Utility companies and the Data Protection Act

[FU-UU]

When i moved into this property i informed the utility companies involved that i was the new tennant and henceforth bills have been sent under my name and at no time have i been required or asked to sign anything.

What i would like to know is, if a utility company need to issue a contract or indeed need permission to pass personal information to third parties with no contract signed would that give them such permission.

I've looked over the Data Protection Act but nowhere did i see that special dispensation was given to utility companys or have i overlooked something?

I'm after some serious help here because United Utilities have passed on my details to at least two other agencies with no court order involved.

I thank you in advance for your help.

[buzby]

They can get round this easily by stating in their T&C's what they do with customer data. By becoming their customer and using their services is one thing, however when you pay for them you are tacitly agreeing to their T&C's even though no written contract exists.

[popeye1]

What if you have not paid them and have disputed the bill from day one,also they claim they were told the metor readings were given over the phone and that is agreementl

[popeye1]

sorry to butt in by theway

[buzby]

In no agreement exists and they've never been paid - they cannot assert to you being contractually obligated to them. CS should be resolving the issue in order to rectify the problem and have on board as a customer. However, this only means you are not bound by their T&C's, NOT that you can use their power/gas and not pay for it. You'll still be obligated to pay this regardless.

[2Grumpy]

Which agencies have they passed your data on to?

I'm not sure but I think that they can pass on details to their subcontractors or agents

[popeye1]

Sorry what is CS

[buzby]

Sorry - Customer Services...

[jimo2002]

Hey there

I work for Powergen. In regards to data protection and the supply of elec/gas - this is a bit of a shaddy area with alot of customers.

The fact is - when you move into a property it WILL be supplied by an elec or gas supplier weather it be bgas, pgen, npower etc... and by USING the elec / gas u have entered into a contract with them to supply your gas / elec regardless weather you pay them or not and regardless if you have a paper contract u have signed or not. It is then up to u to find your elec / gas supplier of choice and switch to them. - bare in mind u will only beable to do this if your account with the current supplier is up to date otherwise they will object to you leaving them as a supplier - they can do it, it is part of ur T+Cs.

In regards to passing your details onto other 3rd parties - they can only do this if they asked you if they could do this - something they should have done when you phoned them to tell them you are moving into the property. BUT in regards to debt collection - agin as part of your T+Cs they CAN pass your details to 3rd party collection agencies.

Hope this helps

James

[buzby]

'Shady' area might be the wrong description however a customer cannot be bound by Terms & Conditions if he has not agreed to therm - but then the supplier has the ability to remove the supply unless an agreement is reached. Either way, the cost of any consumption on the premises must me paid for, irrespective of the state of the contract, as otherwise this would be theft.

[jimo2002]

Unfortunatly this is not true. When a customer calls up to register that they are the new occupier of the property they are automatically sent the T+Cs of supply. Nothing is required to be signed to be sent back to the supplier. The sheer fact the new customer has started to use the supply is confirmation that they agree to the T+Cs. If you dont agree to the T+Cs DONT USE THE SUPPLY as the supplier will be see that you dont want elec and gas with them and will take the supply away until u arrange a new supplier to reconnect it.

I can see that this can be seen as a "bully" that the customer MUST using them as a supplier - but all the suppliers do this. I know that PGen are now disconnecting properties that are empty to prompt new customers to arrange re-con with new suppliers.

This is the same for all suppliers as i have worked for NPow and PGen now and both do the same.

[popeye1]

i was paying two companies.relised and stop payment to one who claimed i had singned form at bank,about ayear later they sent a bill,i requested paperwork[signed form].ive had nothing.now they have passed it to dca.have now sent them s10 as i think it is in dispute.it is not of money but surely they should be able to send some proof,The oc changed to scot power any thoughts

[buzby]

Originally Posted by jimo2002

Unfortunatly this is not true. .

Perhaps from your standpoint, however what you are effectively saying is that a consumer has deemed to accept full terms and conditions of a vendors supply without being given any opportunity to read, agree or formally signify agreement. As much as a supplier may find this so called 'automatic acceptance' appealing, it has no basis in fact as far as I can ascertain, whether they are a public utility, national enterprise or small business.

Indeed, in a property I once had I actively attempted to discover who the correct utility companies responsible for the property were and failed miserably.* Despite using the recognised methods of trying to discover meter point codes and the like it took almost 14 months to resolve. During this period I was under no contract and received no bills. When I did eventually discover who was responsible I provided a start and closing reading pending transfer to my usual supplier, only to have the original company send me a contract for the previous supply - this I refused to sign as I was not remaining with them nor committing myself to any further work.

*Previous owner was an OAP who died in hospital, with the executor disposing of the property.

[jimo2002]

Get the supllier to contact transco (if gas) either through there xoserve website or to telephone them if they dont have access or get the supplier to check ecoes or call the local distribution company if they dont have access to check who the supplier is for the electrc.

Both these websites contain all the information for nearly EVERY meter and the meter point it is attached too for every property and who exactly the supplier is for that meter point / meter number. Gas can a bit more trickier for newer properties as they are sometimes not managed by transco but an independant company (an IGT site)- but transco will still know who the company will be and how to contact them.

[lou5]

We moved into a property 6 wks agoand since have received a letter from powergen asking for w bill to be paid which is from before we moved in. I have contacted them and they said we need to send proof of when we purchased and completed on the property which is fine. Is it right for me then to forward the company the previous owners forwarding address or their solicitors details?

[buzby]

Contact your supplier with the meter reading at the time you moved in. As for providing evidence of this, you do not 'need' to send proof. You say when your liability is from and if they want a formal letter from your solicitor say his fee for this is £30. As for providing them with the details of the previous tenant, you're not bound by the Data Protection Act, but I'd say that you do not have this information but they could ask your solicitor for it.

[tr03bor]

Originally Posted by lou5

We moved into a property 6 wks agoand since have received a letter from powergen asking for w bill to be paid which is from before we moved in. I have contacted them and they said we need to send proof of when we purchased and completed on the property which is fine. Is it right for me then to forward the company the previous owners forwarding address or their solicitors details?

They are probley requesting this as the property will have a warrent in process on the account.

The reason they ask for the prevois occuiper details is to stop the letters and debt collection agencys calling at your property.

[ozzywizard]

It is a standard letter, your choice if you wish to give this information. They will not ask again. But it is very important you give your supplier your start reads so you are billed correctly.