Worried sick!! ...Energy Collection Services

[Emma Royd]

morning all

 

I was struggling to pay my gas/elec bill to Eon and I rang them up and explained i'd been made redundant. They were very helpful and sent me a payment card. This was about 6 weeks ago. To be truthful i've not made a payment as yet. Child tax credits got stopped (that's another story) a few weeks ago and although I got them reinstated I didnt get backdated which left me struggling.

 

I received a letter from ECS yesterday 9/9/08 dated 4th September saying that I have to pay the outstanding balance by 11 September which is tomorrow.

 

I am worried sick as I know that gas/lec have more powers than the usual DCA'S. There is no way I can afford this payment and they are threatening me with a visit to collect the outstanding amount, disconnection (although is says if my meter is outside) and £30 being added to my account to cover the cost of the visit.

 

Please can someone advise what to do next? I've thought about just making a payment today and pretending the letter didn't arrive.

 

Any advice would be appreciated

 

Emma Royd

xx

 

PS forgot to mention that looking at the envelope it would be pretty obvious to the postman or anyone else that saw it that it's from a DCA.

 

IMPORTANT

PLEASE CONTACT ECS ON 0800 0151912

[berrylover]

OK, don't panic. You are going to have to pay this, but they cannot make you pay more than you can afford. If you can afford to pay some of this off today then do that, but then send a letter to them asking for the payment plan to be reinstated, explaining what happened with the child tax credits. They can be nasty, Npower who I was dealing with have a particularly rude collections department, but don't panic about it.

[crazymom]

Hi, i dont post that often on here but is there anyway you could ask for a key meter to be put in.

 

When we found ourselves in debt with both the gas and electric we asked for them to be put in, they then take the debt off a bit at a time.

 

Might be worth a go.

 

Let me know what happens and good luck, but dont panic.

[babybear39]

The only disadvantage with a key meter is you end up paying premium prices for your power. I'd recomend contacting them, explaining the situation and reaching an affordable payment plan.

[Emma Royd]

thanks for the replies. A couple more questions if I may

 

Do I make the payment to EON using the payment card or do I pay ECS using the payment slip?

 

Do I contact Eon regarding the payment plan or ECS?

 

After doing a search on here i've discovered that ECS are actually EONS inhouse DCA.

 

 

is there anyway you could ask for a key meter to be put in

thank you for the suggestion but I really don't want to go down that road if I can help it. I know you ending up paying alot more and i'm struggling to make ends meet as it is

 

Emma Royd

xx

[crazymom]

We did end up paying more but over a longer period of time so the worry was off us. We didnt notice that they were taking it off a bit at a time and it took almost 2 years to clear but is clear now.

[babybear39]

Contact ECS and ask them.

[Emma Royd]

thanks everyone

 

Emma Royd

xx

[darryl1960]

Having being in your situation as well, one other comment about the key meter is that even when the arrears had been collected I still found it useful as I am unable to get in debt again and with power costs increasing vastly I would be worried that if I changed back to the usual methods of payment that I soon would be in arrears again

[Emma Royd]

I live in private rented housing. Would I have to get my landlords permission to have prepayment meters fitted?

 

Emma Royd

xx

[berrylover]

No, you can get a prepaid meter put in at your own request. I am in the same boat with Scottish Power. I pay off my debt from a non-prepayment meter with them on my key/card and they have been fine about it. And I can only use what I have. I know the rate is higher but I cannot get into further debt with them.

[zazen.warrior]

Energy Collection Services are eon's in house debt chasers for 'live' accounts. For final accounts they use the name Utility Debt Services but it is still eon calling.

 

They just get a recorded message ahead of your call to say who you think you are calling. The people who take these calls are the same ones who deal with all other queries.

Edited September 10, 2008 by zazen.warrior

[crazymom]

I to am privatly renting and we didnt have to get permission, as long as you arrange to have it removed at the end of your tenancy. Its also in the best interest of your landlord for a key meter to be installed as they wont be left with any debts against the property.

 

I like having both my electric and gas on key meters as i can see what i am using and i am more careful. Also as others have said i am not running up bills with it.

[zazen.warrior]

Be aware eon will not remove a prepayment meter once they have installed it for debt, even if you agreed to have it put in - not even if the occupier changes - not unless said new occupier has a perfect credit history with them at another address and even then they would have to kick up an almighty energy watch involved stink!!

 

They class the address as a poor risk.

 

I would call eon and agree to the pre payment meters.

