Electric being cut off

Claribelle

Hi. I'm not sure if this is on the right board, so please move me if it isn't.

I'm worried sick as I've been really stupid. I didn't know that my standing order didn't go out to EDF back in August and any letters I received from them were just put aside as they are usually just statements. I honestly didn't know I was behind with payments. Since that one missed payment my standing order for £60 per month has been honoured as usual. I have just had a phone call from them saying that they issued a warrant to disconnect me on 15th December and were giving me one last chance to pay up in full today. They want more than £1400. I simply don't have that sort of cash to hand. After much grovelling with family, I am able to make a payment of £1300 which is still short by £163 but they have refused that.

What can I do? I'm so worried.

Cardew

It is difficult to see how missing a Standing Order(or Direct Debit?) of one payment £60 would mean that your debt is £1,400. Presumably that debt has been building up for many months if not years.

It is most unusual for any utility company not to accept an offer to pay such a large percentage of a debt. I would ring them again and try again - speak to a supervisor if you can - and try to negotiate. There are new rules about how far back they can collect unpaid bills.

Wig

Go to CAB tomorrow at 9.30 am they open at 10.am but you will want to be first in the queue.

http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/index/getadvice.htm

roger56

I'm with Cardew on this. I cann't even see how the warrant was issued without you having received court papers.

Have a read of this for now, you can at least start to understand your rights:
http://www.direct.gov.uk/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/ManagingDebt/DebtsAndArrears/DebtsAndArrearsArticles/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=10034289&chk=EZu8gD

And yes, get help from CAB ASAP. Take all papers you have, including any relevant utility bills.

Good Luck

PS
Here is a downloadable N245 form discussed in the above link but do take advice first:
http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/n245_0204.pdf

Cardew

roger56 wrote:

see next post, sorry - I double posted.

I beat you with 3 identical posts! and I note several others have done the same. It sometimes doesn't indicate to me that is is downloading my post!

Did you know you can delete the whole post by going to 'edit' and ticking the 'delete' box on bottom left and then pressing delete?

roger56

Thanks...all nice and tidy now...:D

Claribelle

Hi again. Thank you so much for replying. I was so worried about my electric being cut off that I've spent all afternoon begging friends and relatives to help scrape together the full amount I owe. So I was able to settle the debt in full at teatime. I still can't see how this debt came about though and in one of my seven phone calls to EDF today I queried it but they said they didn't have the information available to tell me. To say the least - I wasn't amused. I was on direct debit monthly payments in 2005 but bounced two of them and they arranged for me in February 2006 to pay by standing order the sum of £60 a month which went out of my account fine until August when my account was up to its limit and the payment was missed. I didn't realise and as I said earlier (stupidly) I didn't open any subsequent letters from EDF as i just assumed they were statements and not bills. I still havn't found all the letters but apparently they sent me a letter after the August missed payment stating they wanted me to increase my standing order to £208 a month but of course I didn't because I didn't see the letter. So they said today that even though I still paid the £60 a month bill that was originally set up, I was getting further and further into debt. But without them outlining the full debt for me I don't know exactly how they reached the final figure.

Even though I have paid in full now, they have asked me to increase my standing order in future to £150 per month as they say I am using on average £130 of electricity a month. Does that sound excessive to you? Admittedly its a four bedroomed house but there are only three people living here at the moment, so I can't understand it. I'm going to keep an eye on the metre to see if there could be a problem. By the way, does anyone know who owns the metre? I ask because EDF said today that if they have to send someone out to look at the metre to see if it is faulty, then they will charge me. Is this reasonable?

Thank you once again for all your help.

embb

It does sound excessive but you'd be surprised how much you use, I use £15 a week and that's with everything switched off unless I'm using it (I'm becoming a nuisance about it actually ) Could you ask them to put all your bills together and send them to you so you can see exactly what you've been using?

Tip for the future: make a weekly note of the meter reading and check it against your next bill, that's a tip I got from here

Cardew

Last things first.

It is normal practice to charge to check if a meter is reading correctly. If it is faulty the charge is waived - however it is very rare that they go faulty. Personally I think that is a reasonable position for them to take.

Regarding £130 a month. I assume you have electric heating?(as you haven't mentioned gas) That is high but if it includes electric heating for a 4 bed house, it is perhaps not stupidly high.

You can still obtain all the bills and letters to find out how they reached the final figure if you push them hard enough. However if you haven't read letters and bills or read your meter, what purpose would it serve - you hardly have anything to show they are wrong in their calculations; and they are probably not wrong.

Wig

Cardew wrote:

Last things first.

It is normal practice to charge to check if a meter is reading correctly. If it is faulty the charge is waived - however it is very rare that they go faulty. Personally I think that is a reasonable position for them to take.

But the amount they charge is outrageous and should be restricted by OFGEM to 45 pounds.

OP,
Wow 1300 kwh per month that's a lot but do you have electric heating? Do you have anything running on gas....heating, hotwater, cooker etc?

One basic test is to flip the mains switch which is after the meter on your fuse box for example. The meter should stop turning completely - do it when you can see the black mark on the disc coming round into view (assuming you haven't got some new fangled modern meter). Be prepared to reset all the electric clocks after doing this.

Claribelle

Thank you again.

Cardew - I take your point about the letters and bills and I have definately learnt something from this experience, I certainly don't want any more nasty surprises like this one, so I shall be opening all my post in future.

I do not have all electric here. I have gas central heating and also a gas hob for cooking. I thought the average electric useage was a little excessive because of the gas input.

Wig - thank you for that tip about flipping the mains switch on the fuse box. I am going to try that out. And embb - I will certainly be keeping metre records now on a regular basis.

Thank you.