Scottish Power / PastDue Chasing Debt

Richie7

Hi, 

I hope someone can offer me some advice. I'll be as brief as possible.

In September 2018 my mum left Scottish Power and joined Bulb.

For the last 4 years nearly she hasn't heard a single thing from Scottish Power.

Out of the blue a month back she gets a letter from PastDue claiming she owes SP £100 and the debt has been passed onto them. To say this has upset her greatly is an understatement.

I contacted PastDue to check this wasn't fraud. It isn't. I have since contacted SP who say that her account was closed with an outstanding balance. They've provided me with the meter readings that are obviously now long out of date. They insist letters were sent regarding it.

I dispute this entirely. My mum would never ignore a debt letter.

So simply now I have PastDue harassing me 3 or 4 times daily via phone, and SP insisting that the £100 is a valid debt and demanding payment to close the account.

Does anyone have any advice on where I should go from here? I have told SP that we will not be paying this payment after all this time, I heavily dispute it and the time period it has taken for them to suddenly demand it.


Any help is greatly appreciated.


Regards,


Richard.

QrizB

Richie7 said:

Does anyone have any advice on where I should go from here? I have told SP that we will not be paying this payment after all this time, I heavily dispute it and the time period it has taken for them to suddenly demand it.

Debts aren't time barred until five (Scotland) or six (England/Wales) years have passed. See this thread for details. Until then, you can be pursued for repayment throught the courts, potentially resulting in a CCJ.

If you agree that you owe them the money, I would suggest the best option is to pay it.

Richie7

QrizB said:

Richie7 said:

Does anyone have any advice on where I should go from here? I have told SP that we will not be paying this payment after all this time, I heavily dispute it and the time period it has taken for them to suddenly demand it.

Debts aren't time barred until five (Scotland) or six (England/Wales) years have passed. See this thread for details. Until then, you can be pursued for repayment throught the courts, potentially resulting in a CCJ.

If you agree that you owe them the money, I would suggest the best option is to pay it.

Thanks for the response, I'll have a look.

And no I do not agree at all. Just literally springing this after 4 years with no notification, ticks every fraudulent box I can think of. They could have said I owed £200 or £500, anything they wanted a statement that my mum never received to show. I can remember switching to Bulb and closing the account and that was it.

Not a word was ever said about owing any money.

Then suddenly out the blue this.

I know SP's reputation is one of the worst companies for complaints in the country. Amazingly enough on a separate matter during the tenure they paid compensation because of a complaint. And here I am again.

QrizB

Richie7 said:

QrizB said:

Richie7 said:

Does anyone have any advice on where I should go from here? I have told SP that we will not be paying this payment after all this time, I heavily dispute it and the time period it has taken for them to suddenly demand it.

Debts aren't time barred until five (Scotland) or six (England/Wales) years have passed. See this thread for details. Until then, you can be pursued for repayment throught the courts, potentially resulting in a CCJ.

If you agree that you owe them the money, I would suggest the best option is to pay it.

Thanks for the response, I'll have a look.

And no I do not agree at all.

OK, you'll need to disprove their claim that you owe them money.

I contacted PastDue to check this wasn't fraud. It isn't. I have since contacted SP who say that her account was closed with an outstanding balance. They've provided me with the meter readings that are obviously now long out of date. They insist letters were sent regarding it.

If SP sent letters, it isn't a new bill and the back billing rules won't apply.

Check the meter readings they've provided now against your bills from the period and see if SP's claim stands up.

If you don't have copies of your bills I'm sure SP will be able to supply them.

[Deleted User]

Richie7 said:

QrizB said:

Richie7 said:

Does anyone have any advice on where I should go from here? I have told SP that we will not be paying this payment after all this time, I heavily dispute it and the time period it has taken for them to suddenly demand it.

Debts aren't time barred until five (Scotland) or six (England/Wales) years have passed. See this thread for details. Until then, you can be pursued for repayment throught the courts, potentially resulting in a CCJ.

If you agree that you owe them the money, I would suggest the best option is to pay it.

Just literally springing this after 4 years with no notification, ticks every fraudulent box I can think of. 

No fraudulent boxes appear to have been ticked, even those you can't think of.

It's within time, legitimate company, previous supplier, accurate contact details, postal communication, live phone numbers... none of those boxes have been ticked as fraudulent.

Ask for the evidence. If it's valid, make arrangements to repay.

Richie7

Deleted_User said:

Richie7 said:

QrizB said:

Richie7 said:

Does anyone have any advice on where I should go from here? I have told SP that we will not be paying this payment after all this time, I heavily dispute it and the time period it has taken for them to suddenly demand it.

Debts aren't time barred until five (Scotland) or six (England/Wales) years have passed. See this thread for details. Until then, you can be pursued for repayment throught the courts, potentially resulting in a CCJ.

