Full and final settlement

[Gibble]

If you send a creditor a cheque with a covering letter that states that the cheque is for "Full and final settlement" of a debt and they cash it, does that mean that they have accepted that it is indeed "full and final settlement" and they cannot pursue you for any more money?

 

Thanks

[Bazooka Boo]

In a nutshell, 'NO!'

They must first agree, in writing, to a F&F figure for settlement of the debt as all they will do is cash the cheque and pursue you for the rest of the account owing.

[Pinky69]

A F&F cheque should also be in the name of a third party to give witness to your side of the F&F agreement.

[Gibble]

I'll change my letter and remove the cheque then.

 

Thanks

[harrassed senior]

Have you thought this through, have you exhausted all avenues?

[Gibble]

Have you thought this through, have you exhausted all avenues?

 

I was trying to dispute the debt but as it's with an electricity supplier there's no signed agreement. I've tried to find letter templates on here to help me with stuff but there's nothing relevant. It all seems to be aimed at banks and loans. I just want them to stop pestering me to pay them. I can't cope with it anymore

[harrassed senior]

Right, we can offer some targeted help.

 

Just a little more information please:

 

Is this for a recent bill or have you moved, or what are the circumstances

 

Which company is this.

 

We need this info to give specific help.

 

There is no need for you to worry now, you have come to the right place, and we will try and alleviate some of the weight on your shoulders.

[Gibble]

Thanks.

 

I posted in the utilities section of these forums http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/utilities-gas-electricity-water/256420-eon-being-unreasonable-about.html#post2886171 but made a right hash of all the info and dates etc. I've finally got all the info sorted and correct dates with help from a close friend and my mother. I have struggled with this due to mental health issues but am slowly getting to grips with it.

 

The house was empty and unused since mid 2003. According to eon the first bill they sent was to the "occupier" on 4th june 2009. There had been no previous bills. There were tennants in the house from 1st june 2005. I stupidly forgot to take meter readings as I was suffering with depression at the time and was mentally quite unstable. The tennants left on or around the 30th August 2008 (did a runner) and I moved back in with my then girlfriend on 8th september 2008 although I had been in and out redecorating from the 3rd September 2008. My girlfriend at the time rang eon with a meter reading on the 10th September 2008 to change the billing to her name. I was under the impression that she was paying the bills so had no reason to chase eon to find out why they weren't sending any bills. She left in the last week of May 2009.

 

The first bill that I saw was sent addressed to "The Occupier" on 9th June 2009.

Here is the letter I was going to send to eon. I wanted to know if it was correct. I wasn't sure about the data protection act bit and the CUPT thing. I've seen it mentioned a few times on various posts in here but there's so much on here and the search engine throws up so many results it gets confusing.

 

Am I correct in saying that they cannot continue taking action against me and getting their dca to pursue me (and bill me £30 for every letter they send) while the account is in dispute?

 

"Dear Sir

I dispute the amount that you say I owe.

 

I remind you that while I dispute this account you are not allowed under the data protection act to forward my details to any third party debt collection agency, this is also considered to be unfair under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPUT)

 

It has taken me quite a while to put all the following details together as I was suffering with poor mental health for most of the time concerned. I am willing to pay for any electricity that I am liable for but I am not willing to pay for electricity that I have not used while I was not living at this address.

 

Why did eon not send ANY bills or letters to this address for over 5 years?

Why did eon not chase the occupants for electricity being used for over 5 years?

Why were estimated readings used from 2004 to 2008?

If your meter reader could not access the property to obtain meter readings what did eon do about this?

Please send me copies of ALL letters and bills that you have sent to this address.

 

I was not living in the property prior to 3rd September 2008 as I had rented the property to (name) and (name). I have found a copy of the tenancy agreement that, unknown to me until a couple of days ago, my mother had been keeping for me which I have attached with this letter. I do not have a forwarding address for either of these people as they “did a runner” from my property on approximately 30th August 2008. The tenancy agreement started on 5th June 2005 and, after the initial 12 months shorthold agreement, the tenancy changed to a Statutory Periodic Tenancy hence the lack of any further signed agreements for the period from 1st June 2006 to 30th August 2008. We discovered that the tenants had left on the 3rd September 2008 when I went to collect the rent and discovered that they had left!

 

My girlfriend, at the time, rang eon on the 10th of September 2008 ( I remember this as it was her birthday and she complained that it was a poor birthday present to put the bill in her name! ) to give a meter reading and put the electricity bill into her name. As the bills were supposed to be in her name I had no reason to believe that eon weren’t sending bills so I had no reason to enquire as to why bills were not being sent. She left sometime in the last week of May 2009, Her name is (name), I do not have a forwarding address for her. She was last known by me to be living in (town) in (county). Her D.O.B is (date).

 

In addition to the fact that I was not living in the property until 3rd September 2008, so therefore not using any electricity, you must also take the Billing code into account:

 

 

According to the Billing Code:

“From the 1st July 2006 where the supplier has been at fault in not billing a domestic customer the supplier will not send a bill which includes energy consumed more than 2 years previous to the bill being issued. From 1st July 2007 this period will reduce to 1 year”

 

2.1.1 A bill has not been sent in one year

Where the supplier is at fault in not billing a customer in the previous year, we will not bill a customer for more than one years worth of consumption unless it's in the customer's favour; the consumption relating to the oldest period (i.e. the period older than one year) will be withdrawn.

