Can't escape Npower

miggs37

I've recently tried to switch energy suppliers because of what i'd call ridiculous bills
so i tried to subscribe to ebico, however they sent me letters saying i could'nt untill i'd
payed off my debt to npower.I currently have seperate gas and electricity with npower so
i thought i'd pay off one of the bills then switch over untill i could pay off the other bill.
so before i done anthing Npower sent me a letter saying they were now going to join my account
to a duel bill adding both bills together.So now its going to be more diffucult to pay off the
large joined bill making it harder to get away from them.I never asked for a duel bill so i
question is it legal what they have done.

lee12_2

I don't know about the legality's of it the best persons to ask would be consumer direct/energy watch or citizen advice, but I do know they wont let you switch company's if you owe anything to the old one,it was one of the questions asked last time we switched "where we behind with any payments or have ant out standing bills" we where up to date so no problems but they did ask.

Stalker

If you are dealing with this issue, it is important that you keep all your communications in writing and if they do not resolve the issue within 8 weeks of starting the complaint then you can send your case to the Ombudsman for an independent assessment.

Have a look at disputer.com, as you can create a case there and it will provide you a complete record of all your communications you send and receive, you can then send that to the Ombudsman. I do not think it can handle your exact case but choose something similar and then use it to record your complaint.

In terms of the reference to enery watch it does not exists any longer under the Consumers, Estate Agent and Redress Act 2007 energy watch was replaced by Consumer Focus in October last year if you need their assistance. The other one to consider is Consumerdirect but their website will not answer this question so you would need to call them on 08454 04 05 06. They will tell you what the law is hopefully but not much else.

I have access to the Consumer Focus knowledge base and have submitted the question for you. My gut feel is they cannot but that is only a gut feel.

Hope that helps!

lee12_2

If you look up energy watch it tells you they are now part of consumer direct. !!!!

lee12_2

sorry just tried looking up energy watch and even though it takes you to consumer direct to doesn't look much help, wouldn't be great if they left things alone. What about trying ofgen ?

VITI

Just a thought: Ebico are very hot on providing pre-pay metres at the same cost as any other payment plan. Would they do that in your case? You could also ask Ebico themselves about the legality. They have their own helpline - most customer service issues go to Scottish and Southern on their behalf but you can email or phone Ebico direct. They are set up to be a sort of "Robin Hood" among fuel suppliers and they may be sympathetic to your problems. I am thinking of joining them because 1) I will get fair and clear bills 2) I will pay a slightly higher price per unit but some of that will go towards households who are finding it hard to manage. I emailed them with some questions, and I got a very comprehensive reply.
Regards consumer direct - I think these consumer so called helplines are hopeless. You have to complain to the company concerned first, and there seems to be no logging of complaints - no one seems interested in what these big companies are doing. Perhaps the government are on the side of the big fuel companies and consumer direct is there to seem to help consumers but really they are giving the wink to the big boys.

miggs37

Think i'll try phoning ebico see what they say.

Magentasue

VITI wrote: »

Just a thought: Ebico are very hot on providing pre-pay metres at the same cost as any other payment plan. Would they do that in your case?

Npower can still block the transfer if they are owed money. Simple answer is to settle the outstanding balance and then switch. You'll probably find that your contract covers both fuels even though they're billed separately. It's common practice, I think to join the accounts when you switch so that if you have a credit balance on one and a debit on the other, they are both cleared rather than refunding on one and billing on another.

VITI

Oh dear - the citizens advice bureau may be able to provide some kind of help. I do sympathise with Miggs - this must be happening to so many people at the moment. Has Miggs checked that he would be paying less with Ebico - they have a check thing online where you can enter your latest number of units used and it tells you what you would have paid with them. If it is actually cheaper, you could try eg going to your local credit union and applying for a loan? Also, depending how bad things are, there are some debt helplines which simply give good advice - free, together with budgeting tools. If you sit down and do a budget, which takes some time, you may find there is light at the end of the tunnel rather than a train! It puts you more in control.

Gerrard_8_lfc

If you owe a company money they will and can block the move.. Npower will have combined your bill and how much you owe so they will want payment