Ombudsman Services verdict favouring me, still utility company harassing me! What steps to take?

TerryMSE

sujsuj said:

TerryMSE said:

letters addressed as Owner/Occupier are not addressed to you, they are junk mail, if you respond to one of these letters and open up dialog and give them your name you open up a contact for them and they then mail to your name.
They can not send a dept collector to your address looking for Owner/Occupier, so I would do nothing even though it is annoying.
Has a dept collector knocked your door and asked for you in name and reffered to the case you mention ?

dept collector  is at gate showing the address, not focusing on the name!!
they were outside your gate in 3 vehicles including pick-up truck asking to get access to your property, what you will do..??Tried to get police help > response was they will not intervene civil matters

Dept collector has no right to entry, if you invite them into your home or let them enter peacefully they then have the right to be there.
If you do not open the door they can not gain entry, speak to them through an open window they can not get through, ask them what name they are looking for.
However some thing does not sit right with all this.
If the dept collector is at your door they have a name and a warrant to collect funds owing or retrieve goods.
If the name on the warrant is not yours you simply have to show them ID with your name and that address to clear the matter up.

If the name on the warrant is yours then they have been given information to say you owe a dept and been to court to get a warrant, 
If you have evidence to say the person collecting the dept from you got it wrong you must produce this to the Dept collector, BUT AGAIN DO NOT LET THEM IN YOUR HOME.
Once you have shown them evidence they should contact there office for further info.

But why have you waited till it gets to the point of Dept collectors coming with a warrant to remove goods ?

TerryMSE

sujsuj said:

TerryMSE said:

letters addressed as Owner/Occupier are not addressed to you, they are junk mail, if you respond to one of these letters and open up dialog and give them your name you open up a contact for them and they then mail to your name.
They can not send a dept collector to your address looking for Owner/Occupier, so I would do nothing even though it is annoying.
Has a dept collector knocked your door and asked for you in name and reffered to the case you mention ?

dept collector  is at gate showing the address, not focusing on the name!!
they were outside your gate in 3 vehicles including pick-up truck asking to get access to your property, what you will do..??Tried to get police help > response was they will not intervene civil matters

You say letters are adressed to Owner/occupier ?
Is this correct or are they addressed to you ?
Dept collector can not get a warrant for owner/occupier 
Dept collector can not take goods from you under owner/occupier.

If dept collector has a warrant to remove goods what name is on it you must have a copy
You must of also received a letter in a name at your address from them to say they will be getting a warrant to remove goods, whose name was on that letter ?

With out the full information it is difficult to help you

TerryMSE

If you know who the dept is owed to and your name is on the agreement you need to obtain this information from the company claiming you owe the money and what the dept is for.
If for utilities such as gas/electric and you was not being supplied by the company then you must have bills from your supplier for the dates they are saying you did not pay.

Have you contacted Citizens Advice Bureau  for help ?

sujsuj

EssexHebridean said:

sujsuj said:

MattMattMattUK said:

sujsuj said:

I was wrongly chased by a utility company  and I complained to Ombudsman Services which upheld my complaint and asked utility provider to remove my contacts  and asked never contact me. 6 months after this  they are still doing it and restarted harassment using debt collectors. What legal steps I can take..?

1. I never been customer of this Utility company
2. Still they are sending letters addressed as Owner/Occupier
3. Ombudsman services verdict clearly stated I am not responsible and I should be never contacted again
4. Ombudsman services verdict is violated

I never thought Ombudsman is such a toothless tiger and can't enforce their verdicts. What are my options..? Please help

If the letters are being sent to "Owner/Occupier" then technically they are not being send to you.

Can you explain to us what this debt relates to, a previous owner's or tenant's bill, an incorrect switch etc?

It seems that debt is related to one of the address around me as this they  got their database all screwed up. I have seem many  online news about them as well..

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2019/aug/07/scottish-power-energy-account-bills-bailiffs

Ombudsman concluded with help of national database Ecoes that this Utility t the supplier of the address. Also based on my evidence they concluded I will be responsible for the debt. Utility company appealed decision after review appeal was rejected by Ombudsman services and retained original decision.

Remedy 1

Provide you an apology for the shortfalls in service. 

Remedy 2

Send you a direct credit of £100.00 as a gesture of goodwill. 

Remedy 3

Remove your personal details, such as  name, email and telephone number from the debt collection agency
 to ensure you receive no more reminder letters or correspondence for the incorrect address.

Remedy 4

Ensure remove your name and personal details from their records.

Now 3 & 4 above are violated. What legal action I can take..? I don't want this to go unpunished. This given me lots of headache and I am dragged into a case I never should have been part of..

If they are writing to “owner/occupier”, and not phoning, emailing or personally addressing correspondence to “Mr Sujsuj” , how are 3 & 4 being violated? 

You’ve already screwed £100 comp out of them - if you really want more then I suggest you engage a solicitor. 

If a debt collector turns up at your door trying to get access, then I suggest you don’t open the door, or if you open it without realising who’s there, simply say “no - there is no debt owing, now leave my premises” and shut the door again. However, as a debt is personal to a individual, and NOT the issue of a particular address, it would be beyond unlikely that any DCA would send anyone round. Quite frankly, you’re creating stress for yourself by catastrophising all these different scenarios - focus on the facts that people have consistently been providing you with instead. 

The next letter that arrives, “return to sender” with a clear note on the outside reading “there has been no account with this supplier at this address in the time of the current occupier’s ownership” (or tenure if a rental). 

You are forgetting the fact that it is no more letters alone... I had 3 vehicle convoy parked outside my Gate asking to get entry.. If this is not scary, not sure what is...I am not used to any debt collectors in my life.

