So Energy - final bill 3 years later

amybulger

I've just been issued a final bill from So Energy, almost 3 years after the company folded.

When the company did fold, all of my debit got transferred over to British gas by default before I finally moved to Scottish Power.

So energy have given me 7 days to pay with no prior warning. 

What do I do? Can I contest it as my debt has already been paid via British gas and or Scottish Power? 

Gerry1

Welcome to the forum.

So Energy haven't folded.  They are still trading, having merged with Ireland's ESB, formerly the Electricity Supply Board.

Are you perhaps thinking of Social Energy Supply Ltd, for whom BG became the Supplier of Last Resort?

Brie

Did the bill come by post or by email?  If by email it may be a scam.  I get lots of "you must pay this urgently" garbage into my junk mail folder and none of them are real.

amybulger

No, sorry is was peoples energy.. I got defaulted to British gas when the energy crisis took hold in 2020 and they went bust.. I don't believe I've ever been with so energy in that case? So what do I do now?!

Gerry1

Was it a genuine bill with your name, account number, meter readings with dates, kWh and standing charge rates etc?

Or just a 'you owe us £XXX, pay up or else' demand?

amybulger

It has an account number, my first name and an amount. No dates or usage. "OVERDUE FINAL BILL" and says I have 7 days to pay it.

Tried to upload and image but wouldn't work.

Gerry1

Is the account number correct?  Look closely at the sender's email addess, does it look right or something strange from Hotmail or an .ru domain?

Any grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors, strange English?

How are they asking you to pay, a cheque to People's Energy's published address, Bitcoin or Kenyan shillings etc?

amybulger

As I've never been with so energy, I wouldn't know if the account number was correct.
But the rest of the email looks light - help@so.energy is the email address, has information if you can't pay due to the cost of living crisis, the right t&c's at the bottom, a legal email address. Even the correct social links.

molerat

If you have never been with So Energy why are they sending you a final bill ?

Your debt with a failed energy supplier may or may not have transferred to the SoLR, have you got the bills etc from BG with the details on ?  

Any debit balance would definitely not have transferred on to SP.  

So Energy have never been an SoLR of any failed supplier.

I can't see where So Energy come into this at all.  

Did you move house and open an account with Peoples Energy instead of contacting the existing supplier ?

Gerry1

If you're absolutely sure you've never been with So Energy then you can ignore it.

However, you originally said only that you didn't think you'd ever been with them.  It might therefore be worth checking back through your bank statements.

To double check, you could always send a Subject Acess Request to So Energy.

Don't click on any links in the email, navigate from so.energy

Presumably you meant to say 'But the rest of the email looks right' - but that means nothing.  Scammers can easily copy logos, Ts&Cs etc to make their fraudulent communications look genuine.

amybulger

I think I'm going to have to call So Energy tomorrow and see what they are talking about. I've never been with them, so I can't owe them money.
Thank you everyone for your help. I won't be paying anything but I also don't want to be hit with debt collectors either.