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Hi, I have received a letter from a Debt Collection Agency on behalf of Eon for a bill dating back to 2018. The bill was from when we moved into a property until we switched provider. The debt was in dispute as we were sure that we were on pre-payment meters for both gas and electric. Long story short, Eon say that the gas was on a credit meter and this is what the debt relates to. I'm happy to pay this but unfortunately I cannot afford to pay it all in one go, the letter from the DCA says we can set up a payment plan online. Currently it does not appear on my credit file - I was wondering if this will now show up as an arrangement to pay (and if so will it be on there for 6 years?) I'm desperate to keep my credit file clean after having had defaults on there which have now dropped off... thanks for any advice!
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Originally posted by MrsH View Post
Hello
It seems E.on may have forgotten that they were fined £7.75 million by Ofgem (their regulator) for overcharging customers.
> https://www.theguardian.com/business...ustomers-ofgem
Prior to that they were forced to pay £1.7 million pounds in redress to customers for overcharging.
Will they never learn!
I suggest you make a formal complaint to E.on (not their DCA) and then escalate that to Ombudsman Services - Energy here > https://www.ombudsman-services.org/
I would tell the DCA that is what you are gong to do and ask them to suspend collection while your complaint is fully investigated, and/or to return the file to E.on.
You might also wish to make Ofgem aware of what is going on.
They don't investigate individual complaints by consumers, but they do keep statistics as part of their monitoring to assess whether a business has breached their licence etc.
Where appropriate they hand out fines which won't help you as an individual (unless redress to customers is included), but may give you some satisfaction (scroll down in this link to see how > https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/consumers/h...ll-or-supplier
Di -
Hi Di
Thank you for your advice above.
We had previously complained to Eon, we received a letter on 30th April saying that they haven't been able to resolve our complaint and that as 8 weeks have passed we now have the right to refer to the Ombudsman. We were reluctant to contact the ombudsman as Eon seem sure that the meter wasn't prepayment therefore we assume the debt is correct.... Do you think it is still worth contacting the Ombudsman to look into it? I'm really concerned about getting a debt on my credit file as everything else has dropped off!
Many thanks!
MrsHComment
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Originally posted by MrsH View Post
I was taught never to assume anything is correct unless you've seen the evidence with your own eyes!
Looking at E.on's track record for overcharging etc I would be extremely dubious about anything they say.
Even if they are ultimately correct, your complaint to the Ombudsman will take months to reach the end of the line by which time you may be in a better position to pay what you genuinely owe after any deductions/Goodwill credited for customer service issues.
How much is the outstanding balance which they're chasing? When you changed supplier who gave E.on a meter reading to calculate their Final Bill? Or was the bill based on an estimate?
Energy suppliers have to pay towards the Ombudsman when complaints are investigated so that's an added incentive
So I would definitely escalate your complaint to the Ombudsman Services - Energy (not the same as the FOS). I would make their DCA aware of this as I said earlier.
And I would also send a SAR to E.on to get sight of whatever data they hold on you. If the meter was a pre-payment one, that information should be included in their response.
DiComment
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Thanks ever so much for that - will do as you have suggested!
The bill is only for £220 so not astronomical but things are a bit tight at the minute due to the current situation. I have just checked a copy of the final bill they sent and it was estimated...
MrsHComment
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Originally posted by MrsH View Post
Ah ha!
So how can they be so "sure" that the amount they are charging is correct.
See what the Ombudsman has to say.
DiComment
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Hi Di
We eventually got a decision on from the ombudsman. The outcome was that Eon should send us a written apology and a cheque for £75.00, so firstly thank you for your advice!
We received the cheque and apology, however I have also been receiving letters from Lowell regarding this debt.
I had emailed them to explain that it was being investigated by the ombudsman and to return the debt to Eon, but I still continue to receive letters from them.
I’m not sure if Eon are expecting us to pay the bill or not as we haven’t heard anything about the balance... Should I contact Lowell or just wait and see if Eon re-send the bill?
Many thanks for your help and happy new year!
MrsHComment
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Originally posted by MrsH View Post
Lowell is a debt purchaser not a DCA (Debt Collection Agency acting as agent for a debt owner) so this means the e-on account has been assigned/sold to them.
Did you receive a Notice of Assignment from Lowell when this happened?
What reason did the FOS give you for upholding your complaint and is there a reason behind the £75 figure not the £200 which is the balance being chased?
DiComment
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Hi Di
I received a letter from Lowell on 29/10 saying that they had bought the account on 30/09.
I emailed to say that they have purchased it whilst it is being investigated by the FOS and didn’t think this was allowed, and requested it be returned to EOn.
The FOS found that Eon were correct about the meter, but suggested that they pay us the £75 and a written apology as a goodwill gesture due to failings Eon made with dealing with all of the issues.
kind regards
MrsHComment
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If e-on were correct about there being a meter (not pre-paid) then they would also need to produce accurate bills based on meter readings (start and finish) not estimated bills which you may be able to challenge.
Ask Lowell to provide you with proof you owe the debt.
You've not said what dates/year this account was for (unless I've missed that on your thread). I ask because Ofgem's back-billing code may be appropriate.
DiComment
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Hi Di
I will send Lowell a prove it letter, thank you.
I have just looked back at the lengthy Ombudsman decision. It seems there was a lack of communication between Eon and the new supplier, but apparently it is the new suppliers responsibility to provide accurate takeover readings.
Towards the end of the report the Ombudsman do say the meter readings are accurate.
One of Eons failings were that we queried our final bill back in May 2018 and they did not issue a revised final bill until November 2019.
The bill is for the period 12/12/17-02/03/18.
many thanks
MrsH
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Originally posted by MrsH View Post
It may be the new supplier’s responsibility to provide accurate takeover readings, but I would say it’s also e-on’s responsibility to provide accurate bills!
DiComment
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Hi Di
Am I still able to send a prove it letter to Lowell even though I emailed them saying the debt was being investigated by the Ombudsman and requested them to send it back to Eon? I guess by doing that I have already admitted liability?
Were Eon allowed to sell on the debt whilst it was with the Ombudsman?
The Ombudsman said that they were happy with the meter readings supplied, and now the debt isn’t even with Eon, I also accepted the Ombudsman’s decision - so I’m really unsure how to proceed?
many thanks
mrsHComment
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Did Lowell reply to your email, and if so what was their response?Originally posted by MrsH View Post
If they didn’t respond then maybe wait until they do.
In the very least you have £75 from e-on to contribute towards the outstanding balance which you say the Ombudsman believed was accurate.
Di
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I just received an automated reply, asking me to email back with my name, address and DOB. I didn’t respond.
Yes that’s very true, I may be best to just settle the debt with Lowell as the Ombudsman believe I have been billed fairly.
Just out of interest, are there any rules about selling a debt on whilst it is being investigated by the Ombudsman?
As always, thank you for your help!Comment
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