I have received my DQ. I just had one question regarding it, what do I need to put for the question where it asks, Do you consider that this claim is suitable for determination without hearing?

Noted. What points that I have made should I include in my defence? How about 1,4, 9, and 110?

Hi all, I've read some of the other claims and tried following the same format. Do let me know if some of the points are excessive or need to be edited/removed. The Defendant contends that the particulars of the claim are vague and generic in nature. The Defendant accordingly sets out its case below and relies on CPR r 16.5 (3) in relation to any particular allegation to which a specific response has not been made. Lack of Contractual Agreement: The defendants contest the claim on the grounds of the absence of a direct contractual agreement between the defendants and the claimant. The payments made by the defendants were to the lead tenant, acting as an intermediary, and not directly to the claimant. As such, there is no contractual obligation between the defendants and the claimant. Joint Liability Dispute: The defendants refute the claim of joint liability for the outstanding amount. The defendants assert that they made payments in good faith for their respective share of the utility expenses. Any outstanding balance is attributable to other tenants who failed to fulfill their financial obligations. The defendants cannot be held accountable for the debts of others. Confirmation of Balance Settlement: The defendants stress that they acted in good faith to settle the outstanding balance, as evidenced by the confirmation received from the claimant on 23/10/2023 that the account was closed. Any subsequent demands for additional payments are unwarranted and contradict the claimant's previous acknowledgment of settlement. It is concerning that the claimant subsequently reopened the account and pursued further demands for payment, contradicting their earlier acknowledgment of debt settlement and closure of the account. Misrepresentation and Confusion: The defendants raise concerns regarding the actions of the claimant, specifically regarding the changing account numbers and inconsistent billing practices. The backdating of bills and failure to inform the defendants about available options, such as split liability packages, has led to confusion and misrepresentation of the financial obligations. Inconsistencies in Claims: The defendants highlight the inconsistencies in the claimant's demands, as evidenced by the varying amounts communicated by the claimant. Despite repeated attempts to reconcile the discrepancies, the claimant has failed to provide a clear and consistent account of the outstanding balance owed. Unfair Targeting: The defendants assert that singling out only two tenants out of ten for money claims is unjust and discriminatory. The defendants emphasize that they never agreed to assume joint liability for the financial obligations of others and seek fairness and equity in the legal proceedings. The defendant paid the lead tenant a fixed sum monthly bill without fail for the extent of the rental period of the accommodation their contract was associated with, ending in June 2023. After moving out, a month later, the claimant wrote to state that an outstanding sum existed. Further stating, as one of the 10 tenants at the time, I now owed them the full sum instead of my 1/10 proportion of said debt, as 10 students were at the dwelling. The defendant. They also intimated that they were legally allowed to charge me the full sum if the other renters were not to pay their share under some equal and joint severity rule. Despite sending numerous requests prior to the court claim being raised for copies of said bills for said utilities covered by the agreement, the claimant failed to send any clear bills. This included a CPR 31.14 on 19/02/204 sent via post.

I read, thats great! . I will start preparing my defence soon.

Yes I was, along with 9 other individuals. Actually we were residents at the address even before than stated in the poc.

My daughter? Dx i think you may have mixed up my thread with someone else's. Yes I have sent out CPR request via post. POC " Huddle Utilities Ltd are claiming £1012.58 from (my name) and (another roommates name) for unpaid gas and electricity bill at XXX for the period of 01/01/2023 to 30/06/2023. Despite sending invoices and payment reminders and attempting to contact the customer through letters, email and phone calls, we are yet to receive sufficient payment to clear the areas and believe legal action is the necessary next step to resolve this " I have already uploaded POC above for your reference.

Hi dx, Yes that’s most of it. I’m guessing they were sending post regarding the same to the previous address but I have no access to those.

