Switch suppliers and account holder? Gas and Electric

jovichick123

Hi guys,

Just had a conversation with my sister and have a query I am hoping one of you can help with

Sis and her OH are in debt with their gas and electric bills, basically, to cut a long story short, her OH lost his job about 12 months ago and they fell into arrears. He has now got a new job so they are trying to get on top of all arrears and missed payments. Both their gas and electricity are currently with NPower and are in my sisters name only. Sister has been getting letters from NPower threatening to take her to court to gain access to her house to fit meters, she doesn't want this as she is in a rented house and doesn't want her landlord to find out they are having money problems (Rent is up to date).

Both sis and her OH want to clear the arrears but NPower are asking for more than they can afford, Sis offered £150 per month - NPower turned down saying meter was only way to go unless they pay in full. I think from reading between the lines, they had an agreement early on and broke the terms hence NPower being more hesitant to trust them.
The combined bill seems to be in the region of £1,500.

If they decided to switch to another provider taking out a contract in BiL's name, would NPower allow them to switch? Obviously, they would then pay off the arrears over time with NPower whilst keeping up the payments with new provider IYSWIM.

I just wondered if there are any issues with this as currently Sis is very stressed and can't see a way out

TIA

HappyMJ

Technically yes...but very immoral. Sis will probably then get a CCJ for the remaining debt with Npower.