EON want payment after saying I was not responsible

[CV21]

I've been having a lovely issue with EON.

 

Towards the end of my tenancy at my shared accommodation two of the people

I was living with decided they had had enough of paying bills

and refused to pay their shares after the myself and my other house mate had paid ours.

 

I spoke to my landlord who said I should contact EON and see if they would put the names of the two

non-paying members on the account so they would be chased for payment not myself and my other house mate.

 

First of all I spoke to one of their advisers and told them what the situation was and how/if EON could help.

The person I spoke to said that if I posted a copy of the tenancy agreement

and letter with a brief explanation of the problem they would chase the two non-payers.

 

After about a month of not hearing anything I contacted EON who emailed me a response

saying the two listed were responsible and they would look for payment from them.

 

After 5 months my house mate received a letter from LCS ,at her new address,

saying she owed the amount and demanding payment of the bill plus a £95 admin charge.

 

 

After she sent them a copy of the correspondence I had had with EON

it transpired I had been put on an attached but separate account that owed no money

where as she was on the account owing money.

 

After a few phone calls from her I rang EON and explained the situation.

They said they would sort it.

 

 

After about an hour I received a phone call from a 'resolutions manager' who asked if i was in the property at the time,

I said yes and that I had explained that at the time and all the evidence I sent also clearly showed this.

 

 

He then said he would look into it as it sounded like a 3rd party issue

(something I am now aware of but was not told anything about

and they would also have been aware of it when they looked at the evidence I sent them)

 

After waiting all day for a phone call I rang up and the 'manager' who said EON's legal department

said they can change any advice or correspondence given when they like.

 

After a week this 'manager' emailed saying he was closing the complaint,

that it was 3rd party issue and that the previous correspondence didn't matter.

I then asked for this to go a stage higher, which to his credit he did but failed to inform me he had sent it up.

 

After a few days of waiting I received EON's 'final resolution' letter which was just a copy and paste job from the previous email.

 

I have now taken the case the Ombudsman and hope to hear from them soon.

 

What I want to know is,

can a company say you don't have to pay/aren't responsible for paying

then a few months down the line just say no you are now we have decided?

 

Also according to some bits I have read online firms like LCS aren't allowed or supposed to contact you

whilst the complaint is open,

LCS however have been contacting my house mate through out the process

and although she said only contact her at these times and via this number

they have continued to use another number at times she is at work.

 

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Oh and to say I will never have any involvement with EON again is an understatement.

[stu007]

Hi

 

Please be patient I am sure the caggers will be along to give you there wisdom.

 

When the account with EON was setup whos name/s were the account in?

 

Were all Tenants staying in the Property on One Agreement or Separate Agreements?

[dx100uk]

how long ago as this debt?

 

 

LCS as far as I know ARE E.ON's in house DCA anyhow.

they certainly have no legal remit to add ANY admin PENALTY fees.

 

 

something sounds fishy here

 

 

we have E.ON on board here

and they do a good job too

 

 

i'll alert them to pop into this thread

 

 

dx

[E.ON Company Rep: Malc]

Hi CV21

 

I'm afraid, now you've received a final position letter from the Resolution Manager and gone to the Ombudsman, this isn't something I can really comment too much on.

 

As far as a general position is concerned, customers named on the account are the ones we'll chase for payment. From what you've said, this certainly sounds like a Third Party dispute.

 

One thing I would say is, whilst there's an open complaint on the account, all follow up should stop. If that didn't happen then you should raise this with the Resolution Manager looking after your complaint.

 

Sorry I'm unable to help further.

 

Malc

[CV21]

Hey Stu

 

There was no name on the account. It was just called 'the occupier', the person I spoke to originally said they would use the info to put them as the account names and forwarding addresses.

The tenancy was a joint-separate one, but again as I sent a copy of the tenancy to the company they would have been aware of this.

Edited November 30, 2013 by CV21

[CV21]

Hey Dx

 

The debt is for the account that was active between the August 2012 to July 2013. The two bills which owe money are the April one and final bill in July.

 

LCS have added a "recovery administration charge of £94.03" at least that is what the letter to my former house mate says.

Edited November 30, 2013 by CV21

[CV21]

Thanks E.ON, in understand that you can't say too much regarding the issue now its with the ombudsman.

 

Obviously I'm now aware that it is regarded as a 3rd party issue. However, as I said, originally I was told the two non-paying house mates were going to be responsible for the bill.

 

Thanks, they've tried to ring and sent her emails during the complaint process. I've informed the ombudsman of the activity of LCS but wasn't too sure how much use informing the resolutions manager was.

 

Can you give me any information regarding LCS and the admin fee?

Edited December 1, 2013 by CV21

[dx100uk]

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?400797-LCS-DCA-saying-I-own-EDF-electric-bill-for-my-previous-address&highlight=lcs

 

 

might help

 

 

dx

[CV21]

Wow. Cheers Dx!

The account never had a name and LCS only seem to be going for my housemate, I personally haven't had anything from them yet. My land lord is still chasing them for rent as well!

 

As in the above thread, LCS and eon have gained an advantage and created a 'contract' due to the my housemate talking to them. Nothing was ever signed and the only time I had any dealings with the company was when setting up the online account, letting meter readers in, submitting meter readings, paying the bills and when I contacted the company about the original problem.

 

RE: Back Billing. Although the account didn't have a name attached to the account it used my email to set it up and at one point listed my phone number, but I took it down when my number changed. The reason it was called the occupier was due me working away from uni and it meant any letters or bills from eon would be opened by my housemates.

 

Other than the name on the account part of the back billing article we fulfil all the other points. Should I mention this to the ombudsman?

 

I thought this was just customer service issue not something more but it seems LCS and eon have been trying to pull a fast one.

 

Again cheers. I will keep you up dated with anything new.