LCS and old EON Bill

[corine39]

Hi Guys

 

Hoping someone can help as panicking a bit!

 

Just received a letter from LCS demanding an eon invoice balance of £1600, plus £250 admin charge:faint:for the period April 2011 to July 2012.

 

I am the landlord of the property the balance relates to. I bought the property in April 2011, and let it out early May, 2011. I had called EON upon purchase with meter readings, so I am sure they have my home address somewhere, but as this was a telephone conversation i cannot prove this..

 

Anyhow tenants left in March 2012, took meter readings and new tenant was in place at the start of July 2012. Tenancy agreement states all tenants are responsible for utility bills whilst at the premises. In between these times the property was empty, and no gas/electricity consumed.

 

My assumption is that eon have been sending bills to the rental address and not my home address, and that they first tenant did not make eon aware of their occupation, despite the letting agent demanding they do so.

 

My questions are:

1) What is my best next step - contact EON? I have read previous threads and they all say do not contact LCS no matter what.

2) Or send LCS a letter along the lines of

Dear Sir/Madam

 

Ref: xxxxxxxxxxx

 

You have contacted us regarding the account with the above reference number, which you claim is owed by ourselves.

 

We would point out that we have no knowledge of any such debt being owed to The Loan Company.

 

We are familiar with the ‘Office of Fair Trading Debt Collection Guidance’ which states that it is unfair to send demands for payment to an individual when it is uncertain that they are the debtor in question.

 

We would also point out that the OFT say under the Guidance that it is unfair to pursue third parties for payment when they are not liable. In not ceasing collection activity whilst investigating a reasonably queried or disputed debt you are using deceptive/and or unfair methods.

 

Furthermore, ignoring and/or disregarding claims that debts have been settled or are disputed and continuing to make unjustified demands for payment amounts to physical/psychological harassment.

 

We would ask that no further contact be made concerning the above accounts unless you can provide evidence as to our liability for the debt in question.

 

We await your written confirmation that this matter is now closed. Otherwise we will have no option but to make a complaint to the trading standards department and consider informing the OFT of your actions.

 

We look forward to your reply.

 

Yours faithfully

 

3) Will part of the debt be time barred, as older than 1 year, seeing as they technically haven't billed me, or am I pushing my luck with that one?

 

Many thanks for any advice.

 

Corine

[E.ON Company Rep: Malc]

Hi Corine

 

Hope you don't mind if I jump on your thread. I normally lurk around the gas and electricity forum but thought I might be able to offer a bit of help here.

 

This looks like a case of us not being told about the change of tenancy from May 11.

 

When responsibility for a property changes, it's up to the new occupant/landlord/letting agent to let us know about the change. We can then close the old account and set up a new one for ongoing usage.

 

As you called us in April 11 with readings, I suspect we closed the previous account and opened another for you from this time.

 

It then appears we didn't receive any further contact until July 12. If this is right, the account opened for you would have kept running until we were told differently in July 12.

 

I also suspect you're right about correspondence going to the property. It takes quite a time before we reach the stage you're now at. During this time, we'll have attempted to make contact by phone, letter, home calls or email, if possible.

 

Best thing is to contact us. Let us have copies of the relevant Tenancy Agreements and details of your tenants. We can then see about sorting accounts out in the names of those responsible for using the energy. We've a specialist Home Moves team who'll look after this for you. Contact details are on bills and our website.

 

Hope this is of some help Corine. Give me a shout if you need any more info as will be happy to help.

 

Malc

[citizenB]

Eon Rep - Malc Is there a direct email or telephone number for Corine ?

 

Thanks for looking in

[E.ON Company Rep: Malc]

Certainly is citizenB.

 

Am I ok to put details on the open forum? Don't want to break the rules.

 

Malc

[citizenB]

Yes, it is ok for you to post a contact email for corine

[E.ON Company Rep: Malc]

Thanks for that citizenB.

 

Corine, you can email our Home Moves team at [email protected]

Alternatively, you can call on 0345 303 3020. They're open tomorrow from 8am to 4pm if this is of help.

 

Hope this is useful.

 

Malc