very unexpected from debt collector

caris

Today we received a very unexpected letter from a debt collector on behalf of Powergen saying we have to pay them nearly £500. We are certain that we do not owe this money.

Back in spring/summer of 2006 we received a bill from Powergen for nearly £700 which came as a shock to say the least. At the time we were paying a set amount a month by dd for the bills. After going though Energy watch, and trading standards, Powergen dropped the bill to around £450and we had a pay as you go metre put in and the metre was set at £5 a week to clear the bill. After a short while we had a metre reading followed by a bill, which instead of coming down, was rising, we queried this and it was found that the metre had been incorrectly set:mad:

We tried to move to another supplier but were told that this could not happen until the bill was clear. As soon as the debt had been paid we moved to another supplier, SWEB. Then in Dec 09 we moved to British Gas.

My OH phoned Powergen (now E-On) today and at first they said we did still owe the debt, so my husband explained that there was no way we could still owe it, eventally they put him on to someone else, and looking through our old account he could see what my OH was saying, but the figures on our account did not look right, he said he will go through it and ring us back in a few days, hopefully Friday afternoon.

Where do we stand and what are our rights as you cannot leave a supplier whilst there is still a debt on the metre, and has we have changed supplier twice since, and both suppliers have confirmed today that there was no debt when we went to them. OH has phoned both SWEB and British Gas asking about our account and if we had a debt when we joined them, and they both say NO.


We are worried and at our wits end as we thought we would never have any dealings with Powergen agin.

sweetnorthenlass

i had issues with demands that were wrong. dont fall for the jargon or scare tactics... free advice from citizens advice was all i needed to get me out of this situation. took a few sleepless nights but got there. citizens advice are really helpful and on your side... they have no hiddens agendas or reasons not to be. google them for your nearest office

caris

The letter from the debt collector is the only correspondence we have had, we have not had anything whatsoever from powergen themselves, surely if we still had a debt with them, they would not have let our account be transfered in the first place?

spiro

A supplier CAN object to a change of supplier on the grounds of debt, they do not have to.

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Hi caris,

I'm not sure I can really shed any more light on the situation without seeing the account details.

But it does sound like you have done the right thing and contacting E.ON to see what has happened here, it sounds like the agent you have spoken to will do a full review of the account for you.

spiro is correct, suppliers can object to you leaving them if you have a debt balance, but this isn't always the case and customers do change suppliers with debts.

Let me know if you need any more info.

Helena

caris

So much for the said call back on Friday afternoon....now Tuesday afternoon and still waiting.

OH has rephoned E-ON and the person on the phone appologised and said that the rep had put a note on our account saying that there were errors on the account and a note reminding him to call us back on Friday afternoon at the latest. He said he would email the rep and get him to call.

Today the debt collection phoned chasing the so called debt!!

So not happy

DirectDebacle

caris wrote: »

So much for the said call back on Friday afternoon....now Tuesday afternoon and still waiting.

OH has rephoned E-ON and the person on the phone appologised and said that the rep had put a note on our account saying that there were errors on the account and a note reminding him to call us back on Friday afternoon at the latest. He said he would email the rep and get him to call.

Today the debt collection phoned chasing the so called debt!!

So not happy

Never, never, ever speak to a DCA on the phone. Insist all communication is in writing. Tell them that in writing. Keep a log of each time they phone you. If they persist it may constitute harrassment.

DCA are obliged to provide proof of the claim they have made against you. It is a claim. It becomes a debt only when a court awards the claim against you.

It is insufficient for them to demand any money from you without first providing the evidence that you actually owe it, so I repeat, ask them to send you full details of the account showing the outstanding amount. Tell them you will have no more communication with them until such evidence has been provided.

Powergen (as was) according to you have had no contact with you since you switched from them and certainly not claimed outatanding amounts on your account. There is a mechanism whereby an account in debit can be switched with agreement and the new supplier recovers the debt on behalf of the old supplier. This does not appear to have happened in your case either.

Consider making a complaint of overbearing conduct against Powergen/Eon. Demand an explanation as to why they have instructed a DCA to collect money they allege you owe without first contacting you. Demand that until such time as the matter has been resolved that they instruct the DCA to have no further contact with you.

On the other hand, if you do owe money, pay it.

caris

DirectDebacle wrote: »

Never, never, ever speak to a DCA on the phone. Insist all communication is in writing. Tell them that in writing. Keep a log of each time they phone you. If they persist it may constitute harrassment.

DCA are obliged to provide proof of the claim they have made against you. It is a claim. It becomes a debt only when a court awards the claim against you.

It is insufficient for them to demand any money from you without first providing the evidence that you actually owe it, so I repeat, ask them to send you full details of the account showing the outstanding amount. Tell them you will have no more communication with them until such evidence has been provided.

Powergen (as was) according to you have had no contact with you since you switched from them and certainly not claimed outatanding amounts on your account. There is a mechanism whereby an account in debit can be switched with agreement and the new supplier recovers the debt on behalf of the old supplier. This does not appear to have happened in your case either.

Consider making a complaint of overbearing conduct against Powergen/Eon. Demand an explanation as to why they have instructed a DCA to collect money they allege you owe without first contacting you. Demand that until such time as the matter has been resolved that they instruct the DCA to have no further contact with you.

On the other hand, if you do owe money, pay it.

Thank you for your informative reply.

We definately do NOT owe any money to Powergen (E-ON), as we had a prepayment metre installed and they collected the debt on the metre. There was a statement come from a reading on the metre (shortly after installation) and instead of the debt going down it was going up!!! My OH phoned them to querry this and it turned out that they had incorrectly set the metre:mad: They gave us £50 credit on the metre for the mistake.

Upon leaving Powergen we went to a different supplier for a while, and then in Dec 09 we went to BG, my OH has contacted them and they have confirmed that we had NO OUTSTANDING MONIES OWING to anyone.

So as far as we are aware we have no debt with anybody.

muckybutt

caris wrote: »

the metre for the mistake.

Im not really havin a laugh but I think you are on about an electricity meter ?, the other metre is in old fashoned money 100cm or 1000mm in new money

DVardysShadow

muckybutt wrote: »

Im not really havin a laugh but I think you are on about an electricity meter ?, the other metre is in old fashoned money 100cm or 1000mm in new money

Have you not heard of watre metres?

PNPSUKNET

£450 / 5 = 90 weeks. which is 7 1/2 years so the debt could not of been paid off yet.