Debt Advice Greatly Needed! Am Desperate!!

[BobbyG1979]

OK, well done and thank you for doing that. It's actually good to have it in black and white so you know where you stand. After your essential expenditure, are you already dipping into the red or have you still got some disposable income?

 

Hi Tingy,

I think you might have missread my last post. Our outgoings are £633 more than our income each month,

We are well & truly shafted each month before we start.

[BobbyG1979]

I have spent the day tawling web,doing benefits calculators left right & centre (all of which give completely diff answers btw!)

working out income/expenditure, downloading piles of forms to print off & fill out.

(tomorrows job! keepsing busy each day keeps the depression away!)

At least the weathers been good which has kept my spirits high, as i am still no clearer to what we are entitled to lol.

 

Again a big thanks to everyone who posted advice on this matter

Bobby

 

P.S I am gonna try cab again tomorrow, everytime i go its rammed to the rafters

[Tingy]

No I didn't misread it. I just wondered whether after priority debts are paid what stage are you at? In the red by how much? CAB are not brilliant on debt advice, but very good on benefits.

[E.ON Company Rep: Malc]

Hi Bobby

Sorry for the late reply; I've been out of the office since Tuesday. Apologies also for misunderstanding your original post. I thought the Prepayment Meters were already in place when you moved into the property.

We have to be very careful when opening and closing accounts. In rented properties, it's important both the old and new tenants agree to the dates and meter readings we use to close the old account and open the new one.

Often, a former tenant will move out without telling us responsibility has changed. A new tenant will then move in and let us know details of the change of tenancy sometimes, as appears to be the situation in your case, quite a while after responsibility changes.

In these circumstances, we'll often ask for proof of the change of responsibility as the former tenant may dispute the final bill we'll send them. A Tenancy Agreement is the usual form of proof requested.

We also have to be mindful of the Data Protection Act. As the old account will have been in the name of the previous tenant, there's only a limited amount we are able to do without their consent. Again, sight of the Tenancy Agreement helps us comply with the legislation.

Now you've provided a Tenancy Agreement, the old account will be closed down to the details advised and a final bill issued to the former tenant.

A new account will be created for you to cover energy used from the time you took over responsibility.

It takes a long time to reach the stage where prepayment meters are fitted under warrant. Many letters are sent and phone calls made requesting payment before we apply to the courts for a warrant. Did you receive letters/phone calls advising of the debt?

As it took such a long time to complete the change of occupancy, I suspect these letters/phone calls may well have been directed at the former tenant as they will still have been showing as responsible for the energy being used.

However, the E.ON agent who called to discuss the debt should certainly have explained the likely course of action we would follow if the energy used wasn't paid for and I'm sorry if this wasn't made clear.

What I'm wondering is, if the old/new accounts weren't sorted out until November last year and the prepayment meters were fitted in the previous September, part of the debt now on the meter could well belong to the former tenant. This certainly needs looking at.

If this is the case, an adjustment will need to be made to the amount of debt loaded on to the meters. This can be done electronically by sending a message to the meters.

There are a number of issues you've raised that require further investigation and I'm sorry this wasn't done when you've called previously. At this stage, I would suggest referring the matter to one of our specialist Prepayment teams rather than a Call Centre.

Ask for a complaint to be raised. An agent within this area will take ownership of the complaint and follow it through to a conclusion, escalating to senior management if necessary. If, after 56 days, you're unhappy with the resolution/explanation proposed you can refer the matter to Ofgem, the industry Ombudsman, for an independent ruling.

Hope this gives you a couple of pointers Bobby and good luck with the Water Trusts.

Malc

[Tingy]

Given your IE sheet there is no doubt that you would be classed as being in severe financial hardship. Did the IE sheet you filled in give you a pro rata list of what you should be offering to your creditors ( it would be a negative number as your expenditure exceeds your income). What about priority bills - Council Tax, Mortgage/Rent, Electricity, Gas etc... are you up to date with these?

 

If you can answer the above, then we can take the next step. Hopefully you've got an IE sheet that worked out payments to all your creditors, if not, sadly you'll need to redo it (basically transferring the figures you've done across, so shouldn't be too bad) and then we can have a think about how we're going to approach them. You'll have a range of options at this stage.

[matt5983]

Best place i found to do an I & E is here, works out everything really well

 

 

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/budget_sheet.php?country=england_wales

 

you can do it either monthly or weekly

[Tingy]

It depends what you want to achieve as the outcome. That is comprehensive and good. I also have a further 5 or 6 saved on my computer.

[BobbyG1979]

Hi malc,

Just thought id update you on the water trust fund application.

Had a letter last week saying how they are unable to help us. Even though i sent everything they asked for

which showed just how much of a mess we are in financially, they still refused to help. Which now means

we are back to square one with e-on, as id been keeping them off my back by explaining that id applied for a grant etc.

Sorry if i seem a bit irate tis just i was really banking on gettin some help as in our dire straights i thought we might have fitted the criteria.

Obviously not.

Where do i go from here????

[BobbyG1979]

Hey Tingy

Not been on for a while had no net.

No my ie sheet didnt tell me what i should be offering as i did my own.

Am still working at sorting all this debt, even more of a panic as we are goin to have an addition to the clan soon!!

[BobbyG1979]

Given your IE sheet there is no doubt that you would be classed as being in severe financial hardship. Did the IE sheet you filled in give you a pro rata list of what you should be offering to your creditors ( it would be a negative number as your expenditure exceeds your income). What about priority bills - Council Tax, Mortgage/Rent, Electricity, Gas etc... are you up to date with these?

 

If you can answer the above, then we can take the next step. Hopefully you've got an IE sheet that worked out payments to all your creditors, if not, sadly you'll need to redo it (basically transferring the figures you've done across, so shouldn't be too bad) and then we can have a think about how we're going to approach them. You'll have a range of options at this stage.

 

Hi Tingy, not been on for a while have replied to u above this post just forgot to quote ur post! Doh

[Tingy]

Hi,

 

If you go to the library on this site (link at top of page) you'll find an IE sheet that works out pro rata offers for each of your creditors. You need to fill this in. Once you've done that and know in black and white your financial position, then you need to post up all your debts, how much they are, what you are paying currently (if anything), who is collecting it and if with a DCA who the debt was originally with. It sounds a lot but isn't.

 

So:

1. Fill in IE Sheet from library

2. List ALL debts as follows:

1. Lloyds TSB paying £7.50 per month 3 years old

2. Robinson Way paying £0 (unpaid for past 4 months) originally with Nat West

etc......

 

Finally post all thhis up for us to look at so we can advise on the best way forward for you.