Tweet
Hi,
Received one of those unexpected letters where money is owed for an account which was deemed closed.
The History
My partner had been living in a rental property for roughly 2 years, when initially moved in there was a dispute on the account as the first bill was astronomically high for one person living in a flat for 1 month from the summer months. My partner assumed the previous tenant had not paid bills, as it was discovered the previous tenant was evicted out of the property prior to my partner moving in (This is what the letting agent said). This was queried and rectified with the energy supplier and DD payments setup as per their calculations which was fine for the next 2 years.
Upon moving out, a payment was taken (by DD) on moving out date and a subsequent payment the following month, don't have the paperwork to hand but no further charges on the account for the next 3-4 years, I assume according to data I have the last payment is the final payment which is the case when I personally have switched energy suppliers.
Fast forward to 2018, 2 property changes and a letter is received for an outstanding balance on the account via a debt collector agency.
Call with supplier
Called up supplier and queried the situation, representative advised the following: The balance has been written off on your account with "SupplierX". I asked if there was anything owed to which I was again told it was written off. I queried further and was then informed it was sold to an agency to recover.
I again queried about the balance and history and how this came about to which I was told:
There were no direct debits on this account but have taken the following payments over the course of two years: "£6XX, etc etc, with last two payments of £5X.XX. I asked how they took these payments to which she couldn't answer as the system doesn't say.........and I would have to call another department who aren't open.
I was then told the final bill was not paid when my partner moved out. I queried the final bill again, (at this point I managed to login to the online account too), I asked when it was generated to which was told a month in 2016, the online account matched this, it took them 18 months to generate the final bill (I of course queried this), I was then informed this was due to some errors with the readings being put in incorrectly (Supplier fault) according to the "new" final bill there is a meter reading at the beginning and one at the end of the tenancy period, all of the other readings in between were estimated. The first reading on the account seems very low and looks like they are trying to claim for the previous tenant.
To also add the online account had been entirely wiped out with no information on there other than said Final bill and unwilling to provide me with historical information on the account other than what is on the final bill generated in 2016.
Second call with supplier
Spoke with a representative who couldn't make sense of the account and agreed things don't add up and needs to queried, a complaint was raised (I have this reference) and data access request for all account information since the start of the contract to which I was told roughly 28 days to deliver this.
I have the recorded calls with the supplier too.
Where do I stand / What can I do?
I am being chased by an agency who the supplier don't have on file as sending the debt to. It looks like the apparent debt with supplier was sold to X company and picked up by Y agency.
I have been collating all the information and not much of it make sense, apparent contact was attempted, letters sent to original supply address even though supplier is aware of change of address, when the final fill was raised in 2016 my partner was with me in our second property for over a year, again supplier on the phone claimed contact was attempted and search carried out to locate my partner, I can confirm my partners credit report reflects all dates when moving properties so I'm somewhat confused as to why they couldn't get an address.
On another call I was also informed there had been issues with suppliers systems and they cannot access the historical data for 2012.
Could I please have some advice as to
A) how/what do I need to respond to the agency with?
B) it's 19 days in since data access request, chase or wait?
C) can the supplier do this considering the lack of information?
D) any advice as to any other steps to consider?
Thanks
Received one of those unexpected letters where money is owed for an account which was deemed closed.
The History
My partner had been living in a rental property for roughly 2 years, when initially moved in there was a dispute on the account as the first bill was astronomically high for one person living in a flat for 1 month from the summer months. My partner assumed the previous tenant had not paid bills, as it was discovered the previous tenant was evicted out of the property prior to my partner moving in (This is what the letting agent said). This was queried and rectified with the energy supplier and DD payments setup as per their calculations which was fine for the next 2 years.
Upon moving out, a payment was taken (by DD) on moving out date and a subsequent payment the following month, don't have the paperwork to hand but no further charges on the account for the next 3-4 years, I assume according to data I have the last payment is the final payment which is the case when I personally have switched energy suppliers.
Fast forward to 2018, 2 property changes and a letter is received for an outstanding balance on the account via a debt collector agency.
Call with supplier
Called up supplier and queried the situation, representative advised the following: The balance has been written off on your account with "SupplierX". I asked if there was anything owed to which I was again told it was written off. I queried further and was then informed it was sold to an agency to recover.
I again queried about the balance and history and how this came about to which I was told:
There were no direct debits on this account but have taken the following payments over the course of two years: "£6XX, etc etc, with last two payments of £5X.XX. I asked how they took these payments to which she couldn't answer as the system doesn't say.........and I would have to call another department who aren't open.
I was then told the final bill was not paid when my partner moved out. I queried the final bill again, (at this point I managed to login to the online account too), I asked when it was generated to which was told a month in 2016, the online account matched this, it took them 18 months to generate the final bill (I of course queried this), I was then informed this was due to some errors with the readings being put in incorrectly (Supplier fault) according to the "new" final bill there is a meter reading at the beginning and one at the end of the tenancy period, all of the other readings in between were estimated. The first reading on the account seems very low and looks like they are trying to claim for the previous tenant.
To also add the online account had been entirely wiped out with no information on there other than said Final bill and unwilling to provide me with historical information on the account other than what is on the final bill generated in 2016.
Second call with supplier
Spoke with a representative who couldn't make sense of the account and agreed things don't add up and needs to queried, a complaint was raised (I have this reference) and data access request for all account information since the start of the contract to which I was told roughly 28 days to deliver this.
I have the recorded calls with the supplier too.
Where do I stand / What can I do?
I am being chased by an agency who the supplier don't have on file as sending the debt to. It looks like the apparent debt with supplier was sold to X company and picked up by Y agency.
I have been collating all the information and not much of it make sense, apparent contact was attempted, letters sent to original supply address even though supplier is aware of change of address, when the final fill was raised in 2016 my partner was with me in our second property for over a year, again supplier on the phone claimed contact was attempted and search carried out to locate my partner, I can confirm my partners credit report reflects all dates when moving properties so I'm somewhat confused as to why they couldn't get an address.
On another call I was also informed there had been issues with suppliers systems and they cannot access the historical data for 2012.
Could I please have some advice as to
A) how/what do I need to respond to the agency with?
B) it's 19 days in since data access request, chase or wait?
C) can the supplier do this considering the lack of information?
D) any advice as to any other steps to consider?
Thanks
) 
Comment