nPower won't let me leave till bills are paid - but won't take payments.

jimmygreaves

I'm a little stuck - I'm sick to the back teeth with nPower I've had issues with them for nearly a year surrounding payments. I'm at the end of my tether now and want to leave. Unfortunately nPower won't allow me to leave because of an outstanding balance on the account.

The whole sorry affair began ages ago when nPower decided to increase my monthly DD from £50 to £150 in the space of a month. Understandably I was a little put out about this and called to try and make alternative arrangements.

My preference was to set up a standing order so I could retain control of my payments. nPower would not allow this so instead I opted for quarterly payments on receipt of a bill. No bills were sent - ever.

In the summer I had letters threatening to cut me off - I was thrilled.

I called again to settle the situation to discover my account was in debt to the tune of several hundred pounds. A balance I was not in a position to pay. nPower kindly offered to set up a DD with a payment plan to cover the outstanding amount amount. The monthly amount was more than the £150 that had started the whole saga but I didn't have any options. I just chose to suck it up and let it take care of itself.

I noticed the first DD payment was not taken. I called to resolve this and was told a meter reading was required in order for them to start taking DD payments. I dutifully supplied this and was told everything was sorted.

Going forward no DD payments were taken. I called again to sort this out. Because payments had been "missed" I was required to set up another DD which I did. I was helpfully informed that the first payment might not get taken and I was to check my bank to ensure the DD went out as expected. If it was missed I would be required to make a card payment over the phone. Not ideal but OK I can do that.

The first payment was not taken - I called and paid the monthly amount over the phone as instructed. No subsequent monthly payments were taken.

I again called to resolve the issue again. Was required to set up DD payments once more - have done so. Guess what, still no payments taken.

At this point I've just had enough I'm lacking enthusiasm to call yet again in the knowledge that nothing will happen. So....... I'm trying to switch supplier.

I've spoken to nPower and informed them I want to leave and have set up a payment plan with them to repay the outstanding balance. All fine so I am informed.

Now a different story is coming out - I'm now not allowed to switch supplier because of the outstanding dept. So currently I have and dept of £1200 with nPower, DD set up to pay it and a situation where nPower don't seem to be able to take payments.

I just want to leave now..... and can't.

What am I supposed to do.

I've called nPower so many times now and get nowhere.

Help!!!!!

Armorica

If someone is broke, doing the same thing again obviously isn't fixing it (the DD).

Give them a new meter reading and ask for a "final" bill - which you then pay. Then leave. (And there should be a small residual bill for the last few days)

In theory, you should have some funds to pay as you know you can't get your energy for free...

If you're in debt to them, they would usually take debit card payments over the phone.

Cardew

All companies can prevent a customer switching if they have a large debt.


If that were not the case, some customers would move from company to company running up a string of debts.


There is no point in telephoning Npower - write to them headed 'complaint'; then if you feel you are not getting anywhere you can contact the Ombudsman.

naedanger

Cardew wrote: »

There is no point in telephoning Npower - write to them headed 'complaint'; then if you feel you are not getting anywhere you can contact the Ombudsman.

I agree with this advice. By writing (email is probably easier than letter) you have evidence of what is said or is not said. Unfortunately npower may be very slow to reply. However if they have not resolved your complaint to your satisfaction after 8 weeks you can take your complaint to the Ombudsman.

Details of npower's complaint process, including the email address you should send your complaint to are here:

http://www.npower.com/home/help-and-support/contact-us/complaints/complaints-handling-policy/

If you believe you will suffer a monetary loss because of npower's poor service then include in your complaint details of what you require from npower to make good your loss.

Richie-from-the-Boro

nPower decided to increase my monthly DD from £50 to £150 in the space of a month

-why ?

My preference was to set up a standing order so I could retain control of my payments

- that .. .. unless you were in debt to them on your account is terrible - write to the ombudsman

In the summer I had letters threatening to cut me off

- after only a year of using energy without paying they wanted to cut you off - terrible - write to the ombudsman

A balance I was not in a position to pay

- ok beginning to become clear now

Write snail mail to nPower headed COMPLAINT on both the letter and the envelope, if they don't respond in 6 weeks- write to the ombudsman.

naedanger

Richie-from-the-Boro wrote: »

-why ?

- that .. .. unless you were in debt to them on your account is terrible - write to the ombudsman

- after only a year of using energy without paying they wanted to cut you off - terrible - write to the ombudsman

- ok beginning to become clear now

Write snail mail to nPower headed COMPLAINT on both the letter and the envelope, if they don't respond in 6 weeks- write to the ombudsman.

Why have you missed out all the bits where the OP explained that npower did not do what they said they would?

Richie-from-the-Boro

naedanger wrote: »

Why have you missed out all the bits where the OP explained that nPower did not do what they said they would?

