BCW and Scotcall say i owe british gas for old bill

[Casidhe]

Hello All,

 

Several months ago I recieved a letter from BCW telling me I owed British Gas £125 and that their fee was £25.

 

I knew nothing about this and rang them up. They told me that the debt was for Gas for November 05 until April 06, for a flat I had moved out of in November 04. I told them I had moved, and the gentleman asked me to post them proof of this.

 

The next day I realised that I had cancelled my gas and electric on the same phonecall, and rang BCW to check that I would not be getting a letter about the electric as well. I was told the only account was the gas.

 

As I could not find my tenancy agreement I sent them copies of the council tax and water rates documents moving my accounts. The accompanying letter asked them to call me if this was not satisfactory.

 

A month or so later I recieved a letter telling me that as I had not contacted them, they were seeking ledgal redress. I rang again and was told they had recieved my letter but that the documents were not suitable.

 

I then sent them a copy of my tenancy agreement by recorded delivery (but I've lost the slip). The accompanying letter said that this would be the end of the matter, or I would seek legal advice.

 

In October I recived another letter telling me that as I had made no attempt to contact them, they would be sending a debt recovery officer to visit me. I rang them again, and they denied ever recieving my letter. I faxed it to them (twice), posted it again, and rang my works advice line. The gentleman at the advice line said there was nothing they could do unless I was taken to court, and that the fax was the best thing.

 

I have just returned home from a family emergency to find a letter from BCW telling me that if I pay them £105 by 9th Nov, they will let me off!! Plus a letter from Scotcall telling me to expect a doorstep call at some point this week.

 

I live alone, and this has me very worried. Of course I got these letters after all of the call centres have closed, so I can't do anything about it until Monday anyway, but what can I do? I can't afford a solicitor, but they just won't accept I don't owe this money!

[chesham]

Could you scan a copy into your computer, and e-mail it whilst you are on the phone? That way you KNOW that they have got it.

 

Try calling them again and advise them of the situation. Bailiffs can be very worrying - however, most are reasonable and won't try to force the issue, but it's better to deal directly with the company rather than their "salesmen".

 

Ring them and tell them that you moved out of the property PRIOR to the bill dates which they are stating that they are reclaiming, and that you have sent proof of this already. Advise them that you will send another one (recorded delivery) and I would advise scanning/faxing a copy as well. Bug them until someone admits they have it; if it's recorded delivery, they have no excuse really. Advise them NOT to send a bailiff round until they have received and corresponded to the information you have provided them with.

 

As a last resort, if they are getting heavy, you can advise them that you are disputing the debt in which they are attempting to reclaim and that you have sent them sufficient evidence in order for them to rescind the claim and halt the procedures. If this continues, it would consitute harassment contrary to Section 1 of the Administration of Justice Act, as they have no legal grounds on which to pursue the debtor due to the "uncertainty" of the debtor's identity. If it continues, you will seek advice from the Office of Fair Trading and consult a solicitor.

 

Write a letter also to them, marking it WITHOUT PREJUDICE advising them of the same things you have spoken about with your phone call.

[lookinforinfo]

In the meantime, if Scotcall do come round-do not deal with them and DO

NOT LET THEM IN YOUR HOUSE-for any reason whatever. Do not pay them

any money either. First it is totally unclear that you owe them any money.

Second, if they have been sent by Buchanan Clark & Wells, [as opposed to by the gas board], BCW may be in breach of the Data Protection act, since you have not given them permission to pass on information about you. [i

accept that you will have given your authority to inform 3rd parties of

your data, but that does not extend to the 3rd party passing on that

information.

 

You can find this out by writing to them, as it is about time they proved

that they have evidence of a debt.

Write to them demanding, yes demanding proof that you owe any money,

since in your opinion they are in breach of the data protection Act 1998

Part 1 Principle 4 "personal data shall be accurate and up to date."

