Shell Energy - Failure to disclose data

[Intrepid]

@BankFodder There is significant evidence on Trustpilot that I am not a unique case when it comes to the abusive way Shell Energy treats its customers.

I am willing to discuss in detail with any of your press contacts the treatment I have received and the way in which Shell Energy abuse of their position - quite likely as indicated on Trustpilot on an industrial scale.

Best regards.

Intrepid.

[Intrepid]

Today I received notification from the Court that the Warrant has not been executed for the reason Paid Direct Confirmed.

 

I have not replied to Shell Energy's letter as I do not believe I am obligated to.

 

 

[Intrepid]

Today I received the following letter (attached below) from Mr Malcolm Henchley - Director of Legal Regulation and Compliance of Shell Energy Retail Ltd.

 

It appears they are upset that I did not respond to their letter. I find this odd considering they pride their business on ignoring the concerns of their customers perhaps it's one rule for them and not for the people that contribute to their salaries.

They are clearly upset that their cheque was not accepted immediately and most likely despite being a director it is unlikely he is aware of the subsequent communication regarding their subversive attempt to offer me a GOGW for a poor level of service not for the judgement issued against them. If he were knowledgeable of such communication then I expect any Court would look very poorly at the correspondence he has just written to me.

Mr Henchley appears not to have his facts straight. The judgement was awarded on 15th September 2021. Their "GOGW" was dated 1st October 2021, they appear to be under the mistaken impression that is when they paid in reference to the judgement awarded against them.

 

Mr Henchley insists the judgement needs to be removed, I'm not sure that it does. A claim was brought they failed to respond and it took a period of time for them to confirm their intentions as to what their payment was in relation to.

This is where I am perhaps unclear, in my experience if a timely payment is made then no record of judgement will be made however the way they chose to provide it is a matter for them and ultimately they are responsible for the reasons it may not have been accepted in time for them not to receive a judgement entered in record.

 

Mr Henchley insists the Court instructed him to write to me requesting a letter of confirmation, it appears he wishes that I take his word for it as no copy of the letter has been sent to me.

 

The Court have confirmed to me that the Warrant has not been executed as a result of confirmed payment, I'm unsure as to whether they also notify the defendant.

Shell Energy have chosen to defend the second claim for their incomplete disclosure as well as the claim for their continued harassment of me using my mobile phone.

I was hoping @BankFodder would help me decide whether I should reply and if so how to word it but I appreciate you have been busy helping others and myself on other threads.

SE - Letter 10.12.21 - Redacted.pdf

Edited December 10, 2021 by Intrepid

[Intrepid]

With regards to the claim I have filed for harassment, I note I have not received text messages yesterday and today.

 

Shell Energy will be invited to explain why the messages suddenly stopped and whether it had anything to do with the claim they filed a defence for on 10th December 2021.

 

Afterall if Shell Energy were insistent that how they were acting was lawful why stop sending me messages?

[Intrepid]

Hi BF thank you for your response.

That has already been done, I have received the courts acknowledgement as well as confirmation from the Court the Warrant has not been enforced due to payment in full.

 

I wrote to the court twice, once to confirm the payment. The second time re-confirming the payment after I received the first letter from Shell Energy. Surely it cannot be a coincidence the next day the Court send me confirmation the Warrant has been withdrawn?

 

And what of Shell Energy, continue ignoring them for the time being?

 

Lastly despite filing the defence against both claims they have not sent me a copy. I predict I will receive a last minute e-mail of the defence like the parking operator companies.

The fact I have made a second claim for the incomplete disclosure leads me to believe that actually they are looking for a reason to suspend the judgement of the first claim and fight the whole thing on round two.

Edited December 10, 2021 by Intrepid

[Intrepid]

I expect that Shell Energy have written to the court stating they intend to claim the costs of any enforcement action as the payment was made.

It appears to be progressing in a very similar vein to the other thread you referred to.

 

There may be an element of game playing in that Shell Energy are attempting to insist that their GOGW dated 1st October was payment for the judgement however in my opinion that will be easy to refute, and can easily explain my reasonable action to delay accepting their payment.

Edited December 10, 2021 by Intrepid

[Intrepid]

I think if they are entitled to a reply or if it would be unreasonable not to reply then I propose the very simple reply below:

 

Quote

Dear xx,

I am confident I have complied with the directions of the Court regarding my claim.

Sincerely,

 

It has not gone un-noticed the lengths these companies go to in order to frustrate matters.

Instead of following the standard letter format they deliberately produce their correspondence address in a light grey text to blend in with the page of the letter.

