LCS collecting debt for Shell

Kelly345

Hi all, hoping you can help and tell me where I stand on this! 

Two years ago, my (now) ex-husband and I owned a house together. The electricity and gas account was in my name. I moved out and notified Shell. They sent me a refund to my new address for a credit balance on my account. Matter closed as far as I was concerned.

I recently received a letter from LCS chasing a debt for a five week period immediately following my move out date. The letter is to my new new address (2nd after moving out of the house in question) and addressed to me and my ex-husband. He's never lived here and the account was never in both our names anyway.

Just to note Shell never contacted me following sending me the refund. The forwarding address they have is my mum's so I would have got any letters that went there, and I had a 12 month forward set up from the old address with Royal Mail. They also have my email address. 

I called LCS to explain and they said since I owned the house I was liable for the debt, no matter that my ex had been living there and I'd closed my account with Shell. 

I've called Shell and they confirmed it wasn't my debt, and the amount being chased was under an 'owner occupier' name. This would say to me that Shell just had the wrong time periods for my ex. I have emailed Shell with their own confirmation of my move out date and the final bill showing the credit balance. Shell told my ex they've put a stop on debt collection activities for 8 weeks while they sort it out. I'm still getting texts from LCS.

Is there anything more I should be doing, and am I ultimately liable for this £300? 

QrizB

Welcome to the forum.

I think you can be held liable for energy use while you were living at the property, but not for use after you moved out.

In your position I'd be asking the debt collection agency for all the details of the debt, how it was calculated and what period it applies to. You'll then be able to compare that to your own records and see if it's something that you are responsible for.