£3000 energy debt, just moved house will I need to stay with same supplier?

shellybaby376

Hi, just looking for some help, any help!!

I owe npower almost £3000 from my last home. This was a private rented home that had a prepayment meter when I moved in. I was happy with the prepayment meter but npower told me I had no choice but to get a credit meter put in because I had electric storage heaters and that the prepayment meters didn't work with them anymore, this was 2008. They came and fitted new meters and before I knew it I had a bill of £800 that I could not afford to pay as I was on income support. I buried my head in the sand and within 18 months had a bill of £3000. At this point prepayment meters were fitted ( I had gotten a new gas central heating system and combi boiler installed by now too). I have been working part time since having these meters in and I receive child tax and working tax credit for being on a low income but npower were still taking ridiculous amounts of money as debt off through the meters (they were aware of my money situation). I was paying about £30 a week debt + my fuel usage and as a single parent it was crippling me.

I have now had to move house because of this and am in a smaller flat with my son. Will I have to pay the same amount back to npower weekly? Will I have to go back to npower? The flats supplier is Scottish power and tbh I'm scared to phone in case I get hooked back into the black hole that was paying the debt to npower and paying for current fuel on top of that. The bill with npower is about £2600 now I think.

I just don't know what to do. The point of getting a small flat was to reduce me and my son's daily living costs so we can have a little more money.

Any advice/information is greatly appreciated

Thanks in advance

geoffken

Pay the bill.
You used it.
you "put your head in the sand"

Antispam

How about this

http://www.npowerenergyfund.com/

The aim of the npower Energy Fund is to help domestic customers of npower who are experiencing hardship and struggling to pay their gas and electricity bills regain a hold on their finances and become financially stable with the ability to meet future bills.

The npower Energy Fund offers two types of grants to domestic customers of npower:

grants to clear gas and/or electricity arrears if the client first demonstrates their commitment to achieving financial stability by making regular payments over a three month period for ongoing usage.
grants for other essential costs (household debts or needs) through Further Assistance Payments.

davidgmmafan

Good to see a positive post at 11.06. You are under absolutely no obligation to change supplier at the new address. What you need to decide is if it is better for you to pay the balance separately to your current consumption. Sometimes people prefer to keep them together but this means the company then has the threat of disconnection or prepayment meters.

The avenue above is worth pursuing, although I'm not sure how the fact you are no longer a customer will affect it. Is child tax credit and working tax credit the only kind of benefit you receive? Fuel direct may be an option but I'm not too sure how it works.

It will take an awful long time to pay off the balance with the sort of figures you are describing, have you had any advice from CAB or CCCS or similar?

Scottish_Power

if you need some help setting up your account for the new flat please email us at [EMAIL="onlinecomplaints@scottishpower.com"]onlinecomplaints@scottishpower.com[/EMAIL]

Thanks
Lee-Anne @ Scottishpower

dogshome

Because of the debt n'power could have stopped you changeing supplier at your old address, but they cannot force you to be their customer at the new address

It's vital is that you register your occupancy of the new address with Scot Power NOW, and give them the meter readings
If you do not do this, yet another cycle of accumated debt will start

Some things about your post are a puzzle - Pre-pay meters can no longer support ECO7 heating ? - Maybe another regular knows more about this than I do

I presume it was the Landlord at your old address who upgraded the heating to a Gas Combi boiler - Were n'power advised of this change? or did they continue bill you on ECO7 rates for electricity

chanz4

davidgmmafan wrote: »

Good to see a positive post at 11.06. You are under absolutely no obligation to change supplier at the new address. What you need to decide is if it is better for you to pay the balance separately to your current consumption. Sometimes people prefer to keep them together but this means the company then has the threat of disconnection or prepayment meters.

The avenue above is worth pursuing, although I'm not sure how the fact you are no longer a customer will affect it. Is child tax credit and working tax credit the only kind of benefit you receive? Fuel direct may be an option but I'm not too sure how it works.

It will take an awful long time to pay off the balance with the sort of figures you are describing, have you had any advice from CAB or CCCS or similar?

tax credit and working tax credit cant have fuel direct.

undaunted

Npower are of course quite entitled to pursue you for your debt. That said you do not have to be their customer and under the circumstances I would strongly urge you to

Register with the current supplier and if you wish also chose a new supplier (whoever will be cheapest for you)

Under no circumstances allow Npower to sell you on their services - once you were with them they would have far greater control than they have with you supplied by someone else.

Urgently seek independant financial advice - the CAB, Consumer Credit Counselling Service or a Community Local Legal Advice Centre could all offer free assistance in coming to an affordable arrangement with Npower and any other creditors you may have. They will now have little realistic option than to accept a sensible arrangement offer as even if they took you to Court thats all a Court hearing would be likely to achieve given your apparent circumstances

They will also try to help you ensure that you make sure that you meet your priorites first. I appreciate you appear to have had limited resources but things such as food, current energy supplier(s), council tax, your rent (or mortgage) etc must be met first, followed by any other secured debts. Thereafter you will need to pay your lower priority debts (as Npower will now be) - eg unsecured loans, credit cards etc

Good luck

[Deleted User]

I see lots of prepays set up for eco 7 dual rate. most of the people who have these have no idea they are on an expensive day rates when they have no night storage and dont know about the cheap night rates

chanz4

undaunted wrote: »

Npower are of course quite entitled to pursue you for your debt. That said you do not have to be their customer and under the circumstances I would strongly urge you to

Register with the current supplier and if you wish also chose a new supplier (whoever will be cheapest for you)

Under no circumstances allow Npower to sell you on their services - once you were with them they would have far greater control than they have with you supplied by someone else.

Urgently seek independant financial advice - the CAB, Consumer Credit Counselling Service or a Community Local Legal Advice Centre could all offer free assistance in coming to an affordable arrangement with Npower and any other creditors you may have. They will now have little realistic option than to accept a sensible arrangement offer as even if they took you to Court thats all a Court hearing would be likely to achieve given your apparent circumstances

They will also try to help you ensure that you make sure that you meet your priorites first. I appreciate you appear to have had limited resources but things such as food, current energy supplier(s), council tax, your rent (or mortgage) etc must be met first, followed by any other secured debts. Thereafter you will need to pay your lower priority debts (as Npower will now be) - eg unsecured loans, credit cards etc

Good luck

Makes a first, thought you normaly tell people not to pay them.

undaunted

chanz4 wrote: »

Makes a first, thought you normaly tell people not to pay them.

:money: Can you actually

A) offer the poster any constructive help

produce a sensible example to substantiate that ridiculous remark against me? I have never told anyone that they should not pay any money that they correctly owe.