An update. Here we are in October; I had heard nothing from Link or MBNA since June this year - 4 months ago. Then last week I received an extra big "postcard" asking me to call Link. Then yesterday they started calling me again. Twice yesterday; once so far today. This is soooooo annoying. I honestly thought I had got rid of them !! ;-) So what do I do now ? I have already told them I do not acknowledge any debt to their company (as MBNA sold debt to Link earlier than they should have done). Do I just reiterate this in a simple letter ? Has anyone else received renewed cards / calls from Link after months of inactivity ????

Just as an update: my supplier tried to get me to pay almost 2k in charges when the property was unoccupied and thus only nominal ticking over costs involved. I argued over 3 letters just on this one point. (I prob wrote over 20 letters in all !!) And they finally wrote the whole lot off....

They can't guess. But they will continue to write giving you guess readings. They will continue to write and try to pressurise you to pay. But be strong. Do not put up with their nonsense. I just had a similar situation. I just kept writing and telling them that I did not accept their guess readings and I maintained I was not liable for any period with any other tenants apart from the dates of my occupation. I kept writing. I think that is key. Keep communicating with them. They can't disconnect you whilst you are still disputing their claims. And if eventually you threaten them - maybe - with going to court it will be to expensive for them to pursue. Don't forget they have no tangible facts to prove their case....

Hah Hah - they have given up ***WON *** Finally after 8 months of letter writing and trying to get to the bottom of all the facts and figures, they have taken a business decision to wipe out all the old debts on the property account and... I don't have to pay anything. Yippee. Persistence pays. Lesson learnt though: I made sure I and the clerk took readings at start of recent tenancy !!

I agree with Jason above. I have had an on-going saga with electricity supplier since just before Christmas. They kept refusing to accept Billing Code. I kept on and on writing. They kept coming back with all sorts of mistakes and made up readings, each time contradicting previous readings. I guess they got bored of arguing in the end and just gave up last week. So my thought is to keep arguing; keep writing letters and badgering them and in the end it becomes too expensive for them to pursue !!!

Well I have a bit of an update. NW have replied with some info. But they have refused to send details referring to the Ltd Company The issue I have, and I do not know how to deal with it, is that the info they have sent refers to an account number that is not mine. Well it appears to be mine as far as NW are concerned; but it is an account # that I never signed up for. i.e.: They have said that they have sent all personal details "recorded under reference" xxxx and xxxx. But the crucial point here is that I have no knowledge of those references. They have sent me 2 personal guarantees pertaining to the Ltd company and the Ltd company bank account #. But these personal guarantees do not refer to the account details NW have for me. They have suggested that I am more specific with what information I require and to direct my request to the dept that handles the day to day running of my business account !!! Ironic seeing as the Company ceased to exist 6+ years ago and NW closed the account down !!!!! I am not sure of the way forward now. Not sure if I push for biz details on the basis was a sole trader, or what "specific" questions I should ask ?? Does anyone have any ideas...

Gosh, Poor Mr Kneale. After all that the judge landed him with Barclays costs on top of his own costs and the £14k debt. That really sucks. I hope he doesn't have too much to lose....

I don't like the idea of shopping anyone - friend or not - to the utility companies !!! I would set them to task on proving the start date reading and end date reading for your occupancy. If you have readings all the better. They will want proof of when you moved in. I guess details of your previous property will do. I don't know that I would admit that the LL was/is your friend. I would keep your distance. Just advise that you are responsible for this period only. As Pelham says - you can deal with a 50/50 split as a separate issue with your friend later. I guess if he had the house repossessed that he is feeling pretty raw at the moment, hence why he doesnt want to talk money with anyone. Go gentle on him, even if he has kind of landed you in this mess! Friendship is worth much more than satisfaction of a utility bill

Actually not almost everyone - as it is illegal to open mail not addressed to you ! The right thing to do is send the official letter back to sender with, if you want, a not known at this address on the envelope.

hi do they have start and end readings of the period concerned ? do they have the Landlords name ? why isn't the bill addressed to the LL ? Who gave them your name ? Your friend ? Why don't you talk to the LL - your friend ? Were you on the Council Tax list ? Did you pay other bills ? Is this how they deem you responsible ? You are only responsible for the period you occupied the property. They are bound to try it on with you. They haven't been paid for 3 years. But do not worry, you can fight them and win I got a bill for 6 years and 6k in Dec and am still fighting them, but have whittled it down to almost nothing. Give some answers to the questions and I am sure others will help out too...