Hi, This may be a long read but I've added most relevant email comms by huddle in a pdf. I've color-coded it to make it simpler to read.Huddle email Correspondence.pdf

This is the most recent email I got from them when I said they should put the claim on tenants who have not paid their part. Should i reply saying i was never the lead tenant and putting my name on the bill after i moved out does not make me the lead tenant? or just ignore their emails. For reference: "Thanks for your response. As you were in a shared accommodation during this period, it is responsibility of all tenants to arrange between themselves payment towards the account. We have attempted to contact each customer for payments but it is now the responsibility of yourselves to finalise payment for the outstanding balance on the account. Please reference the link I have provided from citizens advice and in particular the segment on tenants not paying their share: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/energy/energy-supply/problems-with-your-energy-bill/check-if-youre-responsible-for-paying-an-energy-bill/ We can see that you and other tenants have made payments throughout this tenancy but we are unsure how much each tenant contributed towards this and whether other tenants were making payments to yourself to cover their shares as you were the lead tenant on the account. I'd also like to reference your tenancy agreement under tenant obligations section 8: "To pay or be liable to pay for all utilities during the tenancy dates. If you have a bills package with a separate company, payments must be paid directly to them." We highly encourage you now to contact the other tenants and arrange payment for the outstanding balance and for this we're going to place your account on hold for two weeks. If you have anymore questions or queries, don't hesitate to get back in touch."

For the CPR 31:14 request i was thinking of sending these has the main 3 points : Do I need to add or remove anything? 1)A copy of the signed agreement between the claimant and the defendant to supply said services. This includes any contracts, agreements, or terms and conditions that establish the basis of the alleged contractual relationship between the Defendants and Huddle Utilities. 2)Copies of all bills/invoices in the defendant’s name that they claim are outstanding to the claimant. Please provide copies of all invoices or bills relating to the disputed amount claimed in the MoneyClaim, including any relevant itemizations of charges or services provided. Additionally, please include any bills that were backdated or duplicated due to changes in account numbers during the tenancy period from 01/09/2022 to 30/06/2023. 3)Detailed statements of said accounts of how the claimant has calculated the sum claimed. We request detailed statements or breakdowns of the accounts in question, outlining how the Claimant has calculated the sum claimed. This should include explanations of any charges, adjustments, or calculations made by the Claimant.

Name of the Claimant ? Huddle Utilities LTD How many defendant's joint or self ? 2 Me and another roommate. Date of issue – 12 FEB What is the claim for – 1. Huddle Utilities Ltd are claiming £1012.58 from (my name) and (another roommates name) for unpaid gas and electricity bill at XXX for the period of 01/01/2023 to 30/06/2023. 2. Despite sending invoices and payment reminders and attempting to contact the customer through letters, email and phone calls, we are yet to receive sufficient payment to clear the areas and believe legal action is the necessary next step to resolve this " What is the total value of the claim? 1012.58 Have you received prior notice of a claim being issued pursuant to paragraph 3 of the PAPDC (Pre Action Protocol) ? Received a 30 day court action warning Have you changed your address since the time at which the debt referred to in the claim was allegedly incurred? Yes Did you inform the claimant of your change of address? No – They somehow found new address of all 10 tenants, im guessing because we changed address with our banks. Still is this legal and how is it possible? Is the claim for - a Bank Account (Overdraft) or credit card or loan or catalogue or mobile phone account? – Utility company When did you enter into the original agreement before or after April 2007 ? No Do you recall how you entered into the agreement...On line /In branch/By post ? No , technically it was under a lead tenant and we were responsible of making payments to him but I understand that utilities may fall under deemed contract? Is the debt showing on your credit reference files (Experian/Equifax /Etc...) ? Not sure. I don’t think so. Has the claim been issued by the original creditor or was the account assigned and it is the Debt purchaser who has issued the claim. Original Creditor Were you aware the account had been assigned – did you receive a Notice of Assignment? No, After moving out I found suddenly I was made the “lead tenant” without being notified and that the bills were in my name Did you receive a Default Notice from the original creditor? Not that I am aware of Have you been receiving statutory notices headed “Notice of Sums in Arrears” or " Notice of Arrears "– at least once a year ? No Why did you cease payments? I made my parts of the payments. Huddle mentioned everyone is responsible till the whole debt is cleared. What was the date of your last payment? 20 Oct 2023 , where 5 of us tenants made the last payment to cover for others and huddle confirmed that the balance was cleared, and account was closed. Later they reopened it because of “billing error” Was there a dispute with the original creditor that remains unresolved? Yes Did you communicate any financial problems to the original creditor and make any attempt to enter into a debt management plan? We mentioned the burden it is to cover for others as international students and were provided payment plans, we refused as we made our part of the payments. Chronology to make it simpler : September 2022: Moved into shared house with 9 others. November 2022: Lead tenant and three others moved out; 4 new tenants moved in. Months following: Continued making payments to new lead tenant for utilities which we later found was using the same log in details from the old lead tenant and did not change his name out of the huddles system. June 2023 : Contract ended, and all 10 tenants moved out. July 2023: Received email regarding objection to switch energy supplier. This is where I found they made a new account number months after the lead tenant left and put my name on it as the lead tenant. After multiple calls and email they refused to take my name out and said the whole balance needs to be cleared and does not matter who the lead tenant was as everyone's is equally liable. 26 July 2023 : Received the final bill after contract being ended for 02/02/2023 to 30/06/2023. July 2023 : Me and 5 others paid nearly 220 pounds each and paid “our share” of the total bill. Over multiple emails and calls explaining we have paid our part they still said we will be liable until the whole debit is cleared. 5 Oct 2023: Received 30 days court action. Oct 19 2023: In previously emails Huddle misquoted different figures to different roommates. Fearing court action as international students, me and same 5 others paid an extra 130 pounds roughly to settle the balance and clear it. After that huddle gave confirmation that accounts closed. December 2023 : Received 7 day court action waring . After asked that the balance was cleared they explained , the made an error where the bill for Jan 2023 was not calculated. Current: Only me and another roommate who have paid our part and more are being targeted in the MoneyClaim instead of 4 others who just ignored huddles emails and did not pay anything after moving out for the remainder of the balance.

