Bereavement Refund

  • Wusername's Avatar
    Level 1
    I'm going through this process (or trying to) now so thought I'd share my experiences.

    My mother passed away, no will, a small amount of savings. Dealt with everything with no issues apart from EON.

    It took a while to get a death certificate due to it being a sudden death and needing to go to a coroner's hearing. The day after I got the certificate I rang EON (it says on the website if you prefer to speak to someone ring, so I did only to get told "Oh, and you're only bothering to inform us now", and "Just do it by email". Not very nice.

    Sent off the details, photo of the death cert etc, and got the response that they cannot deal with me unless I provide a copy of the will or probate (and sent me a link to apply for probate). There is no will, and, as per the link to the government website that EON sent, probate isn't required due to the size of the estate being under £30k. So I'm stuck.

    Most people in this situation, who don't need probate, could probably do with the money refunded, as they have a funeral to pay for etc, so trying to force them to pay for probate seems cruel.

    EON said they will not close the account until this is provided, and standing charges will still apply (house has changed hands, so that makes no sense).

    I connected EON and asked about the situation the other way around. Someone has died and owned EON money. Funny thing, they don't require probate then, and will chase you for the money.

    It seems to me this is all just a way to hang on to the money of people who have passed away.

    Dealing with someone passing is a lot of work, and I've dealt with pretty much every other energy supplier previously in this situation and never had a problem.
  • 7 Replies

  • meldrewreborn's Avatar
    Level 91
    @Wusername

    You have my sympathies regarding the death of your mother and the appalling response you have received.

    I've commented before that Eon Next don't deal with unfortunate but extremely common situation at all well.

    Hopefully @DebF_EONNext or @EmmaN_EONNext can get in touch with you to resolve this unnecessary impasse.

    Given there are new occupiers of the property, and they can't bill two customers for the supply at the same time, something is very wrong.

    Eon Next do have a bereavement service operated by an external company but I would advise not to use it. This situation is not particularly different to one occupant moving out and another moving in - why they make it so difficult I really don't understand.

    When its all sorted I'd make a complaint and take it to the ombudsman if necessary.


    .
    Current Eon Next customer, ex EDF, Zog and Symbio. Don't think dual fuel saves money and don't like smart meters. Chronologically Gifted. If I offend let me know by private message, but I’ll continue to express my opinions nonetheless.
  • meldrewreborn's Avatar
    Level 91
    If you click on the handle of anybody in Orange type and Eon Next in their title you can send them a Direct Message with the account details - volunteers on the forum shouldn't see those as its personal information and the forum is public.
  • DebF_EONNext's Avatar
    Community Team
    Thanks for the tag @meldrewreborn 😊

    Hi @Wusername,

    Welcome to the community.

    First off please accept my condolences, I'm sorry for your loss. I understand how difficult it is dealing with the loss of a loved one especially in unexpected/sudden circumstances. It sounds like the service you've had so far hasn't made this process any easier for you and I can only apologise.

    Can I ask was it our dedicated bereavement team (0808 501 5276) that you have been in contact with?
    "Green is the prime colour of the world and that from which it's loveliness arises"-Pedro Calderon De La Barca 🌳

    E.ON Next Poll - How much do you know about the Priority Service Register? - If you have a spare 2 minutes 🕑 we'd love if you complete our poll about the Priority Service Register 🤗
  • Wusername's Avatar
    Level 1
    I assumed I was speaking with the bereavement team.

    However the number you've posted isn't the number listed on the website here

    https://www.eonnext.com/help/other-faqs

    Perhaps that should be changed
  • Anasa_EONNext's Avatar
    Community Manager
    Hello @Wusername Anasa here 👋 I just want to eco what @DebF_EONNext said I'm so sorry you've not had the best service when you got in touch. Any one of our specialist should be able to assist you and pass you onto our dedicated bereavement team if need be. I'll be sure to pass on your feedback and make sure that number is updated or added to help with any confusion.

    Have you been able to get back in touch with the dedicated bereavement team? If so please let me know how you got on with this and how it was left.

    With the poor service that you've received I would raise a complaint as this is unsatisfactory, we'll be able to then look into this further and listen to the call if it's been recorded and appropriate feedback sent - here on the community we make sure all our information is up to date and you can reach out for support if needed. Any changes we can make we will and make sure this is updated for everyone going forward.

    Please let me know how you get on with this 😊
    'The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members’

    Did you know that we're open 24/7? There are lots of ways to contact us over here!📣


  • Courtney_EONNext's Avatar
    Level 11
    Hi @Wusername 👋, please accept my sincere condolences of the passing of your mum ❤. I appreciate this was posted a long time ago and I'm really sorry to hear of the service you received, did you manage to get the issue resolved? 🙂
    'There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about.' - Margaret J. Wheatley 👫
  • meldrewreborn's Avatar
    Level 91
    @Courtney_EONNext

    It’s really disappointing to read tales like this on the forum. I’ve given my view on how bereavement cases should be handled in the past, and this case is from 6 months ago. Hopefully improvements have been put in place and if the same bereavement happened today it would be dealt with in a much better manner.