Spurious CCJ? Can I dispute?

Wiserbud

Hi all,
Am new here so any advice would be appreciated.
I've received a series of text messages from TM Legal claiming that a CCJ has been granted against me. This stems back to 2020 - I was with Tonik Energy until they went bust, and paid a final figure with them, meaning for a two week period, Scottish Power took over my account until I moved out. I notified Scottish Power of my final meter readings, forwarding address, final date of tenancy etc. They got in touch and claimed I owed them £350 for a two week period where I was barely in the property. For context, I used to pay around £40 a month with Tonik. I asked Scottish Power how they calculated this figure and they never got back to me - no further correspondence whatsoever via email or post. Fast forward about six months, I received a letter advising they had sold this 'debt' on. 

So - to today, any advice would be appreciated. I don't know that the original debt claim has any legitimacy, I never signed a contract with Scottish Power and they never provided me any information about how they calculated a bill that was close to ten times what my monthly payments were for a two week period. Then, they simply sold on this debt to a third party with whom I haven't engaged in any discussion. How can I check the legitimacy of this CCJ claim? Can I dispute it? Is the onus on me or TM Legal to prove the validity of this claim?

Thank you

Side note 1 -- I have seen references to a 'newbie forum' but haven't been able to find this. If there are any links or threads I should read up on first, and pointers as to where they are would be gratefully received.

Side note 2 - I wouldn't be surprised if there was a legitimate claim to a final sum of approx. £20-£60 which I'd happily pay. But for a company with whom I had no signed contract to produce a vast sum without engaging in discussion or explanation as to how they got it, and then simply sell this on, seemed to me as if it ought to have breached some form of regulation as to how to conduct business. 

eskbanker

Wiserbud said:

I've received a series of text messages from TM Legal claiming that a CCJ has been granted against me. This stems back to 2020 - I was with Tonik Energy until they went bust, and paid a final figure with them, meaning for a two week period, Scottish Power took over my account until I moved out. I notified Scottish Power of my final meter readings, forwarding address, final date of tenancy etc. They got in touch and claimed I owed them £350 for a two week period where I was barely in the property. For context, I used to pay around £40 a month with Tonik. I asked Scottish Power how they calculated this figure and they never got back to me - no further correspondence whatsoever via email or post. Fast forward about six months, I received a letter advising they had sold this 'debt' on. 

Presumably Scottish Power issued a bill for £350 rather than simply 'getting in touch and claiming you owed' that?  And exactly what form did your request for calculation detail take, i.e. did you clearly dispute the bill or just ask for backup?

Anyway, that's all by the by now but in the absence of any conclusion at the time, it'll be treated as a debt rather than a 'debt'.  The fact that you didn't sign anything with SP doesn't change anything - when energy companies fold it's standard practice for another to step in to maintain continuity of supply.

In terms of next steps, it would first seem worth validating if there actually is a CCJ - you can check your credit files to see if there's one reported on there if you prefer not to be asking the debt collectors.

sourcrates

No "newbie forum" just this one, check credit reports, all three of them, registry trust online charge you, I think, £6 quid to check for CCJ`s.

Unfortunately its quite a common trick for utility companies to take legal action using the old address for service, which means the debtor never gets the court papers and the judgement is issued by default.

You can`t dispute a debt once a court decides you owe the money, you can only apply to set the judgement aside.

If it is showing, then a set aside costs over £300 quid now, you have to work out if its worthwhile attempting a set aside or just let the judgement sit there for 6 years.

These debts may attract a lot of letters etc, but further actual enforcement action is rare, and sporadic in nature.

Wiserbud

Thank you for your helpful guidance