Problem with Final Bill from NPower

neil2094

Hi all, I'm looking for some advice with a siuation I have found myself in with Npower.

I have recently moved house, my prior address the gas and elec were supplied by Npower. I decided to give Npower a call to tell them I was moving home and would like to continue their services and to give a final meter reading on both fuels.

This is where the problem starts, I knew I was under a duel fuel direct debit payment plan. However, I received a large final gas bill on my old address that I can't afford to pay, when I spoke to Npower they confirmed that although my account was setup to have a monthly direct debit for Electric and Gas they weren't collecting the payment for the Gas, the rep I spoke to said it was their fault. After a lot of discussions, polite I might add it turns out that there is nothing I or they can do to help. I have to pay. Has anyone got any advice? Or been in similar postion?

notbritishgas

Sorry my thoughts are that you should pay, you have used the gas so must pay for it. Did you not notice from your quarterly statements that the amount owing was increasing and no payments shown.
Your only hope is to try and negotiate a goodwill discount with npower(spit), but I guess this will be minimal.

neil2094

Hi Thanks for the reply, I'm not saying I want to get free gas, although that would be nice. However it was the flat reponse that I had to pay the full amount that I found 'unhelpful'

Quentin

Ask them if you can pay it off in instalments.

owain.davies

As Quentin says, definately ask to pay it in installments. Also, under the billing code, they shouldn't charge you for any debt over 1 year old (ok that's still a big bill, but should help a bit)

notbritishgas

owain.davies wrote: »

As Quentin says, definately ask to pay it in installments. Also, under the billing code, they shouldn't charge you for any debt over 1 year old (ok that's still a big bill, but should help a bit)

That only applies if they have not been billing you, from what I read you have been receiving regular bills/statements?

Jemma-T

Tell them you can't afford to pay in one go. That's very clear and simple. They want the money and you want to pay. There's no court in the land that would find against you. Just make sure you sort it and make payments (offer one over the phone to get things going).

Keep good notes of all payments and conversations. If you can get confirmations via letter/email that would be best.