Utility Investigation by LCS? What is this?

[DizzleFizzle]

Now as shown in a previous post here there has been a debt issue with some previous tenants but I have not heard about anything else until now.

 

I have had a letter through addressed as "FAO Occupier/Landlord" at my address from LCS Civil Enforcement/1st Locate. This letter basically goes on to explain that they have undertaken an investigation into Utility supply at my address. They DO NOT mention any client's name or any amount of money that is possibly owed. The letter goes on to request a bunch of details about the current occupier, the date of occupancy, the previous tenant and the Landlord's details in order to apparently "conclude" their findings and "eradicate" myself from the investigation.

 

Now, I'm unsure what to do with this. Do I ignore it as they seem to be fishing for details and any debt at the address certainly isn't mine? Do I give it to the Lettings Agency whom are the property managers for the property I am in? If I ignore it will there be further reprocussions? If I give it to the Lettings Agency I run the risk of them passing all the details across which I'd be unhappy about as I have said any debt isn't mine and I have all bills, agreements and paperwork associated with my tenancy to prove it (I got nothin' to hide!). I'd be grateful for any insight or advice you guys have!

[DizzleFizzle]

Sorry to bump this, but does anyone have thoughts or advice? Anything?

[MG123]

Now as shown in a previous post here there has been a debt issue with some previous tenants but I have not heard about anything else until now.

 

I have had a letter through addressed as "FAO Occupier/Landlord" at my address from LCS Civil Enforcement/1st Locate. This letter basically goes on to explain that they have undertaken an investigation into Utility supply at my address. They DO NOT mention any client's name or any amount of money that is possibly owed. The letter goes on to request a bunch of details about the current occupier, the date of occupancy, the previous tenant and the Landlord's details in order to apparently "conclude" their findings and "eradicate" myself from the investigation.

 

Now, I'm unsure what to do with this. Do I ignore it as they seem to be fishing for details and any debt at the address certainly isn't mine? Do I give it to the Lettings Agency whom are the property managers for the property I am in? If I ignore it will there be further reprocussions? If I give it to the Lettings Agency I run the risk of them passing all the details across which I'd be unhappy about as I have said any debt isn't mine and I have all bills, agreements and paperwork associated with my tenancy to prove it (I got nothin' to hide!). I'd be grateful for any insight or advice you guys have!

 

 

Your best bet is to pass this onto your Letting Agents, it certainly sounds like they are fishing around for some information now but if you leave it they may assume that its you that is responsible and there may be follow ups.

 

Ask the Letting Agents to contact the letter writers or supplier and provide your tenancy agreement and also to provide details of said people who are responsible The Agents should have this on file and help you out.

 

Alternatively, you could ask for an address or email/fax to issue your own copy of t/a and paid bills and this will highlight that the people responsible are no longer there and then they will follow their own tracing procedures.

 

Please dont ignore this.

[mattlamb]

If you've got nothiing to hide, its simple. Give them the details they are looking for! I trust you know what the meter reading/s was /were when you moved in?

[DizzleFizzle]

Thanks guys, I'll go and have a word with my Lettings Agency and see if they'll give in a hand in all this.

[Millie616]

Just received one of the letters from LCS--sounds like the same thing. Doesn't sound Kosher to me--too many spelling errors and typos. Their web page is just a single page too. No name on it, just owner /occupier. I have nothing to hide but neither do I have time to waste on what appears to be a [problem]! It will go straight in the bin!

[dweller]

Hi Guys

I work for LCS any questions?

[zazen.warrior]

Hi Guys

I work for LCS any questions?

 

Have you made yourself known to the moderators?

[dweller]

how/why do i need to?

[dweller]

I logged on to see if I could help some people from the inside

[dweller]

In response to the above questions-LCS is a real company and work for various Utility Companies. The information is given by the Utility Company and sometimes is incomplete; ie Occupier-therefore it's a balancing act between giving information away (Data Protection) and asking for information. Q1-Ask the Letting Agents to contact LCS (it's their job!)Hope this helps

[newton]

Does anybody have any information regarding their legal rights to data for free after all when you ask for data they inevitably end up charging you and these companies are in it for profit

[newton]

bumping up the thread hoping to get some more information please

[Surfer01]

I assume that LCS are a DCA on a fishing trip and you not obliged to supply them with any details.

[newton]

I believe recently there was abit of a scandal where these companie were cold calling customers out of the phone books to estalish who they were before pursuing their "investigations"

 

My name is a fairly common name and i was cold called and the person asked if they could speak to a Mr xxxx xxxxx . I refused and instead asked who they were what the nature of their query was and where they had got the details of the person they were seeking from and where they had got my details

 

The caller made some excuses and hung off

[seanamarts]

These people are just fishing for information, I just had a descent call with a guy who ummed and arred a bit when I told him I didnt have to give him my details but was very polite when I told him that the debt had nothing to do with me as the person they were looking for had moved out well over a year before I had moved in, thats all he needed to know and that was all I was going to tell him, Im a bit cross with British Gas though (their debt) as they know full well when I moved in as I was their customer when I did moved in here so they should have passed those details on to this debt company in the first case. However they did ask for my landlords number so that they could contact them but I declined knowing full well my landlord would not give out this info... Strange that BG are chasing a debt for no one being here for the times that they have stated.. maybe there was a ghost here that was cold and used the gas or electric to keep warm..

