Long standing problem with npower is getting worse - Help please

daggy

Hi,

I'm looking for a bit of help as npower are hassling my Mum.

Back in 2006 we moved into a new home and when we moved in it was found that the gas meter was not safe and had to be changed; after this was done my Mum rang npower and notified them of this, giving them all of the readings they requested.

2 years later she received a letter saying she owed them over £1,000; it turns out that the staff member didn't enter the details of the meter change into the system.

The reduce the balance by approx £300 and she was essentially told she had to accept this offer as it was their final offer. Personally I think energy companies should be punished for their incompetence by way of forcing them to write off debts like this completely, but I'm sure many on here will disagree.

Anyway, she accepted the payment and after a lot of meesing about a payment plan was agreed. My Mum's disabled, so the money comes out of her disability benefits and is paid directly to npower; they've merged her ongoing fuel costs with the debts to form weekly payments of £33.80.

We moved to a new home in February 2011, so we notified npower of this and we've had nothing but problems since. They initially attempted to charge us for the gas that was used in our new home for the 3 months prior to us moving here... after a few calls they eventually sorted that out.

The current problem:

She received a letteron 22nd December 2011 saying that she hadn't been paying her bill etc... She called them up and they assured her that they had made a mistake by not switching the payments from her benefits on to the new account.

We received a letter 29th December stating that fuel direct would have thecredit transfered over from the other account and that they would sort out future payments from the DSS. So sorted...not.

Since then we've received a reminder on 4th Jan; a collections letter 16th Jan and a further 'right to enter your home' letter on 25th Jan.

My Mum has called them after every letter excluding the 25th Jan one as I'm now going to sort it... hopefully with help from peopleon this lovely forum

What rights/powers do I have? Surely this is tantamount to harassment? They've consistently proved that they either emply idiots or lack the desire to spend enough money to train their staff correctly, my Mum has enough going on, she does not need this, still I suppose nobody needs it.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

dude89

daggy wrote: »

Hi,

I'm looking for a bit of help as npower are hassling my Mum.

Back in 2006 we moved into a new home and when we moved in it was found that the gas meter was not safe and had to be changed; after this was done my Mum rang npower and notified them of this, giving them all of the readings they requested.

2 years later she received a letter saying she owed them over £1,000; it turns out that the staff member didn't enter the details of the meter change into the system.

The reduce the balance by approx £300 and she was essentially told she had to accept this offer as it was their final offer. Personally I think energy companies should be punished for their incompetence by way of forcing them to write off debts like this completely, but I'm sure many on here will disagree.

Anyway, she accepted the payment and after a lot of meesing about a payment plan was agreed. My Mum's disabled, so the money comes out of her disability benefits and is paid directly to npower; they've merged her ongoing fuel costs with the debts to form weekly payments of £33.80.

We moved to a new home in February 2011, so we notified npower of this and we've had nothing but problems since. They initially attempted to charge us for the gas that was used in our new home for the 3 months prior to us moving here... after a few calls they eventually sorted that out.

The current problem:

She received a letteron 22nd December 2011 saying that she hadn't been paying her bill etc... She called them up and they assured her that they had made a mistake by not switching the payments from her benefits on to the new account.

We received a letter 29th December stating that fuel direct would have thecredit transfered over from the other account and that they would sort out future payments from the DSS. So sorted...not.

Since then we've received a reminder on 4th Jan; a collections letter 16th Jan and a further 'right to enter your home' letter on 25th Jan.

My Mum has called them after every letter excluding the 25th Jan one as I'm now going to sort it... hopefully with help from peopleon this lovely forum

What rights/powers do I have? Surely this is tantamount to harassment? They've consistently proved that they either emply idiots or lack the desire to spend enough money to train their staff correctly, my Mum has enough going on, she does not need this, still I suppose nobody needs it.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly apreciated.

The first thing your mother needs to do is to stop dealing with Npower by telephone. She should write to them and make it clear that this is a Formal Complaint, in strict accordance with their complaints procedure - found here http://www.npower.com/idc/groups/wcms_content/@wcms/@busi/documents/digitalassets/puttingthingsright100108.pdf

This then puts the ball firmly in their court. They then have upto 8 weeks to resolve this to the satisfaction of your mother. If they do not do this, your mother will have the right to take this to the energy ombudsman, who will make a ruling on this case which is binding on the supplier but not your mother, and will be done at no cost to your mother.

Also during this time the accout will have a hold put onto it preventing any further collection actions.

Has the money been coming out of your mothers benefit?
If not can she put this aside to help pay when this matter is correct, or even pay for it when she gets it paid to her.

daggy

Hi thanks for your reply. It's starting to sound like an official complaint is the only action left.

npower alreayd have the money as it's paid directly to them, they have failed to swicth the payments from the old address to the new one, so there's £120 pm going into the old account and £0 into the new one.

Are there any template leters on the forum for this?

Thanks again for the response

dude89

daggy wrote: »

Hi thanks for your reply. It's starting to sound like an official complaint is the only action left.

npower alreayd have the money as it's paid directly to them, they have failed to swicth the payments from the old address to the new one, so there's £120 pm going into the old account and £0 into the new one.

Are there any template leters on the forum for this?

Thanks again for the response

I dont know about any templates available, though to knock one up yourself will be pretty simple.

Just include everything you have posted on this forum so far in a chronilogical order, and make it clear it is a formal complaint.

Also if you feel it is appropriate, ask about any compensation you feel is appropriate but realistic given the time taken to rectify this and any stress caused due to this.

Also stick to the facts as much as possible without adding any personal comments.

daggy

I rang their complaints line and soke to a girl called Claire who was very helpful.

Turns out their letter RE: changine the payments was incorrect as they can't ask the DSS to pay someones money into another account.

Also when npower initially transfered previous payments from the old account, whoever did it only transfered the electricity money, so the gas is still sitting there now

I'll be calling the DSS on monday and asking them to start paying into the new account. npower have froze my Mum's account, so hopefuly no more letters.

I'll pop back to let people know how it goes

Cheers for your help