Extra energy account closed - administrators chasing money 2 years later

I'm also having trouble getting in contact with them to resolve an outstanding balance dated over two years ago. We were with ExE for 45 days whilst we moved into our property and switched supplier. They never sent a final bill so I was unaware of the amount - they still haven't sent a formal bill with the readings that I submitted and the energy used.

The letter was also sent with my partner's name on. He would have never dealt with them. I'm not sure how they enquired this.

I know the balance now because I rang the number on the letter and asked. Thankfully our debt is small but I am not paying it because it is their mistake. A bill was never generated.

I sent a formal complaint in the post by recorded delivery to an address in Edgbaston and that got a reply within 2 working days.

The operators on the phone (when you can actually get to them without the phone being hung up) are rude and demanding. I have tried calling them 20 times in the last couple of days to resolve the matter. I'm seriously fed up with them wasting my time.

I've unwilling joined this club as EE were the provider when I moved into my property (perhaps it was easier for the vendors to simply move house rather than try to get through to EE's customer service?!).

EE's administrators, PwC, have a list of who (supposedly) owes what, but none of the data behind that to prove it. On saying that I dispute the (thankfully small) amount that they say I owe they advised that I get in touch with EE's customer service via customer.care@extra-energy.co.uk to clarify the position.

I don't really fancy having bailiffs turn up, especially for such a trivial amount but, as far as I'm concerned I paid the outstanding balance in full when I closed the account, so I'm keen to stick to my guns no matter how many 30 second loops of Coldplay's 'Clocks' I have to listen to whilst on hold.

MM46 wrote: »

I phoned the Leeds office of PWC, I only got as far as the receptionist who gave me the e-mail address for extra energy customer services. I e-mailed them explaining that they had used the wrong name, the wrong account number and that I had paid the final bill, and asking them for a detailed breakdown of any amount they say is outstanding. I sent a copy to the administrators by recorded delivery, but have had no reply from them yet. However yesterday evening I received the following e-mail from extra energy:
Good Afternoon,

Thank you for contacting Extra Energy.

You have informed us that you were not liable for the property during the period in question.

In order to remove your details from the account we will require one of the following confirming the dates you were liable for the property:

- Lease agreement
- Tenancy agreement
- Land registry/TR1 form
- Solicitors letter/email from solicitors
- Email from property management companies/estate agents

Kind regards
Extra Energy

We were dismayed by this reply. They have not addressed any of the points in my e-mail to them. They have still not told me the amount of supposed debt. Their reply mentions “the period in question” but they have not said what that period is!
I have got the solicitor’s letter showing the date we sold the house but I am reluctant to give them a copy. I feel like we are on trial, being asked for a lot of private information without being told what the charge is.
Can they actually send this to debt collectors and send bailiffs etc without going to court first?

The onus is on them to prove the debt exists, not for you to prove it doesn't, however sending them the solicitors letter will likely result in the least amount of messing around for you, so that is probably the best course of action.


Because you've told them that you aren't the person they are looking for (The debtor) they can't answer your other questions without risking a breach of the DPA.



They can pass it to a debt collector at any time, but all the DC can do is write toothless letters and make phone calls inviting you to pay the claimed debt (although they will doubtless use flowery language and doublespeak to make it seem like you have no choice). They can't send bailiffs or take any other action along those lines without them going to court and winning and you refusing to pay the CCJ.

I have been disputing my alleged Extra Energy debt since the 8th of March and despite repeated emails and calls to "Extra Energy In Administration" to give them their correct title, it took 10 days before confirmation was received that my initial email together with copies the final bill and bank statement showing payment had been received.

This lack of professionalism reflects badly on PWC who are wholly responsible for how the process of administration is conducted.

I am in the fortunate position of being in possession of all my Extra Energy invoices which I downloaded from their website when I received emails advising me that my account was due for payment. I also have all the bank statements showing the payments were made promptly.

The problem that faces the administrators looking for outstanding debts is the poor billing system in use by Extra Energy which resulted in many of my bills being incorrect and the need for them to be replaced by correct bills.

When I look at all my invoices it clearly shows on many of them the words "this invoice replaces invoice ********* of **/**/****" or "this invoice replaces multiple invoices for the term **/**/**** - **/**/****" which only goes to show how those previous invoices were in error and needed correcting following my intervention.

It looks to me that the people employed to look at individual accounts are being misled into believing that many invoices have not been paid despite them being replaced by correct ones and over a year or two the perceived debt can grow into many hundreds of pounds, as is the case with my alleged debt.

I was fortunate enough to get the name and email address of a billing manager at Extra Energy who took personal action to see to it that the erroneous invoices were replaced with the correctly calculated ones and he often commented on the parlous state of the billing software/system used by them and the need to regularly correct invoices that were in in error.

The only advice I can give to others facing the same issues that I am, is not not admit liability for the debt, ask for a complete breakdown of how the alleged debt has been incurred and ask for copies of all the invoices generated for your account covering the full term of that account.

Also make it quite clear that you intend to dispute the alleged debt when summoned to appear in court.

Good luck and if you feel strongly about it why not write to all three of the persons named as "joint administrators of Extra Energy" named in the letter you received from Extra Energy, who are all within the hierarchy of PWC and express your concerns over the way the process of debt recovery is being conducted by them.