How do I get Scottish Power to stop sending bills that aren't mine?

DinosaurRawr

I moved into a property in March 2022. Very quickly I became the Harry Potter of debt collectors for the previous resident. I'll try to make this as concise as possible but its not a short story.

For a few months, I put the letters back in the post box with return to sender. Apparently that doesn't work so I started opening the letters and contacting the collection agencies via phone, online chat and letter. They were relatively easy to deal with - I even had a written apology from one of them. All of them stopped except Scottish Power.

I've read a lot of stories about SP persistence in these situations. I have had bailiffs turn up twice in August, one from a private company and one from the high court. Both times I provided ID and told them this person doesn't live here and the bailiffs left without issue. 

I haven't had any letters for a few months now but today I've received three bills totalling over £5k (two gas with different dates and one electric). Enough to force insolvency on that alone. I'm aware of £10k of debt across all of these companies. There's nothing on the insolvency register as of today. 


The extent of my contact with SP:
1. Sent back letters unopened marked "RTS not at this address" for the first three months.
2. Phoned SP twice and got nowhere because I'm not the account holder.
3. Began opening the bills (It said SP on the envelope and I didn't check the name...) Sent three letters to SP with the bills enclosed. Told them to stop and any further letters will be considered harassment. Gave them the address of who to contact for a forwarding address.
4. Told two bailiffs they don't live here. Spoke to the county court after the second bailiff who advised the Warrants of Control are illegal to execute on me and what to do if a bailiff tries it. 

Regrettably I didn't send any letters recorded and I don't have the dates I sent them. 


The facts:

• The bills are dated before I moved in and say "final bill." I can prove the day I moved in with a tenancy. 
• I have not provided my tenancy agreement to SP because I don't feel I should have to. 
• I have photographs of the meters from the day I moved in.
• I am a SP customer. I have been paying the bills since March 2022. None of the debt is in my name. 
• I called SP a day or two after I moved in to open (not transfer) an account in my name and gave them the readings. 
• Gas is a credit meter, electric is a prepay. 
• There was no debt on the electric when I moved in but the bill is for £2400. SP asked if there was debt on the meter when I set the account up and I told them no because it wasn't showing debt. The meter is no reclaiming debt when I top it up.
• Approx 4-5 months ago, SP sent a letter advising they registered a credit default against this person the week before the bailiffs visited.
• I have given SP the address three times of who to contact to get a forwarding address. 
• The first letter arrived mid March 2022 so I'm about 9 months into this.

What I need help with:

• Does MSE have a template letter for complaining about this sort of thing? 
• Can anyone give me pointers on what I need to include? Legislation to look up etc. 
• Do I have recourse on the point of harassment? Does this meet the legal definition of harassment? I told them in writing to stop sending bills twice but I have no proof of postage or receipt. Would I be entitled to compensation, especially as I felt "scared, distressed and threatened" when the bailiffs turned up?
• I've read reports of SP themselves breaking into properties to install prepay meters. Where do I stand on that? It'll be pretty difficult anyway as I live in a secure building with an intercom system. 
• This is a speculative question. I need an unresolvable complaint with SP before I can contact OFGEM. I also know OFGEM are aware of SP harassing people and are allowing it to continue. Would the FCA have any regulatory authority with regards to improper financial conduct or is energy solely under OFGEM?

I can deal with the bailiffs and legal issues around that. I'm pretty good at reading and applying legislation so I just need to know what laws and OFGEM rules apply to this situation. I don't want to go down the CAB route for something I can probably do myself. Everything I've come across online refers to a supplier and the account holder. There isn't anything for non-account holders

I'm beyond wanting this to stop on a personal level. Something needs to be done about SP. Perhaps I should raise it with my MP and see if they can get OFGEM to take action (I won't hold my breath). 

Apologies for the long post. Any advice is welcome. 

SAC2334

It is standard practice to provide a copy of the tenancy agreement as proof of tenancy when there is a dispute over tenancy dates 
How else can a supplier ascertain the truth of the old occupiers leaving date or if he/she has actually left and has not just provided another tenants name who s living with you 
Why do you feel that you don t need to supply the tenancy agreement ?

Advice is to comply with SP and send in a copy of the Tenancy Agreement .Its a very reasonable request IMO

[Deleted User]

SAC2334 said:

It is standard practice to provide a copy of the tenancy agreement as proof of tenancy when there is a dispute over tenancy dates 
How else can a supplier ascertain the truth of the old occupiers leaving date or if he/she has actually left and has not just provided another tenants name who s living with you 
Why do you feel that you don t need to supply the tenancy agreement ?

