British Gas Default Notice - Failure to Comply?

business14

After a long few years of many stresses, I've just got round to check my credit file which i knew was going to be bad, but didn't know a default was on there from British Gas! I have contacted British Gas and filed a complaint on the basis of never having received the default notice, they replied quite quickly within 7 days attaching a copy of the said default notice for my reference, i am very organised with my paperwork and have genuinely never seen it before. 

I cannot attach a copy of the letter because this account here is limited until i post more but the content is below:

QUOTE

Default notice on yourgas account    (yes no space in their letter either between your and gas)

We have contacted you several times about your  final outstanding balance of £xx for the gas you used. But your balance remains unpaid.

It is important you pay what you owe within 28 days
Your balance is now over four months old. If we don't receive payment within 28 days of this letter, we will register a default on your account and pass it to a credit reference agency. Registering a default could have serious impact on your credit rating and affect your ability to obtain credit from other lenders. You'll see how you can pay on the right hand side of this letter. 

END QUOTE

The focus question i would like to ask, is whether the default notice they emailed me is in the correct form a creditor is required to send it in? I've got a copy of another default notice from a credit card (paid before they applied it) and it references "....the consumer credit act act of 1974" whereas this British Gas isn't the same - 

Done a bit of digging on Google, i have learnt that a default notice should comply with the Consumer Credit (Enforcement, Default and Termination Notices) Regulations 1983 (SI 1983/1561) in particular schedule 2(2) points 1-11 which sets out the statutory form that a Default Notice must follow for it to comply with S87 (1) Consumer Credit Act 1974. In my case there is no bolded header with the title

'Important you should read this carefully'

'Default notice served under section 87(1) Consumer Credit Act 1974'."

I would therefore assume in this early stage that the so called default notice attached failed to comply? Does this give any warrant and fight for me to reply saying although a) the letter wasn't received and b) i wasn't given the correct notice of default and you failed to comply?

What are your thoughts?

John_

You having not received it isn’t going to help to evidence it not being sent.

You say that you are very organised in your paperwork; what happened with the missed payments?

Yahoo_Mail

Your British Gas agreement is a services agreement, not a credit agreement so does not fall under the Consumer Credit Act. As such they are not required to send a default notice, nor does any notice they send have to comply with those regulations.

sourcrates

As per the post above, service agreements and credit agreements may share the same terminology, but that is where the similarities end I’m afraid.
Sec 87 just applies to credit agreements, that’s all.

GrahamsHill

Out of interest how many months in arrears were you? I was 6 months with them and they reported it as being that for 5 years without ever issuing a default.