Hi, I am desperate for some help if anyone can, the story is as follows, sorry if it is long winded. I am a sole trader running a Lawnmower Repair Business, I lease a 1400sq ft commercial unit from my landlords. My landlords supply the Gas, Electricity and Water, I am billed directly from the landlord for the utilities and not their supplier which is not one of the big 4 believe is CNG Contract National Gas Ltd. I do not know who supplies them the electricity or water (a good guess for the water would be Yorkshire Water) So I took the lease out in February 2010, Trumbling along. struggling along to run a business as it was, paying my bills, rent, suppliers etc etc etc. Every month the Gas, Electric and water bill dropped through the letterbox always on the 5th of the month and they were always paid on time, as far as I was aware the gas was up to date, billed for usage and paid. Then in Sept 2016 the landlords said to me they think there is a problem with the gas and to leave it with them, anyway, fast forward to now. We have had a revised bill from them saying we have underpaid the gas since 2010, it was their fault as they calculated the meter reads incorrectly (ALWAYS originally billed by actual meter reads, we have all meter reads by way of photograph back to then, we took a photo of all utility meters every month (so did the landlord)) aparently they said they were calculating on imperial or metric instead of the other way round. So the invoice is £13,000, but they will accept £5,500 to clear the matter. If we don't pay it in 7 days they are taking us to the small claims court etc etc. Some thing stinks if you ask me. Can they do this? do we have a leg to stand on? does the Bills of Exchange Act s59 not apply?. I called citizens advice to ask about the Back Billing 12 month limit and they said this does not apply to me as my landlord re sells me the gas rather than the actual supplier, but they can only back bill 6 years as to the statute of limitations. £13,000 or even £5,500 is impossible to find for a sole trader with 7 days notice, last accounts I turned over £60,000 with a profit of £6,000, last year was a shocker for lawnmower repairs/sales. Please, if anyone could offer any guidence/support/advice I would be eternally grateful. thanks Dave....

Hi, Some advice needed. In the Autumn 2010 me and my partner moved in to a new flat. Sorted out council tax, water etc straight away but ran in to problems when trying to get our gas and electricity sorted. Having found out EDF was the supplier for the previous tenant I made several 5-10 calls to EDF during the first months of moving in. For some reason they had no supply registered to our address and could not set anything up. Even when supplying them with the electricity meter number they stated that that meter had been turned off for two years. No luck with providing them with my gas meter number either. I used the details from the previous tenant to try and set up so we could receive bills. But no luck, every time having to wait in queues and explain the situation at length to a new person. After a few months a paper from EDF was left in the letterbox saying that the meter was to be cut of, changed to a prepay meter, court order etc. It did not have the correct address and postcode. I used the reference number left on that letter and called edf again, believe I got redirected to different departments and finally got to talk to someone who understood the issue. He said they would investigate. He called back a few days later, perhaps a week and stated that he had an idea of what the issue was and that they would investigate. They would get back to me when it was sorted and to update me. I asked what the time frame would be, and he stated that likely after Christmas/new year. This was in 2010. From that point they have not been in contact. Have not received any bills or any contact or letter. come September 2017 I receive an automated phone call from a robot voice asking if the account holder for my address, stating my name, (although I have since changed my last name through marriage). It said to either confirm or deny by pressing a number. I denied I was that person. I did at the time not believe an automated phone call to be legitimate. Two weeks go by and I pop in to my ground floor neighbour which is a cafe as I am coming home and they said some electricity people had been around asking for a meter to one of the flats. The cafe has no access to the common entrance to the 2 flats. They did not leave any letter leaflet stating or anything. what would you recommend I do? To me I did my due diligence in 2010 and it was up to them to get back to me. I have never received a bill or had an opportunity to pay. Should I contact them or wait until they attempt to contact me properly by post, meter visit etc. The automated robot phone call is not a proper attempt to contact me. It could just be a robot call as far as I am concerned. The visit my neighbour told me about was just a coincidence that she relayed that information to me as I met her just as I came home and they were closing. What would you do in this situation? Am I correct in assuming they could only back-bill 12 months. Many thanks

BILLED DEFERRED FINANCE CHARGES What the heck is this? I have been checking my credit card to make sure everything is as it should be and found two of these entries. One is for £0.38 and the other is £1.76. it says merchant and gives a code, but the code means nothing to me, as I cannot identify the merchant. I buy from overseas at times and there is a transaction fee for this, so am at a loss to cross reference this. I am loathed to phone them tomorrow on the 0300 number supplied on the statement.

