LCS claiming I have a debt with EDF

Enoughforme

Hello Forumites,

I recently received a letter from LCS claiming that I have debt with EDF. I have lived in the address they mention, but:

1 They have the wrong dates.
2 I never had an account with EDF and a bill was never sent to this address.

I have sent them the prove it letter and they replied to me asking to provide an explanation why I belive I am not responsible for the supply. As I wasn't willing to give them an answer I sent them the complaint email threatening to go to the financial Ombudsman as they haven't provided any evidence. Now they've replied that their trace team "have found me to have a connection through my credit file at this address".

I'm a bit confused as to what to do next. Should I reply to them answering why I belive this is not related to me?

thanks

ManyWays

Have you told them the dates you were at that address?

Enoughforme

ManyWays said:

Have you told them the dates you were at that address?

No, I haven't told them anything...I wasn't sure that I had to explain anything to them apart that I have never had an account with EDF

Mark_d

If you owned the house from 1 Jan 2024 to 31 Dec 2024 then you are responsible for energy costs relating to this period.  Potentially your choice of supplier only took over the supply from 7 January but for costs prior to that you are in debt to the incumbent supplier.

So far there is reason to believe you are responsible (data on your credit file) any there is nothing to suggest you aren't responsible.

EDF/COS don't care when you bought or sold the house.  What matters is who was responsible for the energy at the time the debt was accrued

Enoughforme

Mark_d said:

If you owned the house from 1 Jan 2024 to 31 Dec 2024 then you are responsible for energy costs relating to this period.  Potentially your choice of supplier only took over the supply from 7 January but for costs prior to that you are in debt to the incumbent supplier.

So far there is reason to believe you are responsible (data on your credit file) any there is nothing to suggest you aren't responsible.

EDF/COS don't care when you bought or sold the house.  What matters is who was responsible for the energy at the time the debt was accrued

That's the thing I didn't own the property. Following your example, I moved in  1 May  2024 and moved out 1 Oct 2024. So wherever LCS got the records from, they  got them wrong. On top of this, there were more people living and registered in that address and they have not received any letters.

Brie

"Now they've replied that their trace team "have found me to have a connection through my credit file at this address"."

All that means is that your credit history shows you (and likely all the others) lived at that address at some point.  It may not even have dates on it.  Some credit histories show 30 or more people sharing the address, particularly where it is student housing or some other that is used by numerous people for short periods of time.  

While I understand you don't want to give them any more info than necessary I would suggest that you simply reply that "I did not live at X Street at the time specified on your letter and have never had a contract with EDF."  You might even continue with "If you continue to harass me about a debt that is obviously not mine I will be reporting this to the ombudsman."  As an additional measure you might also state "Erase all my contact details from your records with immediate effect." 

fatbelly

Trace Team

They have found someone with a vague connection to the account they have.

Typical behaviour for LCS. I will try to find an old megathread on them

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2983648/warning-and-advice-about-lcs-utility-investigation-civil-enforcement-debt-recoveries/p1