NPower ready to enter my property...

XEO25

I'm in a right mess with NPower and I'm finally going to pull my head out of the sound and sort it out, but it may be too late.

I have an outstanding bill of £2500 for my dual fuel (gas and electric).

It's built up after 2 years of falling behind with payment plans.

The debt has been passed on to a debt collecting agency (a real one, not Npower's in house collections team) who say they will enter my property and give me a pay as you go meter if i don't pay up.

Problem with that is I will have to pay over £250 for the job and then pay the rest of my £2.5k bill on top.

I'm finally in a position to be able to pay back £80 per month but the last time I spoke to them a few months back they said they will need £150 a month and a £300 deposit.

Can anyone suggest a way around this? Is it possible to switch suppliers with this amount owing and then just pay NPower monthly what I can?

C_Mababejive

You owe them money. you allowed it to lapse for so long. I doubt they will now take a lenient view. You could speak to npower and agree to have prepayment meters fitted but if the company have already been to court and obtained a warrant then this would be a waste of time. Just get the meters fitted. This will ensure that the problem is sorted. You will not get into further debt and you can repay what you owe in a structured way.

spiro

Having a ppm fitted will help you in 2 ways;
1) You can not build up a debt again, and
2) The amount they recover each week has to be based on you ability to pay, such a rule does not exist if you remain on a credit meter. I have seen repayments as low as £3 when 00s/000s are owed.

As C_Mababejive said you have left it too late so unless you can pay off the full £2750 now you will get a ppm. At least they dont add interest to the amount you owe so its almost like a interest free loan paid for by those who pay on time.

neas

shaneo85 wrote: »

I'm finally going to pull my head out of the sound

because.....

shaneo85 wrote: »

....passed on to a debt collecting agency (a real one, not Npower's in house collections team) who say they will enter my property and give me a pay as you go meter if i don't pay up.

Thats not really 'pulling head out of sand'... thats someone else chopping your head off... because you had your head in the sand for 2 years lol.

I must admit humans ability to sugar coat things to their view is amasing sometimes.

You owe them 2.5k... look at it from their point of view... if someone owed you 2.5k.. would you trust them?... Nope.. so you will get a prepayment meter so you are forced to repay debt... or go without gas. Unfortunately for you, but this is adult repercussion/responsibility in life... survival of fittest....

Premier_2

shaneo85 wrote: »

...I have an outstanding bill of £2500 for my dual fuel (gas and electric).

It's built up after 2 years of falling behind with payment plans....

...I'm finally in a position to be able to pay back £80 per month but the last time I spoke to them a few months back they said they will need £150 a month and a £300 deposit...

To have a debt of £2500 in 24 months means you've used over £100 of energy per month more than you were paying for.

When you offered £80 per month, was that in total (which wouldn't even cover your expected future consumption)? Or was it in addition to your expected future consumption? Did you make it clear it would be in addition to the expected consumption?

spiro

mealticket wrote: »

shaneo85 i seriously think you should get down to the CAB for some legal advice on this one. if npower want to fit a pp they will eventually, but a debt coll agy can't force their way in to your home without a court order and if you let them in and they charge you for the privelege you will only increase your financial problems. you need proper legal advice outside the scope of the forum.
good luck

I think what is being said is that if the ppm is fitted he will have to pay another £250. This is quite common, when I supplier has to go to court to obtain a warrant of entry to fit a ppm they will add the cost of the warrant, locksmith etc to what is owed. this can easily add another £250. If you voluntarily allow your supply (not DCA) to enter to fit a ppm this will stop you incuring this extra cost. It will also avoid the potential embaresment of the locals seeing a locksmith, plus meter worker, plus supplier rep, plus possibly police (depending on area) on your doorstep to gain entry.

Premier_2

I suspect the DCA in this case is employed by and acting on behalf of the supplier.

Creditors don't usually sell on debts if the account is still live and accruing further debt by reason of ongoing supply.

spiro

mealticket wrote: »

i've got my doubts that gas and electric supplier debt fall into the usual debt recovery categories. for one thing, gas and elec can't be cut off without a court order and the technical nature of removing or replacing meters is way out of the scope of debt rec agy activities. it's all just in a ball park of it's own

If you owe for fuel and have moved so no longer supplied by the supplier, supplier are now starting to sell 'bundles of debt' to third parties. The supplier gets x% of what was old and the buyer then chases the debt and adds on all their charges.

markharding557

contact npower,not the dc and ask them to put the pp meter in,if your're lucky you might avoid the court fee.
they will call the dc off when the meter is fitted.
It is a normal tactic for dc's to threaten
you should have documents from court if they have done that

Fire_Fox

Shaneo85 I have looked back at your previous posts on MSE, and you are lurching from one financial disaster to another. You haven't posted on the Debt-free Wannabe board for many months, get back over there and get yourself onto a Debt Management Plan or something!