If you agree that you owe them the money, I would suggest the best option is to pay it.

Just literally springing this after 4 years with no notification, ticks every fraudulent box I can think of. 

No fraudulent boxes appear to have been ticked, even those you can't think of.

It's within time, legitimate company, previous supplier, accurate contact details, postal communication, live phone numbers... none of those boxes have been ticked as fraudulent.

Ask for the evidence. If it's valid, make arrangements to repay.

There's nothing to pay as far as I'm concerned. I'm sure a company doesn't have a right after 4 years to pass a debt on to a collection agency with no notification of doing so either. Not even a phone call was ever received by mum. She's extremely upset over it, so they'll be paying her compensation to the tune of £100 if I have my way.

I'll contact the Citizens Advice to see what they say and pursue with the Ombudsman if I have to. 

QrizB

Richie7 said:

There's nothing to pay as far as I'm concerned. I'm sure a company doesn't have a right after 4 years to pass a debt on to a collection agency with no notification of doing so either. Not even a phone call was ever received by mum. She's extremely upset over it, so they'll be paying her compensation to the tune of £100 if I have my way.
I'll contact the Citizens Advice to see what they say and pursue with the Ombudsman if I have to. 

I expect Citizen's Advice will advise your mum to pay her bill.

Please let us know how it turns out.

Richie7

QrizB said:

Richie7 said:

QrizB said:

Richie7 said:

Does anyone have any advice on where I should go from here? I have told SP that we will not be paying this payment after all this time, I heavily dispute it and the time period it has taken for them to suddenly demand it.

Debts aren't time barred until five (Scotland) or six (England/Wales) years have passed. See this thread for details. Until then, you can be pursued for repayment throught the courts, potentially resulting in a CCJ.

If you agree that you owe them the money, I would suggest the best option is to pay it.

Thanks for the response, I'll have a look.

And no I do not agree at all.

OK, you'll need to disprove their claim that you owe them money.

I contacted PastDue to check this wasn't fraud. It isn't. I have since contacted SP who say that her account was closed with an outstanding balance. They've provided me with the meter readings that are obviously now long out of date. They insist letters were sent regarding it.

If SP sent letters, it isn't a new bill and the back billing rules won't apply.

Check the meter readings they've provided now against your bills from the period and see if SP's claim stands up.

If you don't have copies of your bills I'm sure SP will be able to supply them.

She can't check her bills she doesn't have them anymore. It was nearly 4 years ago, she only ever keeps paperwork for about 2 years. I'm sure I read on here too somewhere that was the recommended time advised.

Has a different bank account as well now, so won't even be able to see what she paid back then either.

This is from her own records I mean, why would she still have anything from a company she left about 4 years ago?

This is why it's ridiculous, they've just pulled this £100 debt out of nowhere after all this time. What's to stop any company doing that? I've also found in the last few hours other people talking about SP and this PastDue, being contacted out the blue saying they owe money. It all sounds like a scam the more I'm reading about it.

Thanks for the advice folks anyway, I'll pursue the CA next and see what they think about it.

I'll keep this thread updated incase it helps anyone else.

[Deleted User]

Richie7 said:

Deleted_User said:

Richie7 said:

QrizB said:

Richie7 said:

Does anyone have any advice on where I should go from here? I have told SP that we will not be paying this payment after all this time, I heavily dispute it and the time period it has taken for them to suddenly demand it.

Debts aren't time barred until five (Scotland) or six (England/Wales) years have passed. See this thread for details. Until then, you can be pursued for repayment throught the courts, potentially resulting in a CCJ.

If you agree that you owe them the money, I would suggest the best option is to pay it.

Just literally springing this after 4 years with no notification, ticks every fraudulent box I can think of. 

No fraudulent boxes appear to have been ticked, even those you can't think of.

It's within time, legitimate company, previous supplier, accurate contact details, postal communication, live phone numbers... none of those boxes have been ticked as fraudulent.

Ask for the evidence. If it's valid, make arrangements to repay.

I'm sure a company doesn't have a right after 4 years to pass a debt on to a collection agency with no notification of doing so either. 

They absolutely do. On what basis do you believe they don't?

Robin9

You need to go back to SP - in writing, don't phone -  and ask them to prove it. Keep emotion out of it - you just need facts.

Initially you will need to follow their complaints procedure  - only after that has failed and you have a deadlock letter can you go to the Ombudsman

Does your mum still have access to her SP online account ?

Ultrasonic

Richie7 said:

Has a different bank account as well now, so won't even be able to see what she paid back then either.

This is from her own records I mean, why would she still have anything from a company she left about 4 years ago?

I'm afraid this thread actually demonstrates why. Not having bank statements from then is concerning too. Not helpful right now I know but I would encourage a change for the future here. 

As it stands I fear it's going to be hard to prove the money isn't owed. Ask SP for their evidence in case it's obviously wrong somehow though.