In addition, ask them to supply the part of the Data Protection Act that allows

them to pass sensitive information to Scotcall without your permission.

 

Tell them that until they can show that they are not in breach of the Data Protection Act,

you are in dispute with them. Any evidence that they have indeed breached the Act will lead to complaints to the Information Commissioners Office

without further notice to them.

[Casidhe]

Thanks guys.

 

I rang BCW at lunchtime and was told they had recieved the tenancy agreement and that my account was on hold until British Gas decided what to do. When I asked about Scotcall they said it was nothing to do with them. I was going to invoke the data protection act, but with the denial it was a brick wall.

 

So I phoned Scotcall. They said BCW had passed the matter to them on the 15th November and they would put a hold on the account while it was sorted.

 

Back to BCW who flat out deny passing it over, and told me I should just pay the debt and try to claim it back. I pointed out that I was not paying anything that I did not owe, and was told that was the easiest way to sort it. I told them I would be calling trading standards and hung up.

 

I decided to call British Gas, and got through to quite a nice young gentleman who has recalled the debt from BCW and who will call me back on Wed once he has all the details sorted so that we can fix it. So much for BCW telling me there was no point talking to BG as the debt had been passed over!

 

I'm not holding any hope of BG actually sorting this, but at least I got treated like a human being by the lad, instead of lying theiving **** as BCW made me feel...

[sarahpp]

Hello All,

 

Several months ago I recieved a letter from BCW telling me I owed British Gas £125 and that their fee was £25.

 

I knew nothing about this and rang them up. They told me that the debt was for Gas for November 05 until April 06, for a flat I had moved out of in November 04. I told them I had moved, and the gentleman asked me to post them proof of this.

 

The next day I realised that I had cancelled my gas and electric on the same phonecall, and rang BCW to check that I would not be getting a letter about the electric as well. I was told the only account was the gas.

 

As I could not find my tenancy agreement I sent them copies of the council tax and water rates documents moving my accounts. The accompanying letter asked them to call me if this was not satisfactory.

 

A month or so later I recieved a letter telling me that as I had not contacted them, they were seeking ledgal redress. I rang again and was told they had recieved my letter but that the documents were not suitable.

 

I then sent them a copy of my tenancy agreement by recorded delivery (but I've lost the slip). The accompanying letter said that this would be the end of the matter, or I would seek legal advice.

 

In October I recived another letter telling me that as I had made no attempt to contact them, they would be sending a debt recovery officer to visit me. I rang them again, and they denied ever recieving my letter. I faxed it to them (twice), posted it again, and rang my works advice line. The gentleman at the advice line said there was nothing they could do unless I was taken to court, and that the fax was the best thing.

 

I have just returned home from a family emergency to find a letter from BCW telling me that if I pay them £105 by 9th Nov, they will let me off!! Plus a letter from Scotcall telling me to expect a doorstep call at some point this week.

 

I live alone, and this has me very worried. Of course I got these letters after all of the call centres have closed, so I can't do anything about it until Monday anyway, but what can I do? I can't afford a solicitor, but they just won't accept I don't owe this money!

 

Have a read of this thread http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-bailiffs-advice/34267-slightly-worrying.html

 

I think you will find it uncannily familiar.

 

BCW seem to be selectively deaf when they are told that a debt is "in dispute". Letters and faxes also seem to mysteriously disappear and conversations never taken place. Almost like an episode X files isn't it?

 

This is obviously a common theme for them and breaches several OFT guidelines for good practice which you have good grounds to complain about.

 

Don't worry about their "debt investigation officers" they are certainly not baliffs although the tone of the letter is meant to lead you to believe that they are which is, in itself, dubious practice. You don't have to speak to anyone from their office especially since you have already clearly stated your position.

 

You have good grounds for complaints to Trading Standards and the OFT and if you would like help pinpointing the exact guidelines they have breached I would be happy to help.

