SSE help

willgleave

Can anyone give me some advice please, i moved into my rented house july 19th 2012, took my meter readings and provided them to the utility companies, but could not find who provided the gas, i asked the estate agents who told me ill get a bill then ill know who it is, anyway i accepted this, when it got to september i still hadn't had a bill so started to write letters to all the major suppliers asking if they were my supplier, no replies and no bill, i did this for the following 6 months and even called the "who is my supplier number" to be told my meter didn't exist, so a bill came through 2 months ago for the previous tenant from sse so i wrote to them again saying if they are my supplier to please contact me within the next 21 days or will not take responsibility for the bill, nothing again. Well this tuesday 04 june i get a phone call asking "is that mr gleave" i responded yes of course, to which his reply was "im from sse and ive pushed a letter through your door, i cant discuss anything because of data protection" then hung up, when i got home there was a letter from sse saying i owed £745.52 and to call wayne the collector as he can help, well rang the mobile number left messages every day including today, but when i got home tonight there was another letter saying Final court Notice and that they have tried to contact me on numerous occasions and i have ignored all personal visits, this is not the case more like the other way round. They say my options are to either pay in full or have a pay as you go meter fitted, and will take me to court to gain access to my property.

Im really anoyed and upset about this and has stressed me out completely now.

What do i do?? Someone give me some advice please.

Joyful

If you have not received a bill in your name they cannot take you to court. Call ( and write) to them and confirm the date and reading you moved into the property. Once you then get a correct bill in your name set up a Direct debit which will allow you to pay this as well as your ongoing consumption.

If you have proof you have contacted them before see if they will knock something off the bill as well.

Wywth

For future reference, or anyone else that finds themselves in a similar situation, this should help

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=how+to+find+who+supplies+my+gas+and+electricity

:cool:

chanz4

Joyful wrote: »

If you have not received a bill in your name they cannot take you to court. Call ( and write) to them and confirm the date and reading you moved into the property. Once you then get a correct bill in your name set up a Direct debit which will allow you to pay this as well as your ongoing consumption.

If you have proof you have contacted them before see if they will knock something off the bill as well.

The warrants for the property

Pineapple88

Who are the letters addressed to? Have you received any court paperwork?

If they do know know that they are supplying you with gas as you say how do they know your name? If you own the house they will have got it off the Land Registry but if it is rented I would expect the letters to be addressed to the occupier or previous tenant or landlord.

Do you have copies of the letters you sent (with dates or proof of postage)? Send all future letters to them by recorded delivery so you have proof that you have tried to contact them. Also get an itemised copy of your phone bill when it is produced as then you will have proof that you have tried to call Wayne.

Is the bill just for gas? If so and the electricity is also with SSE have you spoken to them about this? If so they should have a record of the calls you made to discuss the issue.

I would suggest making a complaint by phone (and confirm in writing, sent by recorded delivery) about the handling of the issue. Usually you should follow the standard complaints procedure (agent then manager then chief exec or customer relations office) but if the court date if imminent I would go straight to their head of customer service complaints team. Show them that you have tried to contact them to get the matter sorted and they have not responded. Ask them to hold off the court case and arrange a payment plan. You are liable for all gas used from the meter reading when you moved in, but you could try asking for a reduction of the bill due to the problems you have had.

If you get no joy with SSE it may be worth going to your local CAB. Their debt advisers may be able to speak to SSE on your behalf to get them to hold off the warrant.

https://www.sse.co.uk/HelpAndAdvice/ComplaintsProcedure/

willgleave

Pineapple88 wrote: »

Who are the letters addressed to? Have you received any court paperwork?

If they do know know that they are supplying you with gas as you say how do they know your name? If you own the house they will have got it off the Land Registry but if it is rented I would expect the letters to be addressed to the occupier or previous tenant or landlord.

Do you have copies of the letters you sent (with dates or proof of postage)? Send all future letters to them by recorded delivery so you have proof that you have tried to contact them. Also get an itemised copy of your phone bill when it is produced as then you will have proof that you have tried to call Wayne.

Is the bill just for gas? If so and the electricity is also with SSE have you spoken to them about this? If so they should have a record of the calls you made to discuss the issue.

I would suggest making a complaint by phone (and confirm in writing, sent by recorded delivery) about the handling of the issue. Usually you should follow the standard complaints procedure (agent then manager then chief exec or customer relations office) but if the court date if imminent I would go straight to their head of customer service complaints team. Show them that you have tried to contact them to get the matter sorted and they have not responded. Ask them to hold off the court case and arrange a payment plan. You are liable for all gas used from the meter reading when you moved in, but you could try asking for a reduction of the bill due to the problems you have had.

