British Gas and Statute Barred reappearing

[beldin32]

Hi

Short story - A debt I never acknowledged (as its not mine) with British Gas from May 2007, was placed on my credit account in Sept 2016 as the default date on Callcredit (Noddle) .. however it had previously been listed as a default on both Experian and Equifax from 2008 to 2014 before dropping off .. doesn't that make it statute barred ? How can they just put it back on my credit record with no contact ?

Long story - I sold a flat in Feb 2007, to developers and moved out. Closed my BG electric and gas accounts, made final payments. Developers then sold it in May 2007, new owners when registering for supply got told by British Gas there as an outstanding Gas bill from March to May of £55 .. Developers had turned the gas back on and not registered it to themselves ..

Early 2008 I had a letter from British Gas, notifying me of this debt. I contested it as i could prove that i was not living at the property at the time, nor owned it .. and also had closed my accounts with BG .. BG at the time then told me that as it was for such a small amount, they would not be pursuing me .. but then registered a default on my Experian and Equifax accounts .. I did the stupid thing and just ignored them, I didn't know where to start, so got the CA's to add a note to the record of my dispute .. Silly as this sounds, but i didn't need credit, so didn't think it was a big deal ..

2014 Feb, this default dropped off my Experian and Equifax records as statute barred .. I did check occasionally ..

Roll on to 2 weeks ago .. I am applying for a remortgage on my house .. And my bank turns round and says, because of the defaults on my credit record, they would not be able to offer me their best rates .. What default ?

The bank uses Noddle (CallCredit) .. so i check .. British Gas marked me as a default on Noddle from Sept 2016 .. bearing in mind that they have made no contact with me, no letters, anything of the sort .. and in fact I am actually a CUSTOMER of theirs at my current address .. ?

I have contacted them and started a complaints procedure that is to take 8 weeks apparently .. in the meantime however I am now paying a much higher rate of interest on my mortgage, and cannot remortgage to a better rate until this is cleared ..

So my question has some lines of enquiry ....

1. How can they put this debt (which I have never acknowledged, never made a payment etc) back on my credit record when it was statute barred, I thought credit agencies were supposed to check this ?
2. How can I speed up the process of 8 weeks that i have to sit twiddling my thumbs and taking stress for (legal letter, time limits etc ?)
3. Can i sue them in small claims court for the excess mortgage charges I have to pay for the higher rate of interest that I am currently undergoing ? I know its only a couple of quid, but tbh i am quite angry lol

Any help, especially with 2. would be appreciated ..

Thanks

[Amethyst]

Re: British Gas and Statute Barred reappearing

I guess the first thing is to check that this new ( Sept 2016 ) Default is actually related to the original issue that you had over someone else's bill. Is it the same amount as previously and have they confirmed it is for the 2008 'debt' ?

[beldin32]

Re: British Gas and Statute Barred reappearing

Hi, its the same amount, with the same account number as I had back then.

When i contacted British Gas complaints, they stated that my file had been archived last year .. in Sept 2016 as it happens .. the same time as this default was placed on my record at CallCredit .. this default is NOT on my Equifax or Experian records.

British Gas say that i have to wait for their full 8 weeks of complaints procedure before i can undertake any further action .. in the meantime my perfect credit record of the last .. 3 years now, is trashed ..

[Amethyst]

Re: British Gas and Statute Barred reappearing

Goodness me. Enabling Utilities to report on people's credit files has caused so many problems. Maybe they should have worked out how to make them get their billing right before giving them power to wreck peoples lives in this way.

The complaints procedure should take a MAXIMUM of 8 weeks. They have to give you a final resolution before then, and as soon as you have that, if it is not to your satisfaction, you can take it to the Ombudsman ( and I'd make a report to the ICO as well - https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/ )

You've already been disadvantaged for 6 years over their error so No they can't reapply a new default to your credit file 8 years after they originally defaulted you.

Did you get anything at all in writing during your first complaint ?

Closed my BG electric and gas accounts, made final payments.

Do you have anything at all evidencing that ?

I think I'd still send a Subject Access Request to BG, you never know what they turn up with even when they say they don't have anything beyond a year on the phone. Subject Access Request Letter

[beldin32]

Re: British Gas and Statute Barred reappearing

The problem being of course, is that when the debt dropped off in early 2014, I had all the paperwork. And then my wife and I had a clear out in 2015, and anything that was older than 7 years got destroyed. The only thing I do have is a physical credit report from Experian from 2010 which showed the old BG default .. .sigh

I will be doing a SAR to BG, and see what comes up.

I think what annoyed me about the original debt was that i was on a dual fuel account, gas and electric .. and closed it .. so never understood how they could then pursue me for the gas and not the electric .. and they refused to answer my queries at the time

[Amethyst]

Re: British Gas and Statute Barred reappearing

Possibly the developers / new owners did register an electric account but not a gas account.

Having your credit report from 2010 showing the Default's existence should be enough evidence for the Ombudsman that it had already been reported to CRA's and that it had fallen off after 6 years - and thus shouldn't have been reapplied.