Lowell Chasing Fabricated E-On bill

[Welshy2020]

Just over a year ago, Lowell started chasing me for a final E-On bill at a previous address about 3 years ago. I was on a pre-payment meter, so was sure i could not owe anything. E-On sold the £250 (est. bill) to Lowell. I Contacted Lowell who told me i would need to speak to E-On to get it written off, and E-On told me i had to speak to Lowell. After not getting anywhere with both companies. Lowell put in a court claim which i have defended on the grounds that I was on a pre-payment meter at that address, and the estimate would be incorrect as i wouldn't have used any energy there once i moved out or changed my contract.

I have just had the Directions Questionnaire through for me to organise the mediation.

I am certain I do not owe this money as was impossible to get into debt on a pre-payment meter. The estimated bill is completely fabricated.

Should I hold my nerve and keep fighting not to pay this at mediation or make an offer? I'm worried about spiralling court costs if I'm unsuccessful. Already it's the debt has increased for getting this far.

[MasterCoder]

Eon are an absolute shower, when my dad died they sent me an insane bill for Electricity and Gas despite him being on the StayWarm tariff that was a fixed price. It took 3 years to get that sorted.

Were you renting the property or was it your own? Did it always have a pre-payment meter or was one fitted while you were the occupant?

Eon like to try and force customers to have prepayment meters installed when they are behind on their energy payments when paying via Direct Debit. When you top up your meter, a percentage of that is taken automatically to reduce the amount outstanding. Is it possible that you were paying off an old bill and when you moved out that amount was still outstanding?

In any case, Eon might have assigned the debt to Lowell but that doesn't remove their obligation to discuss the account with you. Email them and ask them directly how you can owe money when you had a prepayment meter. I had a prepay meter when I was a student, I think I got a quids grace when the money ran out but after that the power went off.

Eon need to provide you with all details on the account. Probably worth hitting them with an SAR request. You can only defend this if you have all the facts in front of you and then you can decide if you want to come to an arrangement with Lowell.

[gwenlillian]

I hope you have more luck with E-On then I ever did. Watch out for any alleged debts that are not proven, you can ask for the data sheets from the meters, as the data is collected by a third party business and then sent on to the billing energy providers. If you ever pay off a debt directly that is already on your meter, it is very hard to get it taken off the meter too, which is what happened to me with E-On so you can end up paying twice. Keep a note of the serial numbers of any meters, as a rule, as when they change the meters over as happens sometimes with a new provider, they lose track of what is recorded through them, and then start making it up.

[Welshy2020]

Were you renting the property or was it your own? Did it always have a pre-payment meter or was one fitted while you were the occupant?

Rented off the council. Always had a prepayment meter from when moved in, to when i left. E-on refuse to discuss details of the account. I have written letter from them responding to my questions above saying that i was responsible for the energy and if i thought the amount was wrong to take it up with Lowell.

[Amethyst]

Have they sent you the estimated bill they are claiming for?

[Welshy2020]

Lowell sent me a copy of the final Invoice from E-On, which states at the top "Prepayment Meter", then it says estimated usage and amount to pay.
Not
much detail on there at all.

[Amethyst]

Bizarre. I have a prepayment meter with Eon.
Can't get my Electric bill atm as their website is rubbish but my latest Gas bill has a sensible breakdown on it ( copy attached)

Is there none of that detail on your bill at all? Has it got all the right account details etc on or is it just name & address then Estimate ? Does it give a time period that the estimate is over ?

Have you already sent a SAR to EoN ? ( if not get one in )

Also can you tell us what you actually put as your defence.

I wonder if you were on some kind of fixed term price and the 'estimated' is some kind of exit fee ( although you'd expect that to show on the bill )