npower refusing to recognise new tenant

chanz4

If the op can prove they are new, and can prove they just moved from another property shouldnt be an issue with a company. However just proving a name means nothing

undaunted

I can quite believe that Npower would behave in this fashion if they thought they could get away with it I'm afraid.

Some questions

Did you and / or your boyfriend live elsewhere previously and were you supplied by Npower?

If so do you owe them any money from that property?

You say there was a visit by enforcement officers and a Court order for fitting a PPM. Was this in fact so or was it, as Chanz4 suggested someone such as Meter Plus suggesting they were going to Court if you did not let them in to fit as PPM?

If a warrant was issued were you aware of an application being made in the previous tennants name prior to that visit and did you attend court to object?

If issued but not aware until they turned up did anyone telephone the Court to query this?

You state that you had arranged and been paying a "direct debit bill". Can we therefore conclude that Npower have an account in place in your boyfriends name at this address (and therefore acknowledge his presence / the last tennant having left)?

Is there any connection between your boyfriend (or you) and the last tennant?

Baliffs should call only during daylight hours and at reasonable times of the day. (though the Ministry of Justice would consider 6am - 9pm acceptable) and must act in calm dignified and professional manner. They may not threaten or act aggressively towards you http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/courts/bailiffs-enforcement-officers/national-standards-enforcement-agents.pdf Has this been so? (If not complain to them, any trade body they may be affiliated with and Npower who ultimately instruct them)

Have you already submitted a written complaint to Npower at any point?

chanz4

undaunted wrote: »

I can quite believe that Npower would behave in this fashion if they thought they could get away with it I'm afraid.

Some questions

Did you and / or your boyfriend live elsewhere previously and were you supplied by Npower?

If so do you owe them any money from that property?

You say there was a visit by enforcement officers and a Court order for fitting a PPM. Was this in fact so or was it, as Chanz4 suggested someone such as Meter Plus suggesting they were going to Court if you did not let them in to fit as PPM?

If a warrant was issued were you aware of an application being made in the previous tennants name prior to that visit and did you attend court to object?

If issued but not aware until they turned up did anyone telephone the Court to query this?

You state that you had arranged and been paying a "direct debit bill". Can we therefore conclude that Npower have an account in place in your boyfriends name at this address (and therefore acknowledge his presence / the last tennant having left)?

Is there any connection between your boyfriend (or you) and the last tennant?

Baliffs should call only during daylight hours and at reasonable times of the day. (though the Ministry of Justice would consider 6am - 9pm acceptable) and must act in calm dignified and professional manner. They may not threaten or act aggressively towards you http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/courts/bailiffs-enforcement-officers/national-standards-enforcement-agents.pdf Has this been so? (If not complain to them, any trade body they may be affiliated with and Npower who ultimately instruct them)

Have you already submitted a written complaint to Npower at any point?

They wont be baliffs just dca's, with written authority. I do think the op is just telling us what they want us to hear and not the full story

Terrylw1

Cardew wrote: »

Terry,

To me it doesn't 'smell like a supplier error'.

Frequent phone calls to NPower, DCA involvement, baliffs, a court order and the letting agent have all been involved and still NPower are not accepting the situation with OP's b/f is 'kosher'.

There was a thread a couple of days ago where someone had run up a big debit balance, and wondered if it was legal for her to 'move' to her mother's(with the debt) and B/f take over the account and start anew.

If OP and B/f genuinely had not any previous connection with the house then an injustice has been done and Npower are in trouble!

However I don't agree with you that:



The OP states that 'We have a 3year old and 7 month old' so presumably they have been living together. You simply cannot have a situation where someone puts the utility accounts in a partner's name and the account starts again at a zero balance.

If that were the case 4 students could move into a house, each taking turns to run up debts.

The supplier is within their rights to hold them both liable and let the customers prove it via the tenancy agreement. This prevents anyone changing names.

They were served with a warrant in another parties name. If Npower were holding them to this debt via all the previous routes mentioned, why have they submitted a request for a warrant in the wrong name? They wouldn't already know the parties they need on it so this wouldn't happen. At a minimum, even if they do owe the debt, Npower failed to get a very basic element of the warrant correct so they are far from blameless.

If they can get that wrong, given it will be a very strict process with sign offs, what else have they got wrong?

They mention being told each time, its been sorted. It obviously isn't since there is a warrant in another name which I suspect is the previous tenant.

Its true that info is lacking but it could just as easily be the BF obtained the tenancy and they moved in with him, not that they were there before.

If they were there before, they still can't force fit a PPM against a new tenant with a no issues just to get the money ran up by the previous, but they could obtain consent to transfer it, restart the path and force fit later.

They've got a tenancy agreement which details the parties liable and they should open an account based on this. It doesn't sound like this has actually happened.

It sounds like they never actioned the change of tenancy in full. So its in suspense containing a pending DD that won't do anything until they complete the process and put the readings through. This part needs exploring to expose further process issues or problems with the readings.

So, it could be what you believe or I, but what is clear is that there is at least some errors in the warrant process.