Due in court on Friday, advice greatly appreciated.

[jimfishybob]

This may be a bit late but.....

I have been having a dispute with British Gas over an amount I owe them from a dormant account. That I owe them money is not in dispute but while the account was active I repeatedly requested that they check the meter as bills were coming in at over £200/ month. I was told that it would sort itself out over the year etc...(i.e. essentially fobbed off).

When they issued a summons I sent them an S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) in an effort to get notes on my account whereby I had previously disputed the amount as they claimed they never had any calls from me.

The S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) expired on 13th December 2006 and I have still not recieved any information. The court is aware that my defence essentially hinges on this information which now seems unlikely to arrive.

BG have requested that the hearing be heard in their absence so I will have no chance to question as to why this info was not forthcoming on Friday.

I have submitted my document bundle to the courts but these mainly revolve around the Data Protection Act and their non-compliance, I only have circumstantial evidence that BG have a problem with their billing system using reports available from energywatch.

As an aside, I also felt pressured and made them a settlement offer in full last week payable over a period of 2 months. They have not responded to this at all.

What are my options/chances, (if any)?

[ozzywizard]

I think it is worth pursuing. Did you report their breech of Data Protection Act to the information commisioner ? . Let us know how you get on and although I dont know much on the court process let me know if you need any info on the utility side if things. The S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) from what you have said would of been really helpfull.

[jimfishybob]

Thanks for the reply Ozzy.

No, I haven't reported them, in fact part of my settlement offer was to not report them on the proviso that they remove any reference to the account from any third parties.

The S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) is effectively my only defence but they seem unwilling/unable to supply it. The question is, will the court take this into account when reviewing the claim or will they just tell me my defence is rather weak, (which it currently is).

[ozzywizard]

I think they will take it into account as they have not supplied you with the relevent information that they legally had to give you that would of ovbiously strengthened your case, but this is just my opinion based on logic.

[demon_x_slash]

As long as you can present what facts you do have logically, and stress the point that you have been unable to compile exact evidence due to BG's contravention of the Data Protection Act in not supplying you with the information that you are legally entitled to, I think they will still listen. I'd present BG's contravention as disrespectful to the court in particular, and the legal system in general...

[tiglet]

DEFINITELY go to court and defend it. It will actually look better for you that they haven't shown up whereas you are prepared to go.

[rks99]

subscribing and GOOD LUCK !

[Ruthie P]

anyone know what happened with this?

[meg&mog]

hi just wanted to make sure i recieved updates on this i really hope he did ok

[jimfishybob]

Hi all,

Firstly, sorry for the lack of an update. I recently 'upgraded' my PC myself and consequently it didn't work for a week.

The Thursday before the hearing I called BG's solicitors. I asked that as there was no reply to my offer of settlement was I to assume we were still going to court?

They said they'd recieved no offer of settlement.

Odd, thought I, as it was attached to my doc bundle which they already said they'd recieved, besides, I could show them when it was delivered and who signed for it.

There were slight sounds of panic from the other end of the phone as the, (admittedly helpful), lady asked questions of various people...alas, they didn't manage to turn it up and asked if I would email it while I was on the phone. I did, (after making a slight, (i.e. half), ammendment to the amount offered in settlement).

She went off to read it and came back accepting that without the info I would have a hard time defending their claim but equally, they would have a hard time defending not providing me with the info.

We agreed that I wouldn't pursue the matter with the Information Commissioners Office, that they would remove the default and that I would pay the amount offered, leaving no trace of this account anywhere on my history.

The next day I recieved the signed consent order, rang them, paid, filed the order and now the default has gone. In short, it was win-win.

Thanks you all for your advice. That I owed them money was never in dispute, it was the amount I challenged. I think both parties have come out of this well and I appreciate the confidence y'all gave me me when I was unsure of the strength of my Data Protection Act argument.

Thanks again.

[meg&mog]

hi jimfishybob

i,m glad everything worked out for you

hopefully you wont have to deal with people like them again

good luck

[jimfishybob]

What's also interesting is that on 11th April I said that I suspected there was an issue with their billing system.

Low and behold, two weeks later there's a media frenzy about 22,000 BG customers who've been billed wrong because of problems with their billing system.

I might do the lottery this week.

[Ruthie P]

fantastic news jimfishybob!!