[PeterT_EONNext]

What are the next steps when there's been a bereavement and you need to get in touch?

Getting in touch can be difficult when you need to let us know that a loved one has passed away, and certainly won't be the first thing on your mind.

In order to ease the stress of having to deal with your loved ones affairs, we want to ensure that you know what to do and what to expect, when you contact E.ON Next about the account and what the next steps will be as we begin to process of closing the account.

Whether you call or email us, the team will need the following information from you:

• The account holder's full name and address.
• The date they passed away.
• Meter readings from as close to this date as possible - we understand this would have been the last of your concerns, it’s just to help make sure their final bill is accurate. So don’t stress if you can’t get them, we can use estimated readings if needs be.
• The name and details of the person who’s looking after their affairs. If there’s a will, it will likely be the Executor of their estate. If there isn’t one it will be an administrator. If they didn’t leave a will and you’re unsure who the administrator is, don’t worry just give us any information you can - we’ll help you get this sorted.

Once you've notified us of the above, we will be in touch with you shortly afterwards. If there is a debit balance on the account then our 3rd party partner Philips & Cohen will be in touch to support.

The Notify Now service...

Sometimes you may not want to contact the energy supplier as you don't want to speak to anyone directly. For this, there's an online service which you can use called NotifyNow.

This service helps to alleviate the stress of having to contact companies associated with your loved one individually, giving you more time to focus on what's important. Notify Now gives you peace of mind that you can finalise accounts across several organisations knowing you'll only need to notify once.

It's highly recommended that you utilise this service in order to make everything easier, but please do also contact us directly if you want to discuss anything further with us, as our bereavement support specialists will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have.


You can speak to us on the phone by calling 0808 501 5035 and a member of our team can put you through to dedicated Bereavement Support Specialists. Alternatively, you can send an email to hi@eonnext.com - just be sure to add "Bereavement" in the subject line, which will allow your email to find its way to the right team.

Who are Phillips & Cohen Associates?

If Phillips & Cohen have contacted you don't worry - they're our third party bereavement support. Phillips & Cohen are known as a debt collection agency however they also specialise in bereavement arrears and will be there to support you.

Once you've notified us, they'll assist you in the running of the account until the account needs to be closed or transferred into someone else's name, they'll also offer further bereavement support if you feel that you need this, as we understand that this is a very difficult time.

[meldrewreborn]

Notifynow is also run by Philips & Cohen.

I've dealt with 5 deaths right through the probate acquisition. I never had to use a service like this.

When somebody dies their account should be closed. Somebody else takes on the responsibility for the account. That should be no more difficult than when occupant 1 moves out and occupant 2 moves in. Debit Balances on the account of the deceased should eventually be met by the executor/administrator ( remember technically they are only officially appointed after Probate has been actually secured, which takes a minimum of 6 months and can be years).

The thorny question arises when somebody dies , leaving little in the way of assets so the Estate has no need to go through the relatively complex probate process, but with a credit balance on their energy account.. We've seen numerous cases on the forum where the next of kin are unable to get these balances released. In these circumstances Eon Next (and any other organisation) needs to be sure they're paying money to the correct person(s). In order to protect themselves from any later claim that they paid out moneys to the wrong person, its standard practice to get the claimant to complete an indemnity form, which in lay terms makes that claimant liable to any subsequent claimant for the moneys received. Banks operate this way and release tens of thousands of pounds with less fuss than do Eon Next for sums probably in the hundreds mostly, low thousands rarely.

While the service offered by Phillips & Cohen might be very good, one of the great frustrations for those dealing with the estate is that nearly all organisations handle things in different ways. So keeping things as straightforward and simple for those people is important and I don't think Eon Next really understand that and the approach described above is overly complicated for the bereaved to deal with. If you have a dedicated bereavement team (that's good by the way) why then are Phillips & Cohen needed at all?

Perhaps its so that they can sell their services to the bereaved. In fact I can't think of another reason.

[Andy65]

It's good to see that you now have dedicated Bereavement Support Specialists, but I agree with @meldrewreborn, why use a third party?

I've acted as an executor and personally speaking, I want to deal with each business themselves. I wouldn't want to contact eon-next and then be passed to a third party acting on their behalf, so would being passed to Phillips & Cohen be compulsory or could an executor just deal directly with your dedicated Bereavement Support Specialists?

[EmmaS2025]

This information bears no resemblance to what has happened to us since my mum passed away and we told EON Next.

They said we could wait to give final meter readings when we sold her property and pay the bill then.

Cue multiple bills being sent to us with demand for payment within 7 days, all they seem to have done is change the name of the account to the executors instead of her name, and then done nothing different. Telling us we’ve cancelled the direct debit, well yes because her bank account was frozen, obviously.

I don’t know how they can have got this so wrong compared to what they claim in this thread to do, but I can tell you from experience they don’t do anything like this at all, and it’s offensive to have found this thread claiming this.

I am waiting on a call back from their bereavement team, multiple emails to their complaints team got us nowhere. Because when you’re dealing with a bereavement, you really want to be wasting your time talking to an energy company don’t you.

Do better EON.

[meldrewreborn]

@EmmaS2025

Changing the account into the name of the Executors is exactly the right thing to do. We can’t comment on the payment arrangements as we were not party to them. It’s up to the executors to manage the estate. Most banks will allow cash balances to be used to meet reasonable expenses. I’ve acted as executor several times and I can appreciate that it can be emotional and stressful, but executors also need to act in a professional like manner.

[Andy65]

Hi @EmmaS2025,

Firstly, I am sorry for your loss and I know how difficult it can be dealing with affairs at a time like this.

My experience has been that bills are still produced and sent to the Executer/Administrator as normal until the property is sold/transferred. If you were told that you would only be billed once the property has sold then I believe you were incorrectly informed.

I'm assuming from what you've said that your Mothers' account was in debit, in which case Phillips & Cohen Associates should have been in contact.

[EmmaS2025]

@meldrewreborn
Yes we have done as required. It's a small balance and I was told by EON that it could be settled when the property was sold. That has been reiterated today by the bereavement team. Unfortunately they still send the bills which say pay within 7 days and say reinstate your direct debit, even when they acknowledge that no-one needs to do anything with the account until the property is sold. They also only pass it over to the third party if the debt goes over a certain amount. So my original point was accurate, their post about what happens is not true. And the lady I spoke to today has acknowledged that their communications are not good enough and they are looking at changing them.
As an fyi, you can't use a late person's funds to pay for utility bills prior to probate.
Thank you, Emma

[EmmaS2025]

@Andy65
Thank you. They have confirmed today that we can pay when the property is sold, so that is accurate. But the info in the thread from Eon is inaccurate - they aren't "in touch" - they just send bills and notices that the direct debit has been cancelled. The lady from the bereavement team who I spoke to today agreed that their communications are unhelpful and need to be changed. She also said it only goes to Phillips & Cohen when the debt goes over a certain amount, so another incorrect statement in their original posting.
I find it staggering that a company with millions of customers cannot do better. Even if bills do need to be paid, well they need to ensure all of their staff are saying the same thing, and also fix their communications to make this clear. They are a big enough company that they can make the effort.
Thanks

[Andy65]

@EmmaS2025

That's good to hear that they have confirmed what you were originally told. Thank you for reporting back, I've learnt something from this.

Handling bereavements hasn't been their strongest point and they clearly have some way to go yet.

[meldrewreborn]

@EmmaS2025

Some banks did and do much to my surprise - they can be flexible. But they're within their rights not to. I once had CoOp insurance insisting on probate before they would pay out £150 (it was 15 years ago!) and different organisations can be picky or accommodating - you never know until you ask.