Spark passed my details to a debt collector without my knowledge?

Humberfloob · 23 February 2019 at 6:01PM

Hi there,

I'm fairly new to energy companies as I only moved into my first rental property 6 months ago.

I'm with Spark on a fixed tariff of £140 a month. I have a direct debit that goes out each month. I have regularly entered in my meter readings (except for the first 2 months as I didn't know I needed to).

As far as I was aware, everything was fine. I had no contact from Spark and the direct debit was set up.

However, today I get a call from Opos who said they're calling on behalf of Spark. I'm asked to confirm security details which I refused as they called me. After hanging up I looked up the number online. They're a debt collection agency. This rings major alarm bells as I've always kept up to date with any payments.

So I take a look at my online account and see I'm £331 in debit. I contacted Spark who entered in my current meter readings and this brought the bill down to £270.

Now I can pay this off fine, I'd just like to know, without my knowledge or any contact at all, why Spark can hand off my details to a debt collection agency. Why wasn't I contacted and told my fixed tariff didn't cover my usage? And most importantly of all, will this now affect my credit rating? If so, what can I do about that?

Any advice would be very much appreciated. I'm still new to this game.

TIA

wavelets · 23 February 2019 at 11:44PM

Humberfloob wrote: »

Hi there,

I'm fairly new to energy companies as I only moved into my first rental property 6 months ago.

I'm with Spark on a fixed tariff of £140 a month. I have a direct debit that goes out each month. I have regularly entered in my meter readings (except for the first 2 months as I didn't know I needed to).

As far as I was aware, everything was fine. I had no contact from Spark and the direct debit was set up.

However, today I get a call from Opos who said they're calling on behalf of Spark. I'm asked to confirm security details which I refused as they called me. After hanging up I looked up the number online. They're a debt collection agency. This rings major alarm bells as I've always kept up to date with any payments.

So I take a look at my online account and see I'm £331 in debit. I contacted Spark who entered in my current meter readings and this brought the bill down to £270.

Now I can pay this off fine, I'd just like to know, without my knowledge or any contact at all, why Spark can hand off my details to a debt collection agency. Why wasn't I contacted and told my fixed tariff didn't cover my usage? And most importantly of all, will this now affect my credit rating? If so, what can I do about that?

Any advice would be very much appreciated. I'm still new to this game.

TIA

Please refer to term 24.1 of the terms and conditions

Hasbeen · 24 February 2019 at 9:25AM

You are not with spark. You are with OVO

wavelets · 24 February 2019 at 11:54AM

Hasbeen wrote: »

You are not with spark. You are with OVO

27 November 2018: We’re delighted that the GB energy regulator Ofgem has selected OVO Energy to take over our customers’ energy supply. If you’re a Spark customer, it’s good news - you don’t need to do anything. Spark will continue to service all aspects of your account under the Spark brand. It’s business as usual.
Find out more here

https://sparkenergy.co.uk/

DrNuts · 24 February 2019 at 9:50PM

On Feb 5th 2019 I have paid £19-71 to OPOS (the debt collection agency) rather than have debt collectors chasing me. I received a text (!!) from 'OPOS' advising me that I owed money. It appears that there was an outstanding amount on my account from before Spark energy went into administration. I had no idea about this and had had no communication from either Spark or OPOS that there was an amount outstanding. I have therefore no evidence that this issue is 'real' other than the say-so of people on the phone. Personally I think this is KPMG, the administrators, trying to milk as much money as possible out of the process.

JJ_Egan · 25 February 2019 at 2:09PM

LPG from Spark ??

JoMenz · 28 February 2019 at 10:52AM

I have experienced the same and have refused to pay until I see a final statement because otherwise there is no audit trail and nothing to stop them coming back at a later date and saying you still owe money. Where is the evidence that I owe this money? All I’ve been given (after a number of threatening phone calls from Opos) is a link to their online portal and a payment method which allows me to enter my bank details which I do not want to do. Not sure how far I will get with this bit I’m just not willing to pay something without a statement that confirms this would be the end of the matters

zod · 4 March 2019 at 10:40PM

I have a similar issue. I was made aware recently that my details were passed to LCS debt collectors, reason - The energy bill I paid in November 2018 was transferred to OVO as a security deposit when Spark went into administration. According to Spark I should have paid twice!!!! Why?

I always pay my energy bills on time, I am sick and tired of unscrupulous companies taking the p1$$!!!!!

Humberfloob · 5 March 2019 at 12:03PM

Thanks for the replies!

Yep I can confirm that this is due to the Spark Administration. It seems our accounts were split during the takeover by Ovo. Since then, Spark, without any notifications whatsoever have allowed our account to hit nearly £400 in debt. They had also changed my direct debit without my knowledge from £140 to £309!

So my advice is if you're with Spark. GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE.

I'm going to be paying that off and switching as fast as possible.

I could not recommend Spark to anyone. And given this was a company recommended by our letting agent I'm extremely disappointed and angry.

Robin9 · 5 March 2019 at 12:14PM

Humberfloob wrote: »

............... And given this was a company recommended by our letting agent I'm extremely disappointed and angry................

Just, perhaps, the letting agent was on commission ?

Former Spark Representative · 12 March 2019 at 5:38PM

Hi everyone

I'm sorry I'm just seeing all these posts now - I don't usually check the LPG forum.

If anyone's needing help please contact us using the email address given in my profile, and mark your email with "Money Saving Expert" in the subject line.

We'll need your full name, your forum name, your full address and the best number to contact you on.

Happy to help if we hear from you.

Kind regards

Jenny
Customer Relations Team

Spark passed my details to a debt collector without my knowledge?

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