Hi Folks, Npower said my final bill was roughly £127. I checked the readings against what the estimated bill said then I paid roughly £80, which tied in exactly with the readings. They are now chasing me for £47 saying I'm due them, but all the communication is generic crap and they haven't responded to anything I send them. I've put in a formal complaint and asked for a copy of their complaints procedure. Are they likely to listen, or see sense? Anything else I should be doing/be aware of? I switched supplier around the 5th on august... cheers folks

This is a long and messy story, so I'll try and stick to the short version to begin with. Fifteen years ago I moved from my previous address to my current address, I informed my local Council (Shetland, for both addresses) that I was taking over responsibility for my current address, that I was no longer responsible for my previous address, and gave them details of whom I was given to understand was taking over responsibility for my previous address. All seemed to be good, and in order, until February/March 2013, when out of the blue I received two letters at my current address, from my local Council advising me that they were now at the stage of applying to the Court for Summary Warrants against me for sums of Council Tax supposedly due for periods sometime between 2011 and 2013 at my previous address, followed shortly after, also to me at my current address by a Council Tax bill for my previous address for the whole of the 2013/14 tax year. I wrote to the local Council at that time advising them I was not responsible for Council Tax at the address stated, and I had not been responsible for Council Tax at that address since relocating from it in '99. They did not reply, and I have never heard anything from them on the subject since. So, after a month or two of silence, I presumed (as you do) that they'd accepted billing me for Council Tax at my previous address had been some sort of error on their part and the issue was closed. However in July this year I started receiving the usual computer generated threats from the vultures at Scott & Co. demanding I pay them the two sums of alleged overdue Council Tax for my previous address my local Council had written to me about in February 2013. I wrote to S & Co. restating I did not believe I was responsible or liable for the sums they were demanding, that I had already disputed my responsibility and liability with the Council concerned, and having not received any response from them to the contrary I believed they considered the matter closed, and consequently so did I. They replied, quite curtly making it very clear they had no interest or intentions in entering in to any discussion with me on the issue, they had full intentions of proceeding forward until or unless instructed otherwise by their client, and that if I had anything to say, to take it up with their client, not them. I wrote back pointing out that I believed they had a responsibility to inform their client that I disputed the charge(s) they had been engaged to pursue, that any disagreement was between their client and myself, and that if their client disputed my stance the onus was on their client to contact me, not vice versa, as I had already contacted their client concerning the matter over one year previously, and they had chosen not to address the issues I'd raised with them. Predictably I have received no reply to this However, as I had no faith or trust in S & Co. actually doing anything as a result of receiving my letter, a few days later I again wrote to my local Council, restating I did not accept I had any responsibility or liability for any Council Tax at my previous address which they believed may be due for any period after 1999, and this time providing them with a timeline of events for the last fifteen years for the address, as they are known to me, as backup. Finally I requested that I would be very interested in learning how they came to believe that I was responsible and liable for any such charges, especially taking in to consideration the timeline I had just provided them with. Unsurprisingly I have received no reply to that letter either. Meantime S & Co. equally predictably have been racking up the anti, and churning out steadily escalating dire threats as regular as clockwork. Last week, one month after last writing to both S & Co. and my local Council, I emailed both the front desk at my local Council's finance dept. and direct to the Debt Recovery person within the same finance dept. demanding an explanation of just what they thought they were trying to achive, and what on earth did they think they were trying to do - again predictably, neither email has been replied to. So, where do I go from here? From what I can gather legally disputing a Summary Warrant is effectively a non-starter (despite IMHO that being completely contrary to the principles of justice). Is this actually the case? Do we really have a system in place where a local Council can bill just about anyone they choose to for Council Tax, and then hide behind a wall of silence and hired guns to steal whatever sum of money they choose to off that individual, and that individual has absolutely no legal comeback whatsoever to dispute or challenge either their liability to pay, or the sum demanded? Is there any viable avenue of challenge and redress in this situation, or am I simply going to have to sit back and wait until they decide to make me bankrupt, and let the argument as to whether this bill legally constitutes one of my liabilities or not, be settled in that Court? If there isn't, I can't see what's going on here as being anything other than legalised extortion/theft etc.

