Anyone know what we should do?

charlie_chalk

Hello,

I am looking for some advice really...

Recently my husband and I switched energy suppliers from Southern Electric to Npower.

We expected a final bill from SE, but when nothing was recieved we assumed we didn't owe anything once the account was closed.

We recently recieved our new Npower gas bill and my husband realised we were still paying out SE direct debit payment despite the fact the account should have been closed in February, so he called them- expected that perhaps they would owe us money.

They inform us that we still owe them £492...apperently we had used £843 worth of gas during the period from October to February-some had been cleared with our dd payments- but there is still £492 to pay.

I am shocked- not only that we used that much, but also that we had't had a final bill and that no one informed us of the fact we had an outstanding amount...we have recieved no correspondance from Southern electric in months. So...now we have 10 days to pay it. We obviuosly don't have that kind of money. I rang them and asked if we could pay the debt back over a period of time and they said the longest term they do is 6 months- which is still £82 per month. We do not have this kind of money either!!

WHat can we do?

Magentasue

Strange you didn't get a final bill when you switched. Assuming they are using the correct final reading, and you do owe £492, I think the only thing you can do is ask for more time, maybe nine months. Not sure how flexible they're likely to be.