Energy Company incorrectly put defaults on my credit file

Mortimer24

Hi there,


I'm new to this forum so just wanted to firstly say 'hi' and hopefully get some advice on a problem that I've been dealing with. I will try to be brief!


2 years ago, I rented my house out whilst I moved abroad and my letting agency liaised with my utilities company to advise when new tenants came and left and when the house reverted back to my responsibility. Unfortunately the utilities company failed to read a letter properly and subsequently during a 6 month period when the house was empty and back under my responsibility they were sending bills to the empty house instead of to my lettings agents.


As a result, this led to a debt on my account for both gas and electric accounts, which the first I heard about was a threatening letter from a debt collection agency sent to me at my foreign address suggesting bailiffs were on their way.


I investigated this immediately and paid the outstanding balance within days of receiving this letter and was assured by both the debt collection agency and my utilities company that no black mark would be put on my credit file as this was totally not my fault and I had settled the debt as soon as I possibly could.


However, I recently applied for a mortgage for a new house now I'm back in the UK and was happily under the illusion that my credit file was clean and up-to-date and so incurred survey costs, solicitors bills etc for my dream home only to be told by my mortgage advisor at the 11th hour that she couldn't get anyone to give me a mortgage due to two defaults on my credit file.


I have now spent 6 full weeks trying to get this situation cleared up with the utilities company with approximately 25-30 hours on the phone to them/sending emails etc. After all this effort and good support from Experian (whom I have now had to join) I am happy to report my credit file is now clear again (today) although I have lost the house I was trying to buy in the meantime due to their incredibly slow and difficult behaviour.


I am now seeking compensation but have been asked by the utilities company what more do I expect? They originally offered my 30.00 credited to my account (clearly I won't be staying with them for future) and this is completely inadequate given the situation.


Any ideas on how I can quantify this please and what help I can get to support this claim?

Mortimer24

No response from the utilities company for over 48 hours now so I will now contact Ofgem.

numptyknownothing

Good luck with your quest. I'd be interested to hear the outcome. I've been referred to a debt agency by my last energy supplier when they owed me money and am in the process of filing a complaint. I am awaiting confirmation that this has not adversely affected my credit rating as we will be looking to move next year and fear we will face the same issues.

National_Debtline

Hi

I can’t advise on your compensation question but in terms of complaining about energy companies the Energy Ombudsman might be worth contacting.

www.ombudsman-services.org/energy.html

James
@natdebtline

Mortimer24

I've reported my energy company to the Ombudsman. Strangely when I advised my energy company of this they then offered me £75 in compensation (original offer was £30 and then this was upped to £50). Considering that I've spent £30 already on Experian membership fees needless to say I've rejected this oh-so generous offer. Looking at the 30+ hours that I've spent on the phone/emails this would equate to compensation at £1.50 per hour for my time let alone the £900+ in surveyors fees and solicitors fees that were wasted due to being refused the mortgage and the length of time it took for my energy company to resolve. Disgraceful! Let's see what the Ombudsman can suggest.

GingerBob_3

The most important issue by far, here, is the loss of a mortgage. You should hold out for significant compensation, running into hundreds of pounds, if not more. Perhaps see if you can get legal advice, although this would normally come at a cost as well. There have been recent cases of significant compensation being paid after people have been incorrectly blacklisted at the CRAs.

Mortimer24

Thanks GingerBob, I am hoping for far more compensation than the offered £75 not to be greedy but as these incompetent people have cost me an awful lot of money, lost my family the house we wanted to buy, ruined my reputation completely unnecessarily and then frankly 'faffed about' for 8 weeks before finally resolving the situation I feel it is justified.

A_Flock_Of_Sheep

Another case here where someone didn't do the sensible thing and that is NEVER GIVE A UTILITY COMPANY YOUR REAL NAME. ALWAYS JUST SAY YOU ARE THE OCCUPIER OR GIVE A FAKE NAME.

They can't then ruin your credit record only that of the phantom name or "The Occupier".

[Deleted User]

A_Flock_Of_Sheep wrote: »

Another case here where someone didn't do the sensible thing and that is NEVER GIVE A UTILITY COMPANY YOUR REAL NAME. ALWAYS JUST SAY YOU ARE THE OCCUPIER OR GIVE A FAKE NAME.

They can't then ruin your credit record only that of the phantom name or "The Occupier".

I think that's fraud.

GingerBob_3

billbennett wrote: »

I think that's fraud.

I'm not sure that it would be. It definitely would be if your intention was to defraud the company, but that's not what being known as "The Occupier" is about.

Mortimer24

Frankly, I was more perturbed by the inference that the only 'sensible' thing to do is to start a new account by concealing my identity. How are you supposed to set-up direct debit and thus achieve a cheaper rate without providing your name? I think the point has been completely missed here that my utilities company have totally screwed up and I now need to deal with getting compensation which is what I was asking for advice about. Sadly I'm not able to go back in time and fabricate an identity to prevent against something which no one could have predicted would happen. Some helpful advice would be very much appreciated rather than just having a dig at someone for being a normal honest person.