Under Estimated Bill - PAY UP NOW!

nomoneytoday

Usually they allow 9 months to clear misread meters.
Why not call them and ask?

sandhabibi

BurningMad wrote:

A friend of mine is with Powergen.

They have just been hit (on Tuesday this week) with a large 'outstanding' bill that must be paid by next week otherwise they will be cut off. It is in the region of £1000.00.

For 3 years they have been paying an 'estimated' amount of money.

Powergen stated they have been unable to access the property for 3 years (!) and thus have continued with this estimation method.

Access to the property is not an issue as there is somebody always there.

Can they threaten this with so little number of days to pay up (and such a large amount)?

Powergen done this to me last year we were paying £30 amonth and came as a shock when the summer bill came to higher then winters as summer usually always cheaper! I always give them the readings so never understod how the bills got wrong.we just up'ed our monthly payments to clear debt with them.
Planning to change company anyway as not happy with their service.

espresso

BurningMad wrote:

A mistake has been made on both sides, I just wanted advice because of the mess they now find themselves in.

:mad:

How do you work that out? Your friends have accepted these estimated invoices for three whole years without question!

On every energy invoice that I have ever seen, it states that if these readings are incorrect, please supply correct readings and your invoice will be re-calculated!

Powergen is not a charity!

:eek:

mariejader

"Just as I would expect from this forum...

No help.
"

Burningmad I see you have posted a total number of 4 times prob all in this topic and you are a fairly new member.

I have to say your comments are unfair this forum has helped so many people and personally I have always found peoples answers to be true and honest, which in all fair ness has happened here, so you don't like the answers but hey they are the truth

oldwiring

Nail right on head! Powegen are entitled to be paid. In this case two emotive trms come togehter Powergen, which everyone loves to hate, and Charity with *its ooh poor things* emotive charge. Being a charity most certainly does not mean that business sloppiness is to be tolerated. Those who have donated have also a right to be aggrieved if the result of sloppiness is that their money be entangled in legal ciosts, which could hppen IMO. The beneficiaries should not be happy either. So Burningmad, cease the special pleading; it custs no ice!

deanos

BurningMad wrote:

Access to the property is not an issue as there is somebody always there.

So they never ever go out ? Maybe when the meter reader calls there is no one at home i get it all the time people say they are always in when i go round they are not in.

Best thing to do is ring Powergen and sort out a payment plan of some sort.

badtimes

hey there, some of these other posters comments are unneccessarily gruff, and i can understand why you might feel no one is helping.

But at the end of the day, in those 3 years that your friend should have recieved 16 bills, each of them saying "this is an estimated bill, please call ASAP with a reading". Powergen would have also have sent at least three seperate letters in that time advising how an up to date reading was of the upmost importance.
I mean, it REALLY looks like your friend was delibrately not calling with a reading, as they were getting smaller bills!

in light of this, there is no other advice that myself or others can give your friend, apart from calling Pgen ASAP to make a payment plan for the outstanding balance. Since Pgen would have warned your friend of the possible consequences of not calling with a reading many times, your friend has no other option but to pay that balance.

Also, although utility companies try to take a read themselves every quarter, its not always possible, and ultimately it is the customers responsibilty to control their own bills and finances. I would certainly never blindly trust any utility company to constantly porvide me with accurate bills and i thought that it was pretty much common knwledge accross the uk that they cannot be trusted

badtimes

BurningMad wrote:

A mistake has been made on both sides,

fraid not! it is the customers responsiblity to provide the supplier with accurate readings. The suppliers only have to ATTEMPT to a reading every 18 months

Wig

I think the responses in this thread were disgusting, and Bm had every right to be annoyed with the respondents.

Burningmad,

To answer your question ....

PG is REQUIRED to inspect and test the meter at least once every two years.
if they have no access they must leave a calling card explaining the urgency of the matter.

PG is quite famous for this (at least IMO on these boards)

About the bill, it is "an unexpected burden" and as such reasonable agreed payments must be allowed, to repay the amount.

Hope you're still here to read this

IANAL Confirm with C.A.B.

badtimes

Wig wrote:

To answer your question ....

PG is REQUIRED to inspect and test the meter at least once every two years.
if they have no access they must leave a calling card explaining the urgency of the matter.


IANAL Confirm with C.A.B.

thats not quite accurate. as i said in the above post, utility companies are only required to ATTEMPT to read the meter every 18 months.

All utlility companys have no control of meter reading outwith their own area and are dependant on a third party sending them these meter readings.