To expect something other than a sorry?

[LikeACowsOpinion]

I've been having stupid amounts of trouble with British Gas and want to know if IABU to pursue them.

This is long so please bare with me.

So, I took over my DMs address when she died in September.
The house itself is privately rented from a family member - they allowed me to take it over due to my home at the time being in a terrible area and in a state of disrepair.
Informed all of the companies that needed to know, submitted meter readings to the utility companies and tied up any loose ends regarding bills.
DM was an alcoholic, she had severe mental health issues and died penniless and in (what I know now) severe amounts of debt.

British Gas kept sending me the bills for the period that DM hadn't paid from to me taking over the address. These were always addressed to the occupier.
I called them to explain that I had only taken over the address and bills from September, so any debt accrued before that time was nothing to do with me. I also explained that as DM was penniless she had no estate so there would be no way to pay off her debt.
They asked for a copy of her death certificate which I sent off and hoped that was the end of it.

Due to DM dying suddenly, I didn't have the money put aside for her funeral, so I applied for a loan and surprisingly got declined the credit.
Ive never really had to use credit before. I have a few credit cards that are rarely used so as far as I was aware my score had always been fine, I was confused and looked into it.
Imagine my surprise when I saw a huge default on the report from British Gas, saying that I was in debt to them for nearly £2000 and that I hadn't made any payment for the period of June 16 - September 18.

I called British Gas thinking that they'd made a mistake in switching the account over and was informed that, actually, the account had been opened in my name originally in 2016.
I asked how that was possible; since I hadn't agreed to any sort of a contract with them for this address until I took over in September.
This got escalated to the complaints department and had opened up a massive can of worms.
DM opened the account fraudulently in my name when she had set up her utilities for whatever reason and had been paying off small amounts in drips and drabs before stopping and accruing a huge debt.
A debt collection agency are involved but since all correspondence was going to DM, I had no idea.

She had also opened an account going to a family members address 2 months before she died in a fake name which subsequently got into debt too, meaning the family member started to receive debt collection letters too.

I spoke to the debt agency about both letters and explained the situation, they said they would note that she had passed away and wouldn't send anymore letters.
What that actually meant was they are now sending the letters for 'my' account and the one under a fake name to my address.

I've explained all of this to British Gas. Currently going through the complaints procedure and the employee I'm dealing with has told me I need a copy of DMs tenancy agreement before she passed as well as a copy of the council tax bill from June 16 to September 18.
I explained to them that due to my mums mental illness/alcoholism, she was a very paranoid and disordered lady who rarely kept any documents (ironically thinking that someone would break in a steal her identity.)
The man then told me that unless I find these documents he cannot wipe my credit file of the default!
When I mentioned that it was in fact their fault for allowing the fraudulent account, he said that British Gad rely on the goodwill of customers and do not perform extra checks on a persons identity.
This is crazy to me, in this day and age. Anyone can call up and set up an account in someones name, leaving it down to the person to prove it wasn't them?

I'm so stressed out with all of this. Bringing up DMs sudden, traumatic and unexpected death to all and sundry every few days is really starting to wear me down.
Add that to debt collection letters dropping on my mat every so often, my credit score being in the pits and the fact that no one is listening to me and I'm losing sleep.

I was diagnosed with PTSD due to DMs passing and dealing with this nonsense is not helping.
The complaints procedure is getting no where fast and I'm fed up to the gills with it all.

Can anyone advise whether or not I can pursue them for this?
WIBU to do so?

(I know this is not actually AIBU but I need help desperately)
Thank you if you made it through this.

Do you have lease agreement with your landlord that proves you only took over the tenancy in September? And if he can't produce the lease he had with your mother, how about he provide you with a letter saying your mother was the tenant from x date until the date she died not you? That along with your tenancy agreement, council tax and utility bills on the place you were actually living prior to September should give you some leverage. Sorry, but without any supporting paperwork to prove your ID was stolen, from their POV, it all sounds a bit far-fetched.

1. your mum's estate is liable for her debts. Not you. If there is no money, the debts cannot be passed on to you.

2. did your mum leave a will or die intestate?

3. tell the debt collection agency you are disputing the debt. They cannot harrass you whilst the dispute is ongoing with British Gas.

4. worth paying £5 or whatever it is and getting legal advice from Which?

Some solicitors will also give some legal advice pro bono

5. a correction can be added to your file, which is different.

6. contact all three credit reference agencies. Say you would like to add a note to the file.

7. even though your mum is dead, still report the fraud to the police, a crime reference will be useful.

British Gas sent us an incorrect bill due to a faulty meter reading and didn't fix it in time when we transferred to a new company. We kept complaining but they, without our knowledge, escalated it to a credit agency.

Once we explained and complained to a manager in the UK they wiped the credit file black mark default and agreed to cancel the debt.

Go to CAB or the energy ombudsman. Or get legal advice form Which? or try the Times. They love this sort of thing and are both very good at getting results.

Debt collection agencies can be very tenacious, even if you don't owe them money. The reason is that they will have bought the debt from the energy company. Which? have a very good standard letter to use. It worked for me after 2 and a half years of being harrassed for a debt I didn't owe.

Once its sorted, BG should put a note on your credit file to remove any debt record. Don't let them tell you otherwise.

