Claim from Overdales/Lowells for old British Gas account

FGLLA

Hi All,

Hope you can help with a claim I've received from Overdales/Lowells.

In summary:
I moved to a rented place in Dec 2018. The estate agent set up a British Gas utility account and I paid via Direct debit every month. I had this account for about 3 months and then switched suppliers. Received the final bill which I paid.

A few years later, around 2021/2022 I start getting letters from Overdales/Lowells saying a debt is legally assigned to them.

I ignored most of their letters as I know I had paid, but in 2023 I responded to them via email with an extract of my bank account showing I had made payments to BG. They responded saying they had contacted BG and BG had no records of the payments.
I couldn't see any references on the payments on my statements, so they asked me to contact my bank to ask for various different information. I refused to do so as I felt it was a waste of my time, but I did offer to complete their request for an hourly fee. They rejected my offer so I told them BG have all the information and to ask them. BG also did not provide them with all the information.

They said they couldn't confirm the payments I had made were for the account.


16th May 2024, a claim form has been issued for the debt plus interest.

I checked my email history and I have an email from BG showing the opening of the account and meter reads (which are wrong btw), and I have another email showing a final bill of around £26.

If I hadn't paid any of the bills, surely my final bill wouldn't have been £26?


I responded to the claim via MCOL, AOS within 19 days, however, I now need to submit a defence.

Is there anyone that can help with how best to defend this claim?

I've prepared the below defence from some searching and templates, stating that the claimant hasn't provided adequate information to enable me to properly assess my position with regards to the claim. They haven't proved that I actually owe this amount. I suspect they won't actually be able to prove it?

I've also sent a SAR to BG.

Many thanks in advance!

FGLLA

_________________

 

DEFENCE

 

 

1. The Defendant received the claim XXX from the Civil National Business Centre on 21st May 2024.

 

2. Each and every allegation in the Claimants statement of case is denied unless specifically admitted in this Defence.

 

3.This claim appears to be for a utility account agreement with British Gas account reference XXX.

 

4.It is admitted that the Defendant has previously entered into an agreement with the Original Creditor /Claimant for provision of utilities.

 

5.The Claimants statement of case fails to give adequate information to enable me to properly assess my position with regards the claim.

 

6.The Claimant’s Particulars of Claim fail to state when the agreement was entered into.

 

7.The Claimants statement of case states that the account was assigned from British Gas to the Claimant on 26-11-21. The Defendant does not recall receiving notice of this assignment.

 

8.On the [Date] The Defendant sent a request for inspection of documents mentioned in the claimant’s statement of case under Civil Procedure Rule 31.14 to the Claimant’s Solicitor. I requested the Claimant provide copies of the Agreement, Default Notice and Notice of Assignment.

 

9. The Claimant’s Solicitor has not sent any of these documents to the Defendant.

 

10.On the [Date] The Defendant sent a formal request for a copy of the original agreement to [Claimant] pursuant to section [77 or 78] of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 along with the statutory £1 fee.

 

11.Under Civil Procedure Rule 16.5 (4) Where the claim includes a money claim, a defendant shall be taken to require that any allegation relating to the amount of money claimed be proved unless he expressly admits the allegation. Therefore, it is expected that the Claimant be required to prove the allegation that the money is owed as claimed.

 

12.The Defendant respectfully requests the court orders the Claimants to provide the necessary documentation in order for The Defendant to fully plead his case else the Claim should stand struck out.

 

13.In the event that the relevant documents are received from the Claimant, the Defendant will then be in a position to amend his defence, and would ask that the Claimants bear the costs of the amendment.

 

14.It is denied that the Claimant is entitled to the relief as claimed or at all.

 

 

Statement of Truth

 

I believe that the facts stated in this defence are true.  I understand that proceedings for contempt of court may be brought against anyone who makes, or causes to be made, a false statement in a document verified by a statement of truth without an honest belief in its truth.

 

Signature:

 

Date:

FGLLA

Shall I add anything from this other example?:

"5. The claimant has thus far been unable to produce any evidence that the alleged debt has been legally assigned to them.

Pursuant to the civil procedure rules Practice Direction 16 (7.3) Where a claim is based upon a written agreement.

1) a copy of the contract or documents constituting the agreement should be available at the hearing.

With the court’s permission the Claimant is put to strict proof to: -

        a) show and disclose how the Defendant has entered into an agreement.
        b) show and disclose how the Claimant has reached the amount claimed.
        c) show how the Claimant has the legal right, either under statute or equity to issue a claim.

