British Gas sold my personal data to Lowell

wrf12345

Given the stress this nonsense causes I would be looking for a couple of hundred thou in compensation... but given the power of big business I would not expect to get it, things getting much worse now we no longer have the protection of EU bodies, only the rather hapless ombudsmen.

I would contact one of the national newspapers, stories about big energy companies ignoring the ombudsmen and trying to steal money from past customers go down well with editors.

[Deleted User]

wrf12345 said:

Given the stress this nonsense causes I would be looking for a couple of hundred thou in compensation... but given the power of big business I would not expect to get it, things getting much worse now we no longer have the protection of EU bodies, only the rather hapless ombudsmen.

I would contact one of the national newspapers, stories about big energy companies ignoring the ombudsmen and trying to steal money from past customers go down well with editors.

We are talking about a dispute in respect of less than £100 here. There isn't a hope of any company paying out £100Ks in compensation. Which particular EU body would have offered protection: I am not aware of any? If the OP is so sure of his case then he has the right to offer a defence to the Court. 

This is nothing more than a simple accounting error which is easily solved if the correct processes are solved. These sort of things happen in all organisations.

wrf12345

"Which particular EU body would have offered protection: I am not aware of any?"

I wrote an energy company a letter stating I was going to refer the matter to the "The European Bureau of Consumer Affairs" and I was astonished to get a phone call the next morning, literally within an hour of the letter arriving (I would guess), telling me that the matter had been settled in my favour and please not bother our European friends. The UK Ombudsman is treated as a laughing stock by energy co's.

It is only £100 but having debt collectors set on you for no reason, especially after they agreed the matter was fully resolved, is a huge stress for many honest citizens who always pay their bills, etc... so a couple of hundred grand sounds about right and will stop it happening again.

PennyForThem_2

If you think your peronnal data has been 'sold' without your consent then you need to report that with evidence to the Information Commissioner.  If you are unsure then talk to them as you can telephone or email etc.

https://ico.org.uk/

Router66

@powerful_Rogue - Have also warned them I will charge £250 for every breach if they use my personal data to pursue me.
You know it doesn't work like that right?

I started this thread to learn how it is supposed to work...

I am very appreciative of all those who have contributed so far.

@apodemus
@Dolor
@fatbelly

Note the caveat about the 6 year rule.
At what point does the clock start ticking? GB claim the debt occurred through a system error on my November 2016 final invoice but they only brought it to my attention on 30/11/2017. Furthermore, BG state that they adhere to the Ofgem Back Billing Code of Practice under which they will not chase debts where the Bill has been issued more than 12 months after the energy usage occurred.

The OP seems focused on arguing that there has been a breach of data protection.

British Gas has sold all my personal data to Lowell for the purpose of harassing me over the next 6 years...I have read in social media that the courts are being used by debt collectors as a threat in order to obtain payment. Regardless of whether or not the debt is valid, many consumers simply pay up to avoid court action or 6 years of harassment. I think my trying to avoid this is worth focussing on?

@stewie_griffin
@frank901

Did the Ombudsman rule the alleged debt was invalid and that BG had to remove it? Do you still have a copy of the report from the Ombudsman?

Yes, I still have a copy of the report; to quote “I am of the view that British Gas hasn’t been able to show that the debt of £71.84 was valid.”

NB. BG reduced the debt to £71.84 from £95.79 (25% discount) but then sold a debt of £95.79 to Lowell.

@pinkelephant12
@pinkelephant12
This is the action I would take in your  situation

1. Will do
2. Will do
3. Taken from the Ombudsman’s Report... “ As shown in the report from the ICO, they were satisfied that British Gas hadn’t complied with their Data Protection obligations. It is not within the remit of Ombudsman Services: Energy to comment on such breaches, but I can look at what detriment they had to you.
4. Already under consideration

@wrf12345

@dolor

Is the amount of the dispute the key point here? (the below case transcript shows BG getting a good spanking in court)

Lisa Maria Angela Ferguson v British Gas Trading Ltd: CA (Civ Div) (Lords Justice Sedley, Jacob, Lloyd): 10 February 2009

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-zGrQpNU1w

Lisa Ferguson won her case, and was awarded £10K. The disputed debt was £250...

