Energy bill problem

[johnny bravo]

Hi guys - my wife recently passed away, I rang the energy provider and told them about it. The account was in her name and the money coming out of her account. We were on a fixed payment plan of £70 per month for dual fuel. The company said that my wife still owed around £1200 as the monthly £70 was not enough. The also admitted that the account should have been reviewed but they said that they didnt review it. They also didnt send any letters to say that we needed to increase the monthly payment, basically no correspondence from the energy provider. They have since taken off about £200 but still say that my wife owes around £1000. I am now the new account holder of a new account , I told them, that they should have told us that the monthly payment was not enough to cover the energy we used. They admitted it should have been reviewed but didn't. They have passed the info to their probate dept to look at it. Waiting to hear from them...where do I stand regarding the outstanding amount. They also said they could try to recover the money from our estate, ie bank accounts in wifes name, but she didnt have much money in the accounts...where do I stand with this issue? As my wife has passed away shudnt they write off the outstanding amount?...after all its their fault for not telling us or reviewing the account..ta

 

[Kryton]

Hi Johnny
Firstly sorry about Wife...
From my understanding any energy supplier can collect money owed even if it is an oversight by the supplier...however they can only collect money owed 12 months from the date the error was first identified.

Energy backbilling: A guide to your rights

Im not entirely sure how you go about oweing money thay was in your wifes name..

But good luck mate and i hope you dont have to pay it back.
I owed money not so long back because my supplier over looked the standing charge after having smart meters fitted...it was my understanding that smart meters elimated problems like this as readings can be taken remotely and more often.
It had been going on for 15 months but they could only bill me back for 12 months.

 

[spud1966]

Sorry to hear about your wife has passed away Johnny hope you are ok

If the account was in her name it should be written off as they don't ask for a guarantor to co-sign in case of something like that happening

Well for as i know ?

Go to the citizens advice if you get loads of crap form them demanding this payment

Plus take all the money out from the account as they will take as much as they can from it

 

[chookey]

Sorry for your loss mate.
I assume that your new account with them is the new reviewed amount and is greater than the previous £70 per month. If so times the difference by 12 and that should be the amount owed according to the link provided by @Kryton.

Nevertheless, get yourself down to your local Citizens Advice Bureau

 

[joe516]

Sorry to hear about your wife has passed away Johnny hope you are ok

 

[Abu Baniaz]

Sorry to hear about your wife.

 

[johnny bravo]

thanks guys ..she was battling cancer, .we have a smart meter...I need to get some advice from CAB...will post back , will ring them today for advice.

 

[Trabbs]

Really sorry to hear about your wife mate. Hope you get this resolved without too much aggravation. I’m sure you have more than enough to be dealing with.

 

[willin]

Sorry to hear that mate, please accept my condolences, the very first thing I would do is go to here bank - try a phone call first and ask them to suspend all payments from her account (I would have though you can do that being a spouse) until her estate/affairs are sorted. Then see CAB or similar for advice. Very best of luck mate, let us know.

 

[IANB]

Sorry for your loss mate.

Regarding the energy. They have really messed up considering you have a smart meter. They have no excuse for getting the usage and payments wrong. Good luck mate

 

[alex123]

Sorry to hear about your wife m8

 

[avid]

Sorry to hear about your wife pal.
I hope you get this resolved as soon as possible as I think you have enough to deal with under the circumstances.
I think it should go in your favour as you have smart meters.
The supplier should have be monitoring your usage through these so called smart meters and adjusted your payment accordingly.
Good luck and take care

 

[srgberian]

Sorry for your loss. Hope everything works out .

 

[shaun127]

Johnny sorry bout your wife Mate. tough time enough for you without dealing with this crap

You are only responsible for the debt if you were any way named on the account , ie, joint account holder,

If not then they can try and recover it from your wifes estate but only after other creditors have been paid. funeral 1st, then council tax and water, rent. (priority debts) then if anything is left they may get something, if you say there wasn't alot in her bank account and not enough to cover the debt, It will be automatically passed to probate dept but just tell them theres no funds to pay it and they should right it off if there are no funds in her bank etc. But you are definitely not liable

 

[johnny bravo]

Just an update..I finally got through to CAB, they said I'm liable for the bill, even though it seems that the energy company failed its duty of care towards my wife. Basically they difnt review the account as more money was needed to meet the energy usage. The energy company have credited my account by £300..I still owe them just over £1000. I said no estate was left by my wife and the accounts she had at building society had very little money which was used to pay the funeral expenses. They said that the probate dept will look into it..I'm hoping they wipe the debt as it's not our fault, its theirs . We have smart meters sending out readings but they failed to act on it. I'll have to wait and see what the probate department say..will post back.

 

[shaun127]

with what you said in your 1st post Johnny I still dont believe that you are liable , who did you speak to at CAB, was it a debt specialist? or was it a volunteer?/ general advisor? Probate will write it off I think

 

[K]

Hi,

What was your situation with regards to living ? Owned, Tennant etc??

Sorry for your loss .

 

[johnny bravo]

I'm still waiting for the probate dept to get back to me...its our family house , joint ownership..

 

[D 8 RCS]

Shaun127 "with what you said in your 1st post Johnny I still dont believe that you are liable , who did you speak to at CAB, was it a debt specialist? or was it a volunteer?/ general advisor? Probate will write it off I think "
I would just like to say that CAB can be helpful, but as you say if you end up with a volunteer or general advisor which is the usual case then their advice is not always very good.

 

[johnny bravo]

Not sure , some woman I spoke to ..I explained the situation, they can't take money out of my account can they? My wife's account with energy company is closed.. I just have to wait and see what happens..they taking there time though..