In addition I note that return addresses are in a place where their envelopes are opened presumably hoping that when they are opened this makes it more difficult to piece together the return address.

Edited December 10, 2021 by Intrepid

[Intrepid]

@BankFodder Is what they have sent me a disguised letter of claim? It does not state that it is a letter of claim but it does propose a 14 day deadline and a reference to costs. For the time being I assume it is simply designed to intimidate.

[Intrepid]

@dx100uk Hi DX, if Shell Energy wish to set-aside the judgement awarded against them:

1) Will I receive copy of the N244 application from the Court?

2) Will I be offered the opportunity to agree to the set-aside by the Court or is Shell Energy obligated to provide me with an opportunity to agree to the set-aside and thus mitigate costs.

 

3) If not perhaps it is my responsibility to suggest that they do offer the opportunity, and in the event that they do not then they could be considered to have acted unreasonably.

[Intrepid]

I think perhaps now I consider that I must reply but with a little more direction:

 

Quote

Dear xxx,
 

I am confident I have complied with the directions of the Court regarding my claim.
 

I recommend you write to the Court to confirm the status of the judgement prior to incurring any additional costs at your own expense choosing.
 

If you wish to apply to set-aside the judgement then you have a duty to let me know and on what basis you are requesting this.

I request a copy of all the evidence you will provide in support of your application should you wish to apply to set-aside the judgement.

Sincerely,

 

Edited December 10, 2021 by Intrepid

[Intrepid]

@dx100uk Thanks for your reply.

Is it possible to discontinue a claim after judgement has been awarded, is that what this is about?

 

There may be an error in my understanding that after the Warrant was returned to the Court that was the end of the matter?

 

Ok that really was rather silly of me.

I cannot discontinue after judgement has been awarded however I can mark the claim as settled.

The issue I have with settled is that their statutory breach is on-going, provided it can be understood that settled refers to this judgement alone and not our ongoing dispute then I consider that to be satisfactory and will inform the Court.

 

Disregard the above, I marked the claim using the first option "Paid in full".

Edited December 10, 2021 by Intrepid

[Intrepid]

With all that out of the way I think my reply to their letter will now be as follows:

 

Quote

Dear xxx,
 

I am confident I have complied with the directions of the Court regarding my claim.
 

I confirm the Court has been notified that the claim referenced by you has been paid in full.

Please allow a reasonable period of time for the status of the claim to be updated by the Court.

 

I recommend you write to the Court to confirm the status of the judgement prior to incurring any additional costs at your own choosing.
 

If you wish to apply to set-aside the judgement then you have a duty to let me know and on what basis you are requesting this.

Should you wish to apply to set-aside the judgement, I request a copy of all the evidence you will provide to the Court in support of your application.

Sincerely,

 

If all of this spirals out of control I do think I have significant mitigating circumstances to present to the Court.

Edited December 10, 2021 by Intrepid

[Intrepid]

Mr Shotton-Orza wrote to me as "Legal Counsel - Legal Services" for Shell Energy Retail Ltd.

I cannot locate their name on the Solicitors Register, is it worthwhile making a complaint regarding this?

Edited December 12, 2021 by Intrepid

[Intrepid]

Shell Energy have provided a defence to the second claim regarding their incomplete disclosure.

 

They have written they did not receive a SAR on the date I wrote in the particulars provided and they are aboslutely correct. I referred to the incorrect SAR date.

 

@dx100uk Given the above is it too late to amend the particulars or is it necessary to now discontinue at my expense and re-serve the particulars and claim.

[Intrepid]

@BankFodder Attached below is a copy of Shell Energy's defence in relation to the 2nd claim for their incomplete disclosure.

 

 

SE - Defence - Redacted.pdf

Edited December 15, 2021 by Intrepid

[Intrepid]

Attached below is a copy of Shell Energy's defence in relation to the claim against them for harassment.

As predicted their defence is focused predominantly on the basis they reserve the right to communicate to their customers regarding their account balance.

 

That of course has not been denied to the defendant. It was made clear their attempts to contact me via text message were distressing and they should have reverted to the same means to communicate with me as they had no trouble in doing so when attempting to bill me for thousands of pounds each month, i.e. via e-mail or letter.

 

Shell Energy seem to be under the mistaken understanding that messaging me repeatedly is justified as they have a right to process my data. Their right to process my data is not in dispute, what is disputed is their chosen method to harass their customers daily via text message after they have been explicitly requested not to do so.