 

For the purpose of 2.1.1, the supplier is at fault where they have made no attempt to bill or communicate with an existing customer during the previous 12 months.

Specific exclusions

The supplier is not at fault where

 

• A new customer has failed to notify the supplier that they are living in the property and we have sent letters to the address or we have continued communicating with the previous occupier.
  

Eon cannot use this exclusion as I notified eon on 8th June that I was living in the property when I supplied a meter reading over the phone and eon did not send ANY letters to this address for over 5 years until the first bill that I saw on 8th June 2009. As I was under the impression that the tenants and then Miss (name) were paying the electricity bills up to that point I had no reason to contact eon to enquire as to why there were no bills being issued.

 

You did not send a bill to the above address until 4th June 2009 therefore you cannot send a bill that goes back any further than 4th June 2008. However, you do not have any accurate meter readings for that date. You do have an accurate meter reading for 5th September 2008 of 95191 taken by your meter reader which coincides with the date close to when I and Miss (name) moved into the property. I must have let him in as Miss (name) was working at the time so wouldn’t have been in the house! This would have been what prompted Miss (name) to contact eon with a meter reading and to put the account in her name.

 

As the tenants had left and I had access to the property from 3rd September 2008 and was living in the property from 5th September 2008 until the present day, I will accept liability for electricity usage from 3rd September 2008. I will not accept liability for any previous use of electricity at this address."

 

I go on to say what the ammended bill should read based on the reading taken on the 5th Septmeber 2008 bringing it up to date with the last bill dated May 2010. I was then going to say I was including a cheque for that amount in full and final settlement (up to May 2010 bill date)

 

I end the letter with this:

 

Please note that I will no longer discuss any of this on the telephone. Please put all future correspondence in writing.

 

Thanks for your help. I feel like I'm running round in circles with this. I have told them (eon) on the phone that I do not want to deal with this in phone calls yet they still keep ringing me.

[Bazooka Boo]

Have not read your last thread completely, but have you accessed the billing code?

[Gibble]

Have not read your last thread completely, but have you accessed the billing code?

 

I have read about the billing code here : The billing code - Legal seagulls Consumer Forum

 

Your link appears to try to send me to disneyland.info

 

The billing code - Legal seagulls Consumer Forum

[Gibble]

Why does the link to the leagal seagulls forum get changed to disneyland.info?

 

Are links to other forums not allowed so they are changed to something rediculous to stop it?

[letsdothis]

Are links to other forums not allowed so they are changed to something rediculous to stop it?

 

I believe that links to similar type forums / websites to this one are changed to non relevant links. At the end of the day, it's like going on PCW's website and then adding links to EBuyer I guess.

[Bazooka Boo]

It possibly takes you to the disney land site because they are a mickey mouse outfit, two seconds...

About the Code

 

Try that one?

[Gibble]

Sorry, I didn't realise.

[letsdothis]

Sorry, I didn't realise.

 

 

I wouldn't worry about it to be honest.

[Pinky69]

Did you have it written into the tenancy agreement that the tenants would pay all utility bills throughout their tenancy? Did your then girlfriend notify Eon in writing that the bills should be in her name?

[Gibble]

Did you have it written into the tenancy agreement that the tenants would pay all utility bills throughout their tenancy?

 

Yes. From the tenancy agreement:

 

3. The tenant(s) agree with the landlord

 

3.2 To pay promptly to the authorities to whom they are due, all outgoings (including water and sewerage charges, gas, electricity, light, heating and telephone relating to the property) including any which are imposed after the date of this agreement (even if of a novel nature) and to pay the total cost of any reconnection fee realting to the supply of water, gas, electricity and telephone if the same is disconnected.

 

Did your then girlfriend notify Eon in writing that the bills should be in her name?

 

I have no idea. I'm pretty sure she rang them because we had an argument about who's name the electricity bill should go in, I already had the gas and water in my name so wanted to share the responsibility, and she moaned about ruining her birthday. I remember her stomping off with the phone ringing someone.

[Pinky69]

Usually, when a tenancy starts, the landlord and tenant agree who will inform the the utilities companies of the change for billing. The landlord usually does this himself to make sure it is done. Again with your girlfriend, a call may not have been acted on - it is better to inform of these changes in writing. Your girlfriend resented paying for the electricity so may not have paid any bill she received even if she was registered. If there are no bills addressed to anyone else, then the chances are they were never registered as the bill payer. That makes you as owner responsible for the bills, but qualified by the Billing Code if no bills were sent out prior to 9 June 2009. Do you have all the bills sent out from the beginning of the tenancy?

[Gibble]

According to eon they didn't send anything at all until 4th June 2009.

 

I have the full history of bills on my online eon login. It shows no bills before 4th June 2009.

 

I was suffering from quite bad mental health issues at the time so didn't do a lot of things I should have done like informing eon that I had tenants etc.

 

How can I be responsible for electricity that I haven't used when I wasn't living there?

[Gibble]

What I really need to know is:

 

Is my letter up there ^^ ok to send? Especially the first paragraph about data protection act and cupt?

 

Thanks

[Bazooka Boo]

Seems fine to me, just i wouldn't be putting in any of the personal stuff, your health issues and Girlfriends birthday etc, they won't be interested at all, just keep it factual and straight to the point.

[Gibble]

Thanks for your reply