Leeds Consultancy Services

geordie_joe

Not sure if this is the right board, but I know people in here will have the answer.

I moved into my house last October. Today I got a letter from Leeds Consultancy Services, a trading style of 1st Locate (UK) Ltd.

The letter is addressed to "The Occupier" and is titled "Utility Investigation"

Underneath the LCS logo are the words "Civil Enforcement" in large letters.

The letter says

We have undertaken an investigation into the supply to the above address. In order to eradicate yourselves from this investigation please supply the following information.

It then asks for my name, when I moved into the house, the previous occupants name and new address and the landlords name and address.

Obviously someone hasn't paid their utility bill, but if I give them my details will they try to make me pay the bill?

Some background information.

The house was built in 2004 and has only had one occupant in that time, a young couple with one child. I know this because he was one of the removal men who moved my furniture.

When I rang Southern Electric to let them know I had moved in they insisted I had no gas or electricity. To date they still insist there is no gas & electricity supply to this house. Transco insist there is no gas supply to this house.

I have gas and electricity, and meters, but SE won't believe me. I read out the serial number of the gas meter to Transco and they said I was mistaken, that meter is installed in a flat on the other side of town.

I think the previous occupant didn't pay for the gas & electricity because nobody knew they had it. Someone at SE did check all the other supplies and said no other supplies has a record of supplying gas/electricity to this address.

SE also know when the house was built and that it has been occupied by a previous tennant, I told them this. So I think this letter I got today may be a result of me ringing SE and trying to pay for gas and leccy they didn't know they'd been supplying.

G-G_4

I wouldn't supply them any information if I were you.. if it escalates then seek advice from citizens advice..

If they don't have your details and you havn't signed anything in the way of energy suppliers then it isn't your problem.

I get the impression that if you give them your details they will chase you for the money.

I would ignore the letter..

geordie_joe

Thanks G-G, I won't be giving them any details.

I have also realised that SE may not be behind LCS. SE know my name, address and phone number and the name and address of the landlord so so why would they hire another company to find this out?

bungle82

Southern Electric is one of Leeds Consultancy Services' clients, but LCS is not owned by Southern. I believe the company behind it is called 1st Locate.

I have had contact from LCS before regarding charges I could not possibly have been liable for. They don't seem to know what they are doing or how to respond to the information they are given. They didn't even think of registering their own internet domain: http://www.leedsconsultancyservices.com :rotfl:

ChrissyCamberwell

I'm constantly being harrassed at work by LCS who were given my contact details as forwarding details for the previous tenant in my flat who skipped without paying their gas bill. Luckily they are not actually chasing ME, but him at my work address....but no matter who I speak to and how many times I speak to them they seem to refuse to accept that I am nothing to do with this person.

My details were passed to them by Scottish Power who I have had an apology from but I cannot get LCS to stop calling me. They are driving me insane!!!! I last got a call from them yesterday about an outstanding elecricity bill which was passed to them on 7th July by Scottish Power, even though I had been assured by SP that I would not be hearing from them again. Apparently the first contact was for the GAS BILL so this is a new case.

What can I do? I'm going mad!!!!


Thanks,

Chrissy

blind-as-a-bat_2

bungle82 wrote: »

Southern Electric is one of Leeds Consultancy Services' clients, but LCS is not owned by Southern. I believe the company behind it is called 1st Locate.

I have had contact from LCS before regarding charges I could not possibly have been liable for. They don't seem to know what they are doing or how to respond to the information they are given. They didn't even think of registering their own internet domain: http://www.leedsconsultancyservices.com :rotfl:

RAOFPMSL:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

That must have fun in there office when they found out abouy that:p

gemmabe

bungle82 wrote: »

Southern Electric is one of Leeds Consultancy Services' clients, but LCS is not owned by Southern. I believe the company behind it is called 1st Locate.

I have had contact from LCS before regarding charges I could not possibly have been liable for. They don't seem to know what they are doing or how to respond to the information they are given. They didn't even think of registering their own internet domain: http://www.leedsconsultancyservices.com :rotfl:

Thank you, I am belly laughing here, haha! Best giggle I have had in ages. These people are chasing me for something, although I have absolutely no idea what, as they won't tell me :rotfl:

Love that domain, quite fantastic thinking there! Super!

