Claim against landlord/me for unpaid tenant bills by DCA of Insolvent Orbit Energy

[masterchij]

Hi all,

I would really appreciate any help and advise with my current court case.

This issue has been ongoing since May 2021 when Orbit Energy first contacted me requesting payment of a £3000 Gas and Electric bill for my property which I no longer lived in but was renting under a Tenancy agreement. The bill apparently was for almost 2 years of energy usage. At the time, I provided Orbit Energy details of the previous Tenants, including the Tenancy agreement which showed they are responsible for the bills. Orbit Energy never replied my email providing them al these details even after being chased twice in June 2021. I thought the issue was resolved at this point.

The following year 2022 I was then chased for the same debt by Barratt Smith Browns, who said that Orbit Energy was not insolvent and they were acting to recover debts on their behalf. I spoke to the Orbit Energy Administrators Alvarez and Marsal relaying the above communications with Orbit Energy, but they asked me to deal with BSB who work on their behalf. I the provided all the same details and information to BSB who replied saying they would chase after the tenants using the details I provided.

I did not hear from BSB again after this, so thought issue was finally resolved, but early 2023, I got emails from ACI, who I forwarded all my communications with BSB, but they kept sending nuisance letters and emails which I ignored for the whole year.

Fast-forward to mid 2024, I now started receiving emails and letters from TM Legal (owned by Perch Capital) chasing the same debt. I sent them all the same information, but they persisted and I ignored, till they finally issued a court claim in September 2024.

I filed an AOS, but got my 28 day window to file a defence mixed up, (i.e. 28 days from issue and not 28 days from AOS), which led to a default judgement being issued against me

I have now made a set aside application, using the details in the paragraphs above as reason to show I have a good chance of defending the claim successfully and I am also prayed the court would take into consideration the promptness of the application (a day after judgement)

I sent a request to TM Legal to consent to set aside the judgment, as I read this can help reduce both our costs claimable. I am waiting a response.

In the meantime, I am working on my witness statement ahead of hopefully a set aside hearing and I need advise on the following;
a) Are there any statutory laws/acts/instruments that prevent claimants being able to pursue people for debts by association to the debtor (i.e. landlord tenant relationship)
b) Are there any statutory laws/acts/instruments that prevent debts to be chased on behalf of a company who have now completed their administration process. Orbit energy started the process on 1/12/2021 and completed it on 28/11/2023
c) Is there any precedence already set in similar cases I can include in my witness statement
d) I found the Orbit Energy staff I was emailing at the time on LinkedIn. Could they be of any help to me in this case
e) Is there anything that would make the claim statute barred? The particulars of claim show they are claiming for a utility usage period that started in August 2018

I was also wondering if there is anything else I should have done while awaiting a response from the court on the set aside application.

Finally am I allowed to post a redacted witness statement on this platform when complete for the experts to critique it?

Much appreciate all the help I can get in advance

[PallasAthena]

Who was the account holder of the elctricity account with Orbit? You say the tenants were responsible under the tenancy agreement but was the account in their nam?. Who were the bills addressed to?

[echat11]

You need to send Orbit's administrators / Barratt Smith Browns, a Subject Access Request, they might be able to provide at least 6 years data on the account. This information will show your communications with Orbit and others. They have 30 days to provide the data. Make sure you get Proof of Postage. Soon as you get that information, start to build your case / Witness Statement.

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

There's something called 'backbiling', but I don't think that can help you, because you are saying 'It's not my account, end of'.

[masterchij]

Who was the account holder of the elctricity account with Orbit? You say the tenants were responsible under the tenancy agreement but was the account in their nam?. Who were the bills addressed to?

Thats the issue, the account was not in theirs or my name to start with. When i started renting the flat, it was under British gas, I don't know which of the Tenants changed it to Orbit Energy.

I asked Orbit Energy who told them I was responsible for the bills in the first instance, as this would then give me a idea who had the account with them, but they never responded

[Pezza54]

Hi
Welcome to LB
Sorry I can't answer all your questions, only a few
Orbit Energy Ltd is still shown as Active on the Companies House register. Compulsory striking off action was ceased earlier this year. No reason is given

The responsibility for utility bills lies with the account holder, not the property. Did you ensure the tenant's name was registered with the utility companies?
Perhaps you asked them if they had contacted the companies to change the existing account holder's name to their own and they answered "yes"

The claim is not statute barred.

Two articles that may be of interest:

"Who is responsible for unpaid utility bills? Landlord or tenant?" at nolettinggo.co.uk

"My tenant left without paying bills - so now what?" at propertyinvestmentproject.co.uk

In the second article the tenant failed to have his name put on the bills as account holder. Fortunately the utility company waived the landlord's (as account holder) liability when the landlord forwarded the tenancy agreement

[masterchij]

You need to send Orbit's administrators / Barratt Smith Browns, a Subject Access Request, they might be able to provide at least 6 years data on the account. This information will show your communications with Orbit and others. They have 30 days to provide the data. Make sure you get Proof of Postage. Soon as you get that information, start to build your case / Witness Statement.

