Powergen ineptitude

andyhuz

I hope this is the right place for this topic. I am in dispute with Powergen regarding my electricity bill. We moved into this rented house in Feb 2001 and ever since then they have failed to bill me correctly. It has now come to the stage where they have sent me a bill for £1800 which they claim is what I owe. The problem has arisen because from the start Powergen have been billing me for Economy 10 when in fact we have Economy 7. They have now realised their mistake and have calculated the above figure as what I owe. As an added complication the opening meter reading from when we moved in cannot be assertained with any certainty because they have a different one from the one that was taken by the estate agents on changeover of tenants. I have tried to sort out the situation on more than one occasion in the past but have never succeeded in getting anyone to sort it out. I have been paying their estimated bills in the meantime but now they sent this bill.

Would I be within my rights to refuse to pay any amount unless they can prove what the meter reading was when we moved in? As it is now more than three years since then is it now too late for them to claim payment for that period?

Andy

sergeant121

I'm not sure they're any worse than any of the others but my experience of Powergen certainly confirms your 'inept' handle for them.

I changed supplier in February and, on 29/7/04 (FIVE MONTHS LATER), received what was allegedly my closing electricity bill from Powergen.  They has mysteriously added exactly 250 units to the closing meter reading and changed the date of the transfer to 5/3/04 (charging me Standing Charge for the extra days as well).

A phone call to explain their error resulted in a beligerent, "We're right, you're wrong" response.

My response?  "See you in Court then" and an immediate online complaint to EnergyWatch.

We'll see.

gibby

yeah this is so common with powergen

I had a very similar probelm with the phone service

they would not believe me that I had moved and the phone line had been disconnected - but they still billed me for calls on it despite it not existing anymore.

If you make a monthly payment of something - i.e. £10 per month then they cant take you to court.

But you must write each time saying you dont agree with the bill.

they can still chase you for the money for 6 years of the original date.

just theaten to use energy watch and the press and the web

go direct to the chairman as the call centre system is of no use


G