Scottish power Final Bill

[kingdarko]

Hi this is my first post so i'll try to cover as much as possible.

 

I am a student and lived in a house with 5 other people and 3 of us pretty much consistanly paid our share of the bill, 1 of our house mates left the house early on but paid her share of the bill. Two have not paid and left a sum of money nearly £800. There are a few questions i have.

 

Firstly the last letter i got over a week ago for the bill which is dated 10/06/08 to 29/06/08 which is when we left the house, yet the bill says its and estimate. How are they ment to know what real reading was now ? Its been months and i guess they never sent anyone to check the meter.

 

Second question, The service is not supplied to me so do i even have to pay anything?

 

They are making bills out to me and there is a debt collection letter sent to me as well with an amount that does not even match either the gas or electric bill. Is there a way off this bill seen as ive paid my share of the bill.

 

Will scottish power send me a break down of previous bills and previous payments made by all the accounts so i can check that we have all paid 1/6th our share of the bill.

 

Just to clarify i have recieved 1 letter from scotcall debt collecting services on the 3rd of December asking for the sum of £542.12 And another letter from LCS Civil Enforcement for £482.68, none of these sums are on the bill that i recived from scottish power although it does says estimate, the estimates are for £419 and £404 could they really be of by £120.

 

Right this is gone on a bit to long so i'll let you comment and ask any questions if i've missed anything.

 

Thanks from your time.

[godpikachu]

erm, if the bill wasnt in your name, then what business do they have chasing you for payment?.

 

 

just write to them stating that the bill isnt in your name and thus you dont accept any liability for any alleged debt, and inform them that chasing the wrong person for debts is illegal and thus you are entitled to bring criminal charges against them via the protection from harassment act 1997.

[kingdarko]

The bill has my name on it but it was not suplied in my name, does that mean i can just tell them i won't pay as it was not suplied in my name ?

 

Just so its clear the bill from scottish power i get is addressed to me yet down about halfway through the letter it says

 

Service supplied to : (one of my other house mates)

 

Then shows the breakdown of the bill.

 

I have paid what i belive is my share of the bill shall i E-mail scottish power and tell them that i am not the person the gas way supplied to so stop harrassing me?

Edited December 20, 2008 by kingdarko

[godpikachu]

Service supplied to : (one of my other house mates)

 

 

not your name = not your responsibility

 

 

I have paid what i belive is my share of the bill shall i E-mail scottish power and tell them that i am not the person the gas way supplied to so stop harrassing me?

 

yip, if youve paid your share of the bill then thats your responsibility for it discharged.

when you write to them supply the names and addresses of the other people on the bill if possible and tell them that they are to no longer bother you with regards to the bill.

 

they shouldnt really be sending the bill to you anyway seeing as you arent the person they are/were supplying the service to, if they try to dispute this then ask them to show proof that you personally are the service user by producing a service agreement signed by you, they wont be able to do this as its not your name that appears on the bill, so they have no legal basis to be chasing you for full payment.

 

case closed

[kingdarko]

Nice thank you godpicachu you've been very helpfull, I've been worried about this as its one thing to owe money and another to owe money that your not even responsible for.

 

Also just a last question is it best to E-mail or write or even both just to be on the safe side?

[godpikachu]

write to them, and send by recorded mail, make sure that you DONT sign the letter, because some places have been known to do a "copy and paste" of signatures to create false documentation to entrap people into thinking they have no choice but to pay.

 

here, use this as a template, amending to suit your needs..

 

 

Dear Sir or Madam

 

I am most bemused as to why i received your letter dated (date), which is the final bill for (services, gas?, electric?) at (address).

 

This address was a shared tenancy between (names), and the service itself was contracted in the name of (name), therefore i cannot understand why i have received the final bill and am being expected to pay it in full myself.

 

I do not acknowledge any debt to you whatsoever, and i challenge you to provide a true copy of a service agreement signed by myself, which i will expect to receive by return post within 14 working days of this notice.

 

If you are unable to provide proof of debt, which you are legally obliged to under OFT debt collection guidelines and the consumer credit act 1974, then let this letter serve as notice that I will consider any furthur telephone calls or correspondance from you to be harrassment, and thus i am entitled to bring criminal charges against your company under both the terms of the administration of justice act 1970, and the protection from harassment act 1997.

Furthurmore, you will agree that under section 10 of the data protection act 1998, you will cease processing and remove any and all data you have about me that is stored on your systems, once you have done this you will confirm that you have done this to me in writing.

 

Finally, as i am aware of OFT debt collection guidelines, i feel i should remind you that should you pass my details onto a third party, such as a debt collection agency, you are committing a criminal act, not only in the matter of a breach of data protection, but you are then pursuing a third party for a debt I do not owe.

 

I do not know the current whereabouts of the person you should be pursuing, (name), so in that respect you will have to perform your own enquiries.

 

I do not expect to hear from you again about this matter, and as i have already stated any attempts to harrass me furthur will result in legal action being taken against you.

 

(print name here, dont sign)

 

email is a complete waste of time, its not official and can easily be denied, an actual physical letter, especially when signed for by someone at the company, is an undeniable document, and if they try pulling the old "ohh, we lost it" routine, well, thats tough quite frankly, maybe they should learn to take better care of their documentation.

[Clare_L]

Ok, when you left the property, did you call the supplier and let them know you were leaving and supply a final read? If not then they have no choice but to estimate your final bill and that will be based on the consumption at the time of living at the property. Were you also living in the property the bill is dated for regardless of whether you have paid your share or not? If so, then you will need to supply Scottish Power a copy of the tenancy agreements and supply the names of all those responsible for the fuel used. They will not remove your name off the bill though if you were living at the property at the time as you are as responsible as the other tenants. Were the names of the other tenants ever supplied to Scottish Power so they could add them to the bills?

