How to dispute a debt?

8bits

I have received a letter from debt collector about a gas bill that dates back from end of 2015 to early 2016. They then texted me a few days later about the same thing. I haven't replied yet.

What happened back then is that I moved to a flat, asked to switch right away and the current supplier (which was npower) refused to do the switch multiple times despite numerous calls etc. (because the previous tenant did not pay its bill, but this is not my concern as I had a new tenancy agreement).

It took them 3 months to do the switch, while I was paying one of their highest tariff.

In fact I posted about this back then : https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5382386/stuck-with-npower/p1

Once I switched supplier I started to pay the other supplier, like everything else. Then I received their bill, which was £300 for about 2 months of supply as I was away for one month. I thought this was way overpriced and unfair in how npower handled this. Additionally, my name was misspelled on the bill (and still is on the debt collector letter) so I decided not to pay at that time.

I can afford to pay the bill but I would like to contest it, as I still think the way npower handled this is not fair. What are my options? I don't want this to last for 6 months of dispute but I understand that by writing to them it might reset the time limit for which the debt would be statute barred which is in 6 months or so, so I am not sure what is the best option.

sourcrates

To take action through the courts, first they must send you a LBA (Letter before action) so you will be aware of any impending legal action, it would be unwise to acknowledge the debt at this late stage, especially if the amount is in dispute.

To be statute barred there must be a clear 6 year period without payment or written acknowledgement by you.

Are you positive the debt is with a collection agency, or a debt purchasing company, what name is it ?

Mistral001

If you used the gas, then you have to pay for it.  Did you use the gas that the gas company want you to now pay for?

8bits

sourcrates said:

To take action through the courts, first they must send you a LBA (Letter before action) so you will be aware of any impending legal action, it would be unwise to acknowledge the debt at this late stage, especially if the amount is in dispute.

To be statute barred there must be a clear 6 year period without payment or written acknowledgement by you.

Are you positive the debt is with a collection agency, or a debt purchasing company, what name is it ?

Thanks for the info. The letter is from Lowell, which says they bought the npower account. Is this what you mean by a "debt purchasing company"? What difference does it make?

Mistral001 said:

If you used the gas, then you have to pay for it.  Did you use the gas that the gas company want you to now pay for?

Of course I used the gas they provided, I didn't have the choice since they explicitly objected the switch multiple times. From what I have read, a switch shouldn't take more than 21 days. Do you think it is fair that I had to pay a non competitive price for 90 days for a provider I had not chosen? If the bill had been more reasonable I would have paid, but it just felt completely unfair.

Mistral001

8bits said:

sourcrates said:

To take action through the courts, first they must send you a LBA (Letter before action) so you will be aware of any impending legal action, it would be unwise to acknowledge the debt at this late stage, especially if the amount is in dispute.

To be statute barred there must be a clear 6 year period without payment or written acknowledgement by you.

Are you positive the debt is with a collection agency, or a debt purchasing company, what name is it ?

Thanks for the info. The letter is from Lowell, which says they bought the npower account. Is this what you mean by a "debt purchasing company"? What difference does it make?

Mistral001 said:

If you used the gas, then you have to pay for it.  Did you use the gas that the gas company want you to now pay for?

Of course I used the gas they provided, I didn't have the choice since they explicitly objected the switch multiple times. From what I have read, a switch shouldn't take more than 21 days. Do you think it is fair that I had to pay a non competitive price for 90 days for a provider I had not chosen? If the bill had been more reasonable I would have paid, but it just felt completely unfair.

If you used the gas you have to pay for it. I do not think there is any way round that in law on this one.  The law is not always what many people think is fair.  I would go to Citizens advice to get a professional opinion so that this matter is not prolonged any more and your interests are thus best served.  

sourcrates

Normally debt collectors only act on behalf of their clients, so are pretty much powerless to do anything, however a debt purchasing company such as Lowell, can take legal action in their own right.

Lowell will pretty much accept whatever you offer in monthly payments, but can be extremely litigious should they be ignored for a long period of time.

If you dispute the amount they are asking for, first send them the "provit letter", this is explicitly worded so as not to acknowledge liability in any way, important this close to being statute barred.

This will buy you some time, as they must obtain evidence of your liability, in this case it would be copy bills i would assume.

If they can produce evidence (by the way, you never, ever pay a debt a company says you owe without getting them to prove they have the legal right to ask you for payment) then you can decide whether to dispute the amount, or not.

Failure to provide any evidence renders  the debt unenforceable.

8bits

Alright, thank you very much for taking the time to answer.

I will have to think about what to do, but this is really helpful.

fatbelly

Just to add that although Lowell do take action on debts they have bought, they don't do it on everything. Their business model involves them buying the account for around 10% of the balance figure and this gives them room for debts to be unrecoverable or to be settled at a healthy discount.

Npower have long since become uninvolved in this debt, have taken the hit, and may not even be bothered to provide Lowell with evidence of what they bought. 

If Lowell do want to start court action, they must first send you a pre-action protocol pack with a standard reply form giving you 30 days. This is a chance for you to ask for paperwork and let them know that a claim will be defended. 

8bits

I see, good to know, thank you.

I find it surprising Lowell bought this particular debt and are contacting me now, just about 6 months before it will be statute barred. I assume they have assessed the probability I would pay is high...

Interestingly, I have moved home multiple times since this happened, they must have put some effort to find me (although I imagine this isn't that hard nowadays)

sourcrates

Debts are not bought individually, they are sold en masse, in large portfolios, maybe 2/3 thousand accounts at a time, whatever is on offer from the seller.

So Lowell, and others, don`t actually know what they are buying, they are "taking a punt" a gamble if you like, that what they buy will turn out to be productive for them.

Sometimes it is, often it isn`t.

No paperwork is passed on with these accounts, which is why its so important for the debtor to challenge the company when they write to you asking you to pay, for them to have the legal right to ask you for payment, they must provide evidence of your liability when asked, so many don`t ask, they go straight to "how can i pay this mode" thus missing the opportunity to find out if the debt is enforceable or not.

This is what Lowell, and others in the game, are hoping for, a quick turnaround, or a payment plan, they don`t like having to obtain paperwork, it bogs down there operation, sometimes once you've asked for proof, you never hear from the company again, because they just can`t be bothered to comply, as they know there is a good chance the debt will be unenforceable.

8bits

Thanks.

One last question I have is, how common it is to pay a reduced debt if you dispute it? Can you even ask this, or does disputing a debt means you don't recognise you owe any money?

Because I do understand I owe some money to npower as I used their energy, but on the other hands the fact they prevented the switch to happen, plus the non competive tariff for 3 months still annoys me to this day. I know I should probably have settled this with npower back then...