Should I reply to the Debt Management company

[Tony Davis]

A while ago I transferred my custom to a different electricity supply company, as they were cheaper than the company I was originally with.

 

Big mistake, they constantly messed up bills so I reverted to my original company.

 

As part of the leaving process I agreed to pay my outstanding balance over a number of months ( minus the "goodwill gesture" they made due to their mess ups) and, towards the end of the agreed term they sent me a letter offering to give me a 10% discount if I paid the remainder of the bill within a set time frame. This was last October

 

I paid it, they promised to send me a confirmation, but never did. I didn't bother chasing it as I was so fed up with waiting in a queue on the 'phone.

 

Today I received an email from a debt management company claiming that I owed the aformentioned energy company £7.41.

 

I entered into a web chat with the energy companies complaints department who said the amount was outstanding and so I should pay it.

I explained that about the offer etc, and was told, yes, I can see you have paid the amount on 26 Oct 2017. I asked why I was being chased for the amount shewn and the reply was "it would be escalated and I would get an answer with 48 hours"

 

My question to you all is; should I reply to the debt mangement company, or ignore them until I get a reply?

 

Thanks

 

Tony

[Joseph_Pestell]

Ignore them.

[Tony Davis]

Totally, or until I get a response from the energy company?

[chriswright03]

Normally the debt is sold onto the debt management company and if you ignore them they will just keep sending you letters and add admin charges.  So I would say speak to them and tell them you are in contact with the Supplier and they are looking into it.

[Dungrange]

I'd agree that you should speak to the Debt Management Company to explain the situation and confirm that you are speaking to the energy company.  The only time something similar happened to me was where I was due a Council Tax rebate.  This seemed to take months to sort and I then received a letter from a Debt Management Company indicating that I owed money.  I phoned them to explain and thankfully discovered that the action to recover assets had been withdrawn that morning when the Council had obviously realized that they were chasing money that they weren't owed.

 

However, the Debt Management Company will chase you for the money until the energy company tell them to stop (or you pay).  Whilst the sum is quite small, I'm sure the Debt Management Company's fees could add up quickly enough.

 

Hope you get a satisfactory resolution.

[hayfield]

If you have a written a copy of the offer from the energy company coupled with your payment, threaten to take legal action for money you do not owe, claim they are debtor harassing which is illegal. If they do not stop you will employ a legal representative and will reclaim all costs you incur in resolving their mistake

 

I would also inform them you are reporting them to their ombudsman, of course send all relevant info to said ombudsman

Edited January 22, 2018 by hayfield

[Ohmisterporter]

Make sure you keep all the paperwork and emails that have passed between you and the company and the debt collectors. It may become important later: and even after the dispute has been settled I would keep it safe. I may be wrong but Isn't the recommended time six years? Somebody correct me if I am wrong.

[Tony Davis]

6 years from the date I last paid, which refers to acknowledgement of debt.

 

One thing just occured to me; they only sent an email, not a letter, not sure that changes things.

 

What really irritates me is the fact that I don't owe the money, I have paid all that I owe and it is because the energy company are incompetent that I am being accused of this debt. I haven't had anything from the energy company since I made the payment, so if I did owe the money I would have had no way of knowing!

[Guest]

£7.41? Ooh, that's big business for the debt management company. Ignore them.

I had something similar a couple of years ago. It was for about £35 and was with regard to van insurance. I initially contacted them and pointed out it was an error and I had proof the amount had been paid.

They weren't interested in that, but because I'd contacted them, they then wouldn't leave it alone. After ignoring their increasingly desperate letters and emails for a couple of months, they actually had someone call at my house.

A failed nightclub bouncer-type, he wasn't interested in my initial explanation that I owed nothing. He, in fact, started to become aggressive. After I'd told him to "have a nice day" and closed the door, I decided that I didn't deserve to be spoken to like that. I followed him to his car and took a picture of him getting into it, including the registration number. I made a bogus threat of wanting evidence when I called the police.

He then really threw his toys out of the pram.

To cut a long story short, have nothing to do with these desperate parasites. I know that's assumption on my part that they're all the same, but hey...

Deal with the energy company - if that fails, do nothing. For a debt of £7.41, how long do you think they'll waste money on it?