But this is not his debt. So UW has no right to cut him off. He should hand in notice and go. Let LL and agent sort it out. And pay for his use. But he needs to ensure that everything is in writing. Anyways, enough from me.

I disagree that it is the OPs fault. Quite clearly UW want money for an old debt. OP is not liable for that debt. OP is not liable for any dca charges nor is he liable for the costs of fitting a pre-paid meter or any additional costs added to his current and future bills if he stays with UW. UW's behaviour is clearly unacceptable. They broke into someone's home chasing someone else's debt without verifying who lives in that home now. That is wrong. Now, the first thing to do is speak to the LL. The LL either knows about this problem and should bear the costs or is in the dark and is bound to be extremely angry at having new locks and prepayment meter in the property and will legally pursue the old tenant through the courts for reimbursement of all the costs. As a LL myself, I would be furious. It is actually not your problem, even though you think / feel it is right now. It is the LL's. You have every right to distance yourself from this issue. I would also go back to the Letting Agent - in writing and copy it to the LL. I would confirm that you passed all mail for old tenant on to the agent. You need to draft a brief letter explaining the seriousness of the current situation and that they could be held responsible by the LL if they failed to pass on the mail to the old tenant. You also want confirmation in writing that the agent passed or will pass on old tenant's details to UW. Of course in a TA there would have been an address for serving notice. Did agent pass this address on to UW ? If not, why not ? Did the agent advise the LL of any problem ? You need to take YOU out the equation. Pass the buck to the agent and the LL. YOU hold the agent and LL responsible for this violation of your privacy, safety and peaceful rental of the property. I would also get help in drafting a strong letter to UW explaining very simply that you are not responsible for any debt prior to a certain date of your TA beginning, nor for them changing the locks to your home, or the costs of fitting a pp meter. You could send them a copy of the letter you sent them in Jan/Feb advising them of the start of your TA Personally I have an alternative view - you need to look hard at whether you both wish to stay in this property anyway. I mean, between the letting agent, the old tenant and UW (and maybe even with the LL's knowledge too), your safety and peaceful enjoyment of the property has been compromised. This kind of means breach of the TA. Which means that you can opt out the property and go live somewhere else, without losing the deposit, maybe suggesting compensation for your troubles, and then start afresh, this time letting the utility supplier know immediately !!! Bottom line, all this hassle is not really your hassle. If you can send UW the TA, your current reading and your start reading - which should I guess match up with the letting agents/ inventory clerks end reading of the last tenant - then it will be clear what your utility liability is. Pay your liabiity and move on. Let the LL sort out the issue of change of locks and the old debt. Just my 2p worth....

what !!!! That is precisely my point. A domestic flat should NOT be on the same meter as a business. There needs to be 2 meters. Otherwise, if there is any problem the domestic consumer loses out on the rights under the Billing Code.

you need to speak to your landlord. That you must do It is not your fault....

also something to consider is the billing code of practice. It will not apply if you are classed as business use - which clearly you are not if you are domestic in a flat. This discrepancy needs to be sorted immediately.

I have used Toymakers arguments. I havent paid anything to egg or a dca for more than a year. Neither egg nor a dca has contacted me in 5 months. Lulled into a false sense of security ? Are they about to hit me after 6 months lapse ? Or have they given up ?

Your story is not actually that clear. Did you live in the property with your ex ? Did he pay the bills out of his bank account ? By cheque ; online banking ; direct debit ? Or did you share payment ? Or did he always pay and this bill is what he considers your due seeing as the relationship is now over and you paid nothing before ? I'm not being horrid, but when relationships end people act strangely ! You need to start talking to your Ex !! Find out what he has done How much is Eon chasing you for ? You can not put your head in the sand on this one. You need to start writing clever letters back to Eon, pro-longing the dispute til you sort a way out the mess....

There appears to have been no warrant sent to OP. So it is a violation of this tenant's rights of peaceful tenancy. Firstly, there was an old tenant and OP believes the problems are due to old tenant - not the OP. Old tenant moves out. There was/is a letting agent working on behalf of the landlord. Post for old tenant was given to the letting agent, so it is clear the agent either acted for the old tenant and knew their forwarding address or passed the mail onto the landlord. If Landlord got the mail then they would clearly act as it is their property after all and I can not imagine they would want UW breaking in.... If letting agent did nothing with the mail then they are at fault and a claim could be made against them for failure of duty as agent. And if agent does know forwarding address of the old tenant, now is the time to force them to act properly and give the information to the utility company. There is normally a clause in the TAs allowing agents to pass the tenants details on to utility companies incase of disputes.... Bottom line is that if the OP moved in Jan, yes they should have let the utility company know, but unless the OP is not telling us all the story, then this breaking in is far too quick from move in to action, without any form of communication from the utility company. The OP must have had bills addressed to the customer ? If not, why not ? UW can't just break in? They have a duty to liaise with the consumer. And they need to verify that the tenant in situ is the person responsible for the bills. They can not just break in without this warrant. So where is it ? And who signed for it ?