[Bookworm]

Keep us posted. If any of those DCAs starts again, let us know, there are ways of dealing with them. Don't let them terrorise you ever again, they are bottom feeders whose favorite preys are the vulnerable.

[lookinforinfo]

I understand that you are worried and concerned about them calling at

your door and so speed seems of the essence.. However by phoning rather

than writing, you have let them off the

hook. Over the phone, they feel that they can be a tad more liberal with the

actualite, than they must be when conducting business in writing. It is

also much easier to make a complaint about them when they misdirect you

in a letter. That is why they prefer to deal on the phone. If you take

control of the situation by insisting that you will only deal in writing in future,

you strengthen your own position and frustrate them. Don't worry about

putting the phone down on them in mid sentence, if you want.

[Casidhe]

Don't worry about

putting the phone down on them in mid sentence, if you want.

 

I may have done that yesterday

 

The problem I have with writing to them is the fact that they never acknowledge my letters. They have kept (most) of them on file, but only wrote back to demand more money...

[lookinforinfo]

I may have done that yesterday

 

I bet that made you feel better. Now that you know you can do it, keep

doing it.

 

 

The problem I have with writing to them is the fact that they never acknowledge my letters. They have kept (most) of them on file, but only wrote back to demand more money...

 

I suspect that they are not responding because you are not sending the mail by recorded delivery? Whenever you write to these kind of companies,

always make a copy, and send the letter recorded. There are two benefits

in doing it that way. 1] they will know that they are dealing with someone

that they will have to be careful with. 2] until they have fulfilled the

contents of the letter, the account may be in dispute and they must cease

collection until it is resolved.

 

Here is an example. When you signed up with British Gas [though you may not have been aware of it at the time] included was your permission to

contact solicitors or debt collectors if you fell behind with your payments.

What you did NOT give, was permission for those companies to pass on

your details to other companies [in this case, Scotcall]. To do so may be in

breach of the Data Protection Act. And also,until they have responded

satisfactorily, Scotcall are barred from calling on you.

 

The more often you catch them out, the less likely they are to take you to Court. And the stronger your case becomes if they do take that route.

It also may give you a chance to take them to Court.

Whereas in 50 phone calls say between you, they could run a horse and cart

through every statute and regulation under the sun, and still cause barely

a ripple in Court. The written word is king in legal matters.

 

So don't be afraid of them. And write to ask that they prove their is a bill

in your name, for that date. You shouldn't have to prove that you were not living there at the time, until they prove otherwise.

And the more things you ask them to do, the less time they have to chase you. So get writing. And remind them that you have noted that you believe that they are in breach of the Data Protecton Act section 3 [1] [5] [that is

to do with you not have given your permision for them to process your info]

#fter your conversation with Scotcall.

Keep a record of the date you contacted Scotcall by phone so if needs be,

you can send them an sar to get the full details of who instructed them

and when.

[sarahpp]

Lookforinfo is right

 

BC & W love unrecorded phone calls which they can deny all knowledge of at a later date but, they have much more trouble claiming that they have not received a recorded delivery letter.

 

We are just trying to make sure that you have hard copies of correspondance etc in case you need to produce it at some stage. I think a lot of us have learned the hard way that DCAs love phones to push the ethical boundaries without fear of comeback.

 

Putting everything in writing puts you back in control of the situation and is much better for the blood pressure than getting into a heated telephone conversation which will gain no tangible benefit.

[lookinforinfo]

Having thought about my previous post, it has just occurred to me that

British Gas may well have breached the Data Protection Act too.

Perhaps someone could confirm that while BG do have permission to contact

Solicitors etc when a customer owes money, they are not entitled to use

that permission when their is no debt outstanding, as appear to be the case here.

 

PS Casidhe may well have a case of Defamation of character?

[sarahpp]

If a contract has been cancelled as is clearly the case here, and there is no money outstanding then BG have no right to continue processing the data - full stop. This would certainly include passing the information on to third parties. The trouble is, once again,that the cancellation of contract was made verbally.

