British Gas Default for a property I didn't live in.

[Conchord91]

I checked my Credit Report and found a default from British Gas. The account appears on my credit report in October of 2019 relating to a property I vacated in June 5th of 2019 due to a fire, we paid our BG bill until the end of May (housemate has email confirmation of this) and I never set up an account with British Gas or gave them my details. October and November appear as 'paid on time' then it goes into default for 6 months. Then a payment of £469 appears in June 2020, the account goes back into arrears and defaults in January 2021 with a balance of £334.

I have no payments from my bank account to British Gas, so who paid this £469 in June 2020? I have no email communication setting me up as a customer with them and they have no evidence of me having an account with them. If they did send me a letter how would they have got my details? I have a contract dissolution with my ex-landlord showing I left the property at this time. How have they linked this debt to me, and who made a payment in 2020? British Gas complaints line have been no help. Should I take this to court or can I get it taken off my credit report? Have I been the victim of identity fraud?

[Lauren1990]

Hi
This happened to my partner and I, I posted back in March. He has 3 defaults registered against him for a property he never lived at i.e. a rental property he owned and let. His credit score dropped from about 900 down to 620. It has literally cost him so much money he had to actually sell the rented property because he could not remortgage it due to the defaults. How can this be allowed to continue? Why are utility companies not barred from reporting to CRA's. The Ministry of Justice must be aware of what's going on. I looked on Money Saving Expert and Debt Camel and it is literally awash with consumers who have had their credit files ruined by inaccurate reporting by British Gas and Virgin Media and so on.

My partner had 2 defaults registered late 2017 and just for good measure British Gas then registered another completely out of the blue for £0 in late 2018. British Gas even wrote to the tenants in 2017 saying they had made a mistake with the account and refunded them £60. The Energy Ombudsman aren't fit for purpose and when you go through Resolver all British Gas do is give their DCA's access to your Resolver account so they can pursue you for a non existent debt.

We sought some help online and it seems there may be a quite simple approach in that you put an N9 in to court setting out reasons why the defaults shouldn't be there, a court order is then obtained. In most cases it's fairly clear that the defaults have been registered by an inept corporate fully aware of all the misery they have inflicted. My partner is reluctant to spend too much on legal fees though but if we could get a template up together (legally drafted) it could help thousands of others. As I see it this gets continually batted around on forums but nothing ever comes of it.

I would think the only way forward with this is to either register on Change.org or to find a legal entity who would support bringing a class action against British Gas. This would be, in effect, a crowd funding campaign to get them in to court and with it maximum publicity. Also compensation for every individual who have had their lives blighted.

Thereafter to bar utilities from reporting to CRAs. There was a case some years back in 2009 Ferguson V British Gas Trading - https://www.5rb.com/case/ferguson-v-...s-trading-ltd/ - while this was someone who was determined, committed and had the resources it would appear to be the exception rather than the rule. She did win the case. More importantly aspects of the case would appear to prevail today. Let me know your thoughts. Regards

[echat11]

Hi
This happened to my partner and I, I posted back in March. He has 3 defaults registered against him for a property he never lived at i.e. a rental property he owned and let. His credit score dropped from about 900 down to 620. It has literally cost him so much money he had to actually sell the rented property because he could not remortgage it due to the defaults. How can this be allowed to continue? Why are utility companies not barred from reporting to CRA's. The Ministry of Justice must be aware of what's going on. I looked on Money Saving Expert and Debt Camel and it is literally awash with consumers who have had their credit files ruined by inaccurate reporting by British Gas and Virgin Media and so on.

My partner had 2 defaults registered late 2017 and just for good measure British Gas then registered another completely out of the blue for £0 in late 2018. British Gas even wrote to the tenants in 2017 saying they had made a mistake with the account and refunded them £60. The Energy Ombudsman aren't fit for purpose and when you go through Resolver all British Gas do is give their DCA's access to your Resolver account so they can pursue you for a non existent debt.

We sought some help online and it seems there may be a quite simple approach in that you put an N9 in to court setting out reasons why the defaults shouldn't be there, a court order is then obtained. In most cases it's fairly clear that the defaults have been registered by an inept corporate fully aware of all the misery they have inflicted. My partner is reluctant to spend too much on legal fees though but if we could get a template up together (legally drafted) it could help thousands of others. As I see it this gets continually batted around on forums but nothing ever comes of it.

I would think the only way forward with this is to either register on Change.org or to find a legal entity who would support bringing a class action against British Gas. This would be, in effect, a crowd funding campaign to get them in to court and with it maximum publicity. Also compensation for every individual who have had their lives blighted.

Thereafter to bar utilities from reporting to CRAs. There was a case some years back in 2009 Ferguson V British Gas Trading - https://www.5rb.com/case/ferguson-v-...s-trading-ltd/ - while this was someone who was determined, committed and had the resources it would appear to be the exception rather than the rule. She did win the case. More importantly aspects of the case would appear to prevail today. Let me know your thoughts. Regards

I agree with a lot of this, Class Action's are in their 'infancy' in the UK, there about, but not so much. But that will change. Did you contact the ICO.

https://ico.org.uk/your-data-matters/credit/#file