Bankrupt in 2008 and facing it again?

dane-katie

Ive just received an electric bill for £5000, i cant afford this as i am on benefits, seems they have been under estimated for years.

They cant make a payment plan in to something i can afford.

I was bankrupt in 2008 and want to know if i still cant make an arrangement with them that we are both happy with can i go bankrupt or take out a DRO in a couple of months?

Im so angry at myself but there is nothing i can do atm.

Thanks

FoggyBrain_2

I don't see why not ... maybe others will know different. Why not hit them with the "If we can't come to a mutually acceptable arrangement I will have to consider bankruptcy and you will get nothing!" line.

fermi

There is nothing stopping you going bankrupt or doing a DRO if you meet the qualifying conditions.

However, I seem to remember that there is some regulation or code of conduct that means energy suppliers shouldn't backdate errors in accounts that occurred more than one year ago if the error is their fault?

Will have to check?

fermi

Found it.

Rules on back billing are here.

http://cfe.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5406

dane-katie

Doesnt apply to me, but thanks

debtdalek

We had a bill for around £800 about a year ago and they said it was due to several years worth of estimating.
I spoke to various mignons who more or less refused to do anything saying it was my fault for not sending in actual readings and eventually managed to speak to someone more senior who I told I simply couldn't afford it and anyway there was no way I was paying at todays high costs for electricity used years ago when the rates were a lot less.
We eventually settled - quite easily - for my paying half of the original bill in instalments.
Good luck with your negotiations.

FoggyBrain_2

At the end of the day ( unless you are on one of these deals where you send in your own readings ) if they want the money it's their responsibility to read the meter !

debtdalek

FoggyBrain wrote: »

At the end of the day ( unless you are on one of these deals where you send in your own readings ) if they want the money it's their responsibility to read the meter !

I'm not sure about that one. We were getting estimated bills, which didn't seem to be particularly low or high, based on our previous home.
We have a meter outside, so there was no reason why they couldn't have read the meter, but I was told that the procedure is that if you get a bill which is estimated that you should check the reading yourself and call it in, so as not to get into arrears.
I did argue with them over the fact that they should have read it themselves and not let it go for such a long time and they came up with some rubbish that they had attempted to read it! Obviously untrue given that the meter is outside in a box.
Apparently my supplier, like many others, sub contracts readings out to a third party!

immoral_angeluk

You first need to find out why you've received a bill for 5k, even on estimated bills this is ridiculously high! Could the meter be faulty? I would personally dispute it and get them to come check everything first and make a formal complaint about the meter reading. If the meter was accessible from the outside there is no reason they couldn't have checked it, especially when they could see you were running on purely estimated bills.

FoggyBrain_2

debtdalek wrote: »

I'm not sure about that one. We were getting estimated bills, which didn't seem to be particularly low or high, based on our previous home.
We have a meter outside, so there was no reason why they couldn't have read the meter, but I was told that the procedure is that if you get a bill which is estimated that you should check the reading yourself and call it in, so as not to get into arrears.
I did argue with them over the fact that they should have read it themselves and not let it go for such a long time and they came up with some rubbish that they had attempted to read it! Obviously untrue given that the meter is outside in a box.
Apparently my supplier, like many others, sub contracts readings out to a third party!

And they knew they were on thin ice, which is why they settled, easily, for half in installments. Had it gone to any form of arbitration they wouldn't have had a leg to stand on.

davidb1989

I had this problem with my mothers pre pay meter she received a bill for £180 although not a great deal of money I rang to complain as my mum is on benefits and is on a pre payment meter so she didn't get large bill at which they said the meter was collecting at the wrong tariff and that we owed the money at which I disputed because they knew there was a fault but did not inform us and in the end we paid £12 as a good will gesture to them as we didn't have to pay anything as the accepted liability by admitting they knew there was a fault and didn't fix it and allowed it to collect at the wrong tarriff the next day they came and fitted a new meter