Threatening letter - deadline tomorrow.

[Toseland]

E-on have sent my partner a letter threatening a debt collection agency if he doesn’t pay December’s bill by 4th Feb. He moved out in October, reading them the meter as he left. He was nearly £200 in credit which the company repaid to him in November. He has phoned the company numerous times but they insist the bill must be paid - they read the meter on 20 Dec apparently. We don’t have paper bills for Oct-Dec. Should we pay the bill tonight?

Did he take a picture of the readings from October? Was it a rented place? Did they produce a final bill when they refunded his balance?

No, it’s not your Bill? If he told them he moved out then it’s the landlords or new tenants responsibility.

Has he got evidence of informing them he left?
Don’t answer the door to the bailiff- Don’t let them in. Call them tomorrow and explain and give them the evidence it’s not your debt

Ime leave it to the debt collectors . They can demand copies of your statements and all past bills and payments. E-on are legally obliged to send them to them.
Likely you will find out pretty quickly you are actually debt free of your calculations are correct.
Ime..
No ccj if that is your concern.. It hasn't gone to court..

Why do they think he's liable for it when he moved out? What are they actually saying? E-on not the bailiffs.

No don’t pay - it’s not his bill. But you need to contact Eon urgently to explain that your partner vacated the property in October, he gave them a final meter reading at the time he left, and they were obviously aware that he had left because they repaid his credit. This is an admin error because they have apparently failed to take his name off the property after he vacated. Threaten to report them to the ombudsman if they keep harassing him for a bill that isn’t his. And keep hassling them until they resolve it.

No photo :( - he was on the phone to them and didn’t think. Housing association place. We can’t find a final bill - am hunting - I have a final letter on the refund that came with a cheque.

Is there not another tenant in the property now? Its their bill now not his.
What does the letter say?

The HA will be able provide evidence of the date his tenancy ended. Just forward that to the collection company & e-on.

We did similar in the same situation (but it was British Gas) with a letter showing a refund on the Council Tax bill, along with the CT Bill from the property we'd moved in to. Never heard from BG again, had a letter of apology from the collections company.

@Toseland, it’s likely the property was empty and it is the HA responsibility to pay this debt. Pass them the details.
Don’t let bailiffs in!

Thank you all for replying so fast! I’m hunting for these missing bills and will be back ASAP.

Hi sorry am struggling to understand the previous bills now found online - 6 wildly differing bills in 8 days!? On 4th Nov refunded - balance 0. On 8th nov charge of £600. On 9th a refund of the £600 but a new charge of £70?! etc. Agh. I suspect it is because they didn’t read the meter themselves till 16 Dec. I have to go to bed! Nite all. x

Does your partner have a note of the reading he gave when he left?

Yes we have the reading and he’s chat messaged them.