Gas debt collections

Cardew

Incisor wrote: »

And from there it boils down to 2 different possible situations. If only the assets of the business were purchased, then the OP can tell EON to chase the previous owner. If the whole business was purchased, then the OP should pay EON and claim back from the original owner.

I fear that the sale may have been done in such a way that it is not immediately clear which mode of sale was adopted.

Agreed.

The point I was making is that the old owner is liable for the bill, either directly to E-On or to re-imburse the new owner.

Premier_2

Cardew wrote: »

Agreed.

The point I was making is that the old owner is liable for the bill, either directly to E-On or to re-imburse the new owner.

It could be that the previous owner was unaware of the debt. e.g an original billing error by the gas company not immediately obvious. The previous owner could only be held liable if it was proved he had deliberately concealed or otherewise should have been aware of the debt.

Obviously, this only applies if the business was sold as a whole. As Incisor says if the business still belongs to the original owner (having only disposed of the assets), then you are right, he is still responsible for the debt.

fatboy88

Incisor wrote: »

And from there it boils down to 2 different possible situations. If only the assets of the business were purchased, then the OP can tell EON to chase the previous owner. If the whole business was purchased, then the OP should pay EON and claim back from the original owner.

I fear that the sale may have been done in such a way that it is not immediately clear which mode of sale was adopted.

I agree with what you are saying but with all the businesses we have purchased this is the first time it has come up. I'm even sure how to differentiate what type of sale we had as its so standard what we did.
If only she didnt migrate to eon this wouldnt even have come up

Cardew

Premier wrote: »

The previous owner could only be held liable if it was proved he had deliberately concealed or otherewise should have been aware of the debt.

I suppose you could reasonably argue that a business should be aware of any debt, in that you should run all accounts properly. Certainly no business insurance, as far as I am aware, would ever cover you for for a debt of which you were unaware.

In any case in UK civil law it is surely a guiding principle that 'ignorance' does not absolve you from liability??