 

They also continue to be responsible for the conduct of any DCAs engaged by them and the OFT guidelines specifically cite the use of multiple agencies (BC & W and Scotcall) simultaneously as an example of unfair practice. If a complaint is made to them (BG) regarding the conduct of a DCA they have a duty to investigate the complaint thoroughly.There is no scope for them to distance themselves ethically from the agencies which they employ.

[F.EM.HALL]

I have just had a look at this and have also received a letter just before Xmas saying that BCW acted for British Gas and I owed them £407.72 for electricity used at a house which I rented over 14 months ago.

 

I rang BCW and asked for a break down as to how this amount was arrived at and they informed me that they could not speak with me ! but I could ring their client direct and get the information from them.

 

I duly rang British Gas and they told me it was for a period of up to 5 years ago and for different houses which I had rented !!

 

They have sent me a statement, but it is not a breakdown and only shows what amount is due.

 

furthermore, and what was really worringly at the time, back in May British Gas took the money which they claim is owed to them, from a bank account without permission and after a prolonged conversation with them over two days I managed to get the money back. they took the money using an old direct debit mandate - which had been cancelled - which was in my opinion Illegal bearing in mind I have now been with Scottish Power for over 14th months and had cancelled all direct debits with British Gas over 14 months ago. furthermore, the British Gas account was in my sole name and they took the money from my partner's sole Bank account. In any event I got the money back and asked them in May of 2007 to let me have the breakdown of how the amount was arrived at. I heard nothing until I received the letter from BCW.

 

Any advise of what to do - I am loathed to pay for something that I do not know how has been arrived at.

 

It would be good to know the next route to take.

 

thanks

 

F.E.ALL

[marty270]

Ok people I wouldnt even worry about these (EDIT) BCW or Scotcall they are full of ****, all they like to do is (EDIT), plus they cant do a thing to you they are a debt collector not a solicitor, they cant by law send someone to your house, if they did you could just phone the police and get them arrested, end of story. I had an argument with BCW today and just basically told him to (EDIT) well what else could I do for god sakes I was at the hospital waiting to get my next treatment of radiotherapy so who wants to talk to (EDIT) who is younger than me for a debt I dont even owe. Ok I have 3 O2 Mobile phone accounts one for me, one for my mum and one for my dad, about 2 weeks ago I got a letter from the M.O.D about the laptop that was stolen, all my details where on it including yes my bank details so I was none too happy about that, 2 days aftert I got the letter I got a letter from my bank asking me to contact them I did that and they told me thakyou for opening a internet account with HSBC and the £2,500 overdraft has been approved , ok I was thinking wow why would I want to open another bank account with a bank that I have been with happily now for the last 10 years, so I put 2+2 together then I got the (EDIT) letter from BCW and the phone calls the funny thing is they are just asking to speak to a Mr****** sorry I had to blank that out, but they said they dont have a surname, so they told me that it is a debt for O2 of £120 I asked them when the account was opened and they told me it was opened on the 11th Jan funny isnt it cos I have only 3 O2 accounts and each one I have opened in an O2 store NEVER on the internet, I asked them what address they had, he said it was an address in Glasgow that applied for the phone and used it, and surprise surprise the application was done on the internet.

They have dropped it now cos I phoned O2 this afternoon when I got out of hospital and they called BCW and told them what has happened, I feel sorry for them now "NOT" all they are is (EDIT) get the facts straight before you start ringing people when fraud is involved (EDIT)

Oh and if I do get a response from BCW about that I must warn you I do now work for Bermans Solicitors, and seeing as you are a debt collector you cant do a thing................

