UK Search Ltd/Octopus

robinsonad86

Good afternoon

Has anybody had any dealings with the above? I had an email from them this afternoon relating to an account with Octopus that apparently I owe £281.54 on. This account is at an address I moved out of last September. UK Search say the issue is relating from the end of July to the 14th October by which point I had already left the property in question. In the last 6 months I have had no contact with Octopus regarding this account and I am an existing customer of theirs at my current address. My contact details have never changed so if there was an outstanding balance they could have contacted me.

As you should when I left the property I provided closing meter readings and made the final payment following which Octopus issued me a refund. The landlord contacted me a while later saying he was being chased for a payment from Octopus but apparently they hadn't mentioned a balance. I followed this up with Octopus as I wanted to confirm the account was closed with a 0 balance and this was their reply

"I can confirm that there is a zero balance on your account. You have provided closing meter readings and made the final payment, so there should not be any outstanding charges."

That is taken directly from the last email I had from Octopus relating to this account so obviously it was a shock today to be told I owe nearly £300. I contacted UK Search and have told them I don't recognise the amount owed due to the reasons above and have never had any contact from Octopus since leaving the property. The "helpful" agent asked if I wanted to make payment at which point I just about managed to stop myself from laughing. Following a little debate becasue I wouldn't provide a phone number and stating I would only communicate via email they have agreed to pause the account for 7 days. I immediately contacted Octopus who again confirmed there is a 0 balance showing on the system however they have escalated it to the DCA team to see what has happened. I can only see a couple of options

1 -  My ex-landlord has a balance but has tried to pass it on to me
2 - Octopus have messed up issuing a refund but that doesn't explain why the balance would be showing 0?
3 - This is just a DCA taking a chance that someone will just pay up

Obviously until Octopus get back to me with more information I won't know but just wondering if anybody has been in this situation or can offer any advice on how I should proceed?

robinsonad86

I should say I don't know if this is relevant but there is no account relating to this showing on my credit file

fatbelly

If you treat them as you would treat any bottom of the pack dodgy debt collector, you won't go far wrong.

If they write again with this allegation, just write back, do not phone, with the prove-it letter from the sticky threads

robinsonad86

Thanks Octopus have asked for a copy of the e-mail from UK Search so I have sent them this along with the correspondence saying I had a 0 balance. Seems a but strange to me atleast that the compant I apparently owe the money to don’t know are asking for details from a company they are using to chase me. What I didn’t notice was the email address is octopusenergy@uksearchlimited.com this would make many think it was actually from Octopus direct surely?

fatbelly

That's fairly mild as deceptions go. It wasnt long ago that these companies used different names to pose as fake solicitors

ZombieEthel

I had an issue with UK Search Limited, but different situation to yours. After getting a very unhelpful response from Octopus Energy's customer services, I emailed their CEO. They then resolved it within two days.

Try this email:  greg@octopus.energy

robinsonad86

Sent an email to the CEO and as I pressed send I received an email from an agent saying they had contacted UK Search "regarding the health of my account" and to "ignore any further correspondence from them"

SonnyLumiere

You are not alone ...

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2024/apr/22/unregulated-identity-tracers-harass-people-for-debts-they-do-not-owe

(it's also worth reading the comments section below the article)

fatbelly

It's a shame that advice within that article is wrong

sourcrates

fatbelly said:

It's a shame that advice within that article is wrong

Assume you mean this -

"Unfortunately for those erroneously pursued for a stranger’s debt, the onus is on them to prove their innocence".

The onus is on the collector to prove they have the right debtor, not the other way around.