Thought this may be of some use. Bank of Scotland has been unfairly double billing customers who fell behind on their mortgages, a High Court judge in Belfast has ruled. In a scathing verdict, Master Ellison said the bank's behaviour had been "unconscionable" http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-28842534

Hello all, I have a bit of a complicated one here… 3 years ago I moved into a property as a tenant..tried to contact npower numerous times without any success of them admiting they are my supplier. After 3 years they came up with this huge bill charged for a business account (and meter registered at the wrong address). I do not have any idea how and why they opened a business account. It is not in my name but in the name of the property owners. They have agreed to recalculate all the bills using domestic rates and VAT, but it still comes out big. I have asked them to apply the back billing policy, but they said that because the account was opened (not by me) as business they can only apply back billing for 2 years and not for 1 year as for domestic accounts. Is there any reasonable solution to this and any way I can be back billed for 1 year back? I do not want to wash my hands clean of this and let the property owners pay it, but I do not want to pay the unfair huge bill. Thanks!

Hi all. In October 2012 I hand wrote a letter to BT saying that I would no longer require their broadband and calls service after the end of October. Then at the beginning of November I received and paid my October bill. I also received an email from BT Residential Services dated 8th November which acknowledges that I have chosen to close my account. I have since had bills for November, December, and now for January. In December I spoke to customer services and I explained my situation, and that I have an email from BT Residential Services which acknowledges my request, but the lady told me my account hasn't been closed and that she was putting a note on the account that it is to be closed, and also that someone would be calling me regarding this. No-one called, and I thought that was the end of it. Then yesterday BT rang me again asking when I am going to pay November, December and January's bills!! I was shocked and told her my account was closed in October, and that I have an email regarding this request, (the email is all i have from BT that proves they received my request to close my account). She told me my account is still active and not closed at all, and that no request had been made to close it either. The lady I spoke to told me the bills she wants me to pay relate to a contract which was signed in 2010, but this can't be possible because I moved house in 2011, and I had to close my then bt account before i could have the same BT service installed in my new address, and i had to sign a new contract for this. So i am confused as to what is happening. I asked that in future that this matter continue to be discussed in writing rather than telephone conversations, because I am being told many different things but no proof of what i am being told, but she said no, she was calling me for payment only and she doesn't pass on messages. She was so rude. I am struggling to get them to stop billing me for a service i no longer receive and that i had already written to cancel. If it weren't for the email they sent acknowledging that i have chosen to close my account, I would have no proof at all that i had written regarding this. I am getting nowhere on the telephone. Meanwhile and while ever this goes unresolved, i fear that i will continue to be billed until forever. What can i do about this?

I would be grateful for any advice on the issues i am having with HYDE martlet at present. We have a shared ownership apartment in surrey and a leaseholder of 35% purchased 5 yrs ago. In the last two years we are getting invoices from the housing assoc for deficit payments and it is just getting ridiculous now. advice please 1. in oct 2011 we were invoiced for £503 for a service charge deficit for 2010/11. This was a 95% deficit ! They gave us 28 days to pay which we did. Our service charge is only about £500 for the year and so was an awful lot of money 2. In Oct 2012 we were invoiced for £133 for a service charge deficit for 2011/12. I have not paid this yet 3. Today we have received a landlords estimate for communal decoration which totals £100k which our personal share is £750 approx. This is for painting exterior and internal areas. The actual invoice will be sent once the work is complete. We were written to in march this year advising that we had 5 days to reply for comments on proposed future works but the letter arrived 3 days after the deadline. I called Hyde today to ask if we are liable for the whole £750 as surely there is a sinking fund etc and it is part of our service charge and the person i spoke to was unsure of how much i would be billed exactly. 4. Our boiler has a concealed flue and so it needs a new hatch panel installed. Hyde say it is our responsibility as boilers not covered. Some people seem to have theirs done by hyde, some get the response i got All in all i just feel sick for ever getting into shared ownership any advice appreciated especially on point 3 Are we liable for communal areas decoration which was sent for tender - surely service charge is for decoration somewhat? thank you

I happened to notice on my internet statement September, Billed Deferred Finance charges. £9.05. I dug backwards and found April .61 pence May nothing, June 40 pence, July £3.91 August £3.41, September £9.05. What is this Charge? I did a Google search on the problem and got no consistent answer other than a glitch in their system that they allow to continue.