Contacted by Norwegian debt collectors (UK resident)

[Gadon1]

Hi

 

I lived in Norway for 6 months last year and have just received an email from a Norwegian debt collectors stating that I owe £1100 for unpaid electricity bills. I had no idea these bills existed so didnt pay them and hadnt previously been contacted whatsoever.

 

I was in Norway on a tourist Visa so I wasn't registered there, all they have is my name and email address. I dont even think they know im English or where I'm from. Do you think I should contact them and explain the situation or just ignore?

 

What are the possible outcomes?

 

Thanks

[Old Cogger]

see what comes next as you say they may not know your not there>>?? see what others advise as awell

[unclebulgaria67]

see what comes next as you say they may not know your not there>>?? see what others advise as awell

 

Agree, see what comes next, if you are unsure about this email.

 

If you believe that a debt is owed by you to this Norwegian energy company, then contact the energy company directly for more information. Perhaps they are still trying to bill you for energy for a period you were not actually resident there and the actual amount owed is a smaller sum. You don't have to give your UK address, but simply state that you are not resident in Norway any more and use an email address, as you are moving around to different places.

 

In theory, i think Norway are party to the European debt agreement and that UK courts can apply Norwegian court judgements or even deal with Norwegian creditors claims. So it is not impossible that you could be traced to the UK and receive UK court papers.

[Gadon1]

they just rang my old housemate (who still lives there and is now paying the bills in her name) as i used her mobile number in norway to sign up. she said he is abroad and that she doesnt know where I am.

 

where can they go from this? by seeing what comes next what are the options that will happen?

 

and okay thanks ill contact the energy company. but if they have passed the bill onto a debt collectors does that mean its out of their hands now?

[unclebulgaria67]

If they wanted to they could get a Norwegian court judgement. They then try to search for you and find you in the UK. They then pass to UK Solicitors who apply to a UK court to enforce judgement here. If you did not defend the UK court application, then they would enforce the debt here using standard methods e.g bailiff to your door.

 

Most energy companies don't do their own debt enforcement. It gets passed to debt collectors fo take appropriate actions.

 

Your choice really. You don't have to deal with debt collectors. If the energy company refuse to deal with you, then ask them to confirm in writing that they are not interested in dealing with you in regard to repayment of this debt. Then if they ever come after you for the debt, they can't say that you never contacted them.

[Gadon1]

okay thanks for the help. How would they know I am a UK citizen?

They dont know anything about me other than my name and email.

 

sorry new to all this and dont really understand much.

for all they know that email address isnt even in use right?

They have no other way of contacting me bar that email so how do they go about it?

 

Could you give me advice on what to say to the energy company please. Appreciate the help mate

[unclebulgaria67]

okay thanks for the help. How would they know I am a UK citizen?

They dont know anything about me other than my name and email.

 

sorry new to all this and dont really understand much.

for all they know that email address isnt even in use right?

They have no other way of contacting me bar that email so how do they go about it?

 

Could you give me advice on what to say to the energy company please. Appreciate the help mate

 

People do tend to try to hide, hoping never to be found. Human nature !

 

If they know you came from the UK originally, then they may have UK agents who can carry out searches on databases here such as credit records. Very difficult to hide these days. But it coukd take a long time to find you.

 

If you email the Energy company ( find it online) with the account reference number or your name/norwegian address, just saying that they have contacted the current person at the address relating to yourself as a previous occupier of the address. That you are not aware of any outstanding bill being unpaid and in order to clear up the confusion, can they email a copy of the bill they believe is outstanding. Just say that you are not currently resident at a permanent address and can only be contacted by email.

[Gadon1]

People do tend to try to hide, hoping never to be found. Human nature !

 

If they know you came from the UK originally, then they may have UK agents who can carry out searches on databases here such as credit records. Very difficult to hide these days. But it coukd take a long time to find you.

 

If you email the Energy company ( find it online) with the account reference number or your name/norwegian address, just saying that they have contacted the current person at the address relating to yourself as a previous occupier of the address. That you are not aware of any outstanding bill being unpaid and in order to clear up the confusion, can they email a copy of the bill they believe is outstanding. Just say that you are not currently resident at a permanent address and can only be contacted by email.

 

Will do. Again thanks for replying!