I came to visit my disabled daughter today who lives with my ex partner. When I got there nobody was home. Whilst waiting at the door I saw that EON had shoved some notice through the door which was hanging out. As the gas and electric are in my name I took a look.

I found a notice that they had installed a pre-payment meter, with a further notice that they were obtaining a warrant. Not a copy of any warrant itself but a standard letter saying that they would be applying for one on the 27th March. There's no copy of that warrant but I checked the outside meter and sure enough it had been changed for a pre-payment one.

When my partner finally returned I was less than pleased with her. She admitted that she hadn't been paying attention to the bills, because they were in my name, but going through the letters I could find nothing from the court about any warrant. Nor was there any copy of the warrant.

Included with this letter through the door was a breakdown of charges. They had added a £257 visit for coming to fit the pre payment meter, £57 warrant application costs and the bill itself seems to have doubled from what the earlier bills were charging!

Worst of all they claim to have put £10 emergency credit on the meter, but absolutely nothing works. We have tried everything. I had to go to work and when my partner called the gas people they said they wouldn't even speak to her 'because of data protection and all that' and would only speak to me. I tried calling them and was on hold for half an hour and they were utterly clueless about what department to call. Then they promised to call me back and they didn't.

Then, just to top it all off my partner called my work to tell me the outside reeks of leaking gas. So I had to leave work and tear over there. Yes, it reeks alright.

So I called the emergency gas leak helpline. They told me someone would be there in an hour. That was over TWO HOURS ago. Admittedly the smell of gas has gone (because we turned it off at the lever) but I'm furious that nobody has shown.

Incidentally, I read somewhere that if you are having severe financial difficulties, or have a child or someone is disabled then they will assist you better. We qualify for all three but they are just as disinterested and keep brushing off everything citing "data protection" over and over again like some meaningless mantra.

Can anyone give me some advise as what to do next? It's gone 8pm without the gas ever bothering to call us back, and now we're stuck with nothing.

I accept the bill should have been paid, but that's not much use to us right at this moment.

Hi preston

Welcome to CAG

We have an E.ON Rep on this site Helena / Malcolm, who should pick this thread up. There seems to be two issues, firstly lack of info regarding the warrant and secondly not enough help 'vulnerable' customers.

https://www.eonenergy.com/for-your-home/help-and-support

Thank you.

Some engineers turned up regarding the 'gas leak' right after I posted this thread. They weren't very helpful and just scooted off the moment they found no fault.

However, they told me that there was a 'Gas Disc' in place which meant I had been capped that only EON can remove. The letter that they posted right after they swapped meters made no such mention of this and I am loathe to call EON again because their staff are clueless and incompetent.

An obvious solution to your problems is to get the name on the bill changed to your daughters.

They have installed a pre-pay meter, not cut it off, so have changed the subject heading.

Hi Preston

Helena / Malcolm the E.ON Rep should pick this up.

Thank you.

 

Some engineers turned up regarding the 'gas leak' right after I posted this thread. They weren't very helpful and just scooted off the moment they found no fault.

 

However, they told me that there was a 'Gas Disc' in place which meant I had been capped that only EON can remove. The letter that they posted right after they swapped meters made no such mention of this and I am loathe to call EON again because their staff are clueless and incompetent.

Hi prestonpiston

I'm sorry we didn't call you back when promised. Thought it might help if I go over what usually happens in these situations.

Have you let us know about the vulnerability at the property? If you have, the account will have been flagged with the details and this will have been taken into consideration before the warrant was applied for.

Usually, where there's someone able to buy credit and top up the meter, we'll continue with the application. This does, though, depend on the nature of the vulnerability. As you're the account holder, this may have complicated matters.

It takes a long time to reach the stage where we install a prepayment meter under warrant.

Before this we'll make many attempts to contact you. This includes phone calls, letters, home visits, emails where appropriate etc. We'll offer various payment arrangements to help spread the outstanding balance over a more manageable period.

It's only after all this fails that we'll apply for a warrant to fit a prepayment meter. We'll also let you know the date and time of the hearing and give details of your right to attend.

When fitting a gas prepayment meter, the engineer needs to do a purge and re-light. This is to make sure all is safe. This can only be done if there's someone at the property. If no one's home, the engineer will fit a blanking disc to stop gas reaching the meter until this work can be done.

We'll be happy to remove the blanking disc and do the above work. There's a charge for this but the cost can be put on to the meter if you wish. Alternatively, you can ask an independent gas safe registered engineer to do this work.

Once done, you'll be able to use the meter including the Emergency Credit facility.

The costs you mention plus the outstanding balance will be put on the meter to collect at a set amount each week. If you talk to us about your situation, this can be taken into consideration when setting the weekly collection rate.

If you feel we've fallen down on any of this you need to talk to our Warrants section. Contact details will be on the paperwork you mention. They can also arrange for the blanking disc to be removed and the necessary work done.

As you're the account holder, our advisors are right not to talk to anyone else about this. To do so without your permission is a clear breach of the Data Protection Act and will have serious consequences for the advisor concerned. You can, though, ask for the account to be noted with your permission to speak to someone else. Might help going forward.

Sorry this is a bit long winded but hope it points you in the right direction.

Malc