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We started to receive Scottish Power bills addressed to “the occupier” around four years ago. We have been with British Gas since moving into our rented property.
It was difficult to log a complaint with Scottish Power as I did not want to give my details in case I became associated with the debt.
Red letters demanding between £2,000 to £12,000 arrived, now addressed to my boyfriend. We did not know how they had got his name and were concerned about the impact on his credit record.
Over the next two years, we called Scottish Power countless times, sometimes staying on the phone for an hour. Nonetheless, bailiffs called over a debt of more than £10,000.
Finally, eight months ago, Scottish Power admitted its error and confirmed British Gas was our supplier. Six months after that, bills started again, addressed to “the occupier”, followed by a bailiff’s letter in my name demanding £10,703.
I have emailed, called and tweeted but still no solution to this problem.
EG, Manchester
You are the third reader to have been threatened with bailiffs by Scottish Power over phantom debts. Concerningly, it only called off the hounds in the previous two cases after the Observer interfered. You had already involved the energy ombudsman when you got in touch with me.
Scottish Power told me that there were two gas supply numbers linked to your address, one registered in its name, hence the bills. Unforgivably, it did not trouble to discover or confirm this during your alarming four-year struggle.
The incompetence was compounded when it did identify the problem. “We previously told the customer that we had rectified it but, unfortunately, this information was wrong as we had not fully completed the details on the national database,” it says. “This has now been corrected.”
The ombudsman directed the company to pay you £150 in compensation, a sum you rightly deemed a poor reflection of the hours of work and anxiety caused. The ombudsman insisted it was fair but, after media involvement, Scottish Power decided to pay you and your partner £150 each.
If you need help email Anna Tims at your.problems@observer.co.uk or write to Your Problems, The Observer, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Include an address and phone number. Submission and publication are subject to our terms and conditions
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