EDF Threatening court action from 2011!

joistoan

Hello all

I've received a letter today from EDF threatening me with legal action for £70 from 2011 = they 'sent the final bill on 21/11/11'. I was with Southern Electric all of 2011 and 2012 so Im slightly confused??? Is this a scam?? I have never received any bills from them in the past.

trickytree1963

Was it a letter? Ask for a copy of the bill. If it was an email Id be wary of replying in case its a phishing exercise

Marktheshark

Ask for proof of claim.
A copy of this bill they refer to.
A contract and payment history.
References to dates they claim to have supplied utilities.

footyguy

joistoan wrote: »

Hello all

I've received a letter today from EDF threatening me with legal action for £70 from 2011 = they 'sent the final bill on 21/11/11'. I was with Southern Electric all of 2011 and 2012 so Im slightly confused??? Is this a scam?? I have never received any bills from them in the past.

Unlikley to be a scam if on EDF headed paper.

Quite simple to check though, isn't it? Simply call EDF (get their number off the internet, rather than the letter just in case is is a scam).

If it's not a scam, you need to contact them anyway to resolve it

Good luck!

Raxiel

IANAL, and I can only speak based on the information so far posted to this thread, but:

If the debt were genuine, they would have 6 years (from the claimed date of default, or the last time the debt was acknowledged by the debtor) to lay a claim before the court. After that they have no legal remedy.

From the dates given, as of today they have 40 days to recover the money or write it off forever, hence the (probably automated) nastygram.

Have you ever been an EDF customer? This may well be a complete mistake on their part, but a letter before claim is a legal document that should be responded to (and it sounds like that's what you have).

Write back to them, don't call, get free proof of postage from the post office. Make clear that "The debt is denied". Explain that you were not their customer at the time specified (or ever if that's the case) and if they still feel the money is owed that they need to provide more proof.

If you have been their customer in the past, you might also consider making an official complaint, because while the legal limit to recover a debt is 6 years, its quite unreasonable to wait until the limit is almost up to pursue a debt without good cause.

Either way, if you can hold them off until the 21st of November this year nothing can come of it anyway.

PixelPound

Not sure if it was a letter before claim, as procedure has changed since 1st October (http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil) and it should be more apparent.