Warning and advice about LCS Utility Investigation Civil Enforcement Debt Recoveries

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Hammockthing wrote: »

Helena, I have a similar problem with EON having sent LCS after me to recover money for a bill that I am not responsible for. Would you be able to help with this?

Good morning Hammockthing,

I'm sure I can help you.

What's the actual issue? Is it a bill from before you moved in?

Have you provided your tenancy agreement and did you contact us at the start of the account with your meter readings?

If you can let me know we can go from there.

Thank you

Helena:)

Hammockthing

Thank you for getting back to me. I'm actually the landlord. I live in Bulgaria, I've been here since 2014 & let my flat through an estate agency. LCS have started asking for money for an electric bill.
The demand is to cover the dates 4th-28th August 2015. The property was actually occupied until August 16th and then vacant from then until the 28th, during which time I'd expect the agency to have switched off the electricity. So someone has left without paying the bill up to their leaving date. The estate agents are not being helpful with this but have given me the correct meter readings.
Can EON/LCS contact the estate agents and pursue the correct person instead of me? I do not wish to even call these people because I do not want to unwittingly create joinder/accept responsibility or enter into a contract with them.
I can give you more details like the address of the property, name of the estate agents etc but would rather not put it here for everyone to see.

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Morning Hammockthing

I'm sorry for the delay in getting back to you, we've had a few days off over Easter.

Just so you know, I wouldn't ask you to put any personal details on here as it's just wouldn't be sensible. So don't worry.

This is a bit more complicated, as the owner of the property you'd be responsible for the period the property is empty, so you'd get a bill for the charges. If you're relying on others (estate agent etc) to turn off power, this is something you would have to speak to them about and we couldn't get involved here. You would still be billed for the standing charge even if no energy was used.

Having said all that, we would still need to correct the dates and the meter readings that the old tenants moved out and get this right for new tenants moving in. This is something the estate agent can provide to us, especially as they have copies of tenancy agreements and meter readings. They may be best to get this to our home moves team as this is what they do.

I hope this has helped to make things clearer for you and I do understand if you're having a bit of difficulty with others that are managing your property.

Thank you

Helena

thepitt

just got cold call from someone at LCS for a company debt on a closed edf account. My phone was answered by a colleague, so they are going to ring back tomorrow as couldnt confirm anything except to the named person.

Should i ignore them ? final bill 26th Feb 2016 is £876.98 but is a company debt not personal

MattEnnals

I received a letter from LCS today stating we owed British Gas £400 for a property we haven't lived at for 3 years, not only this but the period they said we were tenants at the property started a month too early and covered 2 years after we left!

Contacted LCS and they asked me to send across prof of tenancy (just what I want to do on my day off). Their email system kept firing back automated emails saying I hadn't included a reference (which I had). After reading about others similar experiences I decided to contact British Gas directly who confirmed the debt was from a time where we were not reposible and they did have a record of our final bill payment.

My advice would be contact whoever LCS is collecting the debt on behalf of.

What worries me and I feel is totally unacceptable is the letter from LCS stated an owed amount and gave details on how to pay. If this letter was sent to my dear old granny for example she would probably have just paid up front without question!

Nasty tactics if you ask me - when I called LCS they said it was still in the 'investigation stage' so why they are demanding money on their first correspondence is beyond me! Others need warning!
Also lucky I kept the tenancy agreement and emails regarding our notice from years ago!

fatbelly

MattEnnals wrote: »

I received a letter from LCS today stating we owed British Gas £400 for a property we haven't lived at for 3 years, not only this but the period they said we were tenants at the property started a month too early and covered 2 years after we left!

Contacted LCS and they asked me to send across prof of tenancy (just what I want to do on my day off). Their email system kept firing back automated emails saying I hadn't included a reference (which I had). After reading about others similar experiences I decided to contact British Gas directly who confirmed the debt was from a time where we were not reposible and they did have a record of our final bill payment.

My advice would be contact whoever LCS is collecting the debt on behalf of.

What worries me and I feel is totally unacceptable is the letter from LCS stated an owed amount and gave details on how to pay. If this letter was sent to my dear old granny for example she would probably have just paid up front without question!

