Paying Electricity Arrears

bulchy

Hi Annie, was just wondering how your OH got on today?
Sue

IvanOpinion

Yea spill the beans

Ivan

Anniek1969

Well after arguing with the person for about 15 mins, she said that they estimated that we would use about £88 pm we were to pay £188.50 in case we used more. Apparently the £195.50 was over 24 months, I think they were charging us for the whole street. Eventually he spoke to a supervisor and argued with her for about another 15 mins and tried to get her to see that we only had £600 arrears so if they estimated that we would use £88pm then that meant we would be paying £100pm to arrears, she agreed to reduce it to £100 pm but warned us that the automated system would probably overule this again next month so we would have to phone and speak to her again. So we did ok in the end but no doubt we'll have another fight next month with them. Can't wait till the arrears are paid off so I can switch.

Apparently she said that although the meter had been read and we had still been getting estimates that it's up to us to make sure they have their proper readings, so why do they bother employing people to read them?

IvanOpinion

Anniek1969 wrote:

Well after arguing with the person for about 15 mins, she said that they estimated that we would use about £88 pm we were to pay £188.50 in case we used more. Apparently the £195.50 was over 24 months, I think they were charging us for the whole street. Eventually he spoke to a supervisor and argued with her for about another 15 mins and tried to get her to see that we only had £600 arrears so if they estimated that we would use £88pm then that meant we would be paying £100pm to arrears, she agreed to reduce it to £100 pm but warned us that the automated system would probably overule this again next month so we would have to phone and speak to her again. So we did ok in the end but no doubt we'll have another fight next month with them. Can't wait till the arrears are paid off so I can switch.

Hopefully this new arrangement will stay in place until the next reassessment occurs (given what you have said previously that could be 6 months away) ... however one has to consider the mysteries of debt follow-up All these processes are automated .. nobody looks at your account unless you phone.

Generally the call centres will (reluctantly) reduce the instalment amounts for you .. the problem is that YOU need to keep a careful eye on how much is being used to ensure that you do not fall further into arrears.

Apparently she said that although the meter had been read and we had still been getting estimates that it's up to us to make sure they have their proper readings, so why do they bother employing people to read them?

She is correct and each customer has to take the repsonsibility for checking their bills. Mistakes happen, numbers can get transposed an dother errors can get into the system .. they also have a legal/regulatory obligation to read the meter.

Sounds like a good result but keep an eye on it.

Ivan

bulchy

Crikey Annie, I bet you cant wait to switch, I thought npower were bad, but at least if I can make an agreement with them they stick to it for 6 months, I hope you dont have to check this every month. Glad you have it sorted out.
Sue

Anniek1969

Im going to enter my readings at the end of every month online so I can keep an eye on the usage. Had a look at what I could save and if I move to Powergen I could save about £179 every year so I will switch as soon as this is paid off, pity it's probably going to be after the winter though.

IvanOpinion

I wouldn't trust a word those comparison sites say .. not because they are being dishonest but because of the way the numbers can and are being manipulated by the utility cmopanies to get themselves to the top. Make sure you check that they are running a comparison based on your consumption and not on an 'average' (which some do) and also make sure you carefully read the T&C (sometimes there are hidden catches). Finally make sure that you do the comparison when you are ready to buy because some of the 'offers' are only open for very short periods of time to allow X,000 customers to be gained.

Ivan

Anniek1969

Thanks Ivan, I will make sure I have a good look at it first.

Cardew

Anniek1969 wrote:

Im going to enter my readings at the end of every month online so I can keep an eye on the usage. Had a look at what I could save and if I move to Powergen I could save about £179 every year so I will switch as soon as this is paid off, pity it's probably going to be after the winter though.

If you are that convinced that you are going to save £179 every year you would be better off borrowing and paying off your debt as the interest on the loan will be much less than £179.

I have to say that I see claim after claim on this Board that switching to Company X will save me £YY per year.

What they should be saying is if Company X doesn't increase its prices more than my current company in the next year. With the current leapfroging of tariffs by the various companies it is simply impossible to predict future savings.

Anniek1969

You won't believe this but just checked my bank this morning and Scottish Power have taken £195.50 and not the £100 she said. Just as well there was enough in my account to cover this but I am so angry. The only good thing about it is that my arrears will have went down by about another £150 but what if I needed that money until payday.

Looks like another phonecall and another half hour arguing with them about my usage. Wish me luck.