Unfortunately, we did not provide monthly meter readings and relied on estimated amounts from Huddle Utilities. This was because we were unfamiliar with the process, having recently arrived in the country. Yes, we are still in the UK but at a different address. I will also send the subject access request tomorrow. MoneyClaim huddle.pdf

Thanks for the advice honeybeen and Dx . I have made my own thread regarding our situation as International students and our current situation with huddle. As me and my friends are international students , any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

Hi all, Bit of a long read but any advice would be appreciated. Thanks Background : From September 2022 to June 2023, my friend "A" and I shared a house in the UK with eight other people. We relied on Huddle Utilities for gas and electricity, with each of us paying around £45 per month to "X", our lead tenant, who managed the bills. However, in November 2022, "X" and three others moved out, leaving three new tenants we didn't know. Despite this change, we continued making our payments as usual to "X" replacement tenant,"Y" who handled payments on behalf of the house. Furthermore, Huddle changed the account number a few months after the lead tenant "X" left and backdated bills with the new account number for the same months, creating confusion with two sets of bills for each month. Additionally, they called me when my tenancy was about to end and asked if I wanted to be the lead tenant, to which I declined since I was leaving. Later, I found out I was "randomly" chosen, and when I reiterated that I didn't want to be named on bills or be the lead tenant, they said it didn't matter as everyone was liable. They also failed to inform us that we had the option to choose a split liability package when new tenants joined, as this was unfamiliar to us. After moving out a couple of months later, Huddle Utilities contacted us, claiming we owed money as we had used more gas and electricity than our estimated with a total balance pending of £2215. Regarding this, I and five friends /tenants (total 6 people paid )paid roughly £221.5 each, stating that we were not responsible for others' debts. However, Huddle insisted it was a joint liability and wouldn't split the bill until the entire amount was cleared. We even tried contacting other tenants to pay up their part but did not receive any response. Fearing consequences as international students and receiving court action warnings while not understanding the legal landscape, we paid the remaining amount owed of roughly £130 pounds each between 5 people and covered for others to stop receiving these emails. We then received confirmation by email that our balance was cleared, and the account was closed. To our surprise, we later received court action notices, despite believing the matter was settled. When we questioned Huddle, they admitted an error in their system, acknowledging that one month's bill had not been tallied, and demanded an additional £1079.58. Additionally, Huddle on multiple occasions has confirmed different amounts, asserting each time that it's the correct one. Even the MoneyClaim they sent is for £1012.5, whereas the last email regarding the balance indicated £1079.58. It seems they are arbitrarily changing numbers, adding to the confusion and inconsistency of their claims. What's more, only "A" and I were targeted with money claims, out of all ten tenants. This feels unfair, as we never agreed to be jointly liable for others' payments. We technically never even had a contract as the lead tenant "X" was making payments on behalf of the house and we paid him. We seek advice as we have only 14 days to reply to this claim.

hi guys, Do update on status on what happened, me and my roommates are going through something similar and this is helpful information to understand.