 

SE - Defence Harassment - Redacted.pdf

Edited December 15, 2021 by Intrepid

[Intrepid]

I think I will deal with the date issue with regards to the 2nd claim for incomplete disclosure in the WS. The effect would simply be that the claim is discontinued and a further claim is brought with particulars indicating the correct date the SAR was submitted.

Shell Energy have referred to the correct date they did receive the SAR in their defence and have produced a defence accordingly. I think overall the incorrect date should have little effect on the outcome except that the judge will likely consider I am not entitled to the claim fee as a result of the error if I am successful.

[Intrepid]

DQ is due to the Court by 30th December for both claims. I consider that mediation could be appropriate with regards to the claim for harassment but have not yet made up my mind.

[Intrepid]

It appears the ICO were not that impressed with Shell Energy's data disclosure and following the ICO's presumed intervention I have finally received the data regarding the meter readings pertaining to my account.

 

Shell Energy have doubled down on their claim that the data was previously disclosed, however no one was willing to sign their name to such a claim and their letter was simply signed "Shell Energy Privacy Office".

There is clear evidence from the disclosure that Shell Energy used invalid data to bill my account for several months and with the assistance of @BankFodder I now wish to commence a claim for inaccurate data processing.

 

 

[Intrepid]

Incidentally despite now being in receipt of the data I expected to receive regarding the meter readings Shell Energy's data disclosure is still incomplete.

Shell Energy attempt in their letter to frame that their incomplete disclosure is simply representing the data in a different format.

I expect the judge will see right through their claim when the significant differences between stored meter reading records and customer bills are pointed out.

This does however give a nice clue as to how they will likely defend the on-going claim regarding their incomplete disclosure.

 

So far Shell Energy have declined to confirm who wrote the letter.

I have started a new thread which can be found here.

Edited January 6, 2022 by Intrepid

[Intrepid]

Shell Energy have served their copies of the DQ relating to both claims.

 

We both agree to mediation regarding the claim for harassment.

 

With regards to the claim for their incomplete disclosure the following was written under DQ D1. "Coventry. Claimant has rejected mediation. Size of the claim and Claimant's limited availability makes it impossible to defend from the Claimant's own choice of court unless a virtual hearing could be arranged."
 

As a reminder the amount of the claim is £100.

While I understand there is an element of game playing involved the reasons above are totally disingenous and come about simply as a result of the fact I acted in good faith and served a copy of the DQ to the Defendant in a timely manner. If I had employed their own tactics they would have no information to include in their requested hearing venue.

Perhaps it would be worth writing to the court and pointing this out. Unless I am missunderstanding something to my knowledge the DQ is sent out to the Claimant and Defendant at the same time, and thus this is a silly game of who blinks first with regards to serving a DQ.

[Intrepid]

aI have made a further complaint to the ICO regarding the second incomplete data disclosure received from Ombudsman Services.

Within their disclosure is a key document missing a date. The date on the document I am in receipt of does not match the data of the document the Ombudsman disclosed and appears as if their document could have been deliberately falsely dated by a member of staff that works(ed?) in the "Legal & Compliance Team".

 

I believe I am now in receipt of evidence that the OS is attempting to mislead both myself and the court.

 

Are the CAG aware that it is highly likely that a signifcant number of staff that work at Ombudsman Services also work on behalf of POPLA? This should certainly steer the understanding of what sort of treatment appellants can receive when using such a "service".

Edited January 19, 2022 by Intrepid

[Intrepid]

I have begun drafting the WS vs Ombudsman Services.

 

I consider that paragraphs 13 - 18 do not fall within the remit of the claim however it is further indication that the way the Ombudsman Services handles data appears to be inexplicable or that simply their disclosures are totally lacking of data.

 

I may decide to remove paragraphs 13 - 18 in order to keep the claim concise, more to the point and within the remit of the claim.

EO - Claimant - Witness Statement - Redacted - v2.0.pdf

[Intrepid]

I wonder if it is possible to request the Court to award damages in excess of the claim if they believe it is justified. I have never seen any reference to it but something along the lines of:

"The Claimant seeks damages for distress of £100 however the Claimant invites the court to adjust the sum of quantum as they see fit in reference to Halliday vs Creation Consumer Finance".

[Intrepid]

It appears Shell Energy filed their DQ over three weeks late and just one day prior to the order given by the Court that should they fail their defence will be struck out.

I have written to the court explaining that Shell Energy should not be able to use information provided in good faith within the Claimant's DQ and filed prior to the courts deadline to make their own hearing venue request. I also took the opportunity to provide further information as Shell Energy were afforded to assist in deciding the allocation of the hearing venue.