Being chased for an old tenancy for a period agter i moved oit

Morning ​@kgoodenough99 

I’m really sorry to hear that this is happening - very very frustrating 😔. It does sound as if this has happened through the ‘Trace and Search’ process where we’re given details for who lives at a property by third party contacts such as Land Registries, Landlords, the Post Office etc. Sometimes the info we get given via this process can be wrong, as may have happened here by the sounds of it. 

It really sounds like this has been going on for too long. If you’ve raised a complaint you should have been given a complaints reference number. You’ll also have a dedicated complaints handler who needs to remain in contact with you until this is resolved. If you’ve received an email with your complaints reference number I recommend replying to it and asking for an update, and asking them to reverse the Trace and Search and also recall the debt from the Debt Collector (these are both things we can do when the Trace and search process has gone wrong). 

The only other thing I can think is that the complaint was raised but wasn’t escalated after a certain amount of time - when you get in touch ask them to escalate the complaint if that hasn’t been done already. Let us know how you get on - good luck with it. There’s a few Forum posts by people who’ve had the experience like this one:

Cheers.

Hi ​@kgoodenough99 

What has happened here is unfortunately pretty common in rentals.

Your initial response in complaining to the energy supplier is also common but (again unfortunately) it is the wrong approach to take.

You need to stop the Debt Collection agency themselves, complaining to the supplier will not do that.

You need ro be clear in your mind that it is not the supplier who is chasing you; (the supplier already knows that your account with them was closed before the debt arose), it is the Debt Collection Agencey who is chasing you and so it is the Debt Collection Agency who you have to stop.

What has happened:

• You moved out and closed your energy account, exactly as you should.
• Someone moved in a couple of months later and opened a new account.
• OVO want paying for those couple of months, if the property was not let then that should be the landlords responsibility, but the LL never opened a new account when you moved out.
• OVO have instructed a Debt Collector to chase the money owing for that couple of months the property was empty.
• The Debt Collectors should be chasing the landlord for payment, but their systems see you as an easier target to go after first.

What's happening now:
Once the Debt Collectors are on the job:

• They will look for a name, any name at all, that is connected with the property where the debt arose - and yours came up as their favourite because you had been living there.
• They will then trace that name to an address and send demands for payment to that name/address.
• They are not bothered if they are correct or not, they are just chasing debt from anyone who will pay it.

What you need to do next:

• You need to contact the Debt Collectors not OVO.
• You need to tell the Debt Collectors that you are not liable for the debt because you had left the property, and can prove that. (Provide proof such as your final account from OVO).
• Tell them that any further demands for payment of a debt which is clearly not your debt will be classed as Harassment, and reported as Harassment to the regulator.
  (Emphasise that word - harassment - it has a serious meaning for debt collectors).

What happens after that:
The Debt Collectors should back off, but they may try to give some more waffle, however you just stick to your position which is -

1. You do not recognise that debt and do not owe that debt.
2. You have sent them sufficient proof that the debt is not your responsibility and do not need to engage any further.
3. As they have proof that the debt is not yours then any further demands for payment will be regarded as Harassment.

If they don't back off then do complain to the FCA that they are Harassing you. Such a complaint has very serious consequences for debt collectors.

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An alternative way to stop Debt Collectors -
As you have already made a complaint to OVO then there is an alternative, similar but slightly different, approach that you could take with the Debt Collectors.
See my post here: