NPOWER - PrePayment Meters
monkeymagic1971_2
Posts: 7 Forumite
in Energy
I am hoping someone can provide me with some much needed advice, although there is a lot of info I will try to keep as brief as possible.
I left my previous property on 12/10/2007 where I had a prepayment electricity meter, taking vouchers from the post office. When I left the property I gave in my final meter reading and was not told my account was now settled.
However, on the 25/05/2008 I have received a bill saying I owe £70, this was not itemised and came in the form of a reminder demand. NB this was my first notification.
I have been told,
Given this circumtance I am hoping other users may be able to advise whether
Cheers
I left my previous property on 12/10/2007 where I had a prepayment electricity meter, taking vouchers from the post office. When I left the property I gave in my final meter reading and was not told my account was now settled.
However, on the 25/05/2008 I have received a bill saying I owe £70, this was not itemised and came in the form of a reminder demand. NB this was my first notification.
I have been told,
- My prepayment meter was not on the corect tarriff, this seems to be the case for a number of other NPower customers
- The Ombudsman has informed NPower the most they can ask for is £70 and all monies over this must be waived
- They have 12 months grace to notify excustomer of this debt for it to remain collectable
- The last time my meter tariff was updated was 06/06/2006, a full 17 months before I left the property and in my eyes NPower had the time and responsibility to update my meter so an underpayment didn't occur
- It has been 8 months since I left the property and at no time has this been brought to my attention, over 2 years since it was last updated
- I have seen no evidence to support the ombudsmans decision
Given this circumtance I am hoping other users may be able to advise whether
- I have a case to make complaint on NPowers handling of my affairs
- Chances of having the £70 written off
- Anyone else who has found themselves in this predicament
Cheers
0
Comments
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oh dear, maybe I'm the only one in this predicament0
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please be patient, people will be along to help maybe later as it is the weekend and most people will be busy. evenng time is the best so give it a bump later
hope you get it sorted0 -
I'd tell npower that you know they are at it and you are going to energywatch explain you know they have the worst record in the industry for service and complaints and are the only company doing this now.
the way I see it its npowers RESPONSOBILITY to update the meter not yours and why should you pay for there mistake?.
personally I wouldnt go near npower if you paid me they really are crap.
and tell the next [strike]advisor[/strike] monkey you speak to the only reason your asking me to write in is so you can say you never got my letter and harrass me even more.
ask for a manager and tell the advisor if you are on hold for more than 3 minutes you will be going to energywatch if you are disconnected you will be going to energywatch when you speak to the manager if you are not put through to that department you will take this to energywatch as you feel npower are being obstructive and are delibrately making it difficult for you to resolve this problem.
basically threaten them with energywatch at every turn. that should sort them out (worked 3 years ago for me).0 -
Prepayment meters are not vending machines. There can be a number of valid reasons why there is an outstanding debt now e.g. the price per unit charged by the meter has not been updated following recent price rises
I think you understand this - if not please ask and more reasons/explanation can be provided.
I think your issue here is that you have recieved a bill that does not itemise how the bill was generated - it just says you owe them £xxx
Irrespective of what you have been informed by nPower, I suspect they have actually produced an itemised bill because you are certainly entitled to one. I would imagine the situation here is that the initial itemised bill has somehow been lost; perhaps it was sent to the supply address in error or because the company did not have your new adddres, or perhaps it was simply lost in the post.
It is quite common for companies to not issue the details on a reminder, just state the amount owed and I believe this is what you received 25-May-2008.
To address your 3 points:
My prepayment meter was not on the corect tarriff, this seems to be the case for a number of other NPower customers
- this is probably the reason for the debt now. I can't comment on other customers, but as I said, a pre-payment meter is not a vending machine. Depending on the actual type of pre-payment meter, the recent price increases could be a contributing factor. Whatever the meter unit rates were, you owe the amount that you have consumed based on consumption, not on what the meter charged you.