Hope this helps people that are having trouble with these (EDIT) debt collector (EDIT)

[ANTI-BCW-MAN]

I have just received a letter from BCW relating to an account closed over 3 years ago. I'd received absolutely no correspondence from anyone about the item ( less than £20 ) but was lucky enough to know a solicitor and asked him for ( free ) advice. One thing he suggested was that after two or three years the firm claiming should themselves evidence the outstanding - and all factors contributing to it. BCW can't. Separatley I can't thank the contributors to this thread enough for their advice help and tips. All really useful. Shame Anglo-Scots law allows people behaving like BCW to exist.

Good luck to all.

Will support this site with a contribution - really worthwhile.

anti-bcw-man

[scottkh79]

I received a letter from BC+W last month advising that I had an outstanding balance from EDF Energy of £241.00, when I called and told them I was unable to pay the full balance and that I could make a payment of £120 in one week and a further three payments each month to clear the debt, this was fine with the agent who was quite dismissive and didn't seem to care too much. So I paid the £120 and didnt think about it til this month, when I received a letter saying a debt investigation officer was going to call at my address, as my address is a correspondance address only, the tenant was quite unhappy that her details had been passed on to a debt investigation company. So I called BC+W literally 5 minutes ago to halt the house call and was told I had breached my agreement, the agent was completely unhelpful, refused to check call recordings to see my agreement and said the debt officer would be calling regardless. you can imagine my annoyance, especially considering I had stuck to my agreement and paid when I said I would. So I made a payment of £30 and now she was demanding the full remaining balance. As I am currently on a debt management plan I told the agent that I may be forced to pass this debt on to them and make token payments of £1 for the forseeable future, as I am to believe they cannot refuse this amount, again she said the debt officer would call at my friends house. surely the data protection act prohibits BC+W passing on details to third parties, as in this case it is a correspondance address only.

 

This company seem to make up their own rules as they go along, are they not regulated? I am so angry with the service, the rudeness and sheer ordacity od these people, especially when I stuck to my agreed payments.

[UnmoderatetheNet]

If a debt collection officer calls at your house I will pay the debt for you.

 

Thats how confident I am.

 

BCW lie, bully, lie some more and cancel agreements for the most bizarre reasons in order to progress debts.

 

Don't be bullied.

 

Never ring them, EVER.

 

Pay what you can afford and if they don't like it tough.

 

If it goes to court a court will only take what you can afford anyway and gives you an opportunity to highlight their questionable tactics.

 

PLEASE REPORT THEM.

 

These jokers are getting away with murder at the moment.

[Trooperski]

Hello all, didnt quite know where to post this but since it is from the same people (Buchanan Clark and wells ) this may be the right place to start.

 

I recieved a letter from the aforementioned company about 10 days ago saying that I owed them £800 + and that a decree had been taken out against me . Firstly I was a bit bewildered and I broke the golden rule of phoning this company to find out more . On calling I spoke to a polite young lassie who would not give me her name ,She had every detail about my address correct. I asked her what this debt was in relation to and she had said it was a loan I had taken out in 1990 and that i had paid £ 5 in 2002 . Now I was still in school in 1990 and I have never had nor heard of this bunch of jokers or the company I'm supposed to have taken this loan out with.I asked this lassie if she would contact me about this when she had found out a bit more about it as I spent the most of the call on hold... I waited and waited until today I got a call. The lassie I spoke to today did not give me her name again and said I had been taken to court and that I owed £800+ all the same as before with exception to suddenly this loan had been taken out in 2002 and that the 1990 error had suddenly changed to a 1900 error and she admitted it was an error on the system ..I was and am still confused..Can anyone offer me advice with these jokers ??They seem to be a bunch of bullies ! She tried to force my work details out of me which I said no to , have I done right ?

[ScabHunter]

Hi Trooperski,

 

Your post is going to get overlooked here, so I suggest you start your own thread. Go here -

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collection-industry/

 

and use the button at the bottom left.

