Yikes..powergen! 1st credit! S.A.R - (Subject Access Request)? help?

[lizvp]

well heres a teaser!
my other half was telephoned by a DCA just before xmas (1st credit), telling him that he owed powergen c£420 in combined gas and electric for a previous address vacated jan 2004.
he still has the letter he sent to powergen, with the closing meter reading and his forwarding (current) address, when he moved. he had been paying about £50 per month dd since he moved into the property (lived there 2yrs), regardless of the fact that for 8months previous to moving he had spent less than a week in the property, and no power was used....bar the standard fees etc.
there were no outstanding bills, if anything he was probably in credit. 3 years later they send a bill via a bailiff, no preceeding correspondence, not even a letter..a phonecall.
he did challenge them when they called, and pointed out that he didnt feel that he owed money and that he felt the onus was on them and their client to show that the money was owed, and he certainly wasnt about to just hand over money to anyone cos they said so.
so, they have sent a bill, dated jan 2004, units used total about £0.05p.
then..account balance brought forward, and a sum of money. one for electric and one for gas, totalling about £420...no other justification, just account brought forward.
happily, we can prove that he paid £50 per month dd..we have the last 6 yrs bank statements <grinz> , but obviously didnt keep old powergen bills.
do we need to send S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) to powergen or 1st credit?
do we need to send S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) for both bills?
should we just send 4 SARs 1 for each bill copied to credit agency?
and what about the fee?
what kind of recourse do we actually have?
1st credit appear to be debt 'factors'..agressively purchasing, in their words 'debts as early as 30 days overdue, to very old and tired debt, normally written off'. can this be completely legal?
are powergen allowed to just sell stuff like this without recourse to fact??
help?

[artoo]

They will almost certainly have given themselves the right to pass the debt to agents in their terms and conditions.

The debt agents will not want to deal with any amount that might be disputed. The key is to write to them immediately telling them that the debt is disputed and that unless they are able to provide you with some real evidence that you owe them anything you will not be responding to their threats. Tell them if they issue proceedings against you without first sending you the evidence you will bring that to the courts attention if they attempt to recover any costs from you.

Put the ball in their court and make them do the work. The debt agents will then probably send the file back to powergen who should try and sort it out.

[StoneLaughter]

Absolutely right. Write to them with the following "ritual" phrase:

"Please be advised that the amount you state is owed is now in dispute and you maynot pursue any enforcement action until the dispute is resolved".

Also send separately an S.AR to BOTH Powergen and to the DCA. Make clear that your £10 payments in both cases are in relation to the S.AR fee and NOTHING else.

[lizvp]

thanks for that guys, will update with any news as it comes in.
i also looked at the energywatch website that other threads have mentioned, and they are very helpful; specifically this :

What is the ‘super-complaint’?
Like other consumer watchdogs, energywatch has some statutory powers. In this case, under the Enterprise Act of 2002, energywatch can submit a ‘super-complaint’ to Ofgem about any aspects of serious concern in the energy market.
energywatch believes that, too often, energy companies’ performance when it comes to billing their customers is poor, and can sometimes cause serious hardship. We believe that consumers have a right to expect gas and electricity bills that are:

• Accurate;
• On time; and
• Clear.

energywatch therefore submitted a super-complaint to Ofgem on billing. When it made its decision Ofgem set out three requirements on energy suppliers:

1. By July 2006 they have to set up and fund an independent body to resolve disputes between individual companies and consumers. This body will have the power to award compensation to consumers who have received particularly poor service.
2. From July 2006 they should no longer seek payment from consumers where they have not billed a customer for two years. From July 2007 this period should reduce to one year.
3. By July 2006 they should have reviewed the terms and conditions of the contracts they offer to consumers to make sure they are as simple as possible, comply with consumer rights’ legislation and are not biased in suppliers’ favour.

energywatch, as the gas and electricity consumer watchdog, will monitor suppliers’ progress in implementing these requirements to make sure they comply with both the spirit and the letter of the judgement for the benefit of consumers.

hope this might help others