Advice is to comply with SP and send in a copy of the Tenancy Agreement .Its a very reasonable request IMO

I agree. The OP has made life unnecessarily difficult for himself. Clearly, the present occupant has just left the property and not provided a meter reading or a date of leaving. If the OP can show evidence as to  when he became legally responsible for the property, then all his problems go away.

For the OP, Ofgem does not deal with consumer complaints. All escalated complaints are handled by a private arbitration company - Energy Ombudsman Services. In the circumstances described, I would hope that EOS would deem the supplier’s actions to have been reasonable. 

MovingForwards

I emailed the CEO and it got handed to a different complaints department to resolve. 

Jyana

I had this at my previous address, though that was around twenty years ago. I just passed it all over to my landlord's agent as they get paid to deal with issues like this, no need to get involved at all really. They should be able to prove who lived there and when very easily too. 

ariarnia

in answer to the ops specific questions. here's a guide abut how to complain about debt collectors. including when the debt is not in your name and they have been asked to stop 'harassing' behaviour. 

https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumers/complaints-can-help/credit-borrowing-money/debt-collecting

for some info on what counts as harassment or not the ca have some info here https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/action-your-creditor-can-take/harassment-by-creditors/

you can also complain about poor customer service from an energy company via the energy ombudsman service here https://www.ombudsman-services.org/problems/customer-service

 all of them say you have to complain officially to the company first and give them at least 8 weeks to resolve your complaint. 

in this situation i wonder if gdpr would be a reason to complain. they keep sending you the name and account details of some person that doesn't live at your address. is the info in the bills counted as personal info so should they have stopped sending the letters as soon as you told them it was the wrong address?

dont know. but if it does then the ico would be able to help (the ombudsman's dont look at gdpr complaints). https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/ 

DinosaurRawr

SAC2334 said:

It is standard practice to provide a copy of the tenancy agreement as proof of tenancy when there is a dispute over tenancy dates 
How else can a supplier ascertain the truth of the old occupiers leaving date or if he/she has actually left and has not just provided another tenants name who s living with you 
Why do you feel that you don t need to supply the tenancy agreement ?

Advice is to comply with SP and send in a copy of the Tenancy Agreement .Its a very reasonable request IMO

They haven't even asked for it. When I call or go on live chat, I can't get past "are you the account holder... well we can't speak to you then." They just won't entertain any conversation beyond that. They ignore letters. 

DinosaurRawr

Dolor said:

SAC2334 said:

It is standard practice to provide a copy of the tenancy agreement as proof of tenancy when there is a dispute over tenancy dates 
How else can a supplier ascertain the truth of the old occupiers leaving date or if he/she has actually left and has not just provided another tenants name who s living with you 
Why do you feel that you don t need to supply the tenancy agreement ?

Advice is to comply with SP and send in a copy of the Tenancy Agreement .Its a very reasonable request IMO

I agree. The OP has made life unnecessarily difficult for himself. Clearly, the present occupant has just left the property and not provided a meter reading or a date of leaving. If the OP can show evidence as to  when he became legally responsible for the property, then all his problems go away.

For the OP, Ofgem does not deal with consumer complaints. All escalated complaints are handled by a private arbitration company - Energy Ombudsman Services. In the circumstances described, I would hope that EOS would deem the supplier’s actions to have been reasonable. 

I replied to the original poster about this. SP will not communicate with me at all about any of this because I'm not the account holder. 

Their actions have not been reasonable in the slightest. A reasonable response would be to speak to me on the phone when I tell them this person does not live here. They can contact my agent, as I have told them in three letters. Every other collection agency has managed to do this. They could've contacted this person by now if they listened beyond me saying I'm not the account holder.

If they asked for the tenancy agreement and that would put an end to it, I'd have no issue with that. A simple search on their system will also tell them I opened an account in March. The bailiffs have presumably told them they couldn't collect because the person doesn't live here and passed on the agent's address. They're not interested in doing anything other than sending letters and bailiffs. 

ispookie666

I used to cross the address off and print "Return to Sender, Not Known At this address" after a few returns the letters stopped.  I have done this as a tenant, house owner and landlord.  

As a landlord, I was forwarded energy bills during the AST period (by the letting agents) and I returned it to the energy companies, with the above. The letting agents had given my address as forwarding for the tenant .  After a few of these returns, they have ceased.   

Unless the letters are addressed to Me or The Occupier, I do not open them.  

username

MovingForwards said:

I emailed the CEO and it got handed to a different complaints department to resolve. 

Do this, it should get some results.

t0rt0ise

If the letters aren't addressed to you either return them or throw them away. I do that all the time with debt letters and all sorts.