The Ombudsman has informed NPower the most they can ask for is £70 and all monies over this must be waived
I do not know anything about this, so am unable to comment. Perhaps another MSE member may be able to help.
They have 12 months grace to notify excustomer of this debt for it to remain collectable
Not quite. They cannot bill you for amounts left unbilled for 12 months. They have billed you. They will take any action necessary to collect the debt billed.
So back to the bill. As I mentioned previously, you have the right to request an itemised bill detailing the breakdown of the debt. You were advised to write in to request this. Have you?
Whether you have or whether you haven't, I suggest you start talking with nPower now! Explain that you are willing to pay as soon as you have the detail. Ask if they can put a temporary hold on recovery action so that you have time to obtain the cost breakdown from them and, if necessary, get the money together that you owe them. If absolutely necessary, even try to negotiate stage payments to pay off the debt.
Whatever you manage to negotiate, make sure you stick to it. The way NPower will see this is that the debt has been outstanding for about 8 months already, assuming the (lost) final bill was issued promptly; they won't be happy to be messed around further."Now to trolling as a concept. .... Personally, I've always found it a little sad that people choose to spend such a large proportion of their lives in this way but they do, and we have to deal with it." - MSE Forum Manager 6th July 20100 -
You are doing fine. It should be no skin off your nose to write in and request an itemised bill, because now they have used the word 'court', you need to have good records. Write and state that you have never received an itemised bill and request this from them. Then tell them that if they take it to court you do not expect them to present any evidence that they have not already made available.monkeymagic1971 wrote: »I am hoping someone can provide me with some much needed advice, although there is a lot of info I will try to keep as brief as possible.
I left my previous property on 12/10/2007 where I had a prepayment electricity meter, taking vouchers from the post office. When I left the property I gave in my final meter reading and was not told my account was now settled.
However, on the 25/05/2008 I have received a bill saying I owe £70, this was not itemised and came in the form of a reminder demand. NB this was my first notification.
I have been told,- My prepayment meter was not on the corect tarriff, this seems to be the case for a number of other NPower customers
- The Ombudsman has informed NPower the most they can ask for is £70 and all monies over this must be waived
- They have 12 months grace to notify excustomer of this debt for it to remain collectable
- The last time my meter tariff was updated was 06/06/2006, a full 17 months before I left the property and in my eyes NPower had the time and responsibility to update my meter so an underpayment didn't occur
- It has been 8 months since I left the property and at no time has this been brought to my attention, over 2 years since it was last updated
- I have seen no evidence to support the ombudsmans decision
Given this circumtance I am hoping other users may be able to advise whether- I have a case to make complaint on NPowers handling of my affairs
- Chances of having the £70 written off
- Anyone else who has found themselves in this predicament
Cheers
If you are lucky, they will be too lazy to produce a bill if all they can get back is £70. But if they decide to take the matter to court without giving you the information, they will usually have a solicitor review the case, who will realise that they are going to end up looking stupid in court. Basically, a company might get away with billing an individual without justifying the charges, but a court is very likely to take the consumer's side if the bill is not fully justifiable.
I disagree with Premier about talking with them, as they have now mentioned 'court', but I'm with Premier insofar as in your letter you should state that you are willing to pay what you owe, but this may need to be by installments, because through no fault of your own, this bill comes as a surprise.
No more telephoning on this one, do it in writing, keeps copies and send recorded delivery. Stay calm, don't get tempted to rant at them, else it will appear on their own records and they may rate their chances in court as being quite good.After the uprising of the 17th June The Secretary of the Writers Union
Had leaflets distributed in the Stalinallee Stating that the people
Had forfeited the confidence of the government And could win it back only
By redoubled efforts. Would it not be easier In that case for the government
To dissolve the people
And elect another?0 -
Whilst I agree that it is easier to prove at a later date things recorded in writing, I often find it easier and certainly quicker to negotiate a solution when speaking with someone directly rather than putting offers and counter offers in writing that could be considered by a creditor as a time delaying tactic.