 

If my 999 credit score is trashed through BG selling my personal data without carrying out due diligence, then I will certainly consider a claim in the small claims court.

 

Thanks to all for your contributions...I hope I have answered all the points raised.

MWT

Router66 said:

Furthermore, BG state that they adhere to the Ofgem Back Billing Code of Practice under which they will not chase debts where the Bill has been issued more than 12 months after the energy usage occurred.

It is not when the bill was issued that matters with regard to the back-billing rules, it is when the energy used was billed.

So for example if they make a mistake in the balance shown on a bill, but the bill correctly shows the energy consumed then they get 6 years to sort it out....

If they fail to bill for a part of your consumption and then over 12 months later revise the amount used upwards they cannot issue a new bill for that additional amount, but there is a wrinkle, if you were making DD payments during that time, or they made a refund to you, they can use those payments or reverse the refund to cover the additional use, as long as they don't require you to send more money they are within the back-billing rules.

[Deleted User]

We didn’t have the Ofgem BackBilling Code in 2016. It was a voluntary code until May 2018. 

The OP is clearly someone on a mission.

[Deleted User]

wrf12345 said:

"Which particular EU body would have offered protection: I am not aware of any?"

I wrote an energy company a letter stating I was going to refer the matter to the "The European Bureau of Consumer Affairs" and I was astonished to get a phone call the next morning, literally within an hour of the letter arriving (I would guess), telling me that the matter had been settled in my favour and please not bother our European friends. The UK Ombudsman is treated as a laughing stock by energy co's.

It is only £100 but having debt collectors set on you for no reason, especially after they agreed the matter was fully resolved, is a huge stress for many honest citizens who always pay their bills, etc... so a couple of hundred grand sounds about right and will stop it happening again.

That is interesting. The site you have quoted suggests that it does not deal with energy-related complaints. Quoting from a follow on page:

National regulatory authorities

Your rights as an energy consumer in the EU have to be set out in the national laws of your country. For more information contact your national regulatory authority which must ensure that consumers are protected in line with EU law.

A moot point as we are no longer part of the EU.

Router66

Thank you for this helpful explanation @MWT
The situation with BG became very complicated; I moved to a new supplier on 9th November 2016 and the last transaction was with BG was on 21st November 2016. My account was closed by BG (access denied) on the 8th May 2017 with a zero balance. 
BG sent me a notification on 30th November 2017 advising that they overpaid me by £95.79 on the 24th November 2016 and they would send me an amended bill discounted by 25%. The next contact from BG was on 7th October 2018 advising that my new bill was available to see online, however since BG had closed my online account on 8th May 2017 I had no access to the amended bill promised on the 29th November 2017. On 24th October 2018 BG attempted to collect £71.84 from my account without any warning. This attempt was blocked and I raised a complaint against BG for misuse of my personal data. On the 21st November 2018 BG confirmed by Email that a Specialist Team had investigated my complaint and found the £95.79 debited to my account was added inaccurately and would be removed. On the 28th November 2018 BG posted a final statement to me which showed a zero balance. I pursued my complaint for misuse of my data which was upheld by the ICO investigator. The ombudsman also investigated my case and found there was no debt owed to BG.
I guess that, as you seem to suggest, BG have not fallen foul of the back-billing rules, but I believe they will struggle to make a case for re-introducing the debt.  

MWT

Router66 said:

I guess that, as you seem to suggest, BG have not fallen foul of the back-billing rules, but I believe they will struggle to make a case for re-introducing the debt.  

Agreed, you don't need the back-billing rules to deal with this one.