British gas, unknown debt and harassment

mymoney1980

Hi

I came to uk on 27th of December , 2009 and started living at a place, 27 grittleton avenue, ha9 6nx on sharing basis. I shared my room with another two guys. The guy who rented that place was subletting to us on sharing basis and this is his whole sole source of income.
I moved out of that place around 10th of Feb., 2010. The guy said he might put the gas bill on my name as it might help me for opening up bank accounts etc and since it was a prepaid bill, it was of no use to bank. I opened up my bank account using my provisional driving licence.
I received a letter from wescot debt collection service on 13th of august, 2010 asking me to pay a bill of £583 and said that I had electricity bill pending to BG at the above said address for the period of Jan to April, 2010. I immediately contacted the debt collection guys explaining that I had no knowledge of the bill and I never opted for the service mentioned above. I was there on sharing basis which includes every bill. I also never called up BG to change electricity bill onto my name.

I also called up the guy who does subletting. When asked, he said, he did change the bill on my behalf earlier (without asking me ) along with the prepaid gas bill and also he said, he would contact the debt guys as well as BG and would pay the bills now.

After that, I heard nothing from him and got a letter from wescot service that based on my explanation, they did an internal investigation and decided to close my case and also returned my account to the BG guys.

When I called up BG complaints department and explained them that I was there for just 1 and half month and also, I had no tenancy agreement with the landlord as the actual tenant sublet the place on temporary basis. They said, I have to pay the amount £163 which they have amended based on the explanation. I told them that I never opted for their service or called up to make electricity bill on my name. BG explained, then someone must have done that who's got my details (the guy who sublet that place took a copy of my passport since that was my only identity by then and he said, it’s for security) and since BG cant chase everyone, either I have to contact the landlord and arrange the payment or just have to pay the bill on my own. They also said that my account has been passed on to some other debt collection agency that would be in touch soon.

I tried to contact the guy who sub lets the place, he stopped taking my calls or returning it.

Anybody has any suggestion for me, what should I do? I also fear that this thing might happen again in future as the guy has my passport details.

GeorgeUK

MyMoney, I would contact BG and request to speak to their fraud department. You at no time agreed to make payment to BG so cannot be liable for the debt. Not too sure what you should do about the passport though. Probably worth contacting citizens advice. (Also you should start your own thread rather than posting on someone elses)

Fabstar, do you have proof that you notified BG that you were moving? Did you send a letter or do this over the phone? There is something somewhere about utility companies only being able to backdate a bill for one year if it was their error (not getting the readings etc). Not sure if this wold be of use to you, but i'll try to look out the details tonight if no-one replies sooner.

mymoney1980

Hi GeorgeUK and Fabstar,

I apologize for posting my thread to Fabstar's thread, I just joined today and was a little confused as to where to start.

My sincere apology, again.

And thanks, GeorgeUK for your help, i would try contact the fraud detection department today.

motoko

mymoney1980

Write to British Gas telling them that you never had an account with them at that address, and ask them for proof that you did, i.e. a signed contract or a recording of the telephone conversion in which you opened the account. Also tell them that you only stayed at the address for a short period and were never a tenant, don't going on about subletting etc, just say you weren't on the tenancy agreement. This is important as if you were a tenant you would be liable for the cost of bill (during the time you were living there only) regardless of whether you had an account with them. Their claim that its not their responsibility to chase the other tenants would be true in this case, but as it stands they have to prove that you are liable to pay the electricity bill for this property, which clearly you are not.

Send a copy of this letter to the debt collection agency, with a covering letter explaining that the debt is in dispute. At this point they should go back to British Gas and ask for proof of the debt from them before taking it any further.

In the mean time, do you have the contact details for the actual landlord / lettings agency for the property? If so, it would be a good idea to contact them and explain the situation, and ask if they could confirm in writing that you have never been their tenant. That way you'll have some proof to send to British Gas if they dispute your claim that you weren't a tenant. Whether you want to tell the landlord / lettings agency that you were subletting is up to you, if not you could always say you were stayed there rent free for a few weeks, but you would only be protecting the guy who is trying to rip you off.