Don't forget that any agreement reached verbally can always be put in writing immediately afterwards if you want to be sure of a record
"Now to trolling as a concept. .... Personally, I've always found it a little sad that people choose to spend such a large proportion of their lives in this way but they do, and we have to deal with it." - MSE Forum Manager 6th July 20100 -
Agree. In general. But things change once the word 'court' is mentioned. I think everyone should adopt the principle of going into writing at this point. It is more effort for these companies to deal with correspondence, so if everyone goes to correspondence at this point, it will be counterproductive for them to mention 'court' too early. Once they mention it, you are entitled to believe them.Whilst I agree that it is easier to prove at a later date things recorded in writing, I often find it easier and certainly quicker to negotiate a solution when speaking with someone directly rather than putting offers and counter offers in writing that could be considered by a creditor as a time delaying tactic.
Don't forget that any agreement reached verbally can always be put in writing immediately afterwards if you want to be sure of a record
As for delaying tactics, sure, it could be considered that way, but if you make a reasonable offer in the first place, then it's neither here nor there.After the uprising of the 17th June The Secretary of the Writers Union
Had leaflets distributed in the Stalinallee Stating that the people
Had forfeited the confidence of the government And could win it back only
By redoubled efforts. Would it not be easier In that case for the government
To dissolve the people
And elect another?0 -
Good luck with your crusade against the use of the word 'court' but here I have to disagree.
Even when you have receipt of a summons from a court and an associated hearing date is subsequently set, the plaintiff and defendant are still often encouraged by the judge to attempt to settle the matter mutually before the actual court hearing. If either party fails to act in a co-operative manner, whilst it may or may not ultimately affect the outcome of the case, the judge may take such non co-operation into account when making his judgement.
As for a debtor making a reasonable offer, if someone owed you £100 for 8 months, what you you consider a reasonable offer would be in settlement?"Now to trolling as a concept. .... Personally, I've always found it a little sad that people choose to spend such a large proportion of their lives in this way but they do, and we have to deal with it." - MSE Forum Manager 6th July 20100 -
Agree. I would just do it in writing. That is not uncooperative, certainly against ringing an 0870 number.... Even when you have receipt of a summons from a court and an associated hearing date is subsequently set, the plaintiff and defendant are still often encouraged by the judge to attempt to settle the matter mutually before the actual court hearing. If either party fails to act in a co-operative manner, whilst it may or may not ultimately affect the outcome of the case, the judge may take such non co-operation into account when making his judgement.
The 8 months delay is down to nPower. If they really wanted their money quickly, the remedy was in their hands. As the debt mounted over a period of about 16 months, I would say that is a reasonable period over which to recover it, if the OP is struggling. £10/month is a good offerAs for a debtor making a reasonable offer, if someone owed you £100 for 8 months, what you you consider a reasonable offer would be in settlement?After the uprising of the 17th June The Secretary of the Writers Union
Had leaflets distributed in the Stalinallee Stating that the people
Had forfeited the confidence of the government And could win it back only
By redoubled efforts. Would it not be easier In that case for the government
To dissolve the people
And elect another?0 -
Great, lend us £100 will ya?...I would say that is a reasonable period over which to recover it, if the OP is struggling. £10/month is a good offer
You'll get it back £10 per month for 10 months starting in 8 months time!
(There you go, you've even got the terms of the deal in writing!)
Incisor wrote:Agree. I would just do it in writing. That is not uncooperative, certainly against ringing an 0870 number.
NPower don't use an 0870 customer services number that I know of.
Why not use 0800 551555 and not pressing any of the menu options - you'll get through to NPower customer Services and they'll even pay for the call. "Now to trolling as a concept. .... Personally, I've always found it a little sad that people choose to spend such a large proportion of their lives in this way but they do, and we have to deal with it." - MSE Forum Manager 6th July 20100
This discussion has been closed.
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