Energy company and debt collector troubles 10 September 2021 at 3:08PM in Credit file & ratings 8 replies 155 views

Adly812

My niece has turned to me for advice and I’m really uncertain how best to advise her. She rents out a house and there was a 6 week gap between tenancies, the estate agent didn’t give her meter reads at the inventory checks and because it’s her first house she didn’t think to ask about it. Covid was also surfacing so after the new tenant moved in, the topic was forgotten and I guess the turmoil of covid kept us all busy with other things. 

Almost 1.5 years later her tenant gave her a pile of unopened post. Inside was a letter for the legal owner,  from a debt agency collector asking for £74.71 for the energy in the 6 week period. There were no letters from the energy company at all with a bill though. But it seems they had Instructed the debt collector literally 8 weeks upon not getting paid. 

having phoned the energy company, she got told the account was with the debt collector and to call them on a number (which did not match the only debt collectors letter she has, nor the name of the debt collector).

now this new debt collector has never written to her address. She’s in a turmoil as she doesn’t want to start ringing up debt collectors trying to figure out which ones looking for the monies and scared two debt collectors might be asking for payments, but really wants to resolve this to avoid future issues. The only letter she has is near 1.5 years old now. 

i have no idea what to tell her, any advice for this? Can she go back to the energy people and pay it and tell them to solve the debt collectors ? 

MaryNB

She would have had to set up an account with the energy company to cover the 6 weeks. There's no one else who would have had to pay the bills, not the letting agency or tenants either side. It was a big oversight on her part. 

 Is she sure that tenant gave her all the letters? It's not uncommon for tenants to just stick letters for previous occupants in a drawer somewhere or throw them out.  Where I lived previously the upstairs neighbours never took in their landlord's post, it was always left in a pile in the communal area. 

She may still be able to pay the energy company. She should discuss it with them and pay it asap. By the sounds of it all she can do is pay the debt and not make the same mistake again. 

Adly812

It was a huge oversight yes and at least she’ll never make this mistake again. As far as she’s aware all the mail was given to her from the tenant. It was during covid, saw we did see a lot of disruption with post etc. Nevertheless she’s just got the debt collectors letter and puzzled it all from that. Nothing else to go from and because they are not the same debt collector, I’m assuming the debt collector passed it back to the energy company when they didn’t here anything.

Provided she actually can pay the energy company, is there still a chance that the debt collector might try and get in touch again about it. She’s not had anything off them she’s aware of, but it’s a thought I had which might happen ?

MaryNB

Adly812 said:

It was a huge oversight yes and at least she’ll never make this mistake again. As far as she’s aware all the mail was given to her from the tenant. It was during covid, saw we did see a lot of disruption with post etc. Nevertheless she’s just got the debt collectors letter and puzzled it all from that. Nothing else to go from and because they are not the same debt collector, I’m assuming the debt collector passed it back to the energy company when they didn’t here anything.

Provided she actually can pay the energy company, is there still a chance that the debt collector might try and get in touch again about it. She’s not had anything off them she’s aware of, but it’s a thought I had which might happen ?

Once she pays off the debt there's no reason for the debt collection agency to be in touch. I'm not sure how energy companies usually use collection agencies. Who she pays will depend if the debt has been sold onto the debt collection agency or if the debt collection agency has been instructed to collect on behalf of the energy company. 

She's best off contacting the energy company directly and liaising with them to determine the best way to pay off the debt. It's a very small debt so I don't expect the debt collection agency is chasing her with much enthusiasm (I replaced a woman in a rental that owed Eon £1,700).

MaryNB

Also in future she should take photos of the meters after tenants move out and before the next lot move in just to avoid any disputes over usage. 

sourcrates

I doubt the energy company will have much interest in this, they usually sell bad debts within a few months, as they have neither the time nor the staff to deal with them.

Also £75 quid doesn't buy you much of the DCA`s time either, a couple of letters at best, it won`t be pursued for long as there is little value to the debt.

If anyone writes to you again, respond with the "provit" letter, (available from the sticky thread on DFW) a debt collector/purchaser must provide evidence of liability when asked in writing, so stay off the phone.

Until then just carry on as normal, this debt should not appear on her credit file, so I wouldn`t lose sleep over it if I were you.

Most likely won`t rear its head again.

Adly812

Thank you, I’ve passed on your advice. She’s just a bit worried that interest starts accumulating, so if the debt recovery collectors ever do catch up with her she might have hundreds/thousands accumulated in interest. 

The debt collector that Spark said has the account now, has actually never written to the address… well as far as she’s aware. She said her tenant passed over all the post he had. 

I told her to hold off phoning Spark again, but I’m not certain if it’s best to insist on trying to just clear the balance outstanding with Spark and then if the debt collector ever contacts her, she could say it’s paid. 

Or if she tries to ring a debt collector… who has never actually contacted her to volunteer paying them. . 

sourcrates

You cannot add interest to any debt, unless the original agreement allows you to do so.

Some agreements do allow this, but usually only if a CCJ is obtained first, and the court orders it.

Once a debt defaults, the balance gets frozen.

99.9% of debts chased by debt collectors, original creditors, or new debt purchasers, do not and cannot charge you interest. 

Only a debts original owner can charge interest, and that`s only if the above applies.

Adly812

Thank you so much for clarifying this. You’ve been so helpful.