Help, Problem With Powergen!!!!!!!!!

malcindebt

Hi,

3-4 months ago I had a salesman at the door from British Gas who would just not take no for an answer, so I signed up to them, then cancelled when the contract confirmation came through. I didn't want to transfer as I had a debt with Powergen which I was slowly paying off by overpaying with my monthly payment.

However I still kept getting letters from British Gas advising how happy they were that I was transferring to them and I should expect the transfer to be complete from xx/xx/xxxx.

I again called British gas again and explained that I had cancelled and also advised why I didn't want to transfer, they said it would be OK as Powergen will not allow the transfer if I couldn't pay the outstanding balance.

Next thing I know British gas have sent me a letter to confirm the Direct Debit amounts. I called them and they denied ever receiving the cancellation call, and advised that it was now too late.

I called Powergen and asked why they had allowed the transfer in light of the outstanding balance I have with them, they could not answer why.

Now I have had my final bill from Powergen which it says must be paid in 14 days of £434. I cannot afford this.

Incidently, these arrears came about due to what I feel is a problem with Powergens system. I used to pay £70 per month via DD and every 3 months I got a bill, I did notice that this bill was increasing, but on the statement it said something like, 'Your bill is now due. Your monthly payment is £70, you need do nothing to change this. No payment is due'

I took this to mean that as I was paying via DD, their system had calculated that this would cover the amount due according to my useage, obviously not.

The bill eventually spiralled to £800, and I have paid £400 off this in 18 months. But now they want the lot.

I can afford to pay them £15 per month, but I'm sure that with a bill of £434 they are not going to agree to this.

Any help appreciated.

Thanks.

rosscobley

Speck to a Manager in Bgas and demand a ET back to powergen. If bgas wont agree to an ET go to energywatch. When the Et is done Powergen will bill you as if you had never left and bgas wont bill you anything. Dont Try and sign back up to powergen or the Et cant be done. Speck to Powergen and tell them what you are doing and that as soon as its done you will be setting the D/D back up.

The reason the Transfer was not blocked by Pgen is because they cant block an account from leaving if its on D/D even if it is in debt.

malcindebt

rosscobley wrote:

Speck to a Manager in Bgas and demand a ET back to powergen. If bgas wont agree to an ET go to energywatch. When the Et is done Powergen will bill you as if you had never left and bgas wont bill you anything. Dont Try and sign back up to powergen or the Et cant be done. Speck to Powergen and tell them what you are doing and that as soon as its done you will be setting the D/D back up.

The reason the Transfer was not blocked by Pgen is because they cant block an account from leaving if its on D/D even if it is in debt.

Hi, I've tried that one, they simply will not do it, they say they do not feel t was an erroneous transfer. Also, I have been paying by S/O for the past 18 months.

stewie_griffin

malcindebt wrote:

Hi, I've tried that one, they simply will not do it, they say they do not feel t was an erroneous transfer. Also, I have been paying by S/O for the past 18 months.

If you phoned them to cancel within the cooling off period (normally the first 14 days of the transfer) then they have to agree to the ET as they should have never completed the transfer in the first place.

Powergen will only object to customers leaving if they don't have a payment arrangement set up and have a debt. If you were paying by standing order then you would have had some sort of regular cash payment in place.

Cardew

rosscobley wrote:

The reason the Transfer was not blocked by Pgen is because they cant block an account from leaving if its on D/D even if it is in debt.

Was not aware of that rule.

Is that an OFGEM stipulation or a company ruling?

Presumably the outstanding balance with the old company must be paid off before the transfer is completed?

Otherwise you can just move from company to company leaving a trail of debts and my new Company(say, Powergen) will not cut me off because I owe money to my old company(say, NPower)

tripled

Several companies got fined a few years ago because they blocked customers who had always paid by dd from transferring even if they only owed a pound and were still on the dd scheme. The way it works now is if you set up a dd or card to pay off a debt then until that debt is cleared you can't change, however if you get into arrears because the agreed payments are too low, as long as you have kept to the scheme they can't object, which is what has happened in malcindebt's case.

Icemoose

Sorry to repeat I was going to say the same... if your a Direct Debit customer then they have to let your account go....

I just re-set my DD with Powergen to go out middle of January despite the fact I am changing to BG Internet Tarriff later this month... I knew PG would block my account as I have a debt on my Gas for £100!

Energised

Powergen don't object to any transfer.

Phone British Gas and inform them that you contacted them within the 14 day cooling off period and demand your supply be returned to Powergen. Fact is, they've now taken your supply so it will take 4-6 weeks for Powergen to take you back.

That said, if you can't prove than you phoned in the cooling off period and BG wont play ball you'll have to wait 28 days from the end of the cooling off period before you and request that Powergen return your supply.

stewie_griffin

Energised wrote:

Powergen don't object to any transfer.

Yes they do, where did you hear that?