Previous Tenant Debt In FM Name

Persephone33

Hi,

I’m looking for advice as I appear to be hitting my head against a brick wall! 

Family member moved into a council property, and the previous tenant had an outstanding bill with British Gas. (please also note that when my family member moved into the property the that it was capped and had to be uncapped when they moved in, we have documentation to confirm this) 

My FM has never in their entire life held an account with British Gas. 

However BG have now started to threaten bailiffs if the outstanding bill is not paid and have also placed the bill in my FM name?!? I do believe this is against the law? Also we are unsure who has provided them with this information. 

BG have also stated that they have tried to contact on the landline number which is registered to the account, which again, was disconnected by the previous tenant! Thus confirming that this account belongs to them.

However after all this back and forth BG are still unwilling to help and accept that it is the previous tenant with whom they need to be in touch with regarding the outstanding bill. 

Any advise on where to go from here would be greatly appreciated , they are an elderly person who is becoming rather unwell with all the unnecessary added stress. 

Many thanks 

DE_612183

Have you got documentary evidence from the council of when your FM took occupancy?

If so submit that to BG.

If they carry on use the complaint facility and then ask for a deadlock letter before going to ombudsman - although it shouldn't' get that far...

Robin9

Your FM may well have had an account with BG even if only for a few days

The normal process is that when you move into a property you read the meter and give your bank details,   Then you are free to contact the supplier of your choice, give them reads when asked.

Who does your FM think they are supplied by ?

And the Electric ?

Persephone33

Thank you for your replies! 

Here are a few extra points which I hope answers some of the questions asked. 

We submitted evidence to BG of dates of when FM moved into the property, to which their response was to send a revised letter with dates which had been changed. 

BG states that meters have been read on dates when the property was vacant and still capped. These readings far exceed the reading which were recorded by FM when they moved in. 

Supplier is Octopus for gas and electric who were provided with the reading when they moved in.  

Also the property was vacant for 6 months before FM moved in. 

Hope this has provided a bit more detail. 

Many thanks for your advice!

Scot_39

You need to find out how that switch happened.

And what the council did in terms of taking on the supply - if anything - during the void period.

Did the FM ever create an account with the previous deemed supplier (BG - was it the councils and / or previous tenants) ?

Did the council offer a utility sign up service - did they register the account at BG - possibly on a commission basis ?

How did FM set up the switch to Octopus if they hadn't a service to switch over ?

Or did they use one of the suppliers who do their own "move my tariff" type services to do move for them ? 

EssexHebridean

If the FM was previously with Octopus, then it would in normal circumstances be possible that they had used the "move home with us" service, that usually works well and Octopus deal with all the admin side of the switch with the previous deemed supplier. In a case where the supply is capped though, I'm not sure that would work. That said, if that was the situation I would expect Octopus to have said as much if the "transfer of the account" had failed. 

slipthru

Just go straight to complaints. You'll get someone who is able to sort it out that way. Provide them with evidence of when the tenancy started and they'll sort the issue out.

bucksboomer

Persephone33 said:

Hi,

I’m looking for advice as I appear to be hitting my head against a brick wall! 

Family member moved into a council property, and the previous tenant had an outstanding bill with British Gas. (please also note that when my family member moved into the property the that it was capped and had to be uncapped when they moved in, we have documentation to confirm this) 

My FM has never in their entire life held an account with British Gas. 

However BG have now started to threaten bailiffs if the outstanding bill is not paid and have also placed the bill in my FM name?!? I do believe this is against the law? Also we are unsure who has provided them with this information. 

BG have also stated that they have tried to contact on the landline number which is registered to the account, which again, was disconnected by the previous tenant! Thus confirming that this account belongs to them.

However after all this back and forth BG are still unwilling to help and accept that it is the previous tenant with whom they need to be in touch with regarding the outstanding bill. 

Any advise on where to go from here would be greatly appreciated , they are an elderly person who is becoming rather unwell with all the unnecessary added stress. 

Many thanks 

Persephone33 said:

Thank you for your replies! 

Here are a few extra points which I hope answers some of the questions asked. 

We submitted evidence to BG of dates of when FM moved into the property, to which their response was to send a revised letter with dates which had been changed. 

BG states that meters have been read on dates when the property was vacant and still capped. These readings far exceed the reading which were recorded by FM when they moved in. 

Supplier is Octopus for gas and electric who were provided with the reading when they moved in.  

Also the property was vacant for 6 months before FM moved in. 

Hope this has provided a bit more detail. 

Many thanks for your advice!

Your FM is only liable for the reads from the day they moved in.

It is very common for Councils and Housing Associations to fail to register themselves as liable for the void period between occupants.

Assuming your FM has pictures of the meters when they moved in then they are in a strong position to challenge anything other than being charged from the date they moved in and the reads they provided.

The six month period is not the problem of your FM, the current supplier is not allowed to charge for it unless they were the supplier before, from what I have read the previous supplier was BG and the current supplier is Octopus.

So BG should be told to invoice the Council who would have been liable for standing charges, some HA's have agreements with energy companies to not be charged so they move the energy to their preferred supplier when an HA Tenant leaves.

I have a FM with Octopus and have tried to help them on numerous occasions, I learnt a few things about them

1. Escalate your complaint to CEO office otherwise your email will be dealt with by offshore call centre who are simply not equipped or trained, they use the website FAQ's and copy/paste from it.

2. Record all your calls.

3. If the phone is answered by offshore call centre hang up and call back.

Number 3 proved to be the best advice I got because whilst they are very pleasant to talk too they simply do not understand or are not trained or do not have the means to help.

I got my advice from reading 1 star reviews on Trustpilot

 

My FM had a number of lowball offers from Octopus but I suggested they hang on which proved to be good advice as they got far more by sticking to their guns.

The complaints process is below, you want to ask them specific questions like "on what basis are you invoicing for anything other than the reads provided"  and ask them to confirm that their reply is their final position so you are in deadlock and can raise an ombudsman complaint.

This is their policy.

octopus.energy/help-and-faqs/articles/our-complaints-process

As for BG, ask for a letter confirming disassociation with the former occupant. If they fail to provide it ask them to confirm that is their final position, raise a separate ombudsman complaint and seek compensation for besmirching the good name of your FM plus for the anxiety and stress caused by their baseless threats to send bailiffs.

Bailiffs can't be sent unless there has been a Court Order, so threatening them is totally inappropriate and a form of intimidation.  Nobody has the right to enter the home of your FM without a warrant and such a warrant must be issued by a Court.

A video door bell will be very useful to gather evidence and provide security.