TerryMSE

If a debt isn't yours, you can dispute it. You have 30 days to take action on a debt validation letter. If you take no action, the creditor can assume the debt is valid and move forward trying to collect it.

Which it looks like you did.
However if you have been through the ombudsman and they ruled in your favour it looks like you will need to

Apply to court to stop a bailiff

If a bailiff has behaved so badly you don’t think they should be allowed to be a bailiff any more, it can be worth applying to court to have their certificate taken away. This will stop them working as a bailiff - they’ll stop contacting you and you won’t have to pay their fees.

contact your nearest citizens advice for help if you’re considering court action against bailiffs. An adviser can discuss the options with you.

EssexHebridean

sujsuj said:

EssexHebridean said:

sujsuj said:

MattMattMattUK said:

sujsuj said:

I was wrongly chased by a utility company  and I complained to Ombudsman Services which upheld my complaint and asked utility provider to remove my contacts  and asked never contact me. 6 months after this  they are still doing it and restarted harassment using debt collectors. What legal steps I can take..?

1. I never been customer of this Utility company
2. Still they are sending letters addressed as Owner/Occupier
3. Ombudsman services verdict clearly stated I am not responsible and I should be never contacted again
4. Ombudsman services verdict is violated

I never thought Ombudsman is such a toothless tiger and can't enforce their verdicts. What are my options..? Please help

If the letters are being sent to "Owner/Occupier" then technically they are not being send to you.

Can you explain to us what this debt relates to, a previous owner's or tenant's bill, an incorrect switch etc?

It seems that debt is related to one of the address around me as this they  got their database all screwed up. I have seem many  online news about them as well..

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2019/aug/07/scottish-power-energy-account-bills-bailiffs

Ombudsman concluded with help of national database Ecoes that this Utility t the supplier of the address. Also based on my evidence they concluded I will be responsible for the debt. Utility company appealed decision after review appeal was rejected by Ombudsman services and retained original decision.

Remedy 1

Provide you an apology for the shortfalls in service. 

Remedy 2

Send you a direct credit of £100.00 as a gesture of goodwill. 

Remedy 3

Remove your personal details, such as  name, email and telephone number from the debt collection agency
 to ensure you receive no more reminder letters or correspondence for the incorrect address.

Remedy 4

Ensure remove your name and personal details from their records.

Now 3 & 4 above are violated. What legal action I can take..? I don't want this to go unpunished. This given me lots of headache and I am dragged into a case I never should have been part of..

If they are writing to “owner/occupier”, and not phoning, emailing or personally addressing correspondence to “Mr Sujsuj” , how are 3 & 4 being violated? 

You’ve already screwed £100 comp out of them - if you really want more then I suggest you engage a solicitor. 

If a debt collector turns up at your door trying to get access, then I suggest you don’t open the door, or if you open it without realising who’s there, simply say “no - there is no debt owing, now leave my premises” and shut the door again. However, as a debt is personal to a individual, and NOT the issue of a particular address, it would be beyond unlikely that any DCA would send anyone round. Quite frankly, you’re creating stress for yourself by catastrophising all these different scenarios - focus on the facts that people have consistently been providing you with instead. 

The next letter that arrives, “return to sender” with a clear note on the outside reading “there has been no account with this supplier at this address in the time of the current occupier’s ownership” (or tenure if a rental). 

You are forgetting the fact that it is no more letters alone... I had 3 vehicle convoy parked outside my Gate asking to get entry.. If this is not scary, not sure what is...I am not used to any debt collectors in my life.

Ok - so when you engaged with them exactly what did they say? 

If they turn up again, then you ask them who they are looking for, and only if they say your name, do you need to engage. If they say “the occupier of this property” you can ask them for the NAME that the debt they are enforcing is in. If they cannot provide that, then they need to go away again. However, if they’re simply parked on the public highway, there’s nothing wrong with that. If they are there repeatedly for no apparent reason then personally I’d be reporting them to the police (using the NON emergency number!) as behaving suspiciously.

I find it incredibly hard to believe that ANY DCA is going to go to the extent of the waste of money that would be involved in sending so many people to a property to collect a debt when they don’t even have a name to enforce against, I’m afraid. It simply doesn’t make sense. 

wild666

sujsuj said:

I was wrongly chased by a utility company  and I complained to Ombudsman Services which upheld my complaint and asked utility provider to remove my contacts  and asked never contact me. 6 months after this  they are still doing it and restarted harassment using debt collectors. What legal steps I can take..?

1. I never been customer of this Utility company
2. Still they are sending letters addressed as Owner/Occupier
3. Ombudsman services verdict clearly stated I am not responsible and I should be never contacted again
4. Ombudsman services verdict is violated

I never thought Ombudsman is such a toothless tiger and can't enforce their verdicts. What are my options..? Please help

Just send them back not known at this address. 

wild666

If possible if they have vans and cars parked outside then take the registration numbers of the vehicles, if you can. they won't want you to do that but photography in a public space it totally legal. I would also ask them for ID and if they don't provide it just stop any contact with them, if they keep banging on the door phone the police and tell them someone is trying to break in and you are in fear for your life, Plod will be round in no time and possibly tell them to leave or be arrested.

Gerry1

wild666 said:

Plod will be round in no time and possibly tell them to leave or be arrested.

MWT

wild666 said:

... if they keep banging on the door phone the police and tell them someone is trying to break in and you are in fear for your life, Plod will be round in no time and possibly tell them to leave or be arrested.

... or give you a warning for wasting Police time by not telling them the whole story...