Fathers Debt Worry. EON Deafult Judgment

[daley1]

Sorry for the long story but I need to get some serious advice regarding my Fathers financial situation.

 

About 3 years ago my father got taken into hospital with Kidney Failure, at the time he was 78 and still

Working as a self-employed accountant.

 

He ended up being in there for a couple of months and as a result I discovered what a financial mess he was in.

 

He was getting Letters from Credit Card Companies, various Debt Collectors and utility companies.

I even discovered that he had an £86k interest only mortgage which is due to be repaid in 2021.

 

Since this my mum, his wife has passed away and his health has taken a turn for the worse with constant stays

In Hospital and respite care in nursing home.

 

As of today he is in a Nursing Home and will be there for at least the next 6 weeks possibly longer.

 

Having full access to his Mail I anticipate that he owes somewhere in the region of £130k which for a person Of his age seems unbelievable.

 

I just feel that he is going to loose the house eventually as these debts seem to grow and there is no real income.

 

I really want to get a grip off this situation before it becomes a bigger problem than it already is.

 

I cant speak to his creditors as I don’t have the relevant authority.

 

H is still relatively with it but he is very much in denial that this is a problem.

 

Any advice greatly appreciated

[BankFodder]

I think I would start organising a power of attorney as a matter of urgency. You may feel that you need a solicitor to help you with this but it shouldn't be very complicated.

 

It's a huge amount of money and one wonders whether bankruptcy would be a better idea – except the house of course would be lost and he would have nowhere to go to if/when he came out of hospital.

[dx100uk]

well you can as you can write letter using his name

they wont know any diff for now whilst you get the POA sorted.

 

bar the mortgage

 

can you list his debts?

 

and whom he should or was paying?

[daley1]

I am putting a spreadsheet together, and will list it in the next day or so.

[unclebulgaria67]

Is there any endowment policy or was this cashed in ?

 

It is surprising that someone still has a mortgage at age 78, that will only reach its end date in 2021. Mortgages for people of this age, are a fairly recent thing and it would be interesting to know what the story is. I should imagine he would have been over 60, when this was taken out.

 

What is the approx value of the house, compared to the debts ?

 

Is the pension and other available income enough to meet basic monthly outgoings e.g mortgage, council tax, utility bills, without paying credit card bills. ?

 

In this situation, i don't think there is reason to panic, unless court actions are in progress. Although you can't speak to creditors, you can write to them all, just a standard letter explaining the current position and that until a power of attorney is arranged that no one is fit to actually deal with any communications. Ask them to put matters on hold for a period, so that you can get on with what needs to be done.

[daley1]

Ok so here are the Main things I have worked out.

 

Mortgage-Interest only £86.9k

Barclaycard £1100

Barclaycard £5.6K

EON-£4.5K Now gone through County Court received a CCJ Letter the other day.

Debt Collector £2.1k

DLA-£3650

DLA-£80

Opus-£2.6k

MBNA-£3.7k

There is also another Debt Collector after £2065 whos client is HMRC.

 

These are the main ones and obviously total a fair sum.

I have arranged for a Solicitor to See him to write up a power of attorney so i can start dealing with this mess

Once that is in place I hope to be able to contact them all and make seperate payment offers.

 

Is this the right course of action or should I seek advice on here or a debt charity?

 

One of the main concerns is the CCJ, what will happen next.

Thanks

[AndyOrch]

EON-£4.5K Now gone through county court received a CCJ Letter the other day.

 

I would start a separate thread for the above in the General Legal Issues Forum.....by received a CCJ letter ...do you mean a claim form from Northampton CCBC ?

 

Regards

 

Andy

[daley1]

Hi Andy

No it was from Oldham CC And looked very much like a Judgement for £4400 +£100 Costs.

[AndyOrch]

Ah okay so its an actual judgment (N30)...forthwith payment I would presume ?

[dx100uk]

Barclaycard £1100....is this still with Barclays or a dca?

Barclaycard £5.6Ki s this still with Barclays or a dca?

debt collector £2.1k -? whats the original debt please

DLA-£3650 whats the original debt please

DLA-£80 whats the original debt please

Opus-£2.6k whats the original debt please

MBNA-£3.7k

There is also another Debt Collector after £2065 whos client is HMRC.

[E.ON Company Rep: Malc]

Ok so here are the Main things I have worked out.

 

EON-£4.5K Now gone through County Court received a CCJ Letter the other day.

 

I have arranged for a Solicitor to See him to write up a power of attorney so i can start dealing with this mess

Once that is in place I hope to be able to contact them all and make seperate payment offers.

 

Is this the right course of action or should I seek advice on here or a debt charity?

 

One of the main concerns is the CCJ, what will happen next.

Thanks

 

Hello daley1 and I'm sorry to hear about your Father's ill health.

 

As this is now going through the County Court, there's not much Helen or I can say. This will be the same, too, for most other advisors but thought I'd let you know who will be looking after this at E.ON. Your Father's account will be with our Legal Team. You can, though, call the number on his bills and ask to be put through to this team. You'll need permission to discuss the account and, whilst waiting for a Power of Attorney, it might be useful to send in a Letter of Authority. Here's a link to our website where you can print out a letter.

 

https://www.eonenergy.com/for-your-home/help-and-support/extra-help

 

Please let our Legal Team know the circumstances and what you're trying to do. They'll let you know what stage we're at and what you need to do from here as far as the outstanding debt with us is concerned.