If you get no joy with SSE it may be worth going to your local CAB. Their debt advisers may be able to speak to SSE on your behalf to get them to hold off the warrant.

https://www.sse.co.uk/HelpAndAdvice/ComplaintsProcedure/

The letters left by the agent just have the address on it but when he rang he asked if i was mr gleave, i have copies of the letters i have sent they are all dated but did not send them recorded, the bill is just for the gas, my electric is from another supplier that im fully up to date with. I dont dissagree that i need to pay for the gas and i will pay for it no problem but im only paying for what ive used since i started renting, they have never asked for the reading when i moved in although i have put it on all the letters, i just want a correct bill so that i can sort it. I have emailed their customer services saying that if they do not contact me in the next 10 days to resolve the situation i will not pay the bill that they say i owe and will change supplier and that im quite happy to go to court. i got a response sraight away saying that they have recieved my email and are dealing with it. also ive taken screen shots of my phone call log and saved them to produce as well.
Anything else that i should do.

Thanks for the replies,
Will

DirectDebacle

I broadly agree with Pineapple88.

What you need to be able to do is evidence to SSE the date that you moved in and the meter reading on that date. A copy of the tenancy agreement will satisfy the former and the meter readings you took the latter.

The meter reading should tally with that the previous occupier gave to SSE on vacating the property although this may not have been given. It is possible that the letting agent/landlord also took meter readings on or about this date(19/7/12) which would corroborate your reading.

If SSE are given this information they will be able to calculate what proportion of the bill is owed by the previous tenant (if any) and what is yours.

I suggest you post this information to SSE by recorded delivery as soon as you have it. Re-iterate you are perfectly willing to pay for your usage as shown by your previous communications with them. Request a bill based on your opening (start) reading.

I understand your main concern is the execution of a warrant but it may not have been issued yet. Therefore speed is of the essence.

Have you managed to speak to anyone at SSE other than frontline customer service? It may be worthwhile calling them and insisting you speak to someone in authority. You may get more meaningful help or at least a name/contact no. other than Wayne. This is in addition to sending the copy documents recorded delivery as outlined above.

Little_Mo_70

willgleave wrote: »

Can anyone give me some advice please, i moved into my rented house july 19th 2012, took my meter readings and provided them to the utility companies, but could not find who provided the gas, i asked the estate agents who told me ill get a bill then ill know who it is, anyway i accepted this, when it got to september i still hadn't had a bill so started to write letters to all the major suppliers asking if they were my supplier, no replies and no bill, i did this for the following 6 months and even called the "who is my supplier number" to be told my meter didn't exist, so a bill came through 2 months ago for the previous tenant from sse so i wrote to them again saying if they are my supplier to please contact me within the next 21 days or will not take responsibility for the bill, nothing again. Well this tuesday 04 june i get a phone call asking "is that mr gleave" i responded yes of course, to which his reply was "im from sse and ive pushed a letter through your door, i cant discuss anything because of data protection" then hung up, when i got home there was a letter from sse saying i owed £745.52 and to call wayne the collector as he can help, well rang the mobile number left messages every day including today, but when i got home tonight there was another letter saying Final court Notice and that they have tried to contact me on numerous occasions and i have ignored all personal visits, this is not the case more like the other way round. They say my options are to either pay in full or have a pay as you go meter fitted, and will take me to court to gain access to my property.

Im really anoyed and upset about this and has stressed me out completely now.

What do i do?? Someone give me some advice please.

I use SE for both electricity and gas and find them excellent to deal with so I am really surprised how your situation has got to this stage.

You have done everything you can, and can prove it so don't worry. YOu have had some very good advice already but you could check out page 32 on SSE's charter. Personally, I would lodge a complaint because, clearly, things have gone very wrong.

Outline the saga from a - z and send by recorded post. (Best by post and not e-mail, especially where court has been mentioned) That way, should any more Waynes (I presume he's a debt collector?) pop out of the woodwork, or court action notices, at least you have, 'officially', registered dissatisfaction of your poor treatment and hopefully things should conclude quickly and satisfactorily.

What a pity your letting agent didn't think to contact the previous tenant to find out who supplied gas to them during their tenancy when you made your initial enquiry. Not much help now I know but wouldn't it have saved you such a lot of hassle?

Very best of luck

Pineapple88

Little_Mo_70 wrote: »

What a pity your letting agent didn't think to contact the previous tenant to find out who supplied gas to them during their tenancy when you made your initial enquiry. Not much help now I know but wouldn't it have saved you such a lot of hassle?

Most letting agents ask for copies of the final bills to show that there is nothing left outstanding before they release the deposit so its surprising that they didn't have any details in this case.

I am unsure if there is a SSE rep on the forum but if there is hopefully s/he will pick this up on Monday and be able to get it sorted for you.

willgleave

I was the first tenant, the previous person in here was the owners niece, when i moved in the first week i had 3 bailiffs knocking at the door looking for her for unpaid bills. I am going to print a copy of all the letters i have sent previously along with a covering letter recorded on monday and see what happens after that.