Good Luck!

I would contact some of those financial watchdogs that do newspaper columns or television shows ... I bet they could get this sorted in one call!

Have you got proof of your tenancies at both your old and new addressees? Or something like your other utility bills for both your addressee?

Even if I prove otherwise I'm still somehow liable because 'that's how probate works' - DM had no will, no money.

Well, that's nonsense.

Have you gone through probate though? Are you the executor, if she had a will, or been appointed as the administrator of her 'estate'?

To be fair to BG, it's not all their fault, I think your DM is partly to blame here. Submit a Data Protection Subject Access Request for all your data, then once you get that, ask them for stuff in her name - they will say you cannot ask for things in other people's names, but the Data Protection Act only covers living people, so you can, esp if you are the executor/administrator (in theory, they have nothing in her name as she signed up as you but it's worth asking in case it turns anything up).

Do make a police complaint about the fraud.

And then follow up wit the ombudsman, who are great (it's not one man...there are load of them!).

don't feel guilty when your DM put you in this mess.

Was the deposit for the rent lodged with one of the online agencies. They would be able to prove you were not the tenant.

You can take it the Ombudsman. The key to that is to set out your complaint very clearly. Get a statement from the family member if they can't get the lease. If you're getting no luck with British Gas then ask for your deadlock letter and take to the Ombudsman.

So sorry that you have had all this to contend with after the unexpected death of your mother.

Just a thought have you considered contacting Martin Lewis he loves a challenge?
Otherwise agree try Citizens Advice. My DD has a friend working there and she loves to get her teeth into unfair cases. I dare say lots of people that work there have the same mindset.

How was the bill paid?

To answer a few questions...

I've sent off all the proof I currently have to hand including my new tenancy agreement, my old tenancy agreement, a few bills from my old address (including the BG one!!!) and I've been told it's still not enough.
They need her tenancy agreement and her council tax bill.

I've asked how the bill was paid and was told that very few payments have been made.
He asked if I could confirm the last 2 digits of a bank account number, which didn't match up to any of my cards so I couldn't and that closed that avenue.

They seem to want to throw me off the scent.

There is no will, no probate, no estate, no lawyers. Nothing.
She had nothing. No money, nothing worth selling to even begin to make a dent in her bills.

They requested a copy of DMs death certificate when she died and I took over + the meter readings; which I sent in two separate emails to two separate addresses.
This information has all been lost - so apart from my copies at this end they're not sure where that info has ended up and why no one has attached it to my case.

Honestly, I've had nearly 6 months of this shit already and I'm really fed up.
@AnchorDownDeepBreath I don't know how you've managed to deal with them for a year, I already feel like giving up

@Bowerbird5 Martin Lewis is a good idea, thank you!

Haven't been able to get in touch with CAB or the Ombudsman but will keep pursuing those avenues too.

I’m so sorry that you’re going through this. In your shoes I would email the Saturday Guardian (“Your Money”, I think it’s called). They frequently cover cases like this, and one phone call from a journalist on a national newspaper (and the resulting massively negative publicity) often resolves things very quickly. It’s got to be worth a try.

Ithink Martin Lewis would love to help - they like big companies showing weakness (or an account in your name without checks)

I assume they know who’s account the bill was paid from - and it won’t be yours

You can get a default wiped from your credit account. Someone took out credit in my name and let it default. I got a letter from the debt collecting agency who had used a tracing agency to locate me. It was bizarre. It was my name but a completely different date of birth and the account was opened in an address I hadn’t lived in for years.

It was on my credit file too, this default. I spoke to the agency, and I had to send proof of where I lived during the time the dent was taken out. Luckily I was on the electoral roll at my address which was 300 miles away from the address the account was opened.

The default was taken off my file as were the searches from the debt collection agency. Good luck. I hope it goes smoothly.

Raise a dispute via your credit file. If you don't have them already sign up to Credit Club, Clear Score & Noddle. On all where it shows the default open a dispute & explain the circumstances. You should be able to get duplicate copies of council tax letters from the local council as you are in charge of your mothers estate (although there is none) & your landlord should be able to give a copy of the tenancy & you should be able to obtain proof of where you were living at the time. If you get as much evidence as possible you will be able to get this removed from your credit file.

They can remove it from your credit file.

They somehow managed to set up a gas bill in my name from October 2007 - november 2011
I lived at home with my parents and didn't have a gas bill addressed to me ever!
Told them, went through the complaints process and they removed the marker on my credit file; it took 30 days to update but it was completely gone and I was finally able to get a credit card!

I think we should all tweet this thread to British Gas, Martin Lewis and money programme etc

The ombudsman is an online form, just fill that in.

The ombudsman won't get involved before you've got a final letter from British Gas. They "investigated" for 8 weeks before they told me that... no exceptions, apparently.

I'm due another call back at 10am. I'll let you know how it goes and I hope you're feeling alright today

Thank you for all your replies.

I'm going to try and get Martin Lewis on the case, have written a few emails to people that may be able to help so fingers crossed.

Terrible how many people this has happened to. It shouldn't be this easy to open accounts/gain credit in someone else's name.
No wonder fraud is rife.

@AnchorDownDeepBreath good luck to you