My younger brother was recently admitted to a hospice for end-of-life care. I hold lasting power of attorney (LPA) for him and manage his financial affairs. My brother has an outstanding electricity bill and I have asked for E.ON to send it to me for payment. I sent it the LPA document and have many times asked it to communicate through me. However, it persists in harassing my brother for payment with emails, texts and phone calls. It confuses and distresses him enormously. I’ve complained but to no avail.
JF Norwich
This incompetence has added immeasurably to your family’s suffering at this grievous time. The day after you wrote to me, you say E.ON called your brother twice in one day as he lay in his hospice bed. In vain have you explained his situation and provided your own contact details.
It is, of course, a simple matter to rectify the problem, as E.ON discovered when I alerted its press office. Two hours later you received an email from its escalated complaints team explaining that, due to human error, your details were not added to your brother’s account after the second set of LPA documents were received. The first set was apparently mislaid on arrival. In recompense, E.ON has waived the £81.47 owing on the account. A spokesperson said: “We are incredibly sorry for the inconvenience and distress this has caused. We’ve given feedback to the advisers involved. We’ll also be including this as an example in future training to staff.”
E.ON’s response to vulnerable customers is deeply concerning. Last month I reported on an elderly heart patient with a prepayment meter who stopped heating his home or cooking food for a year after being threatened with legal action over a £13,000 bill for a stranger’s energy, and on a mother and daughter forced out of their flat because E.ON debited their top-up payments to service the debt of a previous tenant.
In June, E.ON was forced to pay £5m in compensation after the energy regulator Ofgem found “severe weaknesses” in its customer services, especially call handling. Ofgem said: “With market conditions challenging for consumers, with many facing financial difficulties, Ofgem believes it is imperative suitable customer service arrangements are in place. Failure to do so means consumers face imminent and significant harm.”
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