Time limit on Utilities' debt recovery?

Cornucopia

I have a outstanding debt with Scottish Power from a previous account at a previous address which was never billed.

The question is: does this debt stay around forever, or is there a time limit on back-billing?

Is this simply the 12-month limit, or is there more to it?

Nada666

No, it is six years in England and five years in Scotland. (Renewed each time they contact you, though.)

The 12 month back-billing may limit the amount to be recovered to one years worth but it can chased for longer. And not being billed is not a get out - it is only where you yourself have made reasonable attempts to set up the account.

undaunted

Technically the debt would still exist even after 6 years but as Nada666 basically says it is no longer pursuable through the courts after 6 years therefore if you tell them you aren't interested at that point there would be little they could do.

You can't however just move & then expect bac billing guidelines to help you 12m later. They are intended to help with genuine supplier error not be a charter for evading legitimate debts

Cornucopia

Nada666 wrote: »

No, it is six years in England and five years in Scotland. (Renewed each time they contact you, though.)

Sure. I'm not actively trying to evade it, but there's a limit to my patience with incompetent organisations.

The 12 month back-billing may limit the amount to be recovered to one years worth but it can chased for longer. And not being billed is not a get out - it is only where you yourself have made reasonable attempts to set up the account.

It's slightly complicated, because I have been both a resident of the address concerned, and its landlord at different points in time.

When I was originally resident, I spent quite a bit of time encouraging SP to resolve an error on the national database which meant that my account was associated with someone else's meter. I then moved out for about 6 months, and when I got back, it transpired that the error had reappeared. At that stage I both attempted to get the account in my name, and I made a formal complaint. I heard nothing on either, and when I contacted SP again, they told me the account was not with them, but with nPower.

I then contacted nPower, who confirmed this, but never billed me.

2 years later, I moved out again, and tried to finalise my account with nPower, who then told me they were not my supplier (having previously told me a number of times they were and my account was in limbo within their systems, due to a systems fault). I re-contacted Scottish Power to give them my details and asked them to bring the account up to date... which they have not done, and I have heard nothing from them (over a period of 4 months).

I guess all of that makes a technical difference in that there is no debt, yet, because no money has ever been demanded.