Lowell - help me write a letter!

Tisiphone

Lowell started harassing me for an old British Gas debt  in 2022.  I'd left the address in 2017 and I didn't recognise the debt and couldn't find any payments to Lowell in my bank statements.

In 2024 I wrote a prove it letter. They replied I'd last paid them in 2022; further correspondence showed I'd been paying them as Overdales, not Lowell. 

They wrote:

"Account xxxx was for a Gas supply at an address of X between 01/09/15 and 10/02/16.The last payment British Gas received was on 03/03/16 for £75.00. Lowell have received £60.60 worth of payments through Overdales. 

Account xxxx was for an Electricity supply at an address of  X between 01/09/15 and 10/02/16. The last payment British Gas received was on 03/03/16 for £75.00. Lowell have received £179.40 worth of payments through Overdales."

I replied that I had no knowldege of the debt and required them to provide me with evidence of my liability for it. They haven't. 

Surely they need to show me evidence of the original debt and payment agreement plus schedule of payments if they want me to pay what they say they owe? I'm now getting twice daily calls as well as emails and letters.

_______________________________________________________________________________

For those who want to know do I owe it and why don't I just pay?

- Yes, there obviously was a debt to BG or I wouldn't have set up a payment plan. I lived there from 9/2015 - 11/2017 and shared the bills with a flatmate until the beginning of 2017. Flatmate had responsibility for some of the bills and was bad at paying them. Most bills were in both our names.

- Looking at the dates and how much has been paid, it doesn't seem likely that there's anything outstanding. I also can't see any reason why I suddenly stopped paying in 2022 unless the payment plan had come to an end. It was a DD and there was money in my account to cover it.

sourcrates

To be clear, they are writing to you again now? as your story appears to end in 2022.

What are they saying?

Tisiphone

The letter I quoted in my post was sent to me in 2024. They've continued to harass me with phone calls, letters and emails. They continue to demand the same amounts and threaten further action. But have not provided any evidence that those amounts are outstanding.

sourcrates

Send a follow up to the prove-it letter:

Dear [Debt Collection Company],
COMPLAINT

On dd/mm/yy I asked you to provide proof that I owed the alleged debt to xxxxxxx. I attach a copy of my letter.

The FCA rules are clear that ” Where there is a dispute as to the identity of the borrower or hirer or as to the amount of the debt, it is for the firm (and not the customer) to establish, as the case may be, that the customer is the correct person in relation to the debt or that the amount is the correct amount owed under the agreement.”

I do not owe this money. You have failed to produce any evidence that I do. If you do not cease contacting me about this debt I shall be complaining to the relevant Ombudsman service.

[Please also delete the incorrect entries from my credit records.]

Your name

Depending on the response you get, you may have to escalate the matter to the energy ombudsman.

Tisiphone

Thanks very much for that.  Do you think I should specify what I mean by proof.  They've given me account numbers and what they say was paid directly to British Gas and Overdales, but never said how much was outstanding to begin with. 

My bank statements don't go back far enough to check if the British Gas payments are correct, and in any case it's likely that my flatmate paid. The amounts paid to Overdales aren't correct.

sourcrates

They say you owe a debt, you say prove it then, the ball is then firmly in their court.

Evidence would be in the form of a bill, that states Tisiphone owes such and such for gas used on xx/xx/xxxx at supply address blah blah etc etc.

If they can`t produce that, then how can they reasonably expect you to pay it.