Energy company hounded care worker whose house burned down

Despite being immediately notified of the fire, in Ashill on Tuesday July 19, EON sent Ralph Upton, 62, repeated demands for payment and warnings that his bill was overdue.

The company even told him he “owed” them more money for energy “used” during the period when his home was a smouldering ruin, and demanded video evidence of the fire.

The property was destroyed alongside several others on July 19 (Image: supplied)

At one point he was forced to take time off work due to the stress of the correspondence, while living in temporary accommodation having lost everything he owned apart from his car and the clothes he was wearing on the day of the fire.

The company has finally sent Mr Upton an apology and £40 compensation, after escalating his request to a manager just hours after this newspaper made contact with EON about the case last week.

Mr Upton, a retired RAF reservist, has reported EON to the energy regulator and told the EDP he would not be using the company again.

"I lost everything"

On the UK's record-breaking 40 degree day in July wildfires swept from fields behind the village towards houses on The Oaks, The Green, and Edward Close.

All of Mr Upton's belongings including priceless memories of his recently deceased mother were destroyed in the blaze (Image: supplied)

Fifteen fire engines responded but by the time the blaze had been extinguished more than half a dozen homes had been destroyed and a further 20 seriously affected.

“I saw the smoke over the town. I didn’t think anything was going to happen,” Mr Upton said, “but next thing I knew, my next door neighbour came round and said ‘the fire’s here’ and there were 50ft flames at the fence just 20 feet away.

“At first it went along the fences, then it came back and went towards the houses.

“My neighbour’s started first, I saw his solar panel go up, there was steam and smoke, and then I knew I’d lost the house. I went to the village hall, I didn’t want to see it burn.

“I lost absolutely everything. My false teeth, my glasses. My mum died a year ago so there was her stuff too, pictures of her. All gone.”

Mr Upton with his dog (Image: supplied)

He was renting the property from his employers, care home operators Flagstaff, who put him up in temporary accommodation, a respite flat in one of their properties, where he is currently staying.

Two days later he emailed EON to inform them of the fire. He paid the £41.96 outstanding on his bill and asked them to close the account. But this part of the ordeal was only beginning.

"They were hounding me for payments"

The next he heard from EON was on August 1, when they sent an energy statement asking for £25.50 for electricity and £15.42 for gas used between July 1 and July 31, for much of which time the house no longer existed.

He explained: “I replied to say again my house was destroyed by wildfire, gave them my address and account number, told them they’d overcharged me as the house was destroyed on July 19.

“I heard nothing until September 1, when they emailed to say I had a £36 bill that was overdue.”

One of several emails received by Mr Upton after his house burned down, this one from September 8 2022 (Image: supplied)

The same day, a representative asked him to provide video evidence of the incident, which he said he found upsetting and mocking after having already told them he had lost everything in the fire including his phone.

“I had several calls but she was not sympathetic. I asked to speak to a manager and she wouldn’t put me through. I asked to open a complaint and she said she would close it immediately because I was being obstructive. They kept asking for proof.

“They were hounding me for payments and not accepting my evidence. I felt awful.

“I work in healthcare and I had to take a half day off work because I couldn’t concentrate on handing out the correct medications, it was awful,” he said.

EON representatives demanded information about the meters, which had been destroyed in the fire (Image: supplied)

On September 8 he received another demand for payment. He repeated his explanation. On September 14 he received yet another email warning him he must make payment.

Eventually Mr Upton made contact with the EDP and on September 20 we got in touch with EON to give the company the opportunity to comment on the story.

Two hours later Mr Upton received an email which began: “I have been looking into your complaint with us and can see that the way we've handled your complaint has most certainly not been up to standard.”

It offered apologies and went on: “I can see from the email correspondence between yourself and us that the tone in the emails could most certainly have been more appropriate to the circumstances you have described.”

The email offered to close his account, settle the balances, and offered £40 compensation.

Mr Upton called the timing of the satisfactory response from EON, which came just hours after the EDP contacted the company, "very convenient" (Image: supplied)

Mr Upton said: “The timing is very convenient isn’t it.

“The compensation is better than nothing but it’s really not good enough.

“It’s been a difficult time and they have made it very stressful. I will not be using EON again and I’ll tell my friends and family not to use them.

Jag Bickham, a spokeswoman for EON, said: “We have apologised to Mr Upton for our handling of his complaint and have now removed all charges, closed his account and offered him compensation for the distress caused.”