- cause & effect [conveniently no chronological dates - which non-action led to what effect]
- the other bits I missed out were the after effect of lots the usual debt avoidance - lots of 'gob' and no action
- I want, I will, later, maybe, delay tactics etc means little when for a year no money [action] was paid
- and all that time more free energy was and is still consumed daily it moved to automated debt collection
- the O/P knew from day one that £150pm had to be paid to pay the monthly average use and the arrears
- a year later the £1800 accrued money the O/P knew s/he owed should have been saved and paid to nPower
- I do not buy the idea that even the totally useless nPower would refuse an £1800 payment to clear the debt

The O/P should write snail mail to nPower headed COMPLAINT on both the letter and the envelope, if they don't respond in 6 weeks- write to the ombudsman. I don't believe the O/P suffer'd any monetary loss because of nPower's poor service, but that's for the ombudsman to decide.

chanz4

are you sure they payments are not too low to take the consumption and debt into consideration. If they don't cover they are not allowed to setup as it gets you further into debt.

naedanger

Richie-from-the-Boro wrote: »

The O/P should write snail mail to nPower headed COMPLAINT on both the letter and the envelope, if they don't respond in 6 weeks- write to the ombudsman.

I thought you were being flippant when you said this in your earlier post. However if it was meant genuinely then I broadly agree. (I think the supplier has to be given 8 rather than 6 weeks to come up with a resolution and final offer. I also think email is better as you automatically have evidence it was sent, but I can see that a letter may carry more weight.)

I don't believe the O/P suffer'd any monetary loss because of nPower's poor service, but that's for the ombudsman to decide.

I agree it is for the Ombudsman to decide. Though I think they should also compensate customers for any failure to be given the service promised (e.g. failure to be sent bills that are part of the service a customer is paying for) and allow for more than just monetary loss but also the inconvenience and stress a supplier's bad service may have caused. I would also expect the Ombudsman to reduce/remove any potential compensation for poor service if the customer largely contributed to any problems.

molerat

Surely the OP will be able to pay at least part of the bill with all the money they have put aside from the uncollected direct debits ? :eek:

nPower

jimmygreaves wrote: »

I'm a little stuck - I'm sick to the back teeth with nPower I've had issues with them for nearly a year surrounding payments. I'm at the end of my tether now and want to leave. Unfortunately nPower won't allow me to leave because of an outstanding balance on the account.

The whole sorry affair began ages ago when nPower decided to increase my monthly DD from £50 to £150 in the space of a month. Understandably I was a little put out about this and called to try and make alternative arrangements.

My preference was to set up a standing order so I could retain control of my payments. nPower would not allow this so instead I opted for quarterly payments on receipt of a bill. No bills were sent - ever.

In the summer I had letters threatening to cut me off - I was thrilled.

I called again to settle the situation to discover my account was in debt to the tune of several hundred pounds. A balance I was not in a position to pay. nPower kindly offered to set up a DD with a payment plan to cover the outstanding amount amount. The monthly amount was more than the £150 that had started the whole saga but I didn't have any options. I just chose to suck it up and let it take care of itself.

I noticed the first DD payment was not taken. I called to resolve this and was told a meter reading was required in order for them to start taking DD payments. I dutifully supplied this and was told everything was sorted.

Going forward no DD payments were taken. I called again to sort this out. Because payments had been "missed" I was required to set up another DD which I did. I was helpfully informed that the first payment might not get taken and I was to check my bank to ensure the DD went out as expected. If it was missed I would be required to make a card payment over the phone. Not ideal but OK I can do that.

The first payment was not taken - I called and paid the monthly amount over the phone as instructed. No subsequent monthly payments were taken.

I again called to resolve the issue again. Was required to set up DD payments once more - have done so. Guess what, still no payments taken.

At this point I've just had enough I'm lacking enthusiasm to call yet again in the knowledge that nothing will happen. So....... I'm trying to switch supplier.

I've spoken to nPower and informed them I want to leave and have set up a payment plan with them to repay the outstanding balance. All fine so I am informed.

Now a different story is coming out - I'm now not allowed to switch supplier because of the outstanding dept. So currently I have and dept of £1200 with nPower, DD set up to pay it and a situation where nPower don't seem to be able to take payments.

I just want to leave now..... and can't.

What am I supposed to do.

I've called nPower so many times now and get nowhere.

Help!!!!!

Hi jimmygreaves

Thanks for your post.

We're more than happy to look into why your payments weren't taken and try to arrange something with you. Providing an official payment plan is set up on the account, you should be able to switch supplier without objection. If there is no plan set up, we'll automatically object for a balance over £250.

If you can get in touch using the details on our profile page, mark any correspondence you send as MSE so we know to check your original post. Including your account details, MSE username and up to date meter readings will make sure we have the most appropriate information to help deal with this for you.

Regards

Jess