Jenna

Hi,

For anyone who's being chased for a debt that isn't theirs ... I was receiving letters re utilities bills from the company, then a DCA, for bills that the previous occupants of our (rented) flat didn't pay. This is what I wrote to the DCA (oddly enough, a year on, I've never been contacted by them again!)... of course you'll need to amend the wording slightly for your own personal situation but this should take care of it.

MY ADDRESS

DATE

THEIR ADDRESS

Your ref: XXX
Client ref: XXX

I acknowledge no debt to your company.

I refer to your letter (enclosed) in which you claim that I have an outstanding debt, to COMPANY NAME of £XXX.

I would like to inform you that the outstanding bill that the letter refers to is not from the period that we have been living in this property. It is in fact a bill generated whilst the previous occupants of this property were still living here.

I would also like to inform you that I do not have (nor have I ever had) any debt to XXX.

Please note that I have contacted COMPANY NAME on three separate occasions to inform them that the previous occupants of this property have moved away. I am, however, still receiving letters addressed to the ‘owner occupier’ of the property that do not apply to me. Therefore I felt compelled to write to you today.

You will be aware that, under Section 2.8 a the Office of Fair Trading 'Guidelines for Debt Collection, the Office of Fair Trading considers it to be 'Deceptive and Unfair' to 'Send a demand for payment to an individual when it is uncertain that they are the debtor in question, for example, threatening debt recovery action to 'the occupier' or sending a payment demand to all people sharing the same name/date of birth as a debtor in the hope that contact with the debtor may be made.'

I would, therefore, ask you to cease, forthwith, any further contact with me and I instruct you to remove my name, address and any other of my personal details that you hold, from your records.

I would like written confirmation, within the next 7 days, that you have done this.

Any further contact, whether by letter, telephone or personal visit, in connection with the aforementioned 'alleged debt', from your company, will be considered as 'harassment' contrary to Section 40 (1) of the Administration of Justice Act, 1970, and will be reported to the relevant authorities.

Yours faithfully,

XXX

Jenna

Ooh forgot to say the letter was based on a template that someone on here sent me, I forget who (sorry!) but I am very very grateful and thankyou

Also to the best of my knowledge (and you should seek professional / CAB advice on this one) you CAN give out the forwarding address of the previous owners, but you don't HAVE to if you don't want to. I gave out the forwarding address several times, but since the utilities company in question repeatedly lost it and kept calling me to chase me for the debt, I decided they didn't deserve it and refused to give it out any longer.

Good luck! xx

Gavin_Cooke

My brother went abroad after losing everything because he was involved with a pubco tenanted pub. I was left to pick up stray bills, out of family loyalty. One such gas bill slipped the net because the occupants did not pass on the letters. It got passed on to Leeds Consultancy Services.

I found out about it, and contacted LCS to sort it out. That was where the trouble started. I spoke to a Mike in the Commercial Litigation and couldn't believe how rude and condescending he was. I told him that my brother had moved abroad but I was trying to sort this out, and asked him for time to check with the inventory clerk that the bill was in order. He refused, and gave me until 4pm that same day to pay the full £800. I offered settlement for 75% of the amount. He refused, saying that I was not authorised to offer settlement. I said I had General Power of Attorney, he made a sarcastic remark and refused to acknowledge it.

It was not my debt, yet I was offering settlement from my own funds because I wanted to 'do the right thing' for my brother, but LCS-Mike's attitude was HARDLINE and nasty. I was only trying to help out of family loyalty, and it costs nothing to be courteous. I told him that he had no right to adopt this attitude, but it was like banging your head against a brick wall, and several contacts later I gave up, and informed him that if he used my contact information I would consider it to be harrassment.
What an idiot!

The next day (after seeing this forum) I contacted the original holder of the account, Swalec Gas, and explained everything. The person I spoke to was very courteous and helpful, and agreed to get this account back from LCS. He also agreed to accept my offer of 75% of the amount in full and final settlement, and sent me an email confirming this. Account settled, job done. So much easier and more professional than dealing with LCS!

By the way, I asked if LCS would get paid and was told that they would not. They take on these accounts on a commission basis and only get paid if they recover the amount themselves. Therefore, if you go straight to the account holder, it's a big one in the eye for LCS! Perhaps they will realise that it is unproductive to adopt hardline and nasty tactics if they lose money as a result of their rude and unprofessional attitude.

A final word: Dial 141 before calling them to withold your number and NEVER give them your email or postal address. A fax is ok but they will lie to you and tell you that their fax is not working, in order to get your email address.