Old energy supplier took money from me after I left them.

bundance

Hello

Would love some help please.

I left npower on the 22nd August to go to Scottish Power.

I noticed that they had taken a direct debit out of my account on september 3rd.
They told me that when the new supplier gives them my meter readings, I will get my money back, and they advised that the new supplier has a max of 40days to do this.
They also told me that if I want to claim my september direct debit back I would have to see the bank to make an indemnity claim.

The lady at the bank said that Npower should refund me the september direct debit, and that they really should not have taken it out of my bank at all.

Anyone got any ideas what to do, as I could do with that money that went out my bank on sept 3rd?

Thanks

DVardysShadow

Is your account in credit or debit normally? It may not be worth recovering if you expect a final bill with an amount still to pay.

Otherwise, the lady at the bank is leading you a merry dance, you don't explain to her anything about your utility account, you just say you are no longer a customer of SP, they have taken money without authority and you want to reclaim the payment under the Direct Debit authority.

bundance

DVardysShadow wrote: »

Is your account in credit or debit normally? It may not be worth recovering if you expect a final bill with an amount still to pay.

Otherwise, the lady at the bank is leading you a merry dance, you don't explain to her anything about your utility account, you just say you are no longer a customer of SP, they have taken money without authority and you want to reclaim the payment under the Direct Debit authority.

Hi

My account will be in credit, I checked that today on the phone with them.

The woman at the bank seemed to take ages in explaining why they could not give me the money back.

I would go back tomorrow but I may get the same lady again, or they may try to fob me off again.

I will phone them tomorrow night, as I get 0845 numbers free after 7pm.

Thanks

Mersgoth

I would be weirry of the fact they said your in credit with Npower, as they said that with me £55.16 credit now they are demanding £200+ off me.

snowcat53

You are entitled to an immediate refund by the bank under the direct debit guarantee. Take no nonsense about you having to go back to the company. Look up the wording, quote it clearly that this was unauthorised. If the bank advisor demurs or tries to fob you off, insist on speaking to her supervisor.

bundance

Mersgoth wrote: »

I would be weirry of the fact they said your in credit with Npower, as they said that with me £55.16 credit now they are demanding £200+ off me.

You wanna get a breakdown of that.
I am in credit cos I overpaid my gas every month as the direct debit was too high.

Good luck with getting yours sorted. Let us know how you get on.

bundance

snowcat53 wrote: »

You are entitled to an immediate refund by the bank under the direct debit guarantee. Take no nonsense about you having to go back to the company. Look up the wording, quote it clearly that this was unauthorised. If the bank advisor demurs or tries to fob you off, insist on speaking to her supervisor.

Hi. Thanks.

Where will I find the wording?

Cheers.

Terrylw1

Npower are incorrect on the 40 days issue.

The target for switching is 21 days after the day your cooling off period ends...so 40 days for the reading being transmitted would mean they would always fail this Standard Licence Condition (SLC).

The bank should do it under the Direct Debit Guarantee. The lady you spoke to is probably just sick of companies taking DD's when they could have prevented this activity.

Here is the DD Guarantee, but you will note that the wording doesn't cater for this situation...so you just have to not make them aware of the why's.

http://www.bacs.co.uk/Bacs/Businesses/DirectDebit/Collecting/Pages/CustomersRights.aspx

chanz4

does npower have sap fully yet?

Terrylw1

chanz4 wrote: »

does npower have sap fully yet?

Don't think they have finished migrating Chanz.

spiro

Terrylw1 wrote: »

Npower are incorrect on the 40 days issue.

The target for switching is 21 days after the day your cooling off period ends...so 40 days for the reading being transmitted would mean they would always fail this Standard Licence Condition (SLC).

Under the EU 3rd package the switch must take place within 21 days, the old supplier then has 30 Working Days (42 calendar days) to issue the final bill.