Wife being chased by BW Legal over a debt that isn't hers

Postik

We moved house last December.  The house itself and all of the bills were in my name.

On the day of completion we took final meter readings and submitted them to EON.

All was well up until a couple of months ago when my wife got a written letter from BW Legal saying she owed approx £100 for a period of around 16 days after we'd moved out.  I have a feeling the new owners of the property didn't properly move in until 16 days after completion, and as such there is a 16 day period they are trying to get away without paying.  As an aside £100 for 16 days of little usage seems very steep but that's not really my problem.

The only thing my wife had in her name was her bank account, and I'm assuming BW Legal have acquired our new address (and tied her to the old address) from this.

My wife replied to BW Legal and told them it wasn't her house it was her husbands, the energy account wasn't in her name, and that the property was sold before the period in question.

After a couple of weeks they replied and asked for a letter of completion from our conveyancer.  This has kind of rubbed me up the wrong way because the house was not hers, and the letter of completion is not hers (it is mine).  Not to mention it is now in storage in the garage so I have little inclination to go rummaging around in there trying to find it.

So my wife replied again, stating she does not have the letter of completion because it is not hers, but they are free to go on the Government Land Registry website, pay £3 and download the title document which will show who owns the house and when they bought it.

BW Legal have (after several weeks) replied today stating that they don't accept the Land Registry as evidence, could she get the letter of completion from her husband.

So finally she has done what she should have done all along, which is to reply with the "prove it" letter.

I'm thinking these clowns aren't going to go away until I dig out this bloody letter and send it to them, which I really don't want to do.  But I suspect eventually my wife will have to go to court and show the letter to a judge anyway if I don't?

DjangoUnchained

would they really take it to court for £100? especially when they cant prove it.

Floss

And surely any court would accept the Land Registry title document?!

sourcrates

The onus of proof is on them, not you, unless they can provide proof of liability, this will end as suddenly as it started.

Postik

Just an update on this.  She sent the "prove it" letter to BW Legal and received a reply back saying her case was on hold whilst they look into it.

I have since contacted EON myself and they have confirmed that no money is outstanding as far as they are concerned.

Since then she has received two letters in the post from BW Legal, the latest this morning, still demanding the money and threatening to proceed with a Letter of Claim.  They say they are acting on behalf of EON, which is strange considering EON are satisfied that neither of us owe anything.

My wife is tempted to report BW Legal to the SRA because they still continue to harass her without providing evidence, but I'm also wondering if we can just ignore them and they will go away.

sourcrates

The letters are computer generated, and your complaint will be looked at separately.

I`m assuming you mean the FOS (Financial ombudsman service) but the trouble is they will not become involved until you have exhausted BW Legal`s complaints process.

You can simply ignore them, and only engage if you receive a letter before action or a letter of claim.

BadDebtor

Postik said:

Just an update on this.  She sent the "prove it" letter to BW Legal and received a reply back saying her case was on hold whilst they look into it.

I have since contacted EON myself and they have confirmed that no money is outstanding as far as they are concerned.

Since then she has received two letters in the post from BW Legal, the latest this morning, still demanding the money and threatening to proceed with a Letter of Claim.  They say they are acting on behalf of EON, which is strange considering EON are satisfied that neither of us owe anything.

My wife is tempted to report BW Legal to the SRA because they still continue to harass her without providing evidence, but I'm also wondering if we can just ignore them and they will go away.

Get EON to confirm in writing that no monies are owed, then copy to Lowell with a warning that any further contact will be deemed as harassment and legal action will be brought against them under Protection from Harassment Act 1997

As BW Legal are a firm of Solicitors Registered with the SRA

https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/firm-based-authorisation/abs-register/569773/


So they should indeed be reported to the SRA

https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/standards-regulations/code-conduct-solicitors/

Postik

Just a quick update on this.  After my wife requested proof of liability October last year, BW Legal have a few days ago sent her their "evidence" in the form of a bill made out to "The Occupier" lol

From now on each time she receives a letter I am photographing it and emailing it to EON since they are the ones that instigated this.  EON have assured me that the old account has a zero balance and no money is due, so we'll be ignoring BW Legal from this point forward.