Actually it is not always up to the incoming tenant. It could be up to the letting agent. Dependent on the time lapse between outgoing and incoming tenant, the utilities could revert back to the Landlord's name. The outgoing tenant hands in notice and asks for final bill. If they did this, then UW had no rights to break in cos they would have known that the tenant was a tenant and had left the premises. If this is so - then perhaps it is the Landlord who has problems too ? 5-6 months without communication from the utility supplier and then this action goes against their code of conduct....

Shouldn't you contact the police ? They had no rights to break into your property without giving prior legal notice. Equally, as you are a tenant - you need to contact your landlord. I assume you are not normally allowed to change the locks under the terms of your lease. UWs action would mean the Landlord is without a key to their own premises. They need to be informed immediately. I would also think they would not be too happy to find a pre-payment meter in their property.

I think Mr Walton is your man on this then.... I also think the moot point is if they are legally allowed to transfer from one type of account into another type. That is the position of a lot of people. And from what I can see, NW adds a clause in the small print of the t&cs that says they can transfer current accounts into any other type if they wish.... Now can they ? Is it legal to add that type of clause into an agreement ? I think a good lawyer is needed to ascertain if NW can add such a clause, and act on it, without any reference to a client. I think Mr Walton might have gone a few steps down this path already.... I am most interested in the outcome.

I suspect on behalf of the main client, NW. Freds is just another dca. And yes they would need assignment. One step at a time... Firstly tho you sent the sar to NW - so technically the account is in dispute surely until they provide all the info. I would ask legal advice on this, but I would think a letter to BC & Freds reminding them that the account is in dispute until NW have complied properly with the SAR and thus no further legal action against you can be made... Just a thought to stall things...

HI again Firstly I closed my company years before that change came in...hence my outdated info When you read what the SAR guidelines say, then I guess it is almost ambiguous. The guidelines say "company" - they do not specify Ltd or otherwise, any more than to say if the company consists of a partnership or sole trader then the right to apply SAR exists. Can't a sole trader also be one person trading within the boundaries of a limited company....?? Well that is how I translate it.

Hi Tedney, Yes I was the only shareholder which is why the sentence you have highlighted would infact ensure that the right of SAR will apply. By only shareholder, I mean 99%. You always need someone else to have at least 1%, i.e.: the secretary. But this does not mean they partake in anything other than taking minutes of the annual meeting, or at least signing their name on the annual accounts.

Ok - letter drafted covering 3 legal points that they should adhere to and posted. Should be interesting to see how they respond... Now, for an update. I have been scouring thru my files trying to see what they have done over the years and what I agreed to. - I have found my original o/d letter and agreement to personally guarantee up to a certain amount. This was signed more than 10years ago. - I can not find paperwork relating to an extension, a few years later, of the o/d and slightly raised personal guarantee. But I do seem to remember increasing the o/d guarantee. - I have found a NW letter saying they are formally demanding repayment of the balance outstanding. It is just a typed letter, does not mention any kind of act or default notice on the letter. Should they mention an Act or Default Notice ? Interesting though, it refers to my security in 2 parts: 1) the £ value of my original personal guarantee and 2) the £ value of the extended guarantee. They have added the 2 guarantees together, rather than the 2nd one superceding the 1st one. Can they do this ? For example if I offer a guarantee for say £10 ; then 3 years later increase the guarantee to £15 - can NW - being crafty - treat the guarantee as £25 (the sum of the 2 guarantees I signed) ??? Or should NW keep them separate ??? I would expect that the 2nd guarantee (of whch I have no paperwork) would cancel out the 1st guarantee. Any thoughts on this ? I say it is interesting, because by NW adding 2 separate guarantees together, rather than it being just one guarantee, the sum of the 2 guarantees = my total indebtedness. Whereas if - as I understand it - the guarantee is just one guarantee, then my personal guarantee does not cover the total indebtedness. I agreed x amount and I (allegedly) agreed y amount. I did not agree x + y amount Does anyone have any input here ?