Debt Collection Agency contact from a 5 year old bill

GHea

Hello,

About two months ago I received a letter from a Debt Collection Agency called 'BPO' informing me I owed 'SSA' £171.43 which had to be paid immediately. I had no idea what the bill was for, and there were no details of either the bill or the company on the letter. I wasn't sure if it was a scam, so I emailed the address at the bottom of the page and they responded two weeks later to say the bill was from Southern Electric. I have lived in northern England for the past 5 years, so I requested to see the bill as I was doubtful and I always pay my bills on time.

They sent the bill just today, and it is in my maiden name, and dated 5 years ago. I had no knowledge that this bill existed, it was sent to a previous address. The debt collection agency have added £30 on top of the bill also.

As I haven't seen the bill before, can I contact and pay the original company? Also can they bill after 5 years?

Thank you in advance for any help or advice!

boo_star

GHea wrote: »

As I haven't seen the bill before, can I contact and pay the original company? Also can they bill after 5 years?

They sent the bill just today, and it is in my maiden name, and dated 5 years ago.

They aren't billing you after 5 years, they billed you 5 years ago and have finally tracked you down.

Assuming you really do owe the debt then if the debt has been bought by the DCA you'd be better off paying them rather than SSE. In the best case scenario all SSE would do is pass on the money to the DCA that bought the debt off them. The worst case would be them pocketing the cash and you'd still have the DCA chasing you.