Help Needed Please!

Heilan

Hi!
I am writing this on behalf of my friend, she is registered as Disabled & is Blind. She started up her own business & because of this, she is no longer claiming any Benefits, apart from her DLA. She has fallen behind paying her Energy Bill. She is with NPower & they have given her 3 choices, pay up, move to a keycard meter, or be cut off!

The Keycard meter is not going to work, due to her being blind & her inability to get to shops. (She has no family or friends nearby to assist her.) She has offered to pay money to them, at a rate she can afford, but they have rejected that. They are not helping her in any way & have been very rude & speaking to her in a very abrasive manner.

Is there anyone out there who can help resolve this matter. Ideally, she would love to leave this company & start anew with a company that will work with her, not give her the cold shoulder.

Thank-you in advance

Nada666

Has she offered to clear the current balance by the next statement - being npower at least she will have six rather than three months to do this?

What start-up funding did she access for the business - from where was she going to draw her salary? Surely she included basic living expenses in her budget?

That is indeed the choice - pay-up in realistic instalments (no 'I can only pay £10 a month' nonsense), change to a prepayment meter or be cut off. Fourth and probably best option is to request a change to paying by direct debit - not only would she have a cheaper and fixed tariff she would also get twelve months to repay the debt.

scaredofdebt

They usually offer up to 24 months to pay off the debt - have they been billing her correctly, on time etc?

As above, going onto DD is usually the best option as nPower tend to be more helpful if she were to go onto DD as they will feel more likely to get the money.

Has this gone to the collections team?

If she's disabled/registered blind then they should be more sensitive as she would be classed as vulnerable.

nPower

Heilan wrote: »

Hi!
I am writing this on behalf of my friend, she is registered as Disabled & is Blind. She started up her own business & because of this, she is no longer claiming any Benefits, apart from her DLA. She has fallen behind paying her Energy Bill. She is with NPower & they have given her 3 choices, pay up, move to a keycard meter, or be cut off!

The Keycard meter is not going to work, due to her being blind & her inability to get to shops. (She has no family or friends nearby to assist her.) She has offered to pay money to them, at a rate she can afford, but they have rejected that. They are not helping her in any way & have been very rude & speaking to her in a very abrasive manner.

Is there anyone out there who can help resolve this matter. Ideally, she would love to leave this company & start anew with a company that will work with her, not give her the cold shoulder.

Thank-you in advance

Hi Heilan,

Thanks for your post and I'm sorry to hear of the difficulties your friend is experiencing. I'd like the opportunity to review this to see what we can do to help your friend so if you can email me further details using the address from my profile I'll be able to take it from there.

Thanks

Leigh

chanz4

How does she get her shopping? Also how are other bills paid?

The vunerabilty aside, they are a business and every company will be the same. If she is running the business from home, has she passed her supplier a vat declaration form?

macman

Is she registered with the supplier as a vulnerable person? If not, get that done as a priority.
I'm unclear if this is a business or domestic supply?

sheffield_lad

unfortunately Heilan no company or for that person would not want your friend to at least cover her usage.

Requesting to pay an amount below that is simply sticking the head in the sand as the debt will continue to balloon. I am sure NP can structure a repayment plan for the outstanding balance.


GL

chanz4

It would be ilegal for a supplier to knowingly allow you to pay less than consumption