paying bills from the UK

Juliet

Although not a customer of Endesa, I am interested in your dilemma. Have you registered with their On Line office which is in English and claims to be contactable from wherever you are.

Still got the problem - my Spanish bank account was temporarily unfrozen but now frozen again. This is down to the same issue:  they want me to prove I don't live in Spain and so am entitled to a non-resident bank account. This is something you can't do without actually being in Spain and going to the Ministry of the Interior - try finding a way in the UK of proving you live here and not in Spain!

The online Endesa service is no good for me as it requires a Spanish phone number and 2 surnames (ie a Spanish name). Crazy, because the site is in English but does not accept English details. There is a quick bill payment option on their website but I can't use it, because the details on  my bill are for a direct debit and can't be entered on this system.

I am still trying to find a way to contact Endesa but they don't make it easy by having no numbers you can dial from the UK. No wonder Spain is in the economic mess it is in, given the level of pointless bureaucracy.

Still got the problem - my Spanish bank account was temporarily unfrozen but now frozen again. This is down to the same issue: they want me to prove I don't live in Spain and so am entitled to a non-resident bank account. This is something you can't do without actually being in Spain and going to the Ministry of the Interior - try finding a way in the UK of proving you live here and not in Spain!

The online Endesa service is no good for me as it requires a Spanish phone number and 2 surnames (ie a Spanish name). Crazy, because the site is in English but does not accept English details. There is a quick bill payment option on their website but I can't use it, because the details on my bill are for a direct debit and can't be entered on this system.

I am still trying to find a way to contact Endesa but they don't make it easy by having no numbers you can dial from the UK. No wonder Spain is in the economic mess it is in, given the level of pointless bureaucracy.

Do you have a solicitor in Spain? i ask because isn't it about time you did something constructive about this...Like going to your / a solicitor in the country you have to pay the bills in, it's been almost 4 months now since you first posted with these problems and it seems you are getting nowhere fast, except maybe more frustrated and in deeper trouble, in the least then you "Should" know it's going to be done legally and safe, if you do have a solicitor now who's doing this....Dump them for a proper one.

It's got to be the easiest way ever to prove you don't live in Spain, i didn't live in Spain and it must have been proved by me, or in other words my solicitor did, how simple is that? and i have never ever had a problem paying bills, talking to solicitor, paying taxes or anything else that other posters seem to get on her.

My solicitor even has access and delves into our bank account to know we have the money in it to pay the bills, as and when.

Have you filled in a declaration of residence in the last couple of years? If not ask your bank to send you one.

Fill it and send it back to them.

We have to renew ours (I think), every 2 years. If you haven't done one of these the system assumes you are resident in Spain.

 Thanks, yes we have, every two years as you do. I also scanned and sent a copy to my BBVA local branch in January and they unlocked the account, but now have locked it again last week.  It's apparently because when we lived in Spain for a year, we temporarily had NIEs and BBVA still have a record of this somewhere, which seems to generate the problem. It is not normal and if I opened a new Spanish bank account, I am sure I wouldn't encounter it - but I only use the account to pay Endesa so it would be simpler if I could just stay with BBVA, rather than have to close that account, open a new one, and transfer the Endesa direct debit.

I have been round various routes but the only proof of residency BBVA will accept has to be issued by the Ministry of the Interior or the Spanish consulate; they won't accept pay slips from the UK or anyone else's evidence. So I am now planning to close the account and pay Endesa by another route - my problem is getting in touch with Endesa from the UK so that I can cancel the direct debit, which will then enable me to pay online by credit card. However, I do now have some numbers to try so fingers crossed I will be able to find a way of paying them. It isn't easy though, which is why there are several companies in the UK now dedicated to paying people's Endesa bills for them.

Thanks for the thought, anyway.