Warning and advice about LCS Utility Investigation Civil Enforcement Debt Recoveries

Lizzy1612

I would be inclined to ignore them completely. I have just received a text message asking me to contact them regarding a British Gas account. As I had never heard of them I googled it and came to this forum. I have never had a British Gas account and no-one living at my address will have had a British Gas account as I had the gas connected and am with a different utility company. I have no intention of contacting them though would be interested to see how they justify the demand :-)

System

annbarbs wrote: »

I moved out of my old address on 6th Dec 2009. And I phoned British Gas,on 6th Dec 2009. and gave them my final meter reading. For my Gas and electric and they said they closed my account for my old address. And sent me the final bill forwarded to my new address. Which showed I was all paid up for my old address and that they closed my account for my old address.

But as you know I got a letter from LCS Dept collectors saying I owed British Gas money for Gas and electric at my old address. from 6th Dec2009 to 18th July 2010. But I moved out of my old address on 6th Dec 2009.

So I phoned Britsh Gas because when I phoned LCS they were rude to me and closed the phone on me. And I found out from British Gas that I do owe money for utilities at my old address from 6th Dec 2009 to 18th July 2010 despite the fact that I moved out on 6th Dec 2009.

The reason is that listen to this-They said-when I gave my final meter reading on 6th Dec 2009,Britsh Gas did close my account. BUT it was opened again the following day again in my name! It is an error on their part not mine.

I asked them how do I straighten this out? They told me, I have to go to the council and get a letter from them confirming I moved out of my old flat on 6th Dec 2009. And then send the letter of confirmation from the council to British Gas and they wil let it go. As the letter that I moved out on 6th Dec 2009 is proof that I left my old address at that date and that I have not lived there since that time.

So I went to the council today and they wrote a letter confirming this. And I am going to send it to British Gas.


Actually,each time I phone up British Gas I get a different customer service advisor. And each one tells me a different story confusing me further. The last one I spoke to said I don't need a letter from the council and I don't owe money. The next person I speak to says I do. So I am just going to send in the letter from the council confirming that I moved out of my old flat the day I said. I just want my problem resolved.

I am very angry that they are accusing me of owing money and are trying to bill me for utilities used after I left my old address. When I made it clear to them at the time that I have moved out on the date I said. And yet they are billing me for gas and electric used after the time I moved out which is not my responsibly. As I clearly told them on 6th dec 2009 that I am moving out today and they said they took the final meter readings and closed my account. But now 18 months later I get a letter out of the blue telling me I owe money.When I am not even living at that address any more. They are asking for £130 but it is not the point. Barbara.

I had too had problems last year with LCS. See my above post I posted on this thread last April 2011. I found out that LCS were put onto me by British Gas. As you will read in my posts here on this thread and my above post from page 1 of this thread.

When I moved out of my old address I closed the account myself,by giving a final meter reading. And British Gas told me the account was closed. But unknown to me,the next day the account at my old address was opened again by British Gas in my name. And I never found this out until I got that letter from LCS.

So they were accusing me of living here at my current address and living at my old address. And they said I was responsible for the Gas at my old address between 7th December 2009 to July 2010. But I moved out of my old address to this one on 6th December 2009.

And as you know if you are on benefits like I am you CANNOT have 2 homes it is not allowed. But they told me I had to get a letter from my previous landlord,the council before they would let it go.

And even then when I sent my letter to British Gas,LCS would not stop hounding me with letters until I sent them the copy of my letter from the council.

Now I want to move again, but I am worried that when I move British Gas might do it to me again. And this time I am worried that might not be able to get a letter from my housing association that I moved.

As the problem is that British Gas spring this upon you 2 years later by using a third party like LCS. And you cannot always get a letter from your previous landlord if you have lost contact with him.

Also I find my housing association rather impersonal. And even when you go to the office you just get the customer services advisor that is on duty for the day. So what if I moved and then 2 years later I get the same thing happen to me as before? That is a letter from LCS and I go back to my housing association and they don't give me my letter to say I moved out like the council did?

I don't want this to happen to me again and I don't want British Gas to take me to court for a debt I did not do. Which could have happened to me last year if I had not got the letter from the council as proof that I was not living there.

How can I stop it happening to me again? And yes,I am still with British Gas because their fuel prices are lower than some other energy suppliers. I think.

But I don't want to be put off of moving house over this. But I do not want this to happen again either. So how do I prevent it happening again? As it is not my fault if British Gas make a mistake. It is theirs. Barbara.

Colingrigson

I have just received a letter asking for my name and name and other details of previous occupier.

Thanks to reading this, I will do nothing.

I notice they offer a freepost address. I have several thousand old envelopes, I may get the freepost address printed on them by a mate and post them all empty. Scum

Col

ybbon66

annbarbs wrote: »

....

How can I stop it happening to me again? And yes,I am still with British Gas because their fuel prices are lower than some other energy suppliers. I think.

