Help npower threatening me!

Arcan

Apologies this is a long one!
I rented a property, eight months ago, during my 2nd year at University and during that time I and three other tenants used npower.

I thought it very odd that despite giving my landlord the meter readings when I moved out, in June, he never contacted me asking for the payment of the bills. Previously he asked us for the money for the bills and we paid him. He is aware of my e mail, phone number and college address none of which he used to contact me.

I then to my horror found that npower had been contacting my home address, which I'd never given out to them and of which they only got the postcode right. I hadn't been home since September and the only way I ever discovered they were mailing me was my parents informed me of the build up of letters.

They apologised for getting the bills to me so late and demanded £1500 to reach them by mid February which has of course already passed. My parents also only today received a letter informing them that it had been handed over to a debt collection agency.

I called them today and after spending over an hour on hold got through to this incredibly rude man that informed me that the landlord changed the bills to my name (which apparently he can do) and that the bills are solely in my name. I informed him I was happy to pay my quarter but that I would not pay for my ex-tenants he then told me that I had no choice.

I am extremely scared as I don't want debt collectors coming to my parents house, my credit rating ruined, and there's no way I afford to pay the full amount.

In addition I really doubt I would be able to get the money from my ex-tenants as they're no longer in contact, nor in the country.

I don't know what to do, even Citizen's advice say I might be forced to pay the full amount even though the tenancy agreement which stipulates we all have an equal liability for the bills.

jbuchanangb

If you are still the account holder for the property, start by instructing Npower to disconnect the supply to the property immediately. That way the bill will stop getting bigger.

Then you have to negotiate with Npower on basis that somehow you will pay them, but not all at once. Write to them with a sensible offer, such as £25 per month.

From Npower point of view, you are liable. The longer you resist, the more charges will be added. If the charges relate to the time when you were in the place with the other tenants, then you should try to track them down to recover the amount owed.

If the charges relate to time when neither you or the other tenants were there, then I would say the Landlord is liable, you will have to go after him the small claims court.

spiro

You are suffering from a problem lots of students etc come across when sharing a property. All of the tenants are jointly & severially liable to the bill which means they will get the money from the 1st person they trace, It is then for you to get the shre from the other housemates and this is a 'third party dispute' between the 4 of you and nothing to do with your supplier.

dogshome

Hmmm - The bald truth is that you and everybody else in your houseshare, is liable for the bills as an individual, but only from the date the Landlord assigned the account to you

It seems that your tenancy agreement was that the energy billing was in the name of the Landlord, and you paid him the bill values on demand - So how much consumption, over what dates, does this demand from n'power cover?

I doubt that you still have the bills the landlord should have shown you when you were paying him, but what you are entitled to from n'power is a fully detailed bill from the date the Landlord shuffled off responsibility to you, showing it's Start Date, End Date, the power consumed and tariff details

WRITE to n'power heading the letter Complaint, demanding a fully detailed bill and when you have it check the dates of last bill you paid v moving out