Npower Court action claim form- dodgy?

Anon53

On friday i received a blue "court Claim form" from npower through the Northampton County court. It was coupled with one of those fake solicitor headed letters headed (which is just the collections team within npower) saying to expect the court proceedings. they claim they are charging court fees and £45 A DAY interest until i pay up!! Our final bill is apparently for £866. but we have disputed it because it arrived late.

I have been waiting SINCE APRIL for npower to get back to be on filling in some blanks (many blanks!!) regarding missing bills from july 2011. We left npower in october 2013, was told we were in credit and to cancel the last DD because it would only have to be refunded (glad we did cancel it in the end looking back!!). 3 bills were issued in our final bill last december, one of which was over a year old.

Obviously i have done my own research after reading what MSE have exposed due to the late billing issues. I have read through the Energy uk code of practice and have found that npower have not only billed us out of the 12 months but i have a letter from them stating that they could not issue one of our bills due to a system error.

Our problem is a very confusing one so will not give all details out here as i have started an official complaints today (i have refenece number) but have said it will take 8 weeks to get back to me. I was also told today that i shouldnt listen to anything on the internet and i shouldnt presume the late billing problem is at fault on my account!! even though my bills actually WERE late and also have an npower letter to confirm this!

So my question is this. has anyone else had one of these COURT CLAIM FORMS stating that they will be charging an extra £60 court fees PLUS £45 INTEREST PER DAY until i pay up?? Ive suggested that these documnts are not real and are being used for scare tactics but was not given a straight answer.

I was also told that they were not authorised to stop the interest from accruing on the account and i have to wait 8 weeks for a decision. so im my estimates they want to charge me for waiting for a decision an EXTRA £2520 in interest?!?! surely this is totally unacceptable.

So what do i do? just sit here for 8 weeks for them to (not) make a decision and see interest piling up on it as well. I am really NOT a happy ex npower customer!!



Ive suggested that these documnts are not real and are being used for scare tactics but was not given a straight answer. this is just totally unacceptable.

chanz4

are you sure it says £45 a day intrest? can you scan a copy as that doesnt sound right

naedanger

Anon53 wrote: »

... one of those fake solicitor headed letters headed (which is just the collections team within npower)

If the letter is from a solicitor it is unlikely to be fake, it will be from a solicitor (or npower are committing a criminal offence). Wonga were recently fined over using fake solicitors letters.

I also find the £45 a day interest hard to understand.

PS I totally understand your frustration with npower. They are the most customer hostile company I have ever dealt with by a long way.

ExtraMask

I have a friend who works for npower, a customer hadn't received their refund of their final account credit. He passed it to his manager and he told me he had to mention it several times to the manager that the customer had been waiting several week, the managers reply was "I don't give a !!!!."

That's not what all are like but basically there's many there with that attitude, that's why they're bottom for customer satisfaction and will remain that way.

chanz4

ExtraMask wrote: »

I have a friend who works for npower, a customer hadn't received their refund of their final account credit. He passed it to his manager and he told me he had to mention it several times to the manager that the customer had been waiting several week, the managers reply was "I don't give a !!!!."

That's not what all are like but basically there's many there with that attitude, that's why they're bottom for customer satisfaction and will remain that way.

I hear most are butt kissers that try to climb the ladders, but dont have a clue

undaunted

If papers have been issued through the Courts they will bear a court seal.

If they go to Court and obtain judgement they may be able to claim interest - though I believe it's around 8% per annum (so I make that about 19p not £45 per day). Similarly they may be able to claim the court fee.

If they fail to get (or seek) Judgement any such talk of interest is just meaningless nonsense.

If you wish to contest the debt in Court you will probably need something more substantial than they billed me late - don't necessarily expect the Judge to take any notice of the back billing guidelines (they are not law!) however Npower will need to prove their claim not just rely upon you to disprove it, you can suggest mediation before it gets to a hearing, it's not unreasonable to ask for any genuine blanks to be filled etc

nPower

Anon53 wrote: »

On friday i received a blue "court Claim form" from npower through the Northampton County court. It was coupled with one of those fake solicitor headed letters headed (which is just the collections team within npower) saying to expect the court proceedings. they claim they are charging court fees and £45 A DAY interest until i pay up!! Our final bill is apparently for £866. but we have disputed it because it arrived late.

I have been waiting SINCE APRIL for npower to get back to be on filling in some blanks (many blanks!!) regarding missing bills from july 2011. We left npower in october 2013, was told we were in credit and to cancel the last DD because it would only have to be refunded (glad we did cancel it in the end looking back!!). 3 bills were issued in our final bill last december, one of which was over a year old.

Obviously i have done my own research after reading what MSE have exposed due to the late billing issues. I have read through the Energy uk code of practice and have found that npower have not only billed us out of the 12 months but i have a letter from them stating that they could not issue one of our bills due to a system error.

Our problem is a very confusing one so will not give all details out here as i have started an official complaints today (i have refenece number) but have said it will take 8 weeks to get back to me. I was also told today that i shouldnt listen to anything on the internet and i shouldnt presume the late billing problem is at fault on my account!! even though my bills actually WERE late and also have an npower letter to confirm this!

So my question is this. has anyone else had one of these COURT CLAIM FORMS stating that they will be charging an extra £60 court fees PLUS £45 INTEREST PER DAY until i pay up?? Ive suggested that these documnts are not real and are being used for scare tactics but was not given a straight answer.

I was also told that they were not authorised to stop the interest from accruing on the account and i have to wait 8 weeks for a decision. so im my estimates they want to charge me for waiting for a decision an EXTRA £2520 in interest?!?! surely this is totally unacceptable.

So what do i do? just sit here for 8 weeks for them to (not) make a decision and see interest piling up on it as well. I am really NOT a happy ex npower customer!!



Ive suggested that these documnts are not real and are being used for scare tactics but was not given a straight answer. this is just totally unacceptable.

Hi Anon53

Thanks for your post.

With regards to your outstanding balance, we would still request that the balance is paid or a payment plan put in place while any dispute is ongoing - unless the bill itself is knowingly incorrect due to the wrong meter readings, tariff or similar.

The UK Code of Practice for Accurate Bills is a voluntary code npower have signed up for which means we won't charge customers for any energy used more than 12 months for which hasn't already been billed for. We can certainly check this for you and can also check your bills from 2011 if needed. If you contact us with your account details using the information on our profile, we'll investigate this further for you.

Regards

Jess