please help...forged n-power contract account now in debit

shauny450

n-power have forged my signature on a contract to be my electricity supplier.....i assumed i was with e-on,i use my e-on key to put money on the meter,my reciepts show that the payment is to e-on.....but i have recieved a letter from n-power saying that i am in debit with my account with them...as the tariff is set 5p too low(i assume thats because the meter is set to e-ons tariff)...and has been for over 3 years..so i am going to owe them alot of money....e-on confirmed that i am no longer a customer,yet i have NEVER signed anything,and just assumed that i was still with e-on...i have requested a copy of the contract...which i KNOW is going to be fake as i have never signed anything at the door....i just dont know what to do next...do i have to pay for a tariff i never agreed to???..i just dont have that sort of money...will the fact that it`s not my signature get me out of paying it??...any help would be gratly appreciated...

looktothefuture

n-power did EXACTLY the same with me when I was on a key - I even received a new n-power key!

I called up NP, and told them I wanted to see the contract and when I received the copy it had an x where the signature is supposed to be! I disputed it and informed BG that I never signed over to n-power, they reinstated my key and I carried on with BG as usual!

Premier_2

Don't worry about it.

The contract isn't legally binding on you if your signature was forged. The supplier would have to take up the matter with the forger .... which according to you would be themselves, so one wonders why they bothered?

Of course you may actually have a contract with the nPower. You often don't need to sign anything. Am I correct in presuming the allegations of forgery are simply a fabrication as it appears you've not even seen a signature?

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi shauny

Sounds as though this could be an Erroneous Transfer where Npower took over the supply without your permission.

Did you receive a payment device around the time they are claiming they started supplying your electricity?

If you did but have continued to use our key, then all your payments will have come to us. Also, as you rightly say, this will mean your meter has never been programmed with Npower's prices.

Have you received any correspondence/statements from either Npower or us before the debt letter you mention?

All suppliers have a legal obligation to provide Prepayment customers with statements showing the amount of energy used, the prices charged and payments made.

If an Erroneous Transfer was done three years ago, it is now too late to send the account back through this process. Therefore, I would contact us and ask for all the payments made on our key whilst Npower have been supplying the property are transferred to them.

These payments will then be offset against the charges Npower are making for electricity used over the last three years.

Hope this is useful shauny. Give me a shout if I can help further as will be happy to do so.

Malc

undaunted

I find the wholoe thing incredible - that Npowwer can take over the account apparently without you being aware, that Eon can continue accepting money from you for three years yet apparently know you are no longer their customer. It's about time the so called regulator got their act together & started exerting some control / "regulation" over these companies.

If you can prove the transfer was not requested by you, neither company has made you aware of the change, and there is a disadvantage to you I would not just transfer the payments to Npower & accept it myself - I'd contact both the Ombudsman & Ofgem & complain / demand that the matter is put right regardless of what problems that causes the two companies procedurally.

dogshome

Hi shauny450 - Are you sure that n'power were not your homes supplier when you moved in?
If they were not and you have really been "Slammed", it's important that you take undaunted's advice, but because of the rules you must first WRITE to n'power heading the letter Complaint

In this letter repeat your request for a copy of the contract, and ask why it is that over a period of 3 years, that they have not issued the regular written statements they are required to send to pre-pay customers, and state that because of this failure, you have been unreasonably time barred from the Erroneous Transfer procedures.

The big problem is the cost differential beteen n'powers prices and E.ons. It's all very well for E.on to give you your money back, but that won't be enough to pay n'power. However n'powers failure on statements gives room for negotiation - don't accept the first offer they come up and stand your ground that their cost should be the same as E.ons

Of course E.on's part in this isn't exactly covered in glory - For three years have expected you to abide by thier Contract Terms and make payments accordingly, yet now say "Sorry there was no contract, here's your money back"
Well despite all the closely written detail in their T&C's, it's all overwritten by basic contract law that says if a contractor fails to deliver on a contract, the customer is entitled to obtain the service or goods elsewhere and the original contractor is liable for any extra costs
All the best

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

dogshome wrote: »

Of course E.on's part in this isn't exactly covered in glory - For three years have expected you to abide by thier Contract Terms and make payments accordingly, yet now say "Sorry there was no contract, here's your money back"

Quite agree dogshome; this is far from satisfactory. Unfortunately, the use of the wrong payment device on Prepayment Meters is a problem throughout the industry.

Customers sometimes use a different supplier's device or a previous occupier's device.

Payments made on a Prepayment Meter go to each supplier via an infrastructure provider. Where the wrong device is used, the payment will be mis-directed or held by the infrastructure provider as an unallocated transaction.

This can result in payments being channelled to a wrong account, to a different supplier or, as above, held as an unallocated transaction.

To address this, Ofgem have introduced a regulatory process across the industry to streamline the allocation of payments to the correct supplier.

I can't comment on what has happened to the OP's payments as there are not enough details. They could be sitting on an old E.ON account or be in the unallocated batch. However, I'm speculating.

Once they contact us or Npower, the above process for mis-directed payments can be started to ensure the money goes where it should.

When the account moved away from us, we would have issued a final statement up to the meter reading Npower provided and closed the account.

In normal circumstances, the customer would have stopped using our device and started using the one Npower provided. In this case, payments would have gone to the correct account.

However, if this is an Erroneous Transfer, the circumstances would not have been normal. Therefore, I can well understand the OP's confusion.

It's important the OP contacts either us or Npower to start the ball rolling.

Hope this brief description of what can sometimes happen is useful. If anyone would like any more details just give me a shout.

Malc

sweetstudent

Would like to add to the eon-rep, well done for a brilliant and through explanation.....

forgotmyname

I had an Npower letter addressed to some wierd name, As this property was new when we moved in & nobody else has ever lived
here i opened it, Lucky i did. It was thanking the named person for choosing them for their gas and electric.

I was with british gas at the time and phoned them straight away. They seemed unconcerned and would have willingly let the
transfer take place. One of the many reasons i left them.

I phoned Npower and they cancelled the paperwork & sent me a letter proving it, I insisted on that.

Terrible they can do this, Wonder how many people have been switched and not noticed? Easier with key meters?
Just a quick note, Here is your new key please destroy the old one.

Why not have a simple precaution of needing a migration code like the phone/BB companies use?

I_luv_cats

when i switched from edf to ebico i received a letter from edf and a couple of postcards from sse(ebico)

I thought energy companies had to write to you to keep you informed.

shauny450

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc wrote: »

Hi shauny

thanks for your advice.....when i phoned n-power to quiery why i had the bill off them,i was told that they would be sending me a pin number to reset my key!.which will then tell them what the actual bill will be....i told them that i would not do that,as i am not a customer...and if the bill is in arrears then that is not my problem.....the operator was really rude to me..she told me that i would HAVE to reset the key...and i refused again,i was put through to a manager,who i asked to send me a copy of the contract..i then phoned e-on to switch back..and they explained that i had to sign up as a new customer..and should take 4-6 weeks.i just dont know what will happen,will e-on take me on if there is a debt?..will i have to reset the key?....i dont know if i ever recieved a letter off n-power telling me that i was a customer,as i probably would have binned it,thinking it was junk mail..as i wouldnt have been expecting anything off them...