British Gas unpaid bill - The Litigation Services Co. - Is this a scam?

darkcloudi

I had the same letter from them as they were trying to recover £270 from me.

I sent them both the Litigation Company and British Gas all the relevant letters, i.e. date of exchange of contract clearly showing the bill does not belong to me as I also enclosed a copy of the bill which British Gas had sent which had dates. I got a response from Litigation Company apologising and removing the debt.

You may also want to wright to them enclosing the details I mention above. It will be a cost of a stamp or if you Record Delivery it a bit more.

To be honest British Gas are useless. I sent them the same letter 4 weeks ago via Recorded Delivery and still waiting for a response. I haven't even got an apology even though when I moved in I gave them all the details and notified them that I had moved in on this day. When phoning British Gas customer service there also uselss as they cannot do nothing over the phone, you would be wasting your time. As in your case they have now past the debt to a third party so the account is closed at British Gas end and you can only talk to Litigation company.

I have kept the record delivery slips for reference and the letters in case it is pursude further.

Bunnie1982

I used to work for Complete Credit Management and most of their staff are reasonable. They have been passed loads of "debt" by British Gas that is basically incorrect debt, you need to call them and get them to return the account back to British Gas as disputed.

Will PM you the names of the best people to speak to there, will also try and see if I still have a geographic number for them. If not look if Severn Trent have a geographic number because Complete Credit Management/Litigation Services Company are a subsidiary of them.

Fred56

I've just got one of these letters from Litigation Services Co also. I'm not a British Gas Customer and did not live at the house on the dates specified and I don't owe anyone anything at all. I think Litigation Services are just trying it on. I suspect they have found my name and part of my address from somewhere (the address on the letter was missing two lines) and are just sending random letters out trying to blag money. There is no way they can have been given my details by British Gas so it can't be a simple mistake.
I won't call 0870 numbers on principle so have emailed the parent company and written a letter. As their claim is false can I charge them for my time and costs? What happens if I just ignore them?

Fred56

oojeyboojey

After trying to call the litigation services co., (I couldn't get through - was on hold for 7 minutes and gave up) I'd emailed the parent compay to find out what was going on - they didn't reply.

I got a second letter demanding payment. Their wording was along the lines of "you've had 14 days to contact us to say you're not liable and you didn't, hence we're going to get that money from you".

My husband then called them up (he's a school teacher and hence better at telling people off than I am). He made it clear that not only were we not living in the house for the time period I was being charged for, but I've never had an account with British Gas.

It turns out, the Litigation Services co. just send letters out to any current occupants at the address the bill was sent to - regardless of whether these people were the ones who had the original account.

This strikes me as unethical and possibly illegal. What do you reckon?

At any rate, my husband was told that the debt was cleared from my name, and that no further action was to be taken. I hope that's the end of it. Fingers crossed!

darkcloudi

Fred56 wrote: »

I've just got one of these letters from Litigation Services Co also. I'm not a British Gas Customer and did not live at the house on the dates specified and I don't owe anyone anything at all. I think Litigation Services are just trying it on. I suspect they have found my name and part of my address from somewhere (the address on the letter was missing two lines) and are just sending random letters out trying to blag money. There is no way they can have been given my details by British Gas so it can't be a simple mistake.
I won't call 0870 numbers on principle so have emailed the parent company and written a letter. As their claim is false can I charge them for my time and costs? What happens if I just ignore them?

Fred56

I thought I would able to charge for my time and costs from both Litigation Company and British Gas. No response was received from BG but did reeceive an apology from Litigation company so left it at that was to lazy to really push things forward to claim anything from them. Kept responses in case the debt is bought back up and if it then I would definatly claim for my time.

Bruce1970

I have also had dealings with this company and found them very good at sorting out the problem! Since i moved into my property a year ago i have had various letters from different DCA's for numerous debts that weren't mine! I have had varying degrees of success in persuading them the debt wasnt owed by me, but from my experience the best thing to do is make contact with them either by writing or phoning as an earlier poster said! If you ignore it then your only going to get more letters and possibly phone calls chasing the issue! Legally theres nothing to worry about if the debts not in your name but these companies will persist until they get confirmation of the situation!

biv

They're legit - phone BG and get it sorted and provide the client reference number. Don't ignore it. Make sure your credit rating hasn't been affected - if you ignore it this is what it may lead to and you'll be in for more hassle.

Litigation services may have traced you in error or something else may be astray, so don't worry until you know why you're receiving it.

And you are unlikely to get far claiming for time or costs, so don't put too much effort into that aspect.

Rick_B

My mother in law received a letter from LS British gas debt for a previous occupier some 18 months before she bought the house.

The 0870 is a con, I phoned the 0113 338 1022 number and spoke direct to BG, I am hopeful they will call of their debt collectors.
Iam sure some people pay these debts just to aviod the harrassment From LS.
A quick check by BG on the address would have shown that their current customer was paying her bill to BG and in any case did not live at house prior to DEC 06.

How many other elderly people are LS chasing for non existent debts?
and also making money on the 0870 number

Thanks for the advice and phone number

Rik b

Terrylw1

Agree with Bruce. They only have the debt because BGas have passed it to them.

As Bunnie pointed out, these ompanies get passed erroneous debt constantly by utilities. Suppliers often pass on The Occupier accounts to save time chasing them up (these can often be gaps in between customers moving in/out dates caused by the Supplier in making errors in their own systems half the time!)

If you ignore them, you just get more. You also have to consider how that effects your credit rating.

Scary if LCS are just adding the current occupant to the debt!

shopshopshop112233

Can you please let me know the phone number to this company
As thay keep stealing money out of my account and there address too if you have it, I just dont know what to do and british gas will not help me and my bank will not stop paying them thank you.