Npower argghhhhh.

nikonman

Hello
First time poster.
Today I received a letter from NPOWER regarding a outstanding balance .
To cut a LSS .
My partner and I use npower for our gas and electric.
We paid by Direct debit ,Npower say in November 2012 they tried to take a payment from my account but it was refused , they say they tried to take it again and once more it was refused.
After this they cancelled the DD (not me they did)...
So then they sent email bills to my partners email address.
We were non the wiser thinking that all payments were been made by the DD .
Today I got the said letter saying 'as you may be aware ,from looking at your recent bill or payment there is a outstanding balance due. ORDINARILY WE WOULD HAVE BEEN IN TOUCH BEFORE NOW TO REMIND YOU TO PAY THIS BALANCE ,BUT WE HAVE FAILED TO DO SO AND APOLOGISE FOR THIS.HOWEVER THE OUTSTANDING BILL NEEDS NOW TO BE PAID.
etc ,etc,etc.
It turns out this bill is £3000 !!!!! ,why the hell didn't they tell me earlier by err letter .I'm still in a state of shock.
They have agreed to put us on a tariff of £166 a month and with the outstanding 3k its £ 275 over 36 months.
Can I challenge this ?, why why why did they leave it so long (8 quarters) they said.
We are going to their complaints department ,do we have a case...?
ANY ADVICE WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.

Thanks

Andy_WSM

nikonman wrote: »

do we have a case...?

No! If you've used the energy you have to pay for it.

Why on earth didn't you notice the direct debit not going out of your account? Didn't you question where all the extra money was coming from - some £3k?!

So you've already had 2 years interest free loan on the money and they're going to give you another 3 years interest free to pay it back? What more do you want them to do?!

chanz4

even if they didnt tell you, why didnt you ensure funds to cover the dd were there....

Nada666

You signed up to a tariff and agreed to receive bills by email. You do not say they did not bill you - just that you did not read the bills. As you received bills but did not read them you are not covered by back-billing.

System

After all the stories you read like this one, why cant people keep a check on what is happening with there bills.

Yes as you say they could of sent a letter but you agreed to emails when you signed up for the energy.

Also if they stopped taking money from your bank would you not have noticed before now that there was more in than normal, i am sorry but i have no sympathy.

naedanger

nikonman wrote: »

Hello
First time poster.
Today I received a letter from NPOWER regarding a outstanding balance .
To cut a LSS .
My partner and I use npower for our gas and electric.
We paid by Direct debit ,Npower say in November 2012 they tried to take a payment from my account but it was refused , they say they tried to take it again and once more it was refused.
After this they cancelled the DD (not me they did)...
So then they sent email bills to my partners email address.
We were non the wiser thinking that all payments were been made by the DD .
Today I got the said letter saying 'as you may be aware ,from looking at your recent bill or payment there is a outstanding balance due. ORDINARILY WE WOULD HAVE BEEN IN TOUCH BEFORE NOW TO REMIND YOU TO PAY THIS BALANCE ,BUT WE HAVE FAILED TO DO SO AND APOLOGISE FOR THIS.HOWEVER THE OUTSTANDING BILL NEEDS NOW TO BE PAID.
etc ,etc,etc.
It turns out this bill is £3000 !!!!! ,why the hell didn't they tell me earlier by err letter .I'm still in a state of shock.
They have agreed to put us on a tariff of £166 a month and with the outstanding 3k its £ 275 over 36 months.
Can I challenge this ?, why why why did they leave it so long (8 quarters) they said.
We are going to their complaints department ,do we have a case...?
ANY ADVICE WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.

Thanks

Unlike some others on this thread I do have sympathy with your situation because getting a huge bill is obviously not nice. However as others have said you are liable. My only suggestion would be to try and argue for longer to pay. That said the 36 month offer seems reasonable to me unless you can demonstrate you will suffer real hardship paying.