Sued for £198...when I have never even received the bill

A.C. writes: I switched from Together Energy (owned by Total Energy) to a different supplier, and it told me it would cancel my direct debit. Now I have received an email from solicitors AJJB Law, threatening to sue me for failing to pay £198.

YOU told me that the lawyer’s letter came out of the blue, and you had received no previous bill. And AJJB Law’s letter – headed Pending Legal Action – began by saying, ‘We have not received payment of the overdue balance…’, reinforcing the idea that you ignored demands. I asked Leonard James, the solicitor behind AJJB Law, for proof that you were in debt, including copies of demands already issued. He offered no evidence, but told me he would be ‘liaising with my client on these issues’.

Together Energy told me it had definitely written to you and it has sent a copy of its final bill for £198. But this says payment would be collected from your bank account, yet Together

Energy had scrapped your direct debit. The company admitted: ‘The customer should have been billed within ten working days. However, due to a systems error on that date it was not automatically collected and we apologise for this error.’ You have accepted the apology and as you had never intended to sidestep a genuine bill, you have paid the £198.