£3500+ Electricity debt. Finally a reply. Help !! :(

[Ks26]

I previously posted on this forum back in May 2018 that my daughter had received a letter from a firm of probate specialists asking that could the executives of her Estate get in touch with them regarding an outstanding bill of over £3500 for unpaid electricity.

this came as quite a shock to her as she assumed they were collecting the money from her bank account and as she had sent them details of her bank account and she didn't have an online bank account she assume this was the case and the fact that she was alive and well this came as quite a shock to her she previously wrote to them by email saying "I'm confused and alarmed at the fact that it has taken you a few years to notify me of this situation and when she's requested bills from them they've not been forthcoming".

What she suggested based on advice from you guys previously is an under Ofgems back billing regulations she's not liable for all of this bill. Just the last 12 months and would appreciate their thorough investigation into the above points, plus the fact she's had no reminders, and no bills or visits.


They've replied with a letter which says that they have investigated the account, they can see the reason why your daughter hasn't received letters is because originally she agreed to an online tariff (not known to her) when the account was created, this means that all of the correspondence was sent to the online account for her to view and keep track of.

They've looked into the letter that was sent, it was sent out around October 2016 whenever the account is accessed by anyone it leaves a footprint and there are no footprints from March 2016 to April 2018 this means it is a system error to why the letter was sent out and they sincerely apologise for that.

There was no instalment plan setup for your daughter and there are no failed instalment plans either, but we can set up a standing order, this will break down to £59.90 a month over a period of 5 years this will be separate from the ongoing usage, also as your daughter is on receipt of Bill cash quarterly payments scheme she will also be billed for the previous three months energy used.

According to them they say the back billing rules do NOT apply as we have been sending out bills to the online account so your daughter will still be eligible for the amount. The balance outstanding at the moment is over £3500, the actual last time we had a meter reading was the 3rd of August 2018 if your daughter is under financial hardship makes you may be entitled to the hardship fund offered by the national debtline we can also add your daughter to our priority service register where we can offer additional support in cases of a blackout and other additional needs. Once again they apologised for any inconvenience this has caused.

Questions
My daughter is a one parent family with no financial help from the deserting father, she is on housing benefit, income support etc etc and could just about afford to start paying the normal monthly amount never mind the extra £60 per month over 5 years they want.

So in essence, are they correct in everything they have said above?

Is their any redress for my daughter?
(the fact she hasn't got a pot to p*** in)

Can we reply to them to counter what they have said?

Any help or advice is appreciated.

Thanks ...................... A concerned Dad

[2222]

Just in case anybody else was as confused by the start of the above post as I was, the OP previously wrote:
" Out of the blue she told me that a letter from some solicitors had come addressed to the executors of my late daughter regarding her estate and an outstanding balance of £2,600 it was quite a shock to her as she is fit and well and very much alive and this is the first kind of any correspondence she's had."

[Amethyst]

I think she needs to submit a full Subject Access Request ( Subject Access Request Letter ) to the company to find out what exactly has gone on with this account.... asking for everything, readings, transactions, copy bills, account opening documents etc etc.

If the account was an online account there should have been emails periodically indicating a new bill was ready to be viewed etc. Has she checked her email history to see if there has been anything ? Should be something from when the account was originally set up too. I'm pretty sure they still have to provide at least an annual statement on paper too but will have to look into that -

Tagging

slainte caragh

Considering they thought she was deceased at one point I'm not sure I'd particularly trust what they are saying... unless that was some kind of sick tactic for getting contact started.

They are right though it might be worth her having a chat with Nat Debtline. Does she have any idea on the actual meter readings from when she moved in and now ? My electric is around £600 a year for a 3 bed house ( just by way of a guide ).

[Ks26]

Thankyou for providing us with something I didn't even know about.
Will get back to you on their reply.
(apologies original post got laid out incorrectly,is there any way I can edit original post to make it unconfusing?)
ANYBODY THAT HAS ANY OTHER IDEAS TO WAY TO PROCEED PLEASE POST A REPLY. THANKYOU.

[slainte caragh]

Hey Ame,

Thanks for the tag

Ok, so let's get the facts completely straight:

1aughter was under the impression that she had paid, but she hadn't. Did she check her bank at any time to see if they were being paid, and if so did she call them to find out why?

2: Daughter got a letter to her Estate for the full amount. What compensation have they offered for emotional distress?

3: Company are saying bills sent to Online Account. When did Daughter request this to happen? You need the note number and agent name of the person who advised her this was the case (they HAVE to give it to Daughter under GDPR). If your daughter had no idea the bills were going online and was never advised to log on, you may have a defence.

4: Did Daughter ever request a bill? This is VITAL. I cannot stress how important this is. If she never requested a bill, regardless of it going online without her knowledge, she has ZERO defence!

What to do next:
DISPUTE. DISPUTE. DISPUTE! Make yourself such a royal pain in the backside that they answer the phone with "Hello KS26!" If they say you are at deadlock, take it to the Ombudsman!
Ask about vulnerable tariffs. If she is on benefits, she may be eligible for help.
Remind me kindly what company we are talking about? They may have a Trust for customers who have high balances they cannot afford.
Talk about prepayment. It is a pain in the arse, but it also stops debt accumulating and your daughter can make smaller payments off the balance. (say £15 usage, £3 off debt) The important thing to realise is, even if your daughter puts for example £40 a week on her meters (don't worry, I'm picking numbers out the sky) they can't take more than £3 off the debt!
Keep disputing the balances, ask for meter readings, usage charts. Take 2 meter reads 10 days apart and post them here (with a tag for me) and I will work out if her usage is in line with the balance, if not.... Then we hit them with an unfair bill claim and a proposed read (in otherwords, UNLEASH THE CALLIE!!)

PLEASE NOTE: I am no longer working in a 9-5 job. I work 3 shifts, earlys (7-230) lates (2-930) Nights (9-7/ 10-9) and Late-sleep-early (230-2.30 the next afternoon). If it takes me a while to get back to you, ask Kati to messenger me and I will have a look. I'm not ignoring you, I am either flat asleep or at work.

Callie

[2222]

"2: Daughter got a letter to her Estate for the full amount. What compensation have they offered for emotional distress? "

I wouldn't be truly distressed by that, if I were fit and well. The OP said her daughter was shocked by this, though. I can understand surprised or puzzled, but shocked?

[slainte caragh]

"2: Daughter got a letter to her Estate for the full amount. What compensation have they offered for emotional distress? "

I wouldn't be truly distressed by that, if I were fit and well. The OP said her daughter was shocked by this, though. I can understand surprised or puzzled, but shocked?

The term used by the Energy Providers for cases like this is Emotional Distress. The fact that the OP will know this will be a wake up call for them, and may shock them in to thinking carefully about their next move.

And if I received a bill to "The Estate of the Late Slainte Caragh" I would find it very distressing! Especially if one of my kids saw it!!!

[MIKE770]

agreed