Can British Gas Transfer Debt To Someone Without Their Knowledge?

timb999

Hi all,


Hoping you can help on this problem with British Gas, on behalf of a friend.





“Is it legal/possible for British Gas to transfer a bill/debt from an account holder, to a non account holder, without any confirmation from that person that they acknowledge and accept the debt?”

This exact situation has arisen, whereby someone has just received a debt collectors letter (at their new address) demanding £1,000 on behalf of British Gas. It turns out that although this person was staying at the address mentioned on the letter, he didn’t own the house, the BG account was never in his name, and there was no arrangement whereby he would pay the gas bill.

He moved out and has been told (by BG) that someone remaining in the house called BG to tell them that he was actually responsible for their bill, not them (BG have notes of this on his account, but are unlikely to have a recording of the call). And unbelievably they appear to have just accepted this? There was no forwarding address for him, so he has received no notification of this debt, or anything from British Gas, until he was recently put on the electoral roll at his new address. It is over a year since he left the property in question.



Surely there must be some rules surrounding this – or are we all allowed to call our utility companies asking them to chase someone else for payment?

Any comments or advice would be most welcome.

Many thanks

Tim.

McKneff

Did he rent the property,was he a lodger did he use the gas.

Whose name is the BG bill in

Who lives in the house now, a tennant or the owner.

davidgmmafan

More info is needed, generally I'd be inclined to say bi they can't but clearly Utility companies are A) Inept and A law unto themselves (at least in their own mind).

Who was actually liable and is there any proof of this?

timb999

Thanks for the replies...

The situation is rather personally complicated for him, hence the lack of detail.

Essentially, he was living with his parents and he was 18 at the time. They own the property - he obviously was not a tenant as such, and had no tenancy agreement - he was living at his family home after all.

Therefore, as you can connect the dots...despite total denial, someone has tried to pass the debt on to him after he left home, without his knowledge.

It is not a great situation for him obviously

So, no he didn't rent the property, and was not a lodger, but yes he used the gas when he was there.

The BG bill was in his parents name, not his. They still live at the property.

Obviously, he has to sort this out from a personal pov, but I am personally shocked if it is possible to pass on your utility debt merely by making a phone call, and giving someone else's details?

McKneff

No it isnt possible. BG cannot hold him responsible.
Obviously if he just lived with his parents as part of the family and it is their name on the bill then they are responsible for it.
He just needs to write to BG and explain.

What a thing to try on your own child.

Has he spoken to his parents and asked them why they have tried to do this.
Shame on them. But they cant get away with it if all you have said is correct so tell him not to worry.

bengalknights

He could always phone them up and try the same thing and says it joe bloggs bill

Cardew

Come on, let us get this in perspective!

If a person moves out of a property and someone is remaining in the house, it is quite normal to notify the Utility company that you are moving out and have no future responsibility for bills wef from a certain date and that mr/mrs/ms ???? will be taking over the account. People do this to ensure they are not hit with a bill for the period after they have left the property.

There is nothing wrong with a company accepting that at face value; what else can they do?

If someone has done that maliciously, then it can be challenged and the utility company can chase the guilty party.

bristol_pilot

Unfortunately utility companies will transfer bills/debt into any name given to them over the phone by any other person. Although I find this outrageous, it is common practice. Some are then very quick to put matters in the hands of debt collectors.

McKneff

Cardew wrote: »

Come on, let us get this in perspective!

If a person moves out of a property and someone is remaining in the house, it is quite normal to notify the Utility company that you are moving out and have no future responsibility for bills wef from a certain date and that mr/mrs/ms ???? will be taking over the account. People do this to ensure they are not hit with a bill for the period after they have left the property.

There is nothing wrong with a company accepting that at face value; what else can they do?

If someone has done that maliciously, then it can be challenged and the utility company can chase the guilty party.

I think you need to read the thread again.
The OP is the son in the family, the parents names are on the bill.
The parents are the ones who lived/live in the house.
He just left home, thats all.

He wouldnt need to inform anyone he was leaving apart from mum and dad.

Cardew

McKneff wrote: »

I think you need to read the thread again.
The OP is the son in the family, the parents names are on the bill.
The parents are the ones who lived/live in the house.
He just left home, thats all.

He wouldnt need to inform anyone he was leaving apart from mum and dad.

I have no need to read the post again - I fully understood the situation.

What I stated was that it would be quite normal for a Utility company to accept the information given to them e.g. Joe Bloggs is now responsible for bills.

What do you expect the company to do to challenge that information? In the vast majority of cases it will not be disputed.

You leave a property, how else do you end your responsibility for the bills other than notifying the company?

Obviously in this case it appears to be malicious(his Mum and Dad trying it on???) and the company should re-assess the situation.

There were some posts on MSE some years ago where students were advocating putting bills into the name of foreign students who had left UK and were untraceable.

Obviously the son did not ring BG but could the parents have thought that they might have got out of paying bills by saying their(untraceable) son was responsible?

WhiteHorse

The OP lived in the house and used the gas*, but ... The OP's parents own the house, lived in it both then and now, and the gas account is in their name. Furthermore, 'There was no arrangement whereby he [the OP] would pay the gas bill'.

Presumably there was no agreement to contribute towards household costs either.

That being so, then the OP is not liable. Nor is there any requirement on his part to notify BG with regard to his moving out.

*If the parents were living there as well, then presumably they too were using the gas.