 

6. As per Civil Procedure Rule 16.5 (4) it is expected that the Claimant prove the allegation that the money is owed.

7. It is therefore denied that the defendant is indebted to the claimant as alleged or at all.

fatbelly

Para 10 does not apply. There is no indication that this is a consumer credit act debt.

The rest of it looks good. Well done for standing up to them and making them work for it

FGLLA

fatbelly said:

Para 10 does not apply. There is no indication that this is a consumer credit act debt.

The rest of it looks good. Well done for standing up to them and making them work for it

ok great many thanks,

I have began to file the defence online via MCOL, however, it asks if I am disputing the claim because I have already paid it?
I have already paid it, however, not in response to the claim. I paid it when it was originally due via DD. Also, my payments don't have any references on them to confirm they are for this account.

So shall I respond to the question with a yes or no?

fatbelly

That's a no.

The sense of the question is asking if you got the claim and then paid what they demanded.

As things stand the claimant thinks you owe money and the defendant (you) disagrees. So the court will consider your defence.

DisabledDan

FGLLA said:

Shall I add anything from this other example?:

"5. The claimant has thus far been unable to produce any evidence that the alleged debt has been legally assigned to them.

Pursuant to the civil procedure rules Practice Direction 16 (7.3) Where a claim is based upon a written agreement.

1) a copy of the contract or documents constituting the agreement should be available at the hearing.

With the court’s permission the Claimant is put to strict proof to: -

        a) show and disclose how the Defendant has entered into an agreement.
        b) show and disclose how the Claimant has reached the amount claimed.
        c) show how the Claimant has the legal right, either under statute or equity to issue a claim.

 

6. As per Civil Procedure Rule 16.5 (4) it is expected that the Claimant prove the allegation that the money is owed.

7. It is therefore denied that the defendant is indebted to the claimant as alleged or at all.

Surely if the debt was not alleged for the 12 months between 2018 and 2022 then the OFGEM back billings rule would apply (this assumes there was a dispute in reads)

I once had a new Tenant (who came after me), lie about their opening read by 278 m3 units which made the energy company come after me.  I had a photo of the meters and they had dates in the the phone and meta data.

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/what-do-if-you-get-back-bill 

I also pointed out my usage was around 14 units a month on average for the year so it would be absurd to allege a sudden jump.

I did have an email from me to the agent with the authentic closing reads.

Surprisingly I never heard from them again.

FGLLA

DisabledDan said:

FGLLA said:

Shall I add anything from this other example?:

"5. The claimant has thus far been unable to produce any evidence that the alleged debt has been legally assigned to them.

Pursuant to the civil procedure rules Practice Direction 16 (7.3) Where a claim is based upon a written agreement.

1) a copy of the contract or documents constituting the agreement should be available at the hearing.

With the court’s permission the Claimant is put to strict proof to: -

        a) show and disclose how the Defendant has entered into an agreement.
        b) show and disclose how the Claimant has reached the amount claimed.
        c) show how the Claimant has the legal right, either under statute or equity to issue a claim.

 

6. As per Civil Procedure Rule 16.5 (4) it is expected that the Claimant prove the allegation that the money is owed.

7. It is therefore denied that the defendant is indebted to the claimant as alleged or at all.

Surely if the debt was not alleged for the 12 months between 2018 and 2022 then the OFGEM back billings rule would apply (this assumes there was a dispute in reads)

I once had a new Tenant (who came after me), lie about their opening read by 278 m3 units which made the energy company come after me.  I had a photo of the meters and they had dates in the the phone and meta data.

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/what-do-if-you-get-back-bill 

I also pointed out my usage was around 14 units a month on average for the year so it would be absurd to allege a sudden jump.

I did have an email from me to the agent with the authentic closing reads.

Surprisingly I never heard from them again.

Thats good info to know thanks, as I've had a separate dispute with Shell Energy once regarding back billing and wrong readings.

However, I don't believe the issue with BG is a back billing issue? The DD payments made to BG, I assume, didn't have the correct references on for them to register them to my account, so they assumed the bills weren't paid, but then they sold the debt off to a debt collection agency.

BarelySentientAI

FGLLA said:

However, I don't believe the issue with BG is a back billing issue?

You're right - this is nothing to do with back billing.  BB isn't the catch-all that many people seem to think.