Credit score affected by Utility Company

[Spider2021]

I have an ongoing dispute with Shell Energy who have been intermittently sending me letters for over a decade in regards to energy use. Initially they have admitted fault as they billed me for the wrong meter at the onset and would not admit this fault until years later when the Energy Ombudsman got involved. The Energy Ombudsman offered a solution but Shell did not honour it.This pretty much proves that I was being billed incorrectly. After this, they have continued to request payment based on incorrect calculations for a period of over ten years of energy use, They were made aware of the back billing rule, but they have never applied it in any of their calculations.Over the years there have been threats to put in prepaid meters, but none of that has been done as of yet. No court judgement has ever been sent to me as to my knowledge in regards to this matter.

A recent letter sent by them (which was sent to me whilst I was away and only opened a few days ago) stated that they feel I will never pay the amount they are seeking and will refer to collection agencies to recover the erroneous amount that they state I owe. I have always maintained that I will pay for a bill that is calculated correctly and the back billing rule applied to that bill. Rather, they have put the erroneous amount on my credit report and I only became aware of this in the last few days as I couldn't register my debit card for NFC payment on my phone.

The company that compiled the credit report is based in the United States called Trans Union. They seem to have a very vague way of raising a dispute with them online.

I cannot fathom why Shell Energy cannot simply calculate the energy bill correctly, as I have asked for numerous times in the past, and send it to me with the back billing rule applied. They refuse to do this and instead affected my credit rating, which otherwise is spotless.

I have looked into disputing the credit report and would like to be thankful for any advice of what further action I should take.

Many thanks for help in advance.

[echat11]

Shell Energy are in the process of trying to sell their business to Octopus Energy, that will take a few months.

I would send Shell Energy a Subject Access Request, they have 30 days to provide all the data on the account.
Make sure you get Proof of Postage.

https://legalbeagles.info/library/gu...ccess-request/

What I would do is work out what you believe you owe, make offers to Shell Energy to settle the matter, make sure you write 'Without Prejudice' on any offer letters you send, so they can't be used in Court. In your offer letters state that the settlement will only be made providing they remove the default markers on your credit file.

[PallasAthena]

The company that compiled the credit report is based in the United States called Trans Union. T

I have looked into disputing the credit report and would like to be thankful for any advice of what further action I should take.

Follow echatt11's advice, but in the meantime you could raise a dispute with TransUnion and add a Notice of Dispute to the entry.

What is a Notice of Dispute (NOD)? | TransUnion UK

If it's on TransUnion it's very likely also on the other main credit reference agencies too - Experian and Equifax.

However don't expect too much to come out of telling the agencies you dispute it. They will not get involved in mediating between you and Shell Energy nor make any independent judgement of whether you owe the money. Their normal response is just to say that creditor confirms you owe the money and you need to discuss it with creditor. They will remove it only if the creditor instructs them to.

BTW, although TransUnion is ultimately US owned it has a large UK subsidiary that compiles the credit reports on UK residents.

[Spider2021]

Hmmm I've never acknowledged the debt Shell Energy imply that I owe them. The amount spans over a decade and is certainly more than statute allows in England which if I am correct is 6 years. I was wondering how they managed to get around not implementing the back billing rule as Shell have never provided me with an accurate invoice, although requested on numerous occasions. I have not made any payments for almost a decade now. They have recently sent a letter through a third party Zinc although I have explicitly stated in correspondence to them in the past that I will not deal with this dispute with them through a third party and if they choose to do so I would charge the third party a significant service charge.

Do I need to send a repeat correspondence to Shell stating that I do not acknowledge the implied monies that they say I owe to them and this stance has not changed for many years? Do I need to remind them once again of the back billing rule and that they need to provide a correct invoice, and once that is done, then they implement the back billing rule? They must know all of this alreadyalready.

Any advice appreciated. I have not sent a SAR request as of yet as mentioned above as wanted to see what action Shell would take next.

[echat11]

If you haven't made a payment or acknowledged the debt in writing over the last 6 years (providing there is no CCJ), then the debt is statute barred. Send the following letter, make sure you get Proof of Postage.
Try not to get drawn into the 'back billing at this stage.

https://legalbeagles.info/forums/for...ed-debt-letter

[Spider2021]

Got a letter today with just the address but no recipient.and no sender. Appears to have been sent via registered mail second class. Think this cannot be opened by anyone as named recipient? Also no sender. Do I have to go to the post office and hand it back to them then? I believe it is an offender to open mail not addressed to you.

[PallasAthena]

It isn't addressed to anyone else by name but is addressed to your address so you can open it.

[echat11]

Sometimes mail is sent to the address and can be opened. It might just be a 'mail shot'. I've had such letters and opened them.