Fraudulent CCJs in my name - lost!

superkat00

Good afternoon all,

This is a bit of a complicated situation but I’ll try to keep it as simple as possible! Basically I moved house (rented) in September 2017, last November I discovered that the landlord at my previously address had fraudulently left the electricity bill (with EON) in my name and the new tenants hadn’t paid it since I’d left. I’d never checked my credit score before then but when I did I discovered two CCJS and a default from EON all based on electricity usage after I left that property in total over £3000 of debt.

I contacted EON about it straight away and sent them all the evidence they asked for for when I moved house, then complete radio silence from then for months despite me sending lots of emails… I have had all sorts of trouble with bailiffs coming to my door and loads of different debt collection letters, daily phone calls from debt collection agencies who say they can’t do anything without EON calling them off etc, all very stressful. 

After having been ignored for months and them sending new bailiffs to my door months after they’ve had all the evidence it’s not my debt I went through the Energy Ombudsman last week and magically EON have sent me a proposal which is basically just they’ll give me a cheque for £100 and an apology letter. 

They’ve also said that I don’t owe them any money and I quote “ Your Credit File has NOT been affected”. This is obviously not true as there are two CCJs and a default and my score is shocking! I’m assuming I should reject this proposal and let it go to the ombudsman? Realistically would Eon be able to actually do anything about the CCJs? I’ve read that you need to pay to go to court to contest them - however I am not at fault at all as they were fraudulently in my name and obviously I never received any letters regarding them as they were sent to my previous address!

I suppose I have two questions: should I decline the proposal and let it go to the ombudsman or is this the best resolution I’m going to get? And what will probably happen about the CCJs if I do let the ombudsman deal with it/ should I be doing anything else to deal with this?

Thanks so much for any help as I’m quite lost and out of my depth here!

dizzyblonde82

Did you contact EON to tell them you were moving out of the property and request a final bill?

superkat00

dizzyblonde82 said:

Did you contact EON to tell them you were moving out of the property and request a final bill?

Yes pretty sure I did but I can’t say I still have any proof of that, we moved out in quite a rush (landlord kicked us out basically as he wanted to take property over himself). I’m not blaming EON for the CCJ happening but I am blaming them for not resolving it in November when I informed them of the situation. And I want to know if it’s in their power to remove the CCJ and what I should do about their proposal/ombudsman?? Thanks!

K_S

@superkat00 If EON accept fault, accept that you don't owe them anything, but will not remove the CCJs that resulted from chasing you for the debt, then definitely take it to the Ombudsman.

Hopefully someone else will come along and comment on the if and how EON can get the CCJ set aside.

poppy12345

superkat00 said:

Good afternoon all,

This is a bit of a complicated situation but I’ll try to keep it as simple as possible! Basically I moved house (rented) in September 2017, last November I discovered that the landlord at my previously address had fraudulently left the electricity bill (with EON) in my name

This ^^ surely you changed adress when you moved? If you had then this shouldn't have happened. You should have recieved a final bill from that address. Moved house myself so many times and never had any problems.

[Deleted User]

K_S said:

@superkat00 If EON accept fault, accept that you don't owe them anything, but will not remove the CCJs that resulted from chasing you for the debt, then definitely take it to the Ombudsman.

Hopefully someone else will come along and comment on the if and how EON can get the CCJ set aside.

You can apply for a set aside, but have to pay for it and show that a) you didn't get the paperwork and b) there is a realistic chance of success if it was back to square one. A set aside by consent could be paid for too but EON would need to agree

superkat00

Deleted_User said:

K_S said:

@superkat00 If EON accept fault, accept that you don't owe them anything, but will not remove the CCJs that resulted from chasing you for the debt, then definitely take it to the Ombudsman.

Hopefully someone else will come along and comment on the if and how EON can get the CCJ set aside.

You can apply for a set aside, but have to pay for it and show that a) you didn't get the paperwork and b) there is a realistic chance of success if it was back to square one. A set aside by consent could be paid for too but EON would need to agree

So either way I will have to pay for it which I really can’t afford? All paperwork was presumably sent to my previous address as I had literally no knowledge of this until last November and don’t really understand how it has happened either! Is it still worth taking it to the ombudsman though presumably? I don’t need to pay for EON to remove the default, right, just the two CCJs? Thanks again!

HampshireH

I can't see that Eon have done anything wrong here.

And nor has your landlord.

The landlord hasn't fraudulently allowed the new tenants to use your account. 

It would have been your responsibility to close your account and pay the final bill. If you haven't closed it you remain liable until such time you do (unless you are lucky and the new tenants register triggering a process)

Eon will of course send your bills to that address unless you have provided another one for them to use.

I'm not sure how you would be successful in removing these CCJs unless you definately did close your account and pay a final bill, which you appear to be unsure of. 

You can check - just look at your bank statements and find your last payment to them. If it's after you moved out that would indicate you did receive a final bill and paid it. 

On the flip side

If EON claim you don't owe them any money that will be evidenced by them sending you a copy of the final bill which will show a zero balance. Have you obtained copies of all the bills between 2017 and now from them? So you can see that they were created and sent and had an increasing balance.

Could they be saying you don't owe them because the debt was passed on ?

eskbanker

HampshireH said:

definately

You really are 'H' then?

sourcrates

If you feel you don’t owe the debt, you can ask the court to re-open the case against you. 

You must show you have a genuine legal reason that you do not owe the money, which you have.

The first thing you would need to do is contact the court and ask them to set aside the CCJ by using form N244, in most cases, you will be charged a fee for this. 

However, if you are on a low income you can apply for remission of court fee`s by filling in court form EX160, and returning both forms to the court, so you may not have to pay anything.

Acting quickly will give you more chance of being successful provided you have a justifiable reason.

If the court agrees with your request to set aside the CCJ, you will have the chance to put forward your case. 

Remember, one application, for each judgement.

If the court finds you don’t owe the money, it will remove the CCJ from the Registry of Judgments, Orders and Fines. 

It will usually take around three to four weeks to complete this.

N-244 available here -

Form N244: Make an application to a court ('application notice') - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

EX160 available here -

Form EX160: Apply for help with court and tribunal fees - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

K_S

@sourcrates I hope this isn't a stupid question but if EON have agreed that the OP doesn't owe them any money, then wouldn't that be enough for the court to accept the same?