Hi All,
I wonder if any of you can give me some advice... In 2005 I lived with my girlfriend (now ex
) in a flat for 6 months from March 22nd to August 22nd after which we went traveling to Autralia and New Zealand for a year. Was wicked! However, about a year ago I received a phone call from a debt collection agency saying I owed EDF energy £179 for an electricity bill from May to December 2005 (moved out in august). The flat wasn't in my name but the electricity bill was. I rang EDF telling them I couldn't get hold of the tenancy agreement to proove this and they said it would be fine if sent in a scan of my passport showing my customs stamps and Australian Visa showing that I was out of the country, so I sent them this and heard nothing back so assumed it was sorted.
I was wrong,
Last week ( a full year later) I recieved an phone call from a different debt collection agency saying I still owed EDF £179, so again I called them said I was out the country...blah blah and again they told me to send in my passport scan...etc which showed that I became a temporary Australian resident on 22nd August 2005 for 6 months. They replied saying this did not proove I was not responsible for the property between August and December 2005 (even though I was never "responsible" for the property as it was in my ex's name) and they were still charging me for the full amount! I can't really see any way I can get hold of the tenancy agreement (which ended in august 2005), EDF have the landlord's details but wont give them to me due to data protection issues...
So I was wondering what other people would do in this situation? i'm willing to pay the bill up until August but i'm not gonna be paying for someone elses electricity up untill december! As far as I can tell the only information both companys have on me is my contract phone number, so if worse comes to worse im thinking of just changing my phone number and hoping for the best lol.
Any help would be VERY appreciated!
Thanks
Chris