Energy demand for £1000s hits former Tarbert couple

Letters for ‘overdue payment’ lead to sleepless nights

A former Tarbert resident has told of her angst after receiving a barrage of letters and emails from an energy company asking her to pay thousands of pounds she doesn’t owe.

Wilma Watts sold her house in Tarbert in March 2021, moving to Kilwinning, Ayrshire, with her husband.

However, several months after moving out, during autumn 2021, the Watts received the first of a series of letters by both post and email, in threatening tones, seeking a payment of more than £3,500 - an ‘overdue payment’.

The letter, headed ‘Together Energy’ and featuring her now closed account number, demanded payment ‘within the next seven days’, by bank transfer.

Some of the threats for non-payment included a damaged credit rating, and even the attentions of a debt collection agency.

But Wilma knew she didn’t owe any money – and had the receipts to prove it.

She said: ‘Before leaving our house in Tarbert, I sent off final meter readings, and paid the outstanding balance of £197 on the property to Together Energy, by cheque. They cashed the cheque on April 9, 2021, and my account was closed. I thought the matter was settled but then I got a letter from British Gas saying I was being transferred over as a former customer of Together Energy, which had gone into administration.

‘Eventually I managed to get through to an employee there who sorted it out for me. Again, or so I thought, because I had a bill through for 27p, which was a farce, and after looking into it, I was told again that my account was settled.’

Then, to Wilma’s shock, she was sent an energy bill by email in the spring, asking for £3,571.81, twice her average yearly bill.

Wilma, 74, and a former community councillor in Tarbert, told the Advertiser: ‘When I received this huge bill for more than £3,500 I was flabbergasted, and so worried. I didn’t sleep for two nights because of it. I initially couldn't tell my husband either, who hadn’t been keeping well. I didn’t want to worry him, too.

‘Whose idea was it to try to frighten and bully people?

‘Older people are especially vulnerable - how many people out there might have paid the senders of these letters when, like me, they owed nothing?’

Wilma added she had contacted the Financial Ombudsman Service, and Energy Advice Scotland, but they couldn’t help her, as officially, she didn’t have an account with Together Energy. A British Gas spokesperson said: ‘British Gas didn’t take on the debts for Together Energy so we aren’t responsible for these letters.’

This meant Together Energy’s administrators, FRP Advisory, had contacted Mrs Watts – and 160,000 other Together Energy customers – with similar emails and letters during the past year.

A spokesperson for the London-headquartered firm told the Advertiser: ‘Final customer accounts have been issued through March to June 2022 to more than 160,000 customers, and Together Energy sent further correspondence on July 19 2022 to customers regarding payment of the outstanding balance on their accounts. Any customers who have queries or concerns about their account or any correspondence, or are having difficulty in making payments, can contact the customer service team at Together Energy by email at support@togetherenergy.co.uk.’