 

Are we still supplying your Father's energy? If so, this team will be able to let you know what we can do going forward.

 

Make sure the account is fully up to date with details of your Father's illness. The link above also has details of some extra support we offer to vulnerable customers particularly through the Priority Services Register. Ask, too, about the E.ON Energy Fund. This helps vulnerable people struggling with energy arrears. There's more information on our website at the following link.

 

http://www.eonenergy.com/energyfund

 

Sorry I can't help more personally and I sincerely hope your Father's health improves.

 

Malc

[Old Cogger]

eon bill from further than 12 months (utilities) ?????

 

Regulations from Ofgem ban gas and electricity suppliers from charging customers for energy used more than 12 months previous, if the error in billing is the supplier’s.

 

Despite this, it has been reported that some energy companies continue to send bills to former and current customers to recoup on their own internal billing errors.

[brassnecked]

@ Old Cogger Worth exploring that one, bill might be foul of that

[E.ON Company Rep: Malc]

eon bill from further than 12 months (utilities) ?????

 

Regulations from Ofgem ban gas and electricity suppliers from charging customers for energy used more than 12 months previous, if the error in billing is the supplier’s.

 

Despite this, it has been reported that some energy companies continue to send bills to former and current customers to recoup on their own internal billing errors.

 

Certainly worth making sure Old Cogger. Even though the OP has made no mention of billing difficulties, in their circumstances, I agree, it's best to look at all aspects of the debt. Thought it might help and possibly save the OP wasting time if I give some details of what's involved with the Billing Code. This forms part of the 'Code of Practice for Accurate Bills' and there are more details available from Energy UK at the following link.

 

http://www.energy-uk.org.uk/customers/energy-industry-codes/code-of-practice-for-accurate-bills.html

 

The Billing Code applies in certain circumstances where we've failed to bill accurately. Where we're at fault for a customer not receiving an accurate bill, we cannot charge for any unbilled energy used more than 12 months from the point the problem was fixed.

 

It doesn't apply, though, where energy has been used and the customer has made no attempt to contact us to arrange payment (sometimes seen when properties change hands); wilfully avoid payment; or don't co-operate with attempts to take meter readings or resolve any queries we might have. This includes denying us access to meters.

 

If the OP thinks this is something that might apply then it should be raised with the Legal Team now looking after the account.

 

Hope this helps the OP and is of interest to others.

 

Malc

[AndyOrch]

Many thanks Malc...

 

Good to have it from the horses mouth so to speak

 

Regards

 

Andy

[E.ON Company Rep: Malc]

@ Old Cogger Worth exploring that one, bill might be foul of that

 

I agree brassnecked. Hope the above helps the OP either rule in or rule out the possibility.

 

Malc

 

Many thanks Malc...

 

Good to have it from the horses mouth so to speak

 

Regards

 

Andy

 

You're welcome Andy. Glad to help.

 

Malc

[daley1]

Thanks for the responses.

 

I managed to get some contact information from the Court as to who I needed to speak to at eon.

 

As I thought they would not discuss the account, which is fair enough.

 

Their is a Solicitor going to see my Dad next Tuesday to iron out the POA so i should shortly be in a better position to finally try and get to the bottom of everything and start to finally try to sort things out, but I feel it is going to be a very long and dirty path that I need to take?

 

I have to admit that it looks very Dark indeed and is going to take a lot of work to get on top of all this.

Back Soon

[E.ON Company Rep: Malc]

Hello daley1 and hope things start to improve for you soon.

 

Once sorted, if you let us have sight of the Power of Attorney, we can put details on to your Father's account. This will make it easier for you when talking to us in the future.

 

Hope this helps a little.

 

Malc

[daley1]

Thanks Malc

[ericsbrother]

We know of his debts but does he have any assets that would be greater then that?

 

 

Also, is he likely to return home anytime soon and stay there without needing care?

 

 

IF the answer to the second question is no then he/you should think about doing the inevitable and realising those assets and paying off the debts and then using the balance to pay for his care

[E.ON Company Rep: Malc]

Thanks Malc

 

You're welcome daley1. Just sorry I can't help more.

 

Malc

[daley1]

We have just been going through this years bank statements and have noticed that EON have a Direct Debit setup for

£400 pm.

I really find it hard to believe that this is correct as it seems so high?

 

Also since the CCJ was granted in February EON has taken 2 direct debits of £400 (£800) therefore how can a court make a judgement for £4500??

 

This is really not making sense.

[ericsbrother]

as the court claim went uncontested it doesnt have to make sense. You will need to unpick the tangled yarn and once you have made some sense apply for a set-aside or variation of the order.

[E.ON Company Rep: Malc]

We have just been going through this years bank statements and have noticed that EON have a Direct Debit setup for

£400 pm.

I really find it hard to believe that this is correct as it seems so high?

Also since the CCJ was granted in February EON has taken 2 direct debits of £400 (£800) therefore how can a court make a judgement for £4500??

 

This is really not making sense.

 

I agree daley1, £400 a month is high given the set up described earlier in the thread. I suspect the amount is covering what we think is the ongoing usage plus an amount for the arrears spread over a period of time. Totally guessing though.

 

Have you managed a meaningful discussion with our Legal Team yet? As above, these will be the ones to explain what's going on here. The Power of Attorney spoken about earlier will help.

 

Malc

[daley1]

Sadly the Solicitor feels that my Father is not of sound enough mind to agree to a POA so I dont know when or indeed if it will happen.

Overall very worrying.