N Power massive Bill

laurenollie

I'm new to this forum and wondering of anyone had some wonderful advice.

We have been paying N power the min amount each month due to a tight budget and have gradully been getting behind. This steams from when we joined N power when we first got our house - we were paying very low monthly payments and took N power ages to increase them so we've got behind.

Any way to cut a very long story short we now have a bill saying we owe N power £932! We can't find this sort of money to pay them - it seems really bad that they can let us get into this state.

Can any suggest anything? Is there any way we can get the amount reduced? We are borrowing some money of parents to help bring the bill down but have no idea where we can find £900.

Anyone any words of wisdom??

Lauren

Fire_Fox

Is this bill based on a current meter reading? Have you spoken to NPower about spreading this bill over several months? Have you taken steps (insulate house, turn down thermostat etc.) to ensure your ongoing usage is as low as possible?

Consider completing a Statement of Affairs and posting on the Debt-free Wannabe board for support and advice:
http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

DVardysShadow

To me, it looks like you share responsibility with nPower for letting the bill get into this state, so the sympathy vote [such as it is] is split equally between you and nPower.

The fair thing is to repay over the period that the arrears built up - you would get the sympathy vote if they refused you to pay in instalments. From your bills over the last year, you should be able to work out a monthly payment which keeps you even, and you should be able to work out again how much to pay a month to clear the arrears over the period they built up.

I suggest you do the calculations and ring up nPower and aske them to clear the debt over however long they built up and to tell you the monthly figure. If it is near to what you calculated, then agree to it.

I suggest that you do the calculation for yourself first and take the opportunity to think about how to pay it and get used to the amount rather than let nPower tell you on the phone without the opportunity to think it through.

laurenollie

Thanks for the quick response.

We pretty much don't have any heating on now! House etc is insulated, we wear layers instead of putting the fire on, energy bulbs etc - Can't think of much else to bring the cost down.

It is based on meter readings i sent them in on Monday so this is the new bill that has come through today!

I'm not compeltley blaming N power of course i know we are to blame as well - but i can't believe N power would let it get this bad where we own them nearly £1000. I also can't believe that our bills are this high - we are a yong couple that live in a small 2 bed mid terrace, and both work full time. So i would never expect us to be using loards of energy.

The problem i have is we can't afford to pay anymore then what we are paying at the minute, so i don't know how we are going to get it paid off! Like i said previous we are borrowing some money off parents but we can't borrow £900

thanks for your suggestions but looks likw we are stuck with it

Lauren

Antispam

You need to get some payment plan with Npower. They are not going to let you off on this and nor should they when others take responsibility for there actions and live withing there means

Most people struggle but we cut down as much as we can and build enough through the Spring/Summer months to have some credit so as to take the sting out of Winter bills

My advice is to cut down and try and use low energy devices bulbs etc take regularly meter readings and if necessary look for part time work or borrow money if things are that bad.

If you are struggling you are obviously living well above your means and you must budget accordingly otherwise you going to get even more debt/trouble

DVardysShadow

laurenollie wrote: »

... The problem i have is we can't afford to pay anymore then what we are paying at the minute, so i don't know how we are going to get it paid off! Like i said previous we are borrowing some money off parents but we can't borrow £900

How long did it take for the arrears to build up?

Fire_Fox

laurenollie wrote: »

Thanks for the quick response.

We pretty much don't have any heating on now! House etc is insulated, we wear layers instead of putting the fire on, energy bulbs etc - Can't think of much else to bring the cost down.

It is based on meter readings i sent them in on Monday so this is the new bill that has come through today!

I'm not compeltley blaming N power of course i know we are to blame as well - but i can't believe N power would let it get this bad where we own them nearly £1000. I also can't believe that our bills are this high - we are a yong couple that live in a small 2 bed mid terrace, and both work full time. So i would never expect us to be using loards of energy.

The problem i have is we can't afford to pay anymore then what we are paying at the minute, so i don't know how we are going to get it paid off! Like i said previous we are borrowing some money off parents but we can't borrow £900

thanks for your suggestions but looks likw we are stuck with it

Lauren

IIRC NPower only have to read the meter every two years, you obviously have the opportunity to read the meter every day when you go home! That aside, why don't you post up your annual usage in KWH, both gas and electricity, so that the regulars can see which is high?

Low energy lightbulbs and not leaving stuff on standby really won't make much difference to your utility bills. Heating is the killer (sounds like you are working on that), followed by hot water (shorter showers, turn water off while shampooing, laundry at 30C) and tumble dryers (just don't!).

Mynewt

laurenollie wrote: »

I'm new to this forum and wondering of anyone had some wonderful advice.

We have been paying N power the min amount each month due to a tight budget and have gradully been getting behind. This steams from when we joined N power when we first got our house - we were paying very low monthly payments and took N power ages to increase them so we've got behind.

Any way to cut a very long story short we now have a bill saying we owe N power £932! We can't find this sort of money to pay them - it seems really bad that they can let us get into this state.

Can any suggest anything? Is there any way we can get the amount reduced? We are borrowing some money of parents to help bring the bill down but have no idea where we can find £900.

Lauren

Ok the repsonsibility of ensuring the accuracy of your statements and payment method is a dual responsibility, much in the same way you would check a till receipt or your bank statement you should check your energy statements. That said we cna't change the past but we can do a lot of thigns to help your current situation.

Aside form the latest reading are any of the readings on your bills actuals? and who were they taken by? What tarriff are you on currently? How do you currently pay Npower? How long have you been with Npower?

Once we have these answers we should be able to build a better idea of the situation and more importantly get a clear indication of what to do next.

The first thing you stop doing however is panicing, your doing the right thing now and i'm confident we cna help get you a solution in place.

Antispam

check to see whether that can get any benefits/tax credits etc



http://www.entitledto.co.uk

laurenollie

Thanks for the replies.

No offence to anyone but I really only wanted a bit of advice, not to be accused of things for example 'living above my means' when none of you know me.

I know it hard to grasp things on forums and that none of you know my actual situtation, so I'll reserve my judgement of you guys like i think you should of me

I'll leave this thread as it is now and I'll work through this problem on my own

many thanks to all of those who took the time to reply

KimYeovil

Antispam wrote: »

I assume the OP has they haven't let us know there income has checked whether that can get any benefits/tax credits etc]

Any chance of providing us with an English translation? I tried babel but all they came up with was

I suppose that the OP has them haven't announced to us there the income checked if that can obtain import which advantages/appropriations of tax etc

so I am none the wiser.