Npower A/C with a debt moved to EON - stayed? EON court claim following ombudsman complaint - now Digital DRA DCA chasing me.

[loneparent]

I won a claim against EON.Next last October for the mishandling of my account which they bought from Npower.

Npower had failed to set up a direct debit for me for nearly two years in spite of my many documented requests for one.

I then asked EON to set up a direct debit along with a payment plan.They failed to do so.

Instead, EON issued a county court claim against me which was discontinued when I took them to the ombudsman.

I am a lone parent with a disabled child so vulnerable and the debt that built up contributed to a complete breakdown. We subsequently lost our home.

I suffer ongoing MH issues and the ombudsman found against them, ordering EON to pay me compensation. I then asked EON, again, to set up a payment plan to pay off what is now a £3k debt.

After multiple unanswered emails from me, I escalated it to the CEO's office who were appalling. Still no payment plan and multiple lies from them.

Finally, still without the payment plan I had continually requested, they passed the debt to a DCA called Digital DRA.

The ombudsman says I have to go back to them to make a new complaint which they will look at.

In the meantime, I am receiving daily texts from Digital DRA, even during a Breathing Space I set up to give me time to try and sort this out, the latest stating that I have 48 hours for them to 'help' me or EON.Next may take me to court.

In between, they have made offers of a 20% 'discount' along with other threats.

I have no idea what to do other than go back to the ombudsman but am worried they will take me to court in the meantime.

I'm also wondering if I can take Digital DRA to the FCA along with EON.Next for their conduct. I'd be grateful for any advice.

Edited March 18 by lolerz
Formatting

[lolerz]

Hi, welcome to CAG.

Firstly, I've edited your post to add some spacing. This make it a lot more approachable and easier to read for people on mobile devices.

If E.ON discontinued a claim they can't take you to court again. That's why they're offering discounts.

Ignore Digital totally. Block any calls, report texts as spam to 7726 and bounce back all emails.

Quite frankly, they can do very little after E.ON discontinued their claim.

A DCA is NOT A BAILIFF and has NO legal powers whatsoever.

In part of reporting EON/Digital to the FCA you wouldn't really have a case apart from them still contacting you through your breathing space.

Is EON still your electricity supplier?

Come back here if you ever get a letter of claim.

[dx100uk]

AFAIK digital dca is not a dca but their in house debt dept. 

But anyway ignore them. 

Why can't you set up a Dx yourself you have online banking. All you need is their bank a/c and sort and your old a/c number... No more than £20pcm mind!! 

 

Dx

[loneparent]

Thank you both. EON are no longer my supplier and I had no idea Digital DRA is their inhouse debt department.

I don't have EON.Next's correct account number afaik or I would set up a dd myself.

Is there some way I can find it?

[dx100uk]

sorry i was confusing the name with an earlier one, they arent related.

but they are a DCA and a DCA is not a BAILIFF

and have 

ZERO powers on ANY debt - no Matter what it's type.

only the owner of a debt can take anyone to court, not some powerless DCA merely chasing for 'their client' and i will guess DRA does state their client is EON.Next.?

EON could reopen the claim, but it's very rare if they were the ones that sent you the N279 to discontinued it.

from what period is you old Npower debt from please?

there are well documented issues with npower and faulty billing software 

you say it's now +£3k, but was that sum was somewhat lower? please expand.

 

[loneparent]

Thank you. The npower debt was from 2019/2020 until EON took over the account late 2021.

npower had set a DCA on me even though I owed them nothing. I spoke to a customer service agent, following up by email, who confirmed I was in credit . I made a complaint to head office who sent a barrage of emails, changing the amounts each time. According to them, I owed £279.

The debt grew to what it is now as first npower and then EON subsequently failed to put a payment arrangement and direct debit in place to pay off this supposed sum and my ongoing bills.

I was very ill with Covid, struggling in lockdown with a disabled child and informed them of all this.

EON stopped their legal action when I took them to the ombudsman as this was part of my complaint and requested remedy but I have not received a notice of discontinuance. 

I would like to set up my own dd to pay them off but am concerned they could still take legal action. I am on a low income and can’t afford to pay them more than a token amount each month. 

And yes, they state their client is EON and that they can return the debt to EON who can either register a default or take me to court. 

[dx100uk]

have you any record of when the £279 was first 'claimed' that you owed it, as that might give a good indication upon it's statute barring date. the fact that you remained with them till late 2021 makes no odds. i cant see how this has grown to +£3k mind. something is not right here.

when was the court claim and how much was it for please?

and if they didn't issue a notice of discontinuance, N279, how do you know the claim was 'discontinued'? what written evidence have you from EON that states this? as that could dictate SB date too.

as for today, you ignore DRA, i suspect a default was registered years ago and with an existing stayed? court claim - it's going nowhere.

thread title updated.

[loneparent]

Thank you. In November 2020, after multiple online chats with them and my complaint to head office, npower claimed I owed them £152. By January 2021 this had become £297 (sorry - transposed digits). This debt apparently originated in 2019. I have emails supporting this.

The court claim was in March 2023 for £3635 although Digital DRA are now saying the debt is £3214. I have a text from them stating this figure. Their latest 'offer' was for me to pay £2571 upfront or split it over two months.

Their CEO 'customer service' agent stated to me on the phone that the claim had been discontinued, as per my request to the ombudsman. I have no written proof of this.

 

[dx100uk]

well stay off that phone..end of no if's or buts.

i will guess you can still get onto mcol? can you?

copy and paste the claim history here. 

[loneparent]

I'll try to get onto mcol - will have to dig the papers out of storage as most of our belongings are there. Please bear with me.