But I don't want to be put off of moving house over this. But I do not want this to happen again either. So how do I prevent it happening again? As it is not my fault if British Gas make a mistake. It is theirs. Barbara.

Write to them when you have your move date, state clearly that you are moving that day and request a written confirmation that all future bills at that address will not be your responsibility. Keep your letter, if they don't reply, write again quoting the original letter and date sent and request written confirmation by a specific date.

Basically keep at them in writing until you get confirmation that the disconnect is final.

Do everything in writing and keep all correspondence. Should do the trick as you will then have any proof you ever need.

Just my 2p anyway.

System

ybbon66 wrote: »

Write to them when you have your move date, state clearly that you are moving that day and request a written confirmation that all future bills at that address will not be your responsibility. Keep your letter, if they don't reply, write again quoting the original letter and date sent and request written confirmation by a specific date.

Basically keep at them in writing until you get confirmation that the disconnect is final.

Do everything in writing and keep all correspondence. Should do the trick as you will then have any proof you ever need.

Just my 2p anyway.

Thank you very much.Yes,if I move again in the future I will definitely put it in writing to them when I am moving out, and after I have moved I will write to all of the departments in British Gas involved,both the home moves department and the billing department putting in writing that I moved out of my old home on this date. And then they have it in writing.

Then I will ring up and even speak to the manager explaining that I had this problem before. That I moved before and they did not close my account properly and could they make sure that my account at my old address is closed. As I do not want to have this problem again.

That should make things clear to them if I move house again in the future. You are right,if I move again I should always put it in writing as well as phone them. Then they have a written confirmation from me and not just word over the telephone.

But at the end of the day if I have done everything by the book and closed my accounts at the old address and put it in writing that I have move. There is no excuse for British Gas or any other company to make that mistake of thinking I am still living at my old address.I pay other bills besides just my gas and electric. I pay my TV licence,my telephone bill. But when I move I just tell them.And they close my account at my old address,end of story.I have never had these problems with any other company,I pay bills to.BT,TV licence,the water board,etc.

So if they make a mistake it's their fault not mine. And we should not have to pay for their mistake. Barbara.

Transposes

I also received a letter from LCS today. Unfortunately I didn't check them out before ringing them up to ask what an earth was going on. As a student I live in a rental property; a property that changes tenants every 12 months. Thus, I thought that the letter would be for some previous tenants. I know for a fact that we (my 2 house mates and I) are up-to-date with all of our energy bills from EDF.

Upon giving them my name, my landlord's name and when we all moved in to the house, the woman on the other end of the line said that she'd stop any more correspondences from coming through. However, upon doing some online research this hasn't stopped them before, and now I'm a little bit worried that this is going to snowball into something much more sinister. Have I really shot myself in the foot by providing my name?

Also I hope this doesn't count as hi-jacking the thread. I just didn't want to start a new one on the same topic when this is still active.

System

Transposes,I think that the lady from LCS was telling the truth that LCS will not bother you again.And that you will not hear from them again.

As LCS don't mess about. If they did not believe you they would have told you there and then on the phone. But from what you have told me it seems that they did believe you.

It is obvious that when they spoke to you on the phone. They were satisfied with what you told them. And realised their mistake and were satisfied that you are not the person responsible for the dept. So I would not worry about it.

So I would just forget about it, as it seems they have accepted what you told them. Barbara.

ThePeanuts

Would just like to say a big thank you to all for posting all this information about LCS as i have received a letter from them today and even though i did call them i refused to give them any information until they give more information as i belived they were a scam company. After reading all these posts i am glad i did not give them any thing and i look forward to updating you all on the next contact i get from them.

LAINEY81

Hi,
new to the thread, hi everyone.

I moved property in march 2011 and I owed Scottish Power over £400 for gas from my previous address. This company then lettered me asking me to set up a payment arrangement with them for the debt. I stupidly set up a standing order to them and my last payment was on November 2011 and I assumed the debt was clear I thought nothing of it. Then February this year I get a phone call from them saying I still owe £250 and Will I be making that payment by card today. I instantly panicked told them I had cleared it. She told me my last payment was November and they've had nothing since. I explained that was because it was paid. She then says she'd need to see proof and I was to send them my bank statements (as if!) I told her I needed to look into it and get back to them. I never did and now we are in May and I've had no letters phone calls nothing? It went from threatening me with everything early last year to hearing nothing. I assumed if I owed a debt company they wouldn't give up until they had their money?

I'm a wee bit concerned tho . . . Does this show on my credit report? I'm trying to put it to the back of my mind but I'm struggling!

Any advice appreciated

Scottish_Power

Hi Lainey81

would you like me to check the ScottishPower account for you to confirm the balance is clear, please email me at [EMAIL="onlinecomplaints@scottishpower.com"]onlinecomplaints@scottishpower.com[/EMAIL] , Thanks Lee-Anne @ scottishpower