Before I start, Daily Mail are trash.
Quick summary -
May 2018 - I lived in a house share and dealt with all of the bills for the house. I switched to a new energy supplier and set up the account in my name
June 2018 - I decide to move out of the house and call the energy supplier to tell them and to close the account. They say that because the account has been open only a couple of weeks and we haven’t had a bill yet, they can’t close the account but will instead add the person taking over the bills to the account.
April 2020 - the guy taking over the bills for the house (A) moves out and despite paying by direct debit each month there is a £500 debt on the account
January 2021 - I start getting letters from a debt collection agency for this £500 as apparently my name was still the main contact on the account and A hasn’t paid his debt. I contact A to pay the debt and he acknowledges my email but doesn’t pay and I don’t hear from him again.
February 2021 - I prove to the energy supplier the date I moved out and they agree to close my account backdated to June 2018.
Now this is where it becomes odd. From June 2018 to April 2020 when the account was closed by A, approximately £2.5k was paid in. The energy company are now saying that because they have closed the account from the date I moved out, they cannot keep this £2.5k so have sent it to me by cheque. And in doing so, apparently they have opened A his own account and set the balance at -£3k to cover this £2.5k plus the original £500
I feel terrible that they have effectively taken money paid in by A and given it to me in the form of this cheque so what should I do with it? Do I cash it and transfer him the money and then let him deal with the extra £500? Or what if I transfer him the money and he uses it for something else? But then I guess it’s not my problem what he does with it but at least my conscience is clean