 

Otherwise you will find £30 added to the debt for each 'pre disconnection visit' and a whacking £230.00 warrant fee for each one if it gets that far. And still have prepayment meters at the end of the day.

 

That's £30 + £230 each for gas and elec which will then be added to the total debt which is set on the meters.

 

I would request the debts to be set at £1.00 per week on your meters, they will pressure you to accept a higher rate and tell you the minimum is £3.00 but stress your financial situation and make copius use of the words ENERGY WATCH if they persist.

 

Good Luck with this!

 

PS Stress that you have young children at the property, they cannot disconnect anyone at this time of the year who has young children, or any other 'vulnerable' people and in any event they would only disconnect as a final resort if they could not fit a pre paymant meter.

Edited September 10, 2008 by zazen.warrior

[emmaf01]

Blow having a prepayment meter- we went through all of this and got our fuel paid through our benefits on Fuel Direct.

 

An absolute godsend. If a prepayment meter is not suitable and you are on certain benefits this is a much better option.

[zazen.warrior]

Yes I was forgetting you can insist on fuel direct if you are on benefits, but you need to set this up pdq I mean TODAY!!!

 

If it is not in place they will forge ahead with the Pre payment meters.

[emmaf01]

If you are on an eligible benefit, you need to contact your local benefits office. Then contact the fuel provider saying that due to your circumstances a prepayment meter is not appropriate.

 

Your fuel company may be resistant to Fuel Direct- we had an afternoon of increasingly abusive phone calls from EDF, trying to berate us into a prepayment meter. Luckily we stood firm (and my OH put the phone down on them when they got beyond the pale).

[zazen.warrior]

They hate Fuel Direct because they cannot control the repayment rate.

[emmaf01]

Exactly- the DWP were great about it though. We had to re-jig who received what between me and OH, but we got it all covered and it works a treat.

 

And I never fear a fuel bill again.

[emmaf01]

Also if you have kids, redundancy etc, try an application to your supplier's Energy trust fund.

 

They award donations to pay off large parts of bills. It is not an immediate solution but when you can show hardship, they will help. It depends where you are though in some cases.

[Emma Royd]

Sorry haven't replied sooner...son has been hogging my pc.

 

Thank you for all the replies and advice. Decided to ring EON and not ECS. It was a young girl on the other end and she was very polite. I explained that i'd rang up a few weeks ago and that the guy had sent me a payment card. She then questioned this saying that at the time the payment system was down. Told her i'd made a payment yesterday and will start paying every monday when I get my benefits. She said I need to pay this bill by the 29th Sept and my next bill is due on the 17th...knock on the door in the middle of phone call....it was EON come to read my meters.

 

She said I had to pay at least £32 a week as this was inline with the amount of consumption i'm using. (my bills over the last year have been ridiculously high for saying there's only me and my son here)

 

I said I couldn't afford that amount and could offer £20. She then offered me a prepayment meter. I said i'd prefer not to have meters installed and that i'd rather have the money stopped off my benefits. She said they couldnt do that. I then told her that I had got the energy watch and goverment websites up infront of me and they both gave information about fuel direct. She said she'd never heard of fuel direct then put me on hold while she went off to find out.

 

She came back and gave me the number for fuel direct and told me to get in touch with my local job centre as they wont speak to me direct and I have to be present when the phone call is made. Have got an appointment with them on tuesday afternoon.

 

thanks again

 

Emma Royd

xx

[emmaf01]

Emma I hope you are on the correct benefits for Fuel Direct- worth checking. And you don't have to be there- we didn't.

 

Have you spoken to your local DWP Direct payments department? Just ring up and ask to speak to the Direct payments person about whether you can get Fuel Direct. I found them very informative and they did everything by phone- you don't have to go into the office in my area!

[zazen.warrior]

If not use what I said about pre-payment meters as plan B

 

This is how much eon care about people:

 

'At worse, we'll make more money': Gas chief's 'joke' over crippling fuel price hikes | Mail Online

Edited September 11, 2008 by zazen.warrior

[Emma Royd]

Thanks for the replies.

 

If not use what I said about pre-payment meters as plan B

 

I've been out all today and chatting with different people and have come to the decision i'd be best going with plan B. I know it costs more but i'm scared that when I eventually find another job then i'll have to find the money myself anyway and with the cost of gas and electric keep going up i'm scared of ending up in an even bigger mess.

 

I'm going to ring Eon tomorrow and request they put me pre-payment meters in.

 

Thanks again for everyones great advice. Much appreciated

 

Emma Royd

xx