Edited January 22, 2018 by Pete 75C

[Guius]

6 years from the date I last paid, which refers to acknowledgement of debt.

 

One thing just occured to me; they only sent an email, not a letter, not sure that changes things.

 

What really irritates me is the fact that I don't owe the money, I have paid all that I owe and it is because the energy company are incompetent that I am being accused of this debt. I haven't had anything from the energy company since I made the payment, so if I did owe the money I would have had no way of knowing!

You're right to feel miffed at such treatment, but it's all too common. In 2008 I had a debt collectors turn up at my door and gain entry to recover unpaid council tax, unfortunately they had the wrong house number down. I phoned the council who told me the that debt was now in the hands of a debt collection firm and I would have to contact them, this I did and was told 'yer pull the other one we've heard 'em all' .Being the only left to do I rang the police and they confirmed to the collectors that the named debtor did not live at my house and with that the two individuals left.

After my blood pressure subsided I reflected on how vulnerable we are to this type of undeserved 'menace with threats'. I never received an apology from debt collectors or council BTW.

 

Guy

[Jonboy]

I would check your credit files (equifax and Experian) to see if they have added entries to this that may cause you grief with any finance application in the next few years.

 

Don’t get suckered into the monthly sign up for a fee, simply get the £2 statutory report...

[chris p bacon]

IIRC there is an article in 'Which' magazine this month about how quick some companies are to send instructions to a debt collection agency.

 

By co-incidence, as part of my work I sometimes have several power supplies to sites, the latest is a shop conversion and I am signed up to E-ON as that was the existing supplier, I had a bill in December which was estimated so sent in my actual meter readings (our usage is so low we would be way ahead if I paid the estimate) and had a note to say a new bill would be sent.

10 days after the original bill I got a text message and an automated call telling me to pay the amount owed, I emailed the company and said I wasn't impressed but the tone of the text message 

 

"You still owe us for the energy used. Please pay or call us asap"

 

while waiting for a reply I had a repeat of the text and another automated call.

 

The reply I received didn't apologise but re-itterated that I had used energy I had not paid for, I relied that I had never been late before and that as a developer part of the bill was payment in advance so they were in effect demanding money before supplying energy.

 

The next reply was more apologetic but used the excuse that the texts were date/time related and were 'automatic'  I told them to find the 'off switch' then.

 

Whoever purchases will be given the info about suppliers in the folder I produce, including those that I've had issues with.

[gordon s]

Been through a similar loop regarding a gas bill for my late mother.  Don't deal with the debt collection agency.  Contact the original supplier and explain you have been contacted by this agency.  As you don't know whether it is legit or a scam, ask the supplier for proof that you owe that money.  Be charming to the supplier and explain you really would like to sort this out but can't until they can provide proof of the debt.  In my mother's case they realised very quickly from their records they hadn't in fact sent out a bill for the amount owing of £110,  That was immediately a problem for them, so they agreed straight away to write the debt off and they would contact the collection agency to inform them accordingly.  They must have done that as I heard nothing more.

 

It's quite probably all the records have been archived etc, so it's more hassle for them to provide the info over £7.41 so they may readily agree to write it off.

 

The only people that can stop this process is the supplier, so always deal with them.  If the agency start putting pressure on you, tell them you're not aware of any amount outstanding and have requested proof of the debt from the supplier.  Just stay calm and give everyone the impression you are really surprised and not aware of any debt and that you've asked for all the info.  Tell them you have no problem paying once you have proof from the supplier, but feel this must be an error on their part.

[Tony Davis]

I have been in touch with the supplier, they told me I owed the monies mentioned, I pointed out that I had a letter saying that the £141 odd was full and final. I was told that the £141 was shewn on their system as having been received. I asked for the date, as the offer was only good until half way through November, it appeared on 26th October, so that's not the problem. I really wanted to make sure that by not contacting the debt company, which was my initial instinct, that I wouldn't be not following a proper procedure.

 

I was told the supplier would get back to me within 48 hrs so I will wait until then to see what they come up with.

 

Thanks for all the responses

[royaloak]

If you have a written a copy of the offer from the energy company coupled with your payment, threaten to take legal action for money you do not owe, claim they are debtor harassing which is illegal. If they do not stop you will employ a legal representative and will reclaim all costs you incur in resolving their mistake

 

I would also inform them you are reporting them to their ombudsman, of course send all relevant info to said ombudsman

This ^^^ but make sure you have the agreement and proof of paying it within the agreed timescale, if you havent got both of them then just pay it because I would value my time (and blood pressure) more highly than £7.

