Charged a whole year supply for old address almost 2 years after I moved out

Hi ​@Steve107 ,

Please wait for ​@Nukecad . This looks like his specialist subject so I’ll ask him to swing by.

Okay, thank-you.

Hi, ​@Steve107 

I do indeed know about this stuff; and I know LCS - both from personal experience. - I know how to effectively deal with it all.

I'm not at home at the moment so am posting this from my phone. When I get home I can/will go into more detail.

But for now- don't agree anything with LCS (or any other debt collectors), don't even acknowledge that you are somehow now their “customer” you aren't and you certainly do not have any “account” with them no matter what they say. More about collectors later.

Don't even talk to them on the phone, insist that all comunication be by email or by letter so that you have a record of what is said.

I assume that you raised an official complaint with OVO and that's when you sent the documents so:-

How long has it been since you raised that complaint?

Have you had a letter/email fom OVO saying that they consider their complaint process to have run it's course and be at an end? (Known as a ‘Deadlock’ letter).

TBH it sounds as if you may be heading to the Ombudsman with this, but there are certain things you have to do before going to the Ombudsman.

(And yes, I have had my own similar complaint at the Ombudsman which I won - just to be clear that wasn't OVO ).

I will post more detailed advice later.

Hi ​@Nukecad 

it's all crazy, originally LCS tried to collect the debt, but when I showed my evidence LCS closed the case on their end in February this year, then in May OVO appointed a solicitor who asked for payment, I've shown all evidence to OVO and emailed countless times, also through their complaints team over last several months, they never replied and proceeded with a court money claim, I have to now attend court with my evidence to show the judge I don't owe this debt, hopefully the judge will see that I was not liable, I just can't believe OVO have done this.

Ahh, so LCS backed off and it's gone further than just the Ombudsman then.

(It does sound odd that OVO would do that - are you sure it's not just another DC agency? I was contacted by one that is owned/run by qualified lawyers, but they are working as Debt Collectors and not as lawyers. I don't have their name to hand here).

If it's  gone to court then that's above my advice level I'm afraid, I'm not a lawyer.

Once it has gone to court then the Ombudsman can't arbitrate either, you are past arbitration.

It will now be down to the Judge as you say.

Have you got a lawyer of your own to represent you?

EDIT - I remebered the one I meant, and that I had dealings with, if it's  Moriarty Law then they are debt collectors not solicitors 

​@Nukecad Thanks, I didn't try the Ombudsmen prior to court action, I spoke with them recently and I think they can help if I can get the case set-aside, it's just so annoying that OVO have not accepted anything I've shown them, I'm hopeful though as I've put in a defence with the same evidence to the court and they put everything on hold within 24 hrs of my application which is very fast work , so they must see I have a good defence/evidence, the hearing is a few days away so will update with my result.

Actually, if the Judge rules in your favour, the matter has to be terminated pretty rapidly IIRC and you’d see no further enforcement. But at the same time, you’d be unable to pursue it any further beyond what the Judgement says. But in that situation, you probably wouldn’t need to anyway.

​@Blastoise186 Okay, that's a pain as this has cost money to defend, I was hoping to get back should I win.

Judgements can sometimes award you money e.g. Costs if you win. I can’t say for sure though. AFAIK it’s only the Employment Tribunal where both sides always pay their own Costs - pretty much everything else I can think of makes the losing side pay.

If you Settle out of Court, you can negotiate terms - I’d suggest adding your costs to that deal.

​@Blastoise186  Thank you. Unfortunately OVO have stopped communication with me for some time, and still proceeding with court action , last I heard from them was when I sent full tenancy they asked for months ago prior to court hearing, I've tried all their emails, chat ect, but they're not responding at all, it all seems a complete waste of time for myself and the courts when it's so obvious I wasn't living there with the evidence I have shown, OVO say themselves a full tenancy is proif, yet I've sent them that and so much more, OVO wasn't even interested in who moved in straight after I left, even though I had the proof to show them, makes me wonder who the tenants at the time where paying their energy bills to?