 

SH

[kilimeimili]

Dear all,

 

I need urgent advice. I lived in a flatshare, interestingly enough from Nov 06 to April 07 with 3 other guys. We shared the bills between us, each paying a quarter. When I moved out, we closed the accounts, which had all our names on the bills, in order that my name be taken off it. Druing my stay there, we paid everything through my account, even the rent, so they would pay their portion and I would pay the total amount the the estate agents. So one I went through my statements and noticed one guy did not pay rent one month due to a confusion. So when I moved out, I didnt pay the outstanding bills and we agreed he would pay them making up the unpaid rent as the amounts were very similar. The companies pursued me, but clarified things by sending our tenancy agreement etc, but British gas is pursuing me through BCW and despite clarifying that we are all responsible for this, as it is in any case on the account name and I have sent British gas a copy of our tenancy agreement, they still say the law requires only to persue one person and therefore I need to contact my ex flatmates to get the money. The problem is, I had a fallout with them and have no longer got any contact, and even if I could find them, would not bother paying the outstanding amounts if it was coming from me.

 

What am I to do? The original amount was about £124, but now with fees are around £255. I thought this had been settled and is stressing me out now, as I dont want to pay for something, such a large amount which is not what I am supposed to pay.

 

We put all our names on the accounts in order to avoid this type of thing in the future, but this has not seemed to work!

 

Please help!

[hillards]

I need urgent advice.

This now has it's own thread - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collection-industry/178132-help-unfair-pursual-multiple.html

[Trinitystareyes]

Dear all,

 

Seems i am also being hounded by this company, its how that is concerning me. Several days ago i started receiving telephone calls from this number - 01413023460 - asking for a Miss****** which is me - the reason this worries me is

 

1) i have lived at this address for less then 3 months - only my bank and general utility companies have this address for me.

2) i sold my previous house and consolidated all my debts so should not be being chased for anything

3) THE MAIN REASON - i currently have the B.T home hub which provides you with a phone and number separate to your landline which rings separately, i have NEVER given this number out, never used it nor do i even know the number myself without checking the only reason we have it is we thought it would be good for the daughter when she starts highschool next year!! _ THEY are ringing on this number - does anyone know HOW on earth they could of gained access to this telephone number??? and if there is anything i can do to prevent them ringing -IE is the number obtained illegally ( all the phonelines ave been connected for 1 month only)

 

I have repeatedly told them to stop ringing etc they say they will remove my number then someone else calls back 5 minutes later!!!

 

I refuse to confirm who i am who they ask for while they are ringing this number - and from what I've read and the fact i know i have no debts i am dubious to regardless now. Does anyone know the rights regarding telephone numbers and how you ( if you can ) stop this from happening.

 

thankyou

[mr.ton]

This company seem to make up their own rules as they go along, are they not regulated? I am so angry with the service, the rudeness and sheer ordacity od these people, especially when I stuck to my agreed payments.

 

Thats why they should never be paid anything ever without them going down the county court route 1st.

[frettful38]

Hi Trinitystareyes,

 

I can understand the DCA's chasing people who have debt but for them to chase people who don't is really taking the biscuit. I think the cag should have a special phone line and dedicate it to making phone calls to all the nuisance DCA companies, make up ref numbers & accounts and drive them crazy, c.a.g should send them dummy copies of court forms & default notices and everything else that will have them up against the wall, but I think that would count as fraud & illegal but is that not what they are doing to so many us

 

Hope you manage to sort this crap out, good luck & take care,

[thisismyname]

I just got my first letter from Buchanan Clark & Wells saying I owe them money from British Gas. I know this is untrue as I have no unpaid bills. I got a similar letter from another company, Advantis Credit, a couple of weeks ago. Clearly someone is selling our names and addresses to these [edited]. They are [edited]. Do not pay them anything without being sure you owe something from the original source. I know I owe nothing so I know they are lying.

 

Please rate them here Buchanan Clark and Wells (Financial Services) : Plebble.com

Edited February 2, 2009 by jonni2bad
Please do not post remarks of that nature