I bought my Shoreham flat in Jan 2020. I was living and working in Brighton at the time, so it was convenient for me to allow the sitting tenant to remain in situ. I became her landlord, and I used the same letting agency that the guy that sold me the flat used. She vacated in April 2021, and I moved in to the flat at the end of July. I've used Octopus for gas & electricity ever since. I had an account with EDF when I lived in Brighton. The tenant must have used Bristol energy, who went bankrupt. I have just received a letter from credit style, addressed to 'The occupier', demanding £279.32. I'm not in a hurry to divulge my personal details to these shysters. They don't know my name, email address or phone number. What should I do ? The bill appears to be up until 1st April 2021, when I was residing in Brighton. I don't welcome the prospect of being visited by bailiffs............
[Help] Advice sought re demand from debt collecting agency
- Thread starter Binney on acid
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DCAs have no real authority. It would appear the debt isn't yours from your post so I wouldn't worry about it. The DCA don't even have your name hence addressed to "The Occupier". That means they can't go to court ( and they could only do that if they have authority from the business they are collecting on behalf of anyway ). That means zero chance of bailiffs. You could ring them up and tell them the debt isn't yours because you weren't living there for the period of time the bill is for but I personally wouldn't bother. Given Bristol have gone bust it is probably a DCA chancing their arm on behalf of the administrators.
You won't be visited by bailiffs.
They would need to have a CCJ granted first at a court. You'll get official court papers for this first.
They are trying it on.
Best go to the debt forum on moneysavingexpert.com and ask well informed contributers there.
pearl
Well-known member
Ignore it
LANGDON SEAGULL
Well-known member
I had a similar problem when I moved into my new place three years ago. I phoned up the energy company and told them my moving in date and that seemed to resolve the issue . However as they don’t have your name they cannot take legal action so just ignore it
Paul Reids Sock
Well-known member
Pretty sure I remember something recently that energy companies can no longer back bill you for energy used over a year ago? I think there is an element in there of you having informed them of an issue etc etc. But surely this would also fall under that? Appreciate that it wasn't you that used to energy but may be useful if they try and claim it's on you as the owner etc.
Sounds to me like they are trying their luck and hoping they can intimidate people in to paying
Found this which may be where I heard about it or, more likely, Martin Lewis on Twitter
www.citizensadvice.org.uk
Sounds to me like they are trying their luck and hoping they can intimidate people in to paying
Found this which may be where I heard about it or, more likely, Martin Lewis on Twitter
If you haven’t received an accurate energy bill in a while
What to do if you haven't received an energy bill, how much of your next bill you'll have to pay, explains the 'back billing principle', what to do if you can't pay the bill.