@eonhelp E.ON just fitted Pre-pay meter for PREVIOUS TENANTS debt - help!!

[jan7777]

Hi

 

I have just come home after a weekend away to find EON have been in my house ,

left off my house alarm ,

changed my meter to a key meter and

left a letter for the lady who used to live here saying she owes £7,200.00

 

I have only rented this house since late august this year

and the Lady the letters have been addressed to was taken into care nearly 12 months ago from what the neighbours tell me ,

she was 80 and had dementia .

 

I never opened her letters but have come home to a pre payment meter being fitted in my absence as my home was empty and no alarm on and a defrosted freezer !

 

The locks have not been drilled as my key still works ... I don't understand how EON can do this ?

 

I have never received a letter addressed to the occupier or I would of opened it , there is mail only addressed to the previous old lady ?

 

Is this legal ?

 

They have come into my home and disabled my house alarm without my being here and just left a note on the windowsill

saying there is £5 credit and the lady must pay £8 each week ?

 

Please advise ASAP

 

MANY THANKS

JAN

[dx100uk]

I've asked the rep tp pop in

 

own thread created for you so it will now be seen

 

dx

[E.ON Company Rep: Malc]

Hi Jan

When you moved in during late August, did you or your landlord/letting agent contact us to let us know about the change of responsibility?

It usually takes a long time to reach the stage where we obtain a warrant to enter a property and fit a prepayment meter. In this time, we’ll make many attempts to contact a customer. This includes phone calls, letters, emails (where appropriate) and site visits.

If no one contacted us to tell us about the change, I suspect we’ve gone ahead and fitted the prepayment meter as we would’ve been unaware of the new circumstances.

If this is the case, you’ll need to contact us with proof of the date you took over responsibility. Sight of the Tenancy Agreement will usually be ok. We can then look at reversing this action.

Let me know if I'm barking up the wrong tree here as will be happy to advise further.

Malc

[renegadeimp]

Surely you should have... oh i dont know... CHECKED to see if the person still lived there if you had no contact whatsoever before you go obtaining a warrant, BREAK AND ENTER into someones house and fit a meter.

[jan7777]

Hi Jan

When you moved in during late August, did you or your landlord/letting agent contact us to let us know about the change of responsibility?

It usually takes a long time to reach the stage where we obtain a warrant to enter a property and fit a prepayment meter. In this time, we’ll make many attempts to contact a customer. This includes phone calls, letters, emails (where appropriate) and site visits.

If no one contacted us to tell us about the change, I suspect we’ve gone ahead and fitted the prepayment meter as we would’ve been unaware of the new circumstances.

 

If this is the case, you’ll need to contact us with proof of the date you took over responsibility. Sight of the Tenancy Agreement will usually be ok. We can then look at reversing this action.

Let me know if I'm barking up the wrong tree here as will be happy to advise further.

Malc

Hi Mal

 

No I didn't inform EON as I am in the process of switching suppliers to co-op and never opened any of the previous tenants letters as they were not addressed to me !

 

They left a letter on the side with no meter key and no instructions on how to obtain credit or a key !

 

They put £5 credit on it , left off my house alarm and my freezer has defrosted as a result !

 

Surely this can't be right ,

 

there was no copy of any warrant and from what I believe a warrant has to be signed the same day

and I find it hard to believe a magistrate has signed a warrant on sunday morning before 10am as that is when they came ?

[silverfox1961]

Hi

While I abhor what Eon have done, I think you made a small error.

 

If a property is already served by one supplier then a new tenant/homeowner has to sign up with the existing supplier (NOT FAIR I know) whilst the new supplier arranges to take over. This can take up to 6 weeks.

 

Eon should have sent a letter to the 'occupier' before taking further action.

 

They should now send out an engineer to remove the PPM and replace it with the correct meter. This should be done ASAP although I bet they will take a while. they should also compensate you for the defrosted food.

 

Just to put your experience into perspective, have a look at this horror story.

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?399163-British-Gas-forced-entry-amp-fitted-PP-meter-for-prev-tenants-debt!!

[E.ON Company Rep: Malc]

Hi Mal

 

No I didn't inform EON as I am in the process of switching suppliers to co-op and never opened any of the previous tenants letters as they were not addressed to me !

 

They left a letter on the side with no meter key and no instructions on how to obtain credit or a key !

 

They put £5 credit on it , left off my house alarm and my freezer has defrosted as a result !

 

Surely this can't be right ,

 

there was no copy of any warrant and from what I believe a warrant has to be signed the same day

and I find it hard to believe a magistrate has signed a warrant on sunday morning before 10am as that is when they came ?

 

Hi Jan

 

I'm afraid, as we weren't aware of the changed circumstances, we'll have gone ahead and installed a prepayment meter.

 

As I said previously, in these circumstances, we make many attempts to contact customers before applying for a warrant. Where there's no response, we'll then follow the prepayment route to recover the debt.

 

We will, though, only do this after having gone to Court and obtained a warrant.

 

As the circumstances have now changed, you need to talk to us so the situation can be re-examined. However, this will now sit with our Warrants Team and they're the ones to talk to. Contact details will be included in the letter we left.

 

I'd also raise the alarm and freezer issues with them. They're the ones who will have engaged the locksmith and arranged the engineer. Consequently, they'll be able to liaise directly with the people who entered the property and carried out the work.

 

Hope this helps point you in the right direction.

 

Malc

[renegadeimp]

Surely eon should have checked the person still lives there before getting a warrant. .