£18000.00 bill !!!!

leckyjam

hi , i have a cafe nr Manc, been with Powergen since i opened,8 yrs,they now say they have undercharged me all this time even though meter readers have been taking the readings there 'system' has been rejecting them.they now want to claw back 4 of the 8 yrs undercharge,it comes to over £18000.00 .i dont have it !!! it wasnt an overhead i had budgeted for,my prices are very reasonable as the area is out of town and not very affluent.i'm in a mess ,think i could lose everything. i also now realise i have been paying very high contract prices ,DOUBLE what my neighbours have been paying.i never shopped around as i was happy, due to the fact i was unknowingly being undercharged !! Energywatch cant help,they said Powergen can legaly claw back up to 6 yrs !!
Can any one HELP
thanks

itsarichmansworld

had a similar issue with BG call the bbc I am sure watchdog would be interested, if energy watch arent,

1882

They can legally claim it back 6 years so I think shaming them into letting you off with it all (or nearly all of it) is the only way and Watchdog is a good idea although perhaps your local trading standards are worth a call!

1882

repeated post - pls delete if possible!

bonvonnie

similar thing happened to our business with BG, around about the same figure too.
We've handed it to solicitors, and its been to court and that. the court was in our favour (Jan 07), and asked BG to prove the breakdown and costs, still awaiting.
it has been going on for nearly 2 years now!!! you just have to put your foot down. its a long and ongoing battle.

Good luck

edthedead

Am I right in thinking that as long as you are making an effort to pay there is nothing they can do to recover the money in one lump i.e. say you'll pay them back at £10 a month or something... I did this when i got over paid by an ex-employer and they accepted it...

Sure someone out there will corret me if I'm wrong!

Anyway, no court is ever going to think it is reasonable for them to expect you to pay that amount back in one lump... if it get that far (which I hope it doesn't)!

Crystaltipps_2

Have you contacted them to arrange some kind of payment arrangement?

Unfortunately, as you are a business, you are not covered by the same Billing codes of practice as residential customers, but you may be able to negotiate some kind of reduction to the total of your bill, as they were ignoring the true reads.

If nothing else, Powergen will usually agree to a payment arrangement over the period of the time they have messed up over, even up to 6 years if that's what has happened.

Also ask them to take another look at your unit prices while you're at it - you can probably get a better deal. It's unlikely they'll let you change to another supplier with an large outstanding bill though.

do-drop

I've just had a £1500 bill come through from British Gas - I've just switched suppliers and they say as my bill was being estimated this is what I still owe - I can't believe it . And then they had the nerve to say they are now the cheapest! Does anyone know if they can legally make you pay?

lethal_2

try contacting local and national media!


"£18000 oe £15000 BILL" AS THE HEADING WOULD NE LOVED BY MOST TABLOID NEWSPAPER

Cardew

do-drop wrote:

I've just had a £1500 bill come through from British Gas - I've just switched suppliers and they say as my bill was being estimated this is what I still owe - I can't believe it . And then they had the nerve to say they are now the cheapest! Does anyone know if they can legally make you pay?

Welcome to the forum.

I wasn't aware BG claimed to be the cheapest.

If you had underpaid by £1,500(over how long?) why did you switch? You must have been paying well under the odds.

Did you not check your readings at all to see if they were estimated readings? If not why can't you believe it?

If you have had the goods(i.e. gas) of course they can legally make you pay; however I believe BG will not go back more than 2 years. So you may get a reduction in that £1,500.

When you say you 'have switched suppliers' does that mean attempted to switch? You normally cannot switch until you have cleared your debt.

do-drop

I have switched and have been paying n-power since October - the reason I switched was because I thought they were going to be cheaper than I was already paying - obviously not so. I have asked BG in the past to come and read my meter (why should we do their job!) and my experience of other monthly payment schemes is that you pay more or less depending on your usage. This has never changed as they haven't read my meter since January 04 - they are legally obliged to read it every 2 years.

If I agree to pay by a repayment plan( I haven't got £1500) will that affect my credit rating?