you need to apply for Probate (particularly when a property is involved). There may be taxes due for example. The Estate remains responsible for all costs (including energy) until Probate has been granted but there is a legal duty on the Executor to ensure that these costs are kept to a minimum.

Rather than get into a detailed ‘do this and do that’ exchange on this forum, I suggest that you make an appointment to meet with a Citizens Advice advisor. They can advise on your situation in the round.

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

Keep_pedalling

You need to speak to the bereavement department of the energy company as a matter of urgency, as it seems you have made a mess of this. If you are administering the estate you should have informed the company of his death and informed them that you require letters of administration before you can pay and they would simply have waited.

You have complicated things by moving in which makes you responsible for the utilities and council tax, which would have been fine if you were the.sole beneficiary, but based on your earlier threads that is far from the case and the house will need to be sold to distribute the estate as per the intestacy rules or among his children if his estranged wife agrees to do a deed of variation.

macman

On what basis is the OP occupying the property? Are they the sole executor?

Alnat1

I couldn't understand what "personal circumstances" could stop someone informing the energy company that the account holder was deceased for over 2 months.