[seanamarts]

Q1-Ask the Letting Agents to contact LCS (it's their job!)Hope this helps

What makes you think' its there job' to contact LCS?? Letting agents are NOT obliged to give out this information unless a court has made an order for them to do so.

[pelham9]

It looks as if LCS's fishing expedition will catch nobody !!

 

Dizziewizzle

 

My advice to you is to ignore LCS. If I owed nothing and could prove it I would not want to give out my details or anybody's to anyone least of all a DCA.

 

Utilities have from the start made a mess of 'deemed' contracts and it is not up to you to help them out. I find it curious that a utility does not do its own dirty work - perhaps they are relying on the fearsome (not) reputation of DCA's to buy an answer

[air]

I have just got my flat back having let it and have one of these leters, I contacted LSC and asked for info, they were incredibly cagey stated it was utility debt for a month in 2008, I was not in the property at the time it was managed by an agency. LSC could not give name of the customer on utility bill which sounded rubbish, they seem to be fishing for a mug, I gave the letting agency tel number but LSC are adamant that I am liable as the landlord, they said £140 if property was empty, they sugested it was a void period who was brurning the lecky, letting agency leaving fridge on would not run up £140

[45002]

Sorry to bump this, but does anyone have thoughts or advice? Anything?

 

Hello

 

Sounds like its this PEOPLE SEARCH,using the electoral roll and voters roll or let one of our Trace Investigators find them for you

 

they work for solicitors/utility companies,All are just debt collects trying to find out where people live,moved to and so on.

 

they seam to go under a lot of different names to trick innocent people into giving out details/names and so on

 

We had a load's of letters from this lot a few years ago looking for a tennant who left with large debts.

 

If you get letters with the last part of the return address is

 

Leeds LS11

 

It's them

 

If you get a letter like that addressed to the Occupier/Landlord or someone you never heard of don't open it,just mark the letters return to send/not know or left this address,then pop them in post box next time you go out.

 

They also use a firm based in Redditch/Evesham,but i cant remember the address for that one.

Edited April 1, 2010 by 45002

[mattlamb]

If someone owes money and have just buggered off telling no-one where they went, I would want to help the company find them. At least then, they would have to face up to their responsibilities and deal with the matter - not just run away.

[Eaglewoman]

Hi,

Thanks for the information in the last but one thread, as I have received a text and 2 letters from these people addressed to Owner/Occupier.

 

I have a debt with my utility supplier and am paying them as per our agreement. However, since this agreement was put in place, I still get letters from debt collection agencies (7 different companies so far). I write to them and explain the situation. I get no reply from them, but then another company writes to me roughly 4-6 months later! So it looks as though each company knowing that the debt has been managed, just sells it on to another agency trying to recoup some money. Honour amongst thieves? More like poetic justice!

 

In reply to the very last post, may I just point out that no-one knows if anyone else has left behind a debt, ..... ever. Or whether someone has come up with a new [problem]. And I would not trust a debt collection agency or a company that cannot even be bothered to search the electoral roll for the name of the occupier. And I certainly would not do their job for them.

 

Also I find it very difficult to believe they cannot get this information quite easily.LCS got hold of my mobile number, and asked me to 'phone them on a premium rate number. I certainly didn't give it to them and had never heard of them until today. Which means they did do some research and so must have my name somewhere.

 

I lived in a property for 10 years and was on the electoral roll there for all of that time. Out of the blue and after 8 years I received a letter from a similar company, addressed to another person. This person - they said - was supposed to have lived at my address, ordered something and collected it from my address and hadn't paid for it whilst I was living there! I made the mistake of phoning that company to inform them that they had made a mistake and was treated to the most awful phone calls saying that I had to prove to them that I was not the person in the letter!!

 

All I would say is tread cautiously and check facts before judging.

Edited April 9, 2010 by Eaglewoman
Grammar

[Isorene]

In my case, when I got the LCS letter I knew a relative of mine who lived before at my current address had a utility debt, so I contacted him and we made the arrangements to pay, so far so good, BUT one day after being paying for a while we wanted to check how much more was left of the debt and to our surprise my relative had overpaid around 50 pounds and we got no letter advising him of the overpayment. We contacted LCS by email explaining, but no answer, not only that but what we got was a letter when the next payment would have been due, an instalment default notice and this time the total balance was even MORE than the original debt, hahahahaha. We contacted them again and can you all believe that until now, and it has been 2 months since we first contacted them, nothing has been done!!!