[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 burden 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.

You can speak directly to our dedicated Bereavement Support Specialists by calling 0808 501 5276, 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.

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

• The deceased'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, Phillips & Cohen Associates will be in touch with you shortly afterwards.

Who are Phillips & Cohen Associates?

They're dedicated probate and bereavement account specialists. Once you've notified us, they will 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.

The NotifyNow service

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

Their streamlined solution helps to alleviate the stress of having to contact companies associated with your loved one individually, giving you more peace of mind, knowing that there is only one place you'll need to go to in order to finalise accounts across several organisations.

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.

[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?