Old Gas bill thats not mine!

vicallen2004

Hi all.

In 2004 I moved into a rented house and called the relevant utility suppliers to get my name on the accounts. The house I moved into used to be a huge house but the land lords had adapted it into 2 smaller units. I paid water and gas by Direct debit and had a card for the gas. When I moved out in March 2006 I contacted all the suppliers and as far as I was aware everything was up to date.

A couple of months later I was contacted by United Utilties who were cahsing me for a bill for a thousand pound. After much investigation and numerous phone calls it came to light that only 1 meter was supplying both properties. My name was on the account after I called and my payments had been accepted but no-one else had been attributing to the bill or was named on the account. It was eventually sorted and I left the matter with my land lord to sort out.

Today I have had a horrible phone call from a debt collection agency chasing me for a bill for over £2500. Apparently there is an on going utility bill from March 2004 to now that no one is paying. The lady wouldn't clarify whether it was elect or gas. I tried to explain that the metre will probably be the same as in the water in that it supplies two houses. I have offered to send in the tenancy agreement for my new new house confiirming I moved out in March 2006, copies of my bank statements with the gas direct debits on and my land lords number. I explained that the electricty was on a card and therefore I didn;t have any paperwork nut surely you couldn't run up a huge bill like that with a pre payment card. Polus the fact it is still on going and I moved out nearly 4 years ago. The lady just said I would have to prove it wasn't me. I thought that would do it but apparently not.

.

Fire_Fox

This is a case for the Debt-free Wannabe board as much as here, you DO NOT have to prove the debt is not yours, they have to prove the debt is yours. Never deal with debt collectors by telephone, always in writing by recorded delivery. There are template letters on the DFW board you may find helpful when you are disputing a debt.

Cardew

Spot on advice above.

Do not phone a DCA ever!!!

The only issue that you need to worry about is your credit record getting affected. So ensure you fill out the template letters correctly.

Premier_2

vicallen2004 wrote: »

...
A couple of months later I was contacted by United Utilties who were cahsing me for a bill for a thousand pound. After much investigation and numerous phone calls it came to light that only 1 meter was supplying both properties. My name was on the account ...It was eventually sorted and I left the matter with my land lord to sort out...

How was it eventually sorted? What did you expect the landlord to do?

Unfortunately, you registered for the supply and accept you were the account holder. As such, you are responsible for all consumption recorded on your meter. The landlord, not being the account holder, would not be liable and I guess wouldn't be very interested in sorting out your problem after you had left the property.

You can only be billed for the period you were the account holder. As long as that matches the tenancy agreement, I doubt supplying the tenancy agreement will get you very far.