NPower, problems ..long post

nursekaz

Can anyone offer me any advice. My boyfriend has a huge Npower bill for just over £1300 which he simply cannot afford to pay. He is on income support and sickness benefit (about £182 per fortnight) and is quite depressed about this bill. So much so that he has been ignoring it and it has gone up about £320 this last quarter.
He rang NPower about organising a payment plan and they said he had to pay a third before they would allow him to enter a payment plan. Is that normal procedure? Obviously he didnt have that sort of money and couldnt borrow it from me or his family. They told him he would have to have a prepayment meter, he dug his heels in and said no. He says that if you are on a meter, you pay more per unit of electricity. Is this true. He really does not want this.
He also has some other debts and i got him to ring payplan for help, and we are going to write to his creditors. But in the meantime, what is the best way to proceed with npower. Is he allowed to switch whilst he has arrears and pay npower back over time, before they cut him off. I have also set the ball rolling re social tariff, need to get all his benefit details together.
He has storage heaters insitu and they seem to work out very expensive, Any help will be gratefully appreciated

dogshome

Hi nursekaz - The price of power thro' a card meter is not a great deal different to that supplied thro' a credit meter, but, you cannot take advantage of the discounts offered for D/Debit payments and Online billing so the card meter does end up being more expensive.
However n'power can insist a card meter is installed as it's the only way to stop the debt rising and recover what is owed

In a debt situation, the Utility companies are supposed to set Debt Recovery payments at a level that the customer can afford to pay, which with n'powers demand for an instant payment of 1/3 of the debt, they have not done.

With a debt of this size your boyfriend will not be allowed to transfer.
His financial situation appears to be very dicey, but there are discounted "Social tariffs" available from the big suppliers which are not advertised, and the best route to get on one of these if it's possible, is to visit the Citizens Advice Bureau who will support the application if they can
Good Luck

Cardew

Firstly, if he can't work out a settlement with Npower, they can get a court order and fit a pre-pay meter - forced entry with baliffs etc and he will pay the costs.

The prices on pre-pay tariffs have come more in line with Standard tariffs these days, but are not as cheap as internet tariffs - especially if you pay by Direct Debit(presumably with a £1300 bill he has not been paying by DD)

He cannot switch from NPower while owing that sort of money.

The paying one third before setting up a payment plan is simply company policy I suspect.

The bottom line is that he will have to reach an agreement with Npower or get a pre-payment meter.

Plushchris

If he does manage to pay off the third and stay with Npower without getting prepay meters fitted make sure he upgrades his tariff to the cheapest (probably Sign online 18) while he gets the rest paid off.

At least that way he will be paying as little as possible in the meantime.

undaunted

Cardew wrote: »

Firstly, if he can't work out a settlement with Npower, they can get a court order and fit a pre-pay meter - forced entry with baliffs etc and he will pay the costs.

The prices on pre-pay tariffs have come more in line with Standard tariffs these days, but are not as cheap as internet tariffs - especially if you pay by Direct Debit(presumably with a £1300 bill he has not been paying by DD)

He cannot switch from NPower while owing that sort of money.

The paying one third before setting up a payment plan is simply company policy I suspect.

The bottom line is that he will have to reach an agreement with Npower or get a pre-payment meter.

This is not entirely correct. They may seek a warrant of entry but are not guaranteed to be granted one. Even if granted he can still choose to stand his ground and instruct them that he will not allow them entry to fit a pre payment meter but will instead allow them entry to disconnect the supply (unless you have children,, elderly relatives etc when they should not do so he has to be willing to accept that they probably will do so though!)

They do not send baliffs they send meter plus, who if refused entry call the police (who are there to keep the peace, not to force entry)

It is however true that there is relatively little difference between Npowers current pre payment and standard tarrifs and also that Npower (like most if not all suppliers) will probably object to the attempt to switch I'm afraid and until someone successfully challenges this you will find it difficult to obtain help from anywhere.

Reaching a fair agreement with Npower is sadly not as straight forward as some might think but you could however try to point out to Npower his financial situation and suggest Fuel Direct as an option (ie £3.35 would be deducted from benefit & paid towards the debt). The asking you to pay a third is uneforceable if he is in difficulty despite what these bullies may try to tell you - I suggest that you see the thread on here about debt problems yesterday and contact Consumer Focus for help before they can seek any warrant. You may find it easier to reach agreement with the help of a third party than speaking to Npower direct.

You may also wish to contact your MP and copy the PM's office raising concerns about "rights of objection" (if appropriate deemed contracts), versus Consumer Protection Legislation - I happen to know that they have had other concerns raised recently & perhaps if enough come in they may actually decide to look at the issues.

Good luck