[Tony Davis]

I have got both, Royaloak, I kept a copy of the webchat where the agent told me the date that they had received the money. As to paying it, well, I understand what you are saying, but what's to stop them doing the same thing again?

[royaloak]

 For a debt of £7.41, how long do you think they'll waste money on it?

But it wont stay at £7.41 for long will it, they will initially add on their fees for buying the debt, if you ignore them they add more fees etc and before you know it it will soon be into several hundred pounds and the law will be on their side because you ignored the initial correspondence, dont confuse morally right with legally right, the two can be very different.

Ignore the above, it has since been clarified.

 

As you have both I would send them a copy and see what they say, if they insist on pursuing it (unlikely) then tell ask them where to send the invoice for dealing with the matter.

 

Do not ignore them because if you do they will have legal recourse for the costs incurred by themselves in dealing with you.

Edited January 22, 2018 by royaloak

[Guest]

But it wont stay at £7.41 for long will it, they will initially add on their fees for buying the debt, if you ignore them they add more fees etc and before you know it it will soon be into several hundred pounds and the law will be on their side because you ignored the initial correspondence, dont confuse morally right with legally right, the two can be very different.

 

Read the original post. He's paid the debt. When this is proven, fees and interest on a non-existent debt will equal £0.00.

 

Edit: ...and BTW, I'll run with morally right over legally right every day. Don't let the b@stards grind you down.

Edited January 22, 2018 by Pete 75C

[chriswright03]

I have been in touch with the supplier, they told me I owed the monies mentioned, I pointed out that I had a letter saying that the £141 odd was full and final. I was told that the £141 was shewn on their system as having been received. I asked for the date, as the offer was only good until half way through November, it appeared on 26th October, so that's not the problem. I really wanted to make sure that by not contacting the debt company, which was my initial instinct, that I wouldn't be not following a proper procedure.

 

I was told the supplier would get back to me within 48 hrs so I will wait until then to see what they come up with.

 

Thanks for all the responses

You are obviously dealing with it but just make sure that you do keep records of times and dates of conversations and 'if' they will give you it the name of the person you speak to.  In any event most of these calls are recorded hence the importance of time and date should you need to take it further.

 

Whilst I accept other views that you should not contact the debt agency I would still say it is worth doing it just so you can tell them that you are dealing direct with the supplier and then make sure you make notes of that call and once again who you speak to.  That way they have been informed so can have no excuse for chasing further and adding admin charges.

 

I know the amount is small at the moment but ignoring stuff like this can turn into an expensive problem and can affect your credit history if not dealt with.

 

The fact that the money has been paid is currently not accepted by the Debt company as they were informed by the supplier that is the case.  So the fact that it has been paid needs to be acknowdleged by both companies.

[Tony Davis]

I have kept a copy of the webchat, I will wait and see if they come back with proof of debt, which I don't see that they can, as the payment was full and final. Actually getting the supplier to tell the debt company is another matter entirely. I can't tell you how fed up I am with the supplier, they have been nothing but a problem the whole time I was with them and even now when I am no longer with them!

[chriswright03]

Just a point and quickly checked but not seen it.  Do you feel comfortable naming and shaming this supplier?  May stop others from falling foul of them.

[royaloak]

Just a point and quickly checked but not seen it.  Do you feel comfortable naming and shaming this supplier?  May stop others from falling foul of them.

ould be an issue if they name them fully, there is no reason why he couldnt post a hint at the name though.

[Tony Davis]

I am okay with it, just dont' want to fall foul of forum protocol

[Tony Davis]

It's a utility company, one of the first, I believe.

 

That's all your getting, I like this forum!!

[PhilJ W]

I've found this very useful http://ceoemail.com working on the basis that a rocket delivered where the sun doesn't shine has an effect the greater the altitude it comes from. I have used it a couple of times in the past with excellent results. They ask for donations for the website, its well worth a pound or two. I've had trouble with an energy supply company in the past, I wonder if its the same one? The initials are the same as an item of none passenger coaching stock with a guards compartment.