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Opus Energy Harassment
I am the director of a business and I have a contract with Opus. Last year they made a series of errors with their billing and direct debit collection leading us to make a complaint against them. This led to a further complaint against the ombudsman and they have recently decided that they must allow us to repay any debt owed over 12 months, remove all charges and provide and apology.
Whilst we received a hollow apology and they have finally managed to arrange a 12 month payment plan, myself and my father have received quite a lot of harassment over the course of the last year, starting in April 2013 and most recently in November and beginning of December 2013. These include countless phone calls, visits from enforcement officers and letters with threats of disconnection. This is despite our many letters notifying them that we only wish to converse with them in writing.
Many of the phone calls we received were distressing for us and they were very threatening in content, they would ring us up and ask us for the full amount (despite the ongoing dispute) we would explain the situation and that we would like to only communicate in writing, in response all we got was "do you have a credit or debit card on you?" amongst many insinuations that we did not intend to pay them and disconnection proceedings would commence.
The most worrying period of harassment came just after we received a response from the ombudsman and subsequently an email from them detailing their "apology" and that we should call them to arrange a payment plan. 2 hours after we received the email we had a visit from an enforcement officer asking for the full amount, the day after we received a phone call asking for the full amount, and so it continued.
The current situation is that I have sent the a LBA detailing the harassment case and the documents we need from them (namely phone calls). The response from their "litigation manager" is that the ombudsman decided on their customer service levels and that they were allowed to commence debt collection practices under their terms and conditions, however the ombudsman actually stated that they could not comment on harassment as it was outside their remit. Despite making them aware of this and once again asking for the documents we still have no been sent the documents nor has a reason been given as to why I can't have them. Instead I have receied another letter deflecting the issue back to the ombudsman.
I believe i have no choice to start a claim but would appreciate any input into how i should approach it, I understand that the harassment cannot be against the company however I can commence proceedings as an individual therefore I was wondering if it is wise to make a claim with two claimants (myself and my father)
Thanks in advance.
Whilst we received a hollow apology and they have finally managed to arrange a 12 month payment plan, myself and my father have received quite a lot of harassment over the course of the last year, starting in April 2013 and most recently in November and beginning of December 2013. These include countless phone calls, visits from enforcement officers and letters with threats of disconnection. This is despite our many letters notifying them that we only wish to converse with them in writing.
Many of the phone calls we received were distressing for us and they were very threatening in content, they would ring us up and ask us for the full amount (despite the ongoing dispute) we would explain the situation and that we would like to only communicate in writing, in response all we got was "do you have a credit or debit card on you?" amongst many insinuations that we did not intend to pay them and disconnection proceedings would commence.
The most worrying period of harassment came just after we received a response from the ombudsman and subsequently an email from them detailing their "apology" and that we should call them to arrange a payment plan. 2 hours after we received the email we had a visit from an enforcement officer asking for the full amount, the day after we received a phone call asking for the full amount, and so it continued.
The current situation is that I have sent the a LBA detailing the harassment case and the documents we need from them (namely phone calls). The response from their "litigation manager" is that the ombudsman decided on their customer service levels and that they were allowed to commence debt collection practices under their terms and conditions, however the ombudsman actually stated that they could not comment on harassment as it was outside their remit. Despite making them aware of this and once again asking for the documents we still have no been sent the documents nor has a reason been given as to why I can't have them. Instead I have receied another letter deflecting the issue back to the ombudsman.
I believe i have no choice to start a claim but would appreciate any input into how i should approach it, I understand that the harassment cannot be against the company however I can commence proceedings as an individual therefore I was wondering if it is wise to make a claim with two claimants (myself and my father)
Thanks in advance.
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