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

There's something called 'backbiling', but I don't think that can help you, because you are saying 'It's not my account, end of'.

Indeed, not having an account with them is one of the grounds I am using for my defence.

All the communications between me and BSB/Alvarez and Marsal was by email, and I am adding these as exhibits to the witness statements

[masterchij]

Hi
Welcome to LB
Sorry I can't answer all your questions, only a few
Orbit Energy Ltd is still shown as Active on the Companies House register. Compulsory striking off action was ceased earlier this year. No reason is given

The responsibility for utility bills lies with the account holder, not the property. Did you ensure the tenant's name was registered with the utility companies?
Perhaps you asked them if they had contacted the companies to change the existing account holder's name to their own and they answered "yes"

The claim is not statute barred.

Two articles that may be of interest:

"Who is responsible for unpaid utility bills? Landlord or tenant?" at nolettinggo.co.uk

"My tenant left without paying bills - so now what?" at propertyinvestmentproject.co.uk

In the second article the tenant failed to have his name put on the bills as account holder. Fortunately the utility company waived the landlord's (as account holder) liability when the landlord forwarded the tenancy agreement

That's interesting, the below is what I see on Companies House. Maybe I am misunderstanding what it means

I will look at both articles, and see what I can grab for my witness statement

Thanks

[Pezza54]

When you bought the property the previous owner would have notified the utility companies the date they sold the property and provided the new owner's name (yours)

[Pezza54]

The primary objective of any administration is to rescue a still viable company through financial restructuring so that it can continue trading

[masterchij]

The primary objective of any administration is to rescue a still viable company through financial restructuring so that it can continue trading

If I can confirm that Orbit Energy is still trading can I state in my witness statement that its is them that should be filing the claim and not TM Legal. Furthermore TM Legal has not provided any documentation to show the authority to claim any debts came from Orbit Energy and its administrators. Can I include this as a query??

[masterchij]

When you bought the property the previous owner would have notified the utility companies the date they sold the property and provided the new owner's name (yours)

I had rented it previously before the period being disputed. property was bought in 2015, only stayed in it for a year before redundancy forced me out. The switch was either done by the tenant that stayed in it during the disputed period or the one before that, and they did so without informing me. Regardless I cannot hold anyone for this, as I did not stipulate that the energy suppliers had to remain unchanged in the TA.

[Pezza54]

To make the switch the tenant must have registered themself as the account holder.
Prepare your defence/witness statement that the claimant has sued the wrong entity. The previous tenant named as account holder on the bills was responsible for paying the electricity and gas. consumed during the period of their tenancy agreement

Follow Echat11's advice in post 3

[masterchij]

To make the switch the tenant must have registered themself as the account holder.
Prepare your defence/witness statement that the claimant has sued the wrong entity. The previous tenant named as account holder on the bills was responsible for paying the electricity and gas. consumed during the period of their tenancy agreement

Follow Echat11's advice in post 3

Thanks again for all your advise.

I have contacted BSB for an SAR.

My worry is they might not send it before the hearing date is set. Do you know what the timelines for a set aside judgement hearing is from applying. Today makes it 8 days since I applied. Still no response from the CNBC

[echat11]

Thanks again for all your advise.

I have contacted BSB for an SAR.

My worry is they might not send it before the hearing date is set. Do you know what the timelines for a set aside judgement hearing is from applying. Today makes it 8 days since I applied. Still no response from the CNBC

The only way to now what sort of backlog the Court has is to give them a call. I don't think things will move as quickly as you 'envisage'.

[masterchij]

Hi,

It has been well over 30 days since I made the SAR request to BSB, and even after following the request up with an email 7 days ago, they still hadn't responded.

I finally decided to call them on the phone today and find out if they had received my request and why they had not responded. They asked me for the account reference which I gave them. The guy on the phone said they have sold all Orbit accounts to another collection agency, and could not provide me any data with relation to myself.

I insisted that that was not a response and that I still needed an official response in writing or via email. I then went ahead to ask him to confirm that they had received my SAR. He said he does not have access to that inbox (this is a central info inbox BTW, not a data protection inbox), and that the personnel that manage the inbox would be back from leave on the 17th of December. I told them to pass my call on to the personnel/department and let them know that I would be calling again on or after the 17th, and that if I do not receive the SAR response in writing after my call, I would be escalating the matter to the ICO.

I have a couple of questions.
1. Even though they do not handle the account anymore, do they still not have an obligation to provide me with any data pertaining to myself under the GDPR.
2. If No, do they not have an obligation to request such data from the current holder, or owner of the account and send it to me, or at least direct them to send it to me.
3. If No, do they have the obligation to at least provide me with the details of the new holder, and how to request my data from the.
4. If No to all, is it still worth reporting them to the ICO for not providing a response in writing within the 30 days required, to see if the ICO can force there hand to do the needful.