Bankrupt 2 yrs ago, now being chased for electricity payment.

auntie_jo

[FONT=&quot]Hi, it has been a while since I posted, so please excuse any mistakes I may make; I am not sure if this is the right forum to post to, but hopefully someone can advise.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]This is to do with being chased for an electricity bill dated the day after being made bankrupt for a six week period.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]This is the history behind this:-[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]In July 2010 my husband my-self and daughter were collectively made bankrupt following the failure of our Public House business. The bankruptcy part of it though painful went through quite smoothly; but we were all relieved to have an end to all the distress. My daughter and I suffered most; both ending up with clinical depression and both still on medication.

From the court date in July to 3rd September 2010 only my husband and I we were still living in the property as we had nowhere else to live. My daughter and her family moved out in June. We were also told by the District Council we had to stay put; otherwise we were intentionally making ourselves homeless if we left the property. We were eventually re homed with about 8 days before the bailiffs were due to repossess the property.

At the time of going to the Court we were totally focused on us all getting through the day. All our debts were meticulously scrutinised and accepted. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]In about March 2010 we went to court to prevent our electricity supply being disconnected, which was successful. This was because our eight year old granddaughter lived above the Pub and I am disabled, we were told by the CAB that we were classed as two vulnerable individuals and the supply could not be terminated.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Some two years later we are settled and content with our lot; which I have to say is pretty poor. We only have benefits and no other income at all; my condition has become worse and progressive, but we work hard to live within our means. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A few weeks ago we had a telephone call from LCS Debt Recovery checking who we were and then saying we owed E-on £1175.63 for the supply from 21st July, (day after our insolvency was made) to 21st September 2010 for the Pub.

They insisted we had entered into a contract with E-on for these dates; I insisted that we did not have any such contract, why would we? We could not pay for anything so there is no way I would have agreed to any contract. They kept saying either my daughter or I had agreed to a contract to supply electricity. I could not get my head around what they were saying and it was getting nowhere. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]By this time I was shaking and in tears and I passed the phone to my husband who dispatched them quite quickly; I think he said something like ‘good luck with that’ when they said they were seeking payment. He did tell them that we only have benefits to live on.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]My husband did however make sense of it all and he explained that as far as this company (LCS) was concerned we were liable for the E-on account as soon as the bankruptcy order was made. The fact that we did not have any written or verbal agreement did not seem to make any difference to them.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I have no idea why but the last thing on our minds when we went to Court was anything to do with future subsequent usage of things such as electricity. I can only guess that I thought it would all be dealt with within the bankruptcy order. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I have just asked my husband the same question, and he has said that at that time we had no way of paying for anything, so we would not have entered into any agreement, and likewise he thought it would be a part of the bankruptcy.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]After this call we had a ‘final demand’ letter saying that we still have not paid the outstanding amount, or offered a valid reason for non-payment; “despite our previous communication and offer of help” REALLY…??? !!!![/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I contacted the National Debtline and they advised that ‘someone’ had to be responsible to pay the electricity supply and it would not be included in the original bankruptcy as the bill would be in the future.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The fact that we did not agree to any contract did not seem to be of any importance, the facts are that we were living at the address and therefore by ‘default’ we were liable for the supply.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I do understand this, but I feel that that as we were not in any position to pay for something we could not afford how can we be made accountable?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] Of course I realise that there argument is based on them being ‘technically’ accurate, but it just seems so wrong!![/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The Debtline talked me through a budget and suggested that we did have sufficient funds to make an offer of a nominal amount. He advised us to review the budget sent and then contact LCS. I emailed them with this information and they have put a hold on any further action whilst we do a budget summery.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Looking at the detailed budget when it arrived I noticed that under income they had included my husband’s Carer’s Allowance, (he is my carer) when I was answering questions about our benefits, I made it clear that this is his (only) income. This amount is made up of £20 from my DLA and £30 from DWP; all the other benefits are in my name. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Because my husband is not named on this debt I see no reason to include this benefit so I recalculated the information and the amount we have left is in the pennies not the pounds. I have completed the revised budget summery without his allowance, but I do not know if I can use this argument to have this income excluded, so any advice on this point would be helpful.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I also asked LCS to put several points to their client E-ON which so far they have not done so I was wondering if they are obliged to do so?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]These are the points I asked them to put forward (My questions are in the brackets) :- [/FONT]

