Devastated mum has to close popular Birmingham takeaway over £22k bill that was never hers

A Birmingham mum was forced to close her popular takeaway as debt collectors demanded £22,000 and cut off her electricity supply in a devastating mix-up. Single mum-of-two Lolita Hudson had to shut Popz Kitchen, leaving her without an income.

Valda Energy insisted she owed the huge sum for two years of electricity at her tiny rented unit in Handsworth. But it later emerged the property's landlord, from whom she was renting, owed the money for the building as a whole.

When Ms Hudson was first contacted by the company, she brushed it off as a 'scam' as she was already paying £200-a-month to a pre-paid meter and had never missed a payment. But even after losing her Caribbean takeaway in June, the growing debt - increased to £25,754 - remained hanging over her head for months.

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"There's no more Popz Kitchen and there's still this bill hanging over my head," the former takeaway owner told us. "It's a lot of money to be in my name and it's nothing to do with me. None of it makes sense.

"Everyone's shocked and upset, every day I have customers phoning or messaging me. It's very difficult. It's been really upsetting and I've had a breakdown because of it. I couldn't see my way out of it."

After BirminghamLive made contact, Valda Energy finally removed Popz Kitchen from the account, apologised to Ms Hudson and confirmed the outstanding balance was the landlord's responsibility.

But the damage was already done. Of the day her business closed, Ms Hudson recalled: "In June, two bailiffs came in and said there was a bill of £22,000 and it needed to be paid within the next half-hour or the meter was going to be cut off.

"I'd been there from 6am cooking, I'd prepared a whole menu of food ready to sell for my day ahead. It was a Wednesday - one of my better days for selling food.

"I showed her the meter, she goes 'oh that doesn't seem right, I need to do some more investigating." After speaking to the landlord, they insisted the bill was in Popz Kitchen's name, Ms Hudson said. She went on: "It's in my name and I don't understand how, I didn't sign anything to say I wanted to change electric provider.

"They've cut off the electric and since that day I haven't been able to trade, that was the end of my business and there was nothing I could do about it because I don't have £22,000 to pay these people and it's not my bill."

Ms Hudson started the business in 2021 after 'jumping at the chance' to take over from the former owner. She recalled: "It took me a few months to even get the courage to open as I was scared it wasn't going to work but then three years later, I was still there and I was very proud of that.

"I faced a lot of challenges, I was made homeless because of a gas leak in a private property I was renting, but I kept going. I was homeless for about nine months, living in hotels and still running the business."

Contact from Valda Energy began with a few emails, but as Ms Hudson was already paying via Metro pre-paid, she said she thought it had to be a scam to "get money out of me". She went on: "They said the bill was £8,000, and I thought 'that's not right.' So I asked the landlord. Even he said: 'It must be a scam, ignore it.'

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"I carried on with the business, slowly growing my baby, it was picking up traction. I had regulars coming from the community every week." Then she began receiving phone calls saying the bill needed to be paid.

She said: "I was trying to explain to them it couldn't be mine because I paid to Metro pre-paid. It became borderline harassment.

"I sent them pictures of my meter and I said: 'This is the meter, it can't be my bill so leave me alone'. After her electricity was shut off in June this year, she made complaints to the energy company, contacted the ombudsman and fraud investigation team, but the bill was still on her head.

After an email from BirminghamLive, Valda Energy said Popz Kitchen had "entered into a contract for the main energy supply" with them, although it was not responsible for the payment. A spokeswoman for the company said: “Popz Kitchen continued to pay its pre-payment meter directly to the landlord, but no payment for the main supply was received by Valda.

They added: "The case was referred to the Energy Ombudsman which did not find Valda at fault in our completion of the energy contract or our subsequent collections process. It confirmed the landlord is responsible for the supply and the outstanding balance.

"Popz Kitchen will now be removed as the liable party and the account will be transferred into the landlord’s name." The company said it was working with the landlord on their preferred resolution.

Have you been affected by this? You can contact us by emailing stephanie.balloo@reachplc.com