[godpikachu]

Ok, when you left the property, did you call the supplier and let them know you were leaving and supply a final read? If not then they have no choice but to estimate your final bill and that will be based on the consumption at the time of living at the property.

 

if they didnt, then thats immaterial now, unless someone has access to a time machine. one would presume that scottish power were informed they were leaving, otherwise a final bill wouldnt have been generated.

 

 

Were you also living in the property the bill is dated for regardless of whether you have paid your share or not? If so, then you will need to supply Scottish Power a copy of the tenancy agreements and supply the names of all those responsible for the fuel used. They will not remove your name off the bill though if you were living at the property at the time as you are as responsible as the other tenants. Were the names of the other tenants ever supplied to Scottish Power so they could add them to the bills?

 

 

hes already said that everyones names were on the bill he recieved, and that the account ISNT in his name.

you see this is where it falls down, the account is in someone elses name, and scottish power are obviously already aware that it was a shared tenancy, no doubt theyve tried to contact the othe rpeople on the bill as well, and no doubt all of them have been asked to pay the full amount, rather than their "share". kingdarko has already stated he has paid his part of the bill, as have all but 2 of the others, but, as the account is in someone elses name, they CANNOT demand he personally pay the full amount, which is what they are doing.

[mattlamb]

Actually, I think they can. Each occupant is "jointly and severally" liable for the bill. In other words, Scottish Power legally can chase whoever they want.

[godpikachu]

not when hes paid his share and theyre after him for the full bill they cant!

[Clare_L]

if they didnt, then thats immaterial now, unless someone has access to a time machine. one would presume that scottish power were informed they were leaving, otherwise a final bill wouldnt have been generated.

 

 

 

 

 

hes already said that everyones names were on the bill he recieved, and that the account ISNT in his name.

you see this is where it falls down, the account is in someone elses name, and scottish power are obviously already aware that it was a shared tenancy, no doubt theyve tried to contact the othe rpeople on the bill as well, and no doubt all of them have been asked to pay the full amount, rather than their "share". kingdarko has already stated he has paid his part of the bill, as have all but 2 of the others, but, as the account is in someone elses name, they CANNOT demand he personally pay the full amount, which is what they are doing.

 

 

either I am missing something here, because nowhere in his post does it say all names were all the bills! The fact that he has paid "his part" of the bill IS irrelevant! He was living at the property therefore liable. .This is a 3rd party dispute and Scottish Power are not there to sort out who has and who hasnt paid amongst the students, its their responsibility and they should have ensured they had worked out how THEY were paying the bill.

 

And no, a timemachine would not be needed on this occasion as that is why it has been ESTIMATED.

[kingdarko]

Ok, when you left the property, did you call the supplier and let them know you were leaving and supply a final read? If not then they have no choice but to estimate your final bill and that will be based on the consumption at the time of living at the property. Were you also living in the property the bill is dated for regardless of whether you have paid your share or not? If so, then you will need to supply Scottish Power a copy of the tenancy agreements and supply the names of all those responsible for the fuel used. They will not remove your name off the bill though if you were living at the property at the time as you are as responsible as the other tenants. Were the names of the other tenants ever supplied to Scottish Power so they could add them to the bills?

 

 

Everyone would got a bill addressed to them so 6 letters would come at once for the same same bill. However it was always for the total amount of the bill not a share of 1/6th.

 

They know that there were 6 prople living there, i don't know if they have a follow on address from everyone some of my house mates i dont have contact with anymore.

 

A reading of the meter was never taken when we left we did not know we had to take one to behonest, but they did know when we were leaving as the bill was made right to the the day we left on the 29/06/08 if you note the laste bill is only for 19 days so they must have known.

[Clare_L]

Scottish Power are not responsible for dividing up the bill between you, hence why you all got a copy of the same bill. All you can do is as I suggested and that is supply Scottish Power with the names, forwarding addresses and tenancy agreements for all those that were living there. You can tell them that you have paid your part, but that wont necessarilly get them off your back.

[Clare_L]

not your name = not your responsibility

 

 

 

 

yip, if youve paid your share of the bill then thats your responsibility for it discharged.

when you write to them supply the names and addresses of the other people on the bill if possible and tell them that they are to no longer bother you with regards to the bill.

 

they shouldnt really be sending the bill to you anyway seeing as you arent the person they are/were supplying the service to, if they try to dispute this then ask them to show proof that you personally are the service user by producing a service agreement signed by you, they wont be able to do this as its not your name that appears on the bill, so they have no legal basis to be chasing you for full payment.

 

case closed

 

also, just to add, you do not sign a contract/agreement for your fuel, its a deemed contract once you start using it, so Scottish Power will not have yours or anyones signature, so this advise is not going to get you anywhere im afraid.

[godpikachu]

funny, scottish power insisted i signed one when i got my lecky with them 2 years back.

[Clare_L]

funny, scottish power insisted i signed one when i got my lecky with them 2 years back.

 

A field sales rep???

[godpikachu]

no, i made my enquiries through a price comparison website,(i flatly refuse to buy ANYTHING from doorstep callers, as we all know they lie through their teeth) this was followed up by a phone call and a few days later i recieved a contract/t&cs through the post, which i filled in and sent back in the prepaid envelope they provided.

 

i must admit i was rather surprised at that as shen i had previously switched company (from YEB to Npower), it was done over the phone.

[Clare_L]

Well that is a surprise, ive never known a supplier to provide a contract before that had to be signed and returned. I work for eon and although we send T&C's out and a quote, we dont request they sign for anything, just read the quote and then they dont have to do anything unless they change their minds in which case they call through to the call centre within the cooling off period.