1. 1. Request that E-on that the debt be written off (suggested by the Debtline but in hope rather than success)
2. Proof of entering into a contractual arrangement. (Can this be successfully challenged?)
3. The dates alluded to we feel the amount of the bill to be excessively inflated; in the last month we were at the property the only electricity consumed was for one fridge/freezer and lighting.
4. With this in mind we respectfully request proof of ACTUAL usage from E-ON. (Can we insist on this?)
5. Are your clients aware that this property caught fire the early hours of 15th September 2010? At that point in time we had left the property and had no connection to it whatsoever. The establishment and the living quarters sustained significant damage that has still not been repaired; rather for health and safety reasons the establishment has hording boards around it with no access to the property since the date of fire.

[FONT=&quot]Understandably we would like point 1 to be implemented, however I have to be a realist. Point 3 though is valid, we had ceased trading and everything had been turned off such as coolers, commercial appliances, lighting to the Pub, all were switched off at the main supply board.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Point 5 was tragic, we were woken on the 15th September about 3 am by my daughter who had been phoned by the police (they still had her details as a key holder) wanting to be sure the property was empty.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]When that call came in it was a shock to realise that only some 9 days before our heads were on our pillows in our living quarters. The restaurant below was where the fire started, but that whole side was gutted. Kids were blamed, but nothing ever came of the investigation, and it still looks the same as the day it caught fire; tarpaulin was put over the roof as well as scaffolding and it has remained boarded up.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I am trying to prevent my daughter from having anything to do with this as she attempted suicide in July this year; (I have put this information in my email to LCS) she was in ICU for 3 days and I nearly lost her, she is still seeing a psychiatrist regularly.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I should also say that I am a pensioner; my husband is younger than me so he is allocated on my benefits. We get Pension Credit as well as my State Pension and DLA at the middle rate.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]If anyone can offer any advice I would be really pleased, I am about to send the Budget summery off, but thought more information would help.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Many thanks,[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Jo[/FONT]

sniggings

over £1000 for 2 months of electric :eek: I'm guessing the pub was closed after you went BR so can not see how it can be anywhere near that amount.

I'm not sure what the law is on this so can only give my opinion and hopefully someone will be along soon who does know.

I would accept you do owe this money as you used the electric and it was after your BR but I would want to see prove of usage as £1100 for 2 months seems way too much, I would not refuse to pay as you then close down the lines on communication, once I was happy with the usage they can prove, I would get them to stop any changes and interest and agree a payment plan, the ball is now in your court and they should be happy to be getting payment, offer them what you can afford, or get CAB to do this for you as they seem to get taken notice of more in these kind of cases, they will know they are unlikely to get much if this goes to court so may accept a very small weekly payment.

Anyway that is what I would do in this case.

Mouse1812

Who supplied the Electricity upto the date of your bankruptcy?

sniggings

Mouse1812 wrote: »

Who supplied the Electricity upto the date of your bankruptcy?

The post says E.ON

auntie_jo

Hi, yes it was E-on who the supply was with.

Thanks for your interest,

Jo

auntie_jo

Sorry I missed sniggings other reply. We closed the Pub shortly before our Bankruptcy order. We were advised to do so as we were effectively trading without means to pay our bills, and this is classed as a type of deception.

Our supply when we were trading was nothing like the amount they are saying; I think it was around £300 a month, but that was when we were trading.
Thanks again for your help, much appreciated.
Jo