Nasty tactics if you ask me - when I called LCS they said it was still in the 'investigation stage' so why they are demanding money on their first correspondence is beyond me! Others need warning!
Also lucky I kept the tenancy agreement and emails regarding our notice from years ago!

Please report them to the FCA

consumer.queries@fca.org.uk

should do it

Hammockthing

Well, I got mine sorted out by not dealing with LCS at all. I got proof from the estate agents that I wasn't responsible for the bill they said I was and gave it to Eon (they were very good to work with). They must have sorted it out because it was a few months ago and I've heard nothing since.

jb1983_2

Joined to say that I too have received one of these letters from LCS, addressed to "THE LEGAL OWNER", stating they have undertaken an investigation into an unresolved First Utility matter, for unpaid supplies totaling £121.34

I moved into my property on 27th August 2013, and on 29th August 2013 signed up for water with Unitied Utilities. To this day I have paid every penny, and always on time.

The alleged period of the time the money is owed for is 29th August 2013 through 16th October 2013. I suspect this is from the previous owner and some issue with transferring their water??

Regardless, I'm not contacting them.

I since phoned United Utilities and a very helpful lady explained that my bills were fine, and said she would send copies of the orginal bills from when I moved in, in case I need them.

I then, logged a complaint directly with First Utility, explaining the situation, providing a reference number from United Utitiles, and demanded that they stop LCS from contacting my address. I since recieved a reply from First Utility as below;

Hello Bob (Other names are available)

Thank you for your email.

Firstly I would like to apologise for any inconvenience you may have experienced resulting from your inquiry.

I have today taken steps to ensure you do not revive any further correspondence from any 3rd party debt recovery companies.

Once again I'm sorry for any inconvenience caused. If you're in need of any further assistance, please don't hesitate to contact the First Utility Customer First team:

Telephone: 01926 320 700
Address: First Utility, PO Box 4360, Warwick, CV34 9DB
Email:
Website:

A member of our team will be available Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm, and Saturday from 9am to 4pm.

Thanks,

James (Other names are available)
Customer First

Judging from some of the replies on here I don't know whether to believe First Utility. Will I receive another letter from LCS with my name on it? Do I need to do anything else at this time? Or can I presume it will go away. I'm keeping my emails and all correspondence regarding it.

More than being an annoyance, it's just stress and agro that you just don't need. It was a scary letter to receive, and the pressure from it to just pay up must get to a lot of vulnerable people scared by it.

Scribe236

I have received 15 or so letters in a matter of a few days. They variously refer to people I have never heard of or properties which are nothing to do with me.


So where from here? National newspapers, Which mag., the Regulator. BBC's Watchdog programme. Maybe even my MP.


My alleged creditor is Scottish Power so I have sent them an email saying I will only deal with them. Waiting to see reply.


Of course, an injunction is a possibility coupled with a claim for compensation for unjust harassment. I would join in Scottish Power too. Just think what damage all that publicity would do.


You see, I am a retired solicitor, can represent myself and can start this off in Court with minimal cost.


I don't scare easy. But the serious point is that there are vulnerable and elderly people out there who will be frightened rigid by these letters.

fatbelly

Scribe236 wrote: »

I have received 15 or so letters in a matter of a few days. They variously refer to people I have never heard of or properties which are nothing to do with me.


So where from here? National newspapers, Which mag., the Regulator. BBC's Watchdog programme. Maybe even my MP.


My alleged creditor is Scottish Power so I have sent them an email saying I will only deal with them. Waiting to see reply.


Of course, an injunction is a possibility coupled with a claim for compensation for unjust harassment. I would join in Scottish Power too. Just think what damage all that publicity would do.


You see, I am a retired solicitor, can represent myself and can start this off in Court with minimal cost.


I don't scare easy. But the serious point is that there are vulnerable and elderly people out there who will be frightened rigid by these letters.

Maybe I shouldn't be giving advice to a solicitor. But the way to prepare for a claim against LCS is to respond to everything they send, in writing, and be scrupulously polite and reasonable and pick holes in literally everything they say. There is a template claim, and judgement (and a copy of the cheque that was eventually paid!) when someone did this to Lowell and I can probably find that with a bit of effort.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=45916805&postcount=7