Got home late today after a lousy shift at work. Got a letter from a debt collection agency wanting payment for the gas bill from the previous tenant/current occupier (me, though I'm not named). I've never received a bill for the gas in my name, just thought it was lumped in with the electricity (same supplier). At the beginning of my tenancy (renting a flat) the estate agent assured me they had transferred all utilities to my name. Now the debt collection wants my money and are charging £25 for the visit.

What's the right way to do things (other than taking a shotgun to everyone's face)?

Obviously the estate agent was supposed to have transferred all the utilities over and they haven't. Every time I've received a letter not addressed to me, I've forwarded it to them (albeit sometimes a few months late). How culpable am I in ensuring all the utilities were transferred into my name? Especially as I thought everything already had? I've always paid all of my bills on time, so cash isn't an issue.

Don't worry about the tone of the letter, I've had them in the past (both personally and professionally), they word them a bit nastily to try and scare people into paying.

If the bill they're chasing is definately not yours, then it's not your problem. Give them a call and explain the situation, you may well find they back off and send it back to the gas company. That's what happened the last time I had this problem, anyway.

If they insist on pressing further, then send them copies of your tenancy agreement (which will have a moving in date) to prove the bill is not yours. If they get arsey, ask to see a copy of the bill the debt relates to and take the whole lot to the CAB.

Good luck!

The thing is, I think the bill is actually meant to be mine (gas bill) but the estate agents didn't transfer the name over. It's not much (£150 for the last 8-9 months) and I could easily pay it but I:

1. want to do it right
2. do not wish to pay the extra fee levied.

Ah right, gotcha.

Best thing to do is to give the collection agency a call and offer to pay the bill (I'm sure they'll take credit cards etc), on the basis that they waive the fee (after all, they're not actually visiting you if you phone them up and pay them). Then get on the phone to your estate agent and have a whinge. If they can't/won't get your name set up properly, then ring the gas company directly.

That's about as 'right' as I can think of, and you should have no more problems.

I was thinking of telling them to contact the estate agent to get my details (partly so the estate agent changes the details) and then ask the company to send a bill in my name, which I would then pay.

Go direct to your gas supplier, explain to them you haven't received a bill for some time and was wondering if this was because its included in your electricity,
Give your details and if they says its under someone else's name explain you are the tenant. pay your bill with them, if the debt collector show again or make contact (even contact them yourself) explain you have paid your balance and do not owe them anything.
if they check with your gas supplier they will confirm this.

option 2, contact the debt collector and explain you have never received a bill notice and want proof that you own the debt. if its not under your name then explain this to them.
the gas company and debt collection agency have a contract with the name on the bill and not you, you have no contract and therefore are not obliged to comply with there demands. you have not paid for gas you have used so if you refuse payment with your gas company they can take you to court for theft but as long as you are clear with your gas company you want to pay your balance then it will not go that far.

^^^I think the contract would be with the property? Not sure.

Anyway the debt collection peeps aren't answering their mobiles/landlines. Will have a go tomorrow.

Might be worth a try, but you might find (it depends on the company) that once they've referred a debt to a collection agency they don't want anything to do with it. Sounds strange I know, but that's the way they work sometimes!

Either way, you're gonna need to give them a call and sort it out with them.

@Khalmar: It's not necessarily a good idea to contest this, they can quite easily prove it's CWs debt just from the dates, the name on the bill is more or less irrelevant. It may just get their backs up and make the situation worse.

In the dealings I've had, these companies are the worst at being contactable. If they have an email address, it might be worth emailing them with your number and asking them to call you.