Electricity bill covers period prior to the start date of the account

abinanthanb

My friend, living in a house privately rented out. She moved in on Jan 2009 and got an electricity account with npower on the same date.

Until July 2009, she only received the estimated bill and promptly made the payments without any delay. In November 2009, she received a bill with upto-date meter readings. But the problem is that the start date of the period the bill covers is mentioned as Feb 2008, even though my friend has the account in her name only from Jan 2009.

She has the welcome letter from npower mentioning the start date of the account and Tenancy agreement that states her move-in date. She contacted the customer care of npower and faxed these documents as requested by the agent. She requested for the revised bill that covers only the period for which she has been staying in the house. No response from them since then and suddenly last week some Debt collection agency was calling her to chase her for the bill amount.

She contacted the landlord (as the property is rented directly by him) and explained the situation. It seems that the electricity company didnt close the account with the previous occupier as he ran away without paying rent for 2 months. When my friend called to start the account with npower when she moved in, she was not told about anything about the previous occupier, neither by npower nor by the landlord.

Whats the best way to go ahead?

I suggested her to offer a payment of 50% of the bill as a token of showing willingness to pay.

Thanks in advance.

dogshome

Hi abinanthanb - Your friend has done exactly the right thing by sending copies of her Tenancy Agreement & Welcome letter to n'power, but seems that n'powers right hand doesn't know what it's left hand is doing.

To get this problem out of the hands n'powers Service Desk Staff, and move it up to a higher management level she should WRITE a letter headed Complaint, Just like that in bold, listing the history of the problem and enclosing further copies of her welcome letter & tenancy agreement.
She should also add that should she have to deal with any further chase letters, phone calls or visits from a Debt Collection Agency, or n'power, she will require recompense at the rate of:
£6 per phone call - in or out, £12 per letter she writes and £20 for any visit by a Debt Collector
All the Best

dizzybuff

I have never had to pay for another tennants usuage ..

Id suggest that she states she has paid for her usage only . I supply my supplier with monthly readings . She should start to do this so she can keep a tally on her usage and Npower can estimate her usuage .

i wouldd not suggest offering to pay . its not hers to pay . the debt is the previous tennant and nothing to do with her, its npowers incmpetance.

I suggest she do what the 2nd poster was suggesting

Then make sure OFGEM are aware of the situation.

http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Pages/OfgemHome.aspx

if she gets no where with npower go through ofgem.