Sounds like the lawyers have told them to do that. Can’t say for sure though as I’m not a lawyer myself and can’t say I’m an expert.

​@Blastoise186 Yes, only the solicitor has asked for everything on behalf of OVO, so probably been told not to engage with me, in hindsight I should of got my account closed in writing instead of over the phone, but I've done this way with every provider in the past and never had issue before, at first I thought it was a scam as I was with SSE and closed my account with SSE and didn't know who OVO was.

That matches up with my own experiences. I had to take a company to Court once as a result of what they did to me. My lawyer was incredible and he helped a ton, but he mentioned that he should be the one to take the lead in terms of talking to the company on my behalf and to route as much as possible through him.

Needless to say, I won that case by settling out of Court - and got all my costs back too because my lawyer had the genius idea to make the other side cough up a contribution towards my costs, and my insurance covered the rest. :)

​@Blastoise186 Good result there. I didn't seek any legal advice, I will find out soon if this was a mistake on my part being for perhaps being over confident.

For the future, check out home insurance policies that offer Family Legal Protection. These ones can save your bacon if you need it. I use Direct Line Home Insurance Plus myself, but I strongly recommend you do your own research and pick a policy that works for you - because I can’t promise the one I use is the best one for everyone else.

For that reason, there’s (quite deliberately!) no direct link to it so that I can’t earn commission from saying it.

​@Blastoise186 I'll look into them thanks, I didn't know they extended to legal protection.

Some of them offer it by default, others don’t. In the case of Direct Line, it’s an Optional Add-On for the Standard tier, but bundled by default as an Included Add-On on the Plus tier. Arguably, the Plus tier is cheaper than going Standard and taking the Add-On(s), but totally your choice.

Other insurers may name it differently, but you’ll usually be able to figure it out pretty quickly. Be warned that not all of them cover the same stuff and/or offer the same features - check carefully.

As for the main issue, if you have a solid case you should do OK - the Judge will recognise that you’re not an expert and apply at least some tolerance for that.

​@Blastoise186 Thanks, yes I'm sure it will work out okay for me on the day, it should be straight forward, although there's always that measure of doubt.

What you are saying here conflict s with what you have said on another thread.

15 hours ago on that other thread you stated:

So which one is it?

Are you being taken to court as you state on this thread?
Or have you already been to court and had the case set aside as you state there?

If you are saying different things in different places then how are we supposed to believe anything that you tell us?

​@Nukecad Yes, I see what you mean, I can see this could happen, but I can't imagine what they have to suspect I was still living there as even the Council confirmed I moved out and I have very good evidence someone else moved in, also it would be of no benefit to let out a house I'd still be liable for rent, it would be in one hand and straight out the other the landlord.

I also showed OVO I'm a single parent on benefits working part time on living wage, as we know it's hard enough to afford one rental property, for these reasons I feel OVO have completely got it wrong on this occasion.

​@Nukecad Sorry, regarding other post, I didn't explain fully there, I meant the case is set-side (stayed) pending my application at hearing, should I lose, then the judgement will be set back on me.

‘Stayed’ is not ‘set-aside’ they have different meanings.
The first is a pause, the second is a dismissal.

Using incorrect legal terms like that is likely to end badly.

Have you got a lawyer?

​@Nukecad  I have mentioned in this thread what I have tried prior to court action by OVO, I have not been to court as I didn't know until I found a CCJ on my credit file. What I was referencing to was to set- aside proceedings until I attend court to put in my defence.

One last try to clarify the actual position here:

Are you now saying that a CCJ against you has already been granted by a court?

Are you saying that what is happening here is that you are trying to have an existing, already granted, CCJ set-aside.
Or
Are you saying that an existing, already granted, CCJ has already been set-aside and you are waiting for the original case to be heard again?

If/when a CCJ is ‘set-aside’ then that isn’t a new judgement in itself.

Set-aside simply means that the process leading to that original judgement may have been legally unsound. (eg if you hadn’t been given a chance to make a defence that could be an unsound process).
Set-aside means that the original case has to be heard over again, and a new judgement arived at.