Can I take British Gas to court?

[andydd]

Thanks, thats simplified things a bit.

 

Affecting your credit score CAN be a cause to claim damages but google Mr Durkin (who posts on this forum to see how complex it can be) > http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-26731192

 

You make lots of accusation about name calling but unless you recorded these phone calls its likely they will be just hearsay evidence and not count for much.

 

It would appear you may have some claim for harrassment but Im no expert.

 

Ive no idea about solicitors, if you found one they would charge at least £200 ph, an amount you couldnt get back as claim would prob be on small track.

 

Personally I dont believe the claim is worth it IMO.

[dash145]

Thanks for that.

 

I do have letters from Chase Solutions, debt collectors who were appointed by BG which show demands for payment & threats of disconnection. I also have a copy of my credit score showing the weekly additions for late payment by BG, but it confirms that it was only ever BG whom I owed money to thanks to the incorrect bills.

 

I was unsure if I just go through the small claims court, or as a friend has suggested, try the courts mediation service.

[andydd]

There is no option to just go the mediation service, if you start a claim then mediation maybe offered, its normal practise for both sides to go through it, doesnt help much IMO.

 

There isnt actually anythjing called small claim,s court, but cliams below a certain amount, is it £15K now ?, will be allocated to the small claims track to which certain rules apply and that costs are not recoverable.

[AndyOrch]

There is no option to just go the mediation service, if you start a claim then mediation maybe offered, its normal practise for both sides to go through it, doesnt help much IMO.

 

There isnt actually anythjing called small claim,s court, but cliams below a certain amount, is it £15K now ?, will be allocated to the small claims track to which certain rules apply and that costs are not recoverable.

 

10 K Andy

[dash145]

There is no option to just go the mediation service, if you start a claim then mediation maybe offered, its normal practise for both sides to go through it, doesnt help much IMO.

 

There isnt actually anythjing called small claim,s court, but cliams below a certain amount, is it £15K now ?, will be allocated to the small claims track to which certain rules apply and that costs are not recoverable.

 

Sorry for the delay in replying.

 

I guess I'm just showing my age, as remember that there was a small claims court, but I never had need to use it.

 

As said I am not after a huge sum of money, certainly not £10k, so I think I'll have a look at the costs for taking it to court & take it from there, I would like to think I have some sort of a case against BG for all the problems brought on by them getting a debt collection company involved & the damage they have caused my credit score.

 

I must give my thanks to all who have gave me advice, it is very much appreciated & it has helped point me in the right direction.

 

I'll post an update when I have one, so fingers crossed.

[andydd]

People call it a small claims court, but in reality its a 'track' depending on how much claim is for, there would normally be an actual 'court' for higher fast track claims, small track claims are more informal and often done in Judges 'room'.

 

Im not convinced you have suffered enough harrssment to warrant a claim, read the Ferguson v Bg case, you will see her situation was pretty extreme, she didnt even have an account with BG !

 

As for damage to credit report, the Dunkin case is well known and what started off as a £50 deposit on a laptop ended up in a dispute lasting 16 years, costing hundreds of thousands and making big news, but not really the outcome he wanted.

[dash145]

People call it a small claims court, but in reality its a 'track' depending on how much claim is for, there would normally be an actual 'court' for higher fast track claims, small track claims are more informal and often done in Judges 'room'.

 

Im not convinced you have suffered enough harrssment to warrant a claim, read the Ferguson v Bg case, you will see her situation was pretty extreme, she didnt even have an account with BG

 

We have suffered years of phone calls, letters & emails from BG demanding payment on bills which we had constantly disputed, then BG pass on our personal information on to a debt collection company, who then started with daily phone calls (at least 3 to 5 calls each day) then all the letters threatening us with court action & disconnection. This company then do go to the courts to have our "3" electricity supplies disconnected, where someone did come out to cut off our supply, just to find the single supply we had & not the 3 we were accused of having. This debt collection company then sell/pass on our private details, which they should not have been given in the first place by BG, which then causes us to start receiving cold calls from various different companies. It then took us a further 10 months to get our phone number changed, after first having to pay for a blocking service, which didn't work.

 

We do have documents showing the threats of disconnection & court action, plus mountains of threatening letters from BG for late payment.

 

So do you still think that we have not suffered enough to make a claim?

[andydd]

I work in IT Im not a lawyer so cant say Yes or No to making a claim and whether you would be successful or not.

 

Bear in mind that whilst making a small claim is cheap and relatively risk free from costs BUT for example if BG asked for a strike out (as they did in Ferguson case) then as this is pre allocation to a track then costs WOULD apply, these would be as a minimum at least 2 or 3 hours work for solicitor say £400 - £600 which BG could claim if successful.

 

The Ferguson case was thought to be one of the first of its kind so its still a new/grey area of law.

 

You seem to be arguing/putting across your point to us, but we are just unskilled volunteers here, if you truely believe you have a strong case then go for it. I sued my Landlord for damages and was successful but couldnt prove much loss so was only awarded £100 plus costs (court fees).

 

Have you read the F v BG case ?, I suggest you do so if not.