BW Legal Debt for Eon 20 January 2022 at 11:03AM in Debt-free wannabe 6 replies 402 views

uber1234567890

I got a letter from a debt collection letter BW Legal in Dec 2021 asking for money from Eon for when I left the property. The property was sold by my dad in 2017 and I used to live with him, the debt and letter is in my name.

Here is a summary:
- I was a customers of Eon prior to Oct 2017 and they are claiming for money between Nov 2017 and Dec 2017.
- When we moved out in the Oct 2017  I closed the account but I dont have that bill to hand
- I received a letter from BW Legal (working for PRAC, which apparently bought the debt from EON).
- They claim I owe £70 for the period of Nov 2017 and Dec 2017, which we were not living in the property anymore.

- They are offering a discounted price to settle, which we can easily afford, but I do not think it's fair, given that it is not my debt.

I have sent the "prove it letter" in December but got another letter saying they haven't received any correspondances from me. As per advice from members of this forum I was going to send the prove it letter again and details of my original letter as it was sent via recorded delivery (details such as who signed for it, when it was recieved etc).

I got another letter now asking me to provide information to say that I was not living there/sold the property (just like another user on this forum, suggested they found my prove it letter).

BW Legal write

' Please be advised upon the purchase of this debt our client has used credit reference agencies to trace the supply address in an attempt to identify who was resident during the supply period and the current residence of that individual.

The trace result returned showed that you were linked to the property during the period of supply which is why we have contacted you. This indicates that links were retained at the property for you during some or all of the supply period - even if you had moved out of the property. If this is incorrect, we want to resolve this quickly for you and it would be helpful if you could assist us by providing evidence of your move out or sale of the property.

In an effort to resolve this for you we would appreciate if you could assist us by providing evidence that you are not liable for this - such as a checkout report ,final council tax bill, new tenancy agreement or confirmation of property sale any email or correspondence providing or paying final meter reads.

Once this information has been received we will quickly be able to update our records to confirm you are not resident at the time of supply and close our account and will not contact you again.

We thank you in advance for any assistance on the matter we would also note this matter.

We also note, this matter concerns an unpaid utility bill not a regulated consumer credit agreement or consumer hire agreement as a result it is not within the jurisdiction of the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). This is in accordance with the rules under which FOS operates (the DISP Rules) as said by the Financial Conduct Authority have (FCA). If you do refer to this matter to FOS they will be unable to assist you.

We note that you may wish to refer to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). We hope the information we have now provided has put your mind at ease and explained how and why we contacted you with additional information available in our privacy notice on our website  (…) however if you have a complaint about how we have handled your personal data please contact us and allow us to respond in accordance with our complaints procedure published on our website should you require any further assistance etc etc.'

How and what do I reply back with? Do I speak with my solicitor who facilitated the selling of my dad's house (the address in question) and get written confirmation? Plus confirmation from them that I was living with my dad and then moved out with him in Oct 2017?

sourcrates

I see you have had some progress with this, just always keep in the front of your mind, the onus is on them to prove you owe the debt.

You do not have to prove anything, having said that, if you have evidence you were not resident at the time, now would be a good time to produce it, but if you don`t they must prove you are liable for this debt, so your best bet would be to dispute the matter in writing.

TripleH

Where did you move to?

Do you have evidence of a new electricity supplier at a new address (from November 2017 onwards).

I know it doesn't prove definitively that you don't owe the money (not saying I think you do) but it helps demonstrate you had moved on from the old address.

uber1234567890

TripleH said:

Where did you move to?

Do you have evidence of a new electricity supplier at a new address (from November 2017 onwards).

I know it doesn't prove definitively that you don't owe the money (not saying I think you do) but it helps demonstrate you had moved on from the old address.

  I will need to find the new suppliers letter.

I sent an email today to the solicitors that dealt with the selling (property in question) and buying of the new property asking if they can provide me proof so I will see if they will respond back.

I will try to see if the council can provide a copy of the final council tax bill but that will be in my father's name and not mine.

uber1234567890

Update

After requesting my solicitors, I have received a letter from the solicitors to confirm that my dad sold the property (the address this debt is against) on the date which is before the starting period of the debt.

However, the debt is against my name but the letter says this property was sold. I will include a cover letter to say that this letter from my solicitors shows that this property was sold before the during of the debt and I was no longer living there.

Should I include anything else in the cover letter?

Also should I send this by recorded delivery?

Thanks

uber1234567890

Here is a letter I have draft, if anyone could review it and provide any updates/feedback that would be greatly appreciated.

Dear Sir/Madam,

In regards to your request of providing documents showing that the debt of £ for the property in question (property address) during the period of 2017-2018 was not created and therefore owned by Mr X, I have enclosed a letter from my solicitors showing that the property (property address) was sold before the period of debt had started. The property was sold on the 2017 which is before the start date of the period of the debt. 

I hope this letter from my solictors shows and therefore clears my name from the debt as I was no longer living in the property in question during the accumlation of the debt during the stated period.

Please could you confirm that you will clear my name from this debt and if any default, adverse information, or account details have been reported to the Credit Reference Agencies regarding this account, I require you to remove any such information forthwith.

sourcrates

A much simpler response would be this -

To whom it may concern,

I have no knowledge of any such debt being owed to Eon.

Be aware that this account is in dispute, ignoring claims that debts have been settled or are disputed and continuing to make unjustified demands for payment is harassment.

I am under no obligation whatsoever to provide your company with any proof of any liability or otherwise for this debt, the onus is always on you, the creditor to prove to me that it is lawfully owed.

However, to bring this matter to a speedy conclusion, please find enclosed a letter from my solicitor detailing why liability is denied.

If any adverse information has been added to my credit file, I trust such information will be removed forthwith, otherwise an official complaint will be registered with you.

I trust this now concludes this matter.