Debt that not ours

Airwolf20721

Hi
I writing on behalf of my parents so here goes. Last April parent move in to house. In Jan 2016 scottish power came round demading £700 debt that not theirs it belong to Mr ****. They showed him tenacy and passport to prove who they are and that the person who he looking for don't live there, yet the guy didn't believe them. I can see why thou. etc. Anyway guy left after they refuse to let him in and that. Few days later a letter in post from scottish power threat to replace meter with a key meter. Parent phoned scottish power and scottish power claim their guy didn't believe them so will be going to court to get warrant to come in and install Key meter. Parent are on the eletrol roll to prove they Live at the address! so below are the questions
Parent eletric is with EDF!! they dont have gas.

• Can they do this?
• How can we prove that the person own the debt does not live there? (never heard of the person they looking for)
• Their eletric is with EDF can they ( Scottish Power) still switch the meter as i thought meter belongs to EDF.

Thanks in advance

footyguy

Airwolf20721 wrote: »

Hi
I writing on behalf of my parents so here goes. Last April parent move in to house. In Jan 2016 scottish power came round demading £700 debt that not theirs it belong to Mr ****. They showed him tenacy and passport to prove who they are and that the person who he looking for don't live there, yet the guy didn't believe them. I can see why thou. etc. Anyway guy left after they refuse to let him in and that. Few days later a letter in post from scottish power threat to replace meter with a key meter. Parent phoned scottish power and scottish power claim their guy didn't believe them so will be going to court to get warrant to come in and install Key meter. Parent are on the eletrol roll to prove they Live at the address! so below are the questions
Parent eletric is with EDF!! they dont have gas.

• Can they do this?
• How can we prove that the person own the debt does not live there? (never heard of the person they looking for)
• Their eletric is with EDF can they ( Scottish Power) still switch the meter as i thought meter belongs to EDF.

Thanks in advance

Normally no, but...

Re the bit I highighted. Why? :huh:

When you parents moved in, who was the existing supplier? Scottish Power?
Did your parents register with them and provide an opening meter read?
Have they since sent a final bill (since it appears they switched at some point to EDF.)

Parents should find out from SP when & where court hearing is for warrant application, attend and defend application.

What do your parents have by way of a demand from SP for the £700? A proper bill? If not, why not?

Cardew

If the facts are exactly as you say, then simply go to court when Scottish Power apply for a warrant. They will get all their expenses paid and probably compensation.


However in such a 'cut and dried' case, it is highly unusual that any company would act that way unless they had grounds for believing something is not right.


Could Mr xxxx have been living at the property at the same time as your parents?
Have they Mr xxxx's current address?
Why won't Mr xxxx pay?
Did Mr xxxx ever exist?
Can your parents prove they were paying gas/electric at another address before they moved in?
If it is Scottish Power demanding £700 and threatening to fit a pre-pay meter, how can your parents be with EDF? - When did EDF take over the supply?

Airwolf20721

Why? Well dad could of taken the tenacy over and the person who own eletric bill could still be living there even thou parent now taken over...


Not sure about this they had no bill from Scottish power. All the letters that came from scottish they wrote send back to sender as not for them to open.


How can parent defends in court when it not them they taking to court. They going to court to get a meter change at their address so will be going into court agains Mr **** who no longer live there to get warrant to get in address.


They might had a final bill sent but as I said if it not address to them they sent it back... as no longer at this address.

CashStrapped

The scenario could have happened like this:

1. Mr X leaves property but does not close account with Scottish Power leaving a debit on the account.

2. Scottish Power are still the deemed (exisitng) supplier to the property. They think Mr. X still lives there.

3. Your parents move in but do not open an account with scottish power (the deemed supplier) and instead, somehow, open an account with EDF.

4. From scottish powers perspective, Mr X should still be living there and he has an unpaid bill. They have no evidance of a meter reading nor any indication of when your parents moved in.

5. Confusion ensues.

You need to clarify with your parents:

1. Who was the deemed (exisiting) supplier when they moved in. Did they set up an account with scottish power before switching to EDF?

2. Did they take a meter reading when they moved in to the property? Who did they send that meter reading to whent they moved in?

Marktheshark

Go on you tube and search "trial by social media" at that link you will find an expert that helps people in these situations and he might be able to help you shut them up.

keith1950

So.....who have your parents been paying for their electricity between April 2015- January 2016?
As has already been asked, did your parents register with the existing supplier and give opening meter reading on the day they moved in. If you have no proof of your opening readings you could end up paying for some of the previous occupants usage.
They appear to have not followed the correct procedure when moving in.

pogofish

My past and bitter experience is that Scottish Power can be really very nasty if they think you owe them money and they are utterly incompetent in how they establish and manage any "debt".

They absolutely terrorised my then partner when they decided we owen them money and it got to the point she was getting suicidal because she genuinely could not work-out how we owed them so much.

So I got-on to them instead - I'm a good bit more bloody-minded and after a lot of being passed from pillar to post, waffle, misdirection and a few more threats, I finally got through to someone who could do-something about it.

I ended that exchange with the revelation that not-only was there no debt, Scottish Power had actually been overcharging us for some months and we really had a rather healthy bit of credit. It was also noted on the account that I was to be the future contact for any payment issues.

So all was well for a few months - Until my partner started appearing overstressed again and yes, it was because Scottish Power had started on her all over again!

So I had to repeat the chase round various call centres and getting told that they couldn't do anything and I'd better pay-up or else, till again I got to someone with a reasonable degree of account access, where she quickly found our subsequent payments - credited against the wrong months in another flaming year!

So keep at-them, stop being fobbed-off and keep demanding to speak to someone higher-up the food chain. Eventually you will get to someone with a certain amount of competence who can sort this out. :mad:

[Deleted User]

Is this a wind up ! strange spellings, almost deliberately bad but OP manages to get the correct spelling of "their "
OP if this is not a wind up suppliers bluff, threaten but common sense prevails and they just force fit a prepayment meter just like they have done for thousands and thousands of debtors. They do add on these costs which are something like £150 for the warrant /locksmith.

pappa_golf

sacsquacco wrote: »

Is this a wind up ! strange spellings, almost deliberately bad but OP manages to get the correct spelling of "their "
OP if this is not a wind up suppliers bluff, threaten but common sense prevails and they just force fit a prepayment meter just like they have done for thousands and thousands of debtors. They do add on these costs which are something like £150 for the warrant /locksmith.

are they allowed to enter a property that is owned/rented by someone else , and force fit a key meter when there is a contract meter in place with a different company and a trace of payments


ie: is the warrant (entry) on the property or is it served on the PERSON who lives there?

Airwolf20721

When they move in was southern power, they change to EDF. Thing is meter outside the house so no need to get in the house... All Scottish power are saying they do believe Mr xxxx lives there. So on that ground they going for a warrant to change meter.


And no not a wind up to other people.


Yes they email PDF of last billing address but they accusing parent of taking over the property and MR xxxx lives there.