Powergen - Bailiff Letter, bill 14 days old!

danielson81

Hello,

In August after moving in to a new house we switched from the existing supplier Powergen to Npower. Shortly after Powergen sent us a final gas bill.

On the 30th December (bill dated 29th Dec) we received a final electric bill for £35.

Now today, on the 13th January we have received a letter from Utility Debt Services titled "Intention of Court Action".

"You have failed to respond to our clients attempts to make contact with you, therefore it is our intention to make a claim against you in a court of law.

Ok, I admit we haven't paid the bill straight away.. but its only 14 days since we received the bill. No reminders or no threats they will pass it on to anyone else.

Obviously I will pay the bill asap, just wondered if this is allowed.

Also another thing is, we never told Powergen who we are when we moved in as we were only with them for about 4 weeks.

The final bill and the letter from the bailiffs was addressed to "New Customer". Just wondered what status "New Customer" had in a court of law.

Thanks

Dan

tripled

Just to confirm, have you checked the reference number matches the account number on your electricity bill? Or could it be for the gas bill they sent a while ago, or even for a previous debt at the property?

danielson81

Thanks.

Yes it is same reference number, and the amount is correct.

Xbigman

Its because you haven't registered with them. Because they don't know who you are they see the outstanding amount as being from the date of supply rather than date of billing.
I'd send Powergen a payment by cheque using the slip on the bill you have. Send it recorded delivery and keep your bank statement as proof the cheque was cashed.
Regards


X

tripled

Still, it seems a little quick doesn't it? But, if the amount is right, best bet is just to pay it. You can send them a cheque, as xbigman suggested, or if you pay the bill a the post office they will stamp it as paid for you.

welshcakes

I had similar for water bill after I had only had property a few weeks. I rang the collection agency, told them politely background and they said, no problem, it does happen quite a lot, would you like to just send us a cheque in the next week?

They were great and seemed used to their utility 'clients' doing this. It's not the collection agancies fault and they just print out batches of hundreds of these notices everyday. My advise, ring them, take a note of person's name and let them know you'll send them a cheque (probably much safer bet than sending to supplier).

Be assured danielson, you are not the only one to have this happened though I appreciate it feels very impersonal and can set off alarm bells when you get anything through your door from a collection/debt/bailiff agency.

danielson81

Thanks for your replies.

I phoned the debt collectors up and paid by card, 2 days later it was showing up on my statement as a payment to PowerGen.

Person at debt collectors was a bit surprised it had come to them after 10 days!

JMC39

Yeah, I had the same thing with Powergen, wasn't very impressed. Anyway, Utility Debt Services were pretty nice about it - I paid Powergen and then moved to ScottishPower.

inmypocketnottheirs

Never, ever pay debt collectors, they will get paid commission for doing nothing other than sending threatening letters. Paying debt collectors only reinforces their presence. Always pay directly to whoever the debt is with.