Energy company taking their time to refunding overpayments

miserable_ol_so_n_so

Help please. My energy company was collecting by direct debit and accumulated about £800 over and above what they should have collected. The situation came to light 4 months ago when they read the meters. I have asked them to refund it immediately, but they are taking their time firstly responding to my emails, then saying it will take 4 weeks! I am switching the supplier. My question is what can be done? Can I sue them in the small claims court for loss of interest? Is there a well trodden path to how to obtain redress quickly? I personally am minded to instruct my bank to reverse the direct debits!

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

Yes of course you can raise a case at the county court for your money, however you will have been expected to mitigate your losses and gone to reasonable lengths to obtain the money through the normal channels. You can claim for 8%pa interest - as it stands about 20 quid.

Who are the supplier, and have you been through their official complaints procedure?

miserable_ol_so_n_so

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays wrote: »

Who are the supplier, and have you been through their official complaints procedure?

Thank you for your reply. Very encouraged by your help. The supplier is npower. I have written to them 3 times, demanding immediate repayment, but all I get is a reply saying how sorry they are that I am leaving. Then saying it will take 4 weeks to switch. No, I have not gone through their complaints procedure. I will do that straight away, demanding repayment with interest. 20 quid is 20 quid. Buy me a bottle of Scotch!

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

http://www.npower.com/home/help-and-support/contact-us/#complaint

Personally I would write, rather than call or email. They have 8 weeks to resolve your complaint, you can then take it to the Ombudsman. Once that is exhausted, court, although I would imagine it's sorted before it comes to that.

Bon Chance!

miserable_ol_so_n_so

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays wrote: »

http://www.npower.com/home/help-and-support/contact-us/#complaint

Personally I would write, rather than call or email. They have 8 weeks to resolve your complaint, you can then take it to the Ombudsman. Once that is exhausted, court, although I would imagine it's sorted before it comes to that.

Bon Chance!

Thank you again. I will be asking for 8% and at that rate, they can take longer! What about my idea of getting the direct debits reversed? The complaints route seems a good one, and if it is not resolved amicably, then court will be the next step.

footyguy

miserable_ol_so_n_so wrote: »

Help please. My energy company was collecting by direct debit and accumulated about £800 over and above what they should have collected. The situation came to light 4 months ago when they read the meters. I have asked them to refund it immediately, but they are taking their time firstly responding to my emails, then saying it will take 4 weeks! I am switching the supplier. My question is what can be done? Can I sue them in the small claims court for loss of interest? Is there a well trodden path to how to obtain redress quickly? I personally am minded to instruct my bank to reverse the direct debits!

Sorry, but what exactly do you mean by "My energy company was collecting by direct debit and accumulated about £800 over and above what they should have collected."

Were they taking more by DD than was otherwise agreed/advised ?
If so you would be covered by the terms of the Direct Debit Guarantee (but time limits may apply, so it depends over how long you allowed this to go unchallenged)


Or do you mean that the amount agreed to be collected by DD was actually more than the cost of your usage?
In that case, this will help you
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/utilities/2014/02/in-credit-on-your-energy-bill-millions-to-get-automatic-refunds

footyguy

miserable_ol_so_n_so wrote: »

Thank you for your reply. Very encouraged by your help. The supplier is npower. I have written to them 3 times, demanding immediate repayment, but all I get is a reply saying how sorry they are that I am leaving. Then saying it will take 4 weeks to switch. No, I have not gone through their complaints procedure. I will do that straight away, demanding repayment with interest. 20 quid is 20 quid. Buy me a bottle of Scotch!

If you have applied for another company to take over the supply, I doubt they will refund you anything now until they have produced a final bill, sorry.

You can demand what you like, but unless it was part of your contractual agreement, prepared to be left disappointed.

Who have you applied to switch to? Ovo? I think they agree to pay interest on credit balances (terms apply), but at 3%, not 8%

miserable_ol_so_n_so

footyguy wrote: »

Sorry, but what exactly do you mean by "My energy company was collecting by direct debit and accumulated about £800 over and above what they should have collected."

Were they taking more by DD than was otherwise agreed/advised ?
If so you would be covered by the terms of the Direct Debit Guarantee (but time limits may apply, so it depends over how long you allowed this to go unchallenged)


Or do you mean that the amount agreed to be collected by DD was actually more than the cost of your usage?
In that case, this will help you
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/utilities/2014/02/in-credit-on-your-energy-bill-millions-to-get-automatic-refunds

Thank you for your reply. Just returned from opticians and seen your reply. They set the direct debit amount when I first switched to them. I do not remember agreeing to the amount. When they eventually read the meter months later they had collected £800 more than my actual usage. I certainly will look at the above link. However instead of refunding it to me, they kept it but dropped down the amount per month. Now that I am switching away from them, they are going to take their time refunding it!

matelodave

Did you not put a little effort into reading your meters, checking your bills a making sure that you weren't either under or overpaying.

Would you be as happy if you owed nPower £800 and they started demanding it with menaces and expecting 8% interest on the outstanding amount.

It's up to you to make sure that what you are paying is about right and then getting your direct debit adjusted to reflect your consumption.

You'll now have to wait until your switch has gone through and they've produced your final bill. You've then got to give them some time, sy two weeks or so to refund you. After that you can initiate their complaints process.

They've then got eight weeks to sort it out before you can approach the ombudsman.

I doubt even that the small claims court would be interested until you exhausted the official process. So you should send your complaint to nPower, in writing to get the ball rolling and the eight week clock ticking

miserable_ol_so_n_so

matelodave wrote: »

Did you not put a little effort into reading your meters, checking your bills a making sure that you weren't either under or overpaying.

Would you be as happy if you owed nPower £800 and they started demanding it with menaces and expecting 8% interest on the outstanding amount.

It's up to you to make sure that what you are paying is about right and then getting your direct debit adjusted to reflect your consumption.

You'll now have to wait until your switch has gone through and they've produced your final bill. You've then got to give them some time, sy two weeks or so to refund you. After that you can initiate their complaints process.

They've then got eight weeks to sort it out before you can approach the ombudsman.

I doubt even that the small claims court would be interested until you exhausted the official process. So you should send your complaint to nPower, in writing to get the ball rolling and the eight week clock ticking

Thank you for your comments.
I did read the meter when they asked me, once. They took no action to amend the direct debit. They then sent their meter reader some time later. Sometime after that, they downsied the direct debit. Soon after that, I decided to switch.The point is that when I supplied the meter reading they should have either challenged my reading or offered me a choice of refund or adjustment to my direct debits. In my opinion, £800 of overcharging is excessive and then kicking it into the long grass of switching out conundrum is not playing cricket. I have asked them twice to refund but they have not commented, saying merely they are sorry I am leaving and informing me it will take some weeks to process. At this stage I am the aggrieved party. If the tables were turned and it was I who owed them £800, they would be the ones sending debt collectors, cutting off supplies, taking legal action.
I will complain and demand payment with 8% interest. I see no reason why they should combine the overpayments refund with switching out process. Taking court action will be the last resort. My 8% interest claim will stand until fully refunded, and at 8% they can take their time.

GingerBob_3

Put a default marker against them at the credit reference agencies... Oh, sorry ... you can't. That sort of thing is a one-way street.

If you're late with a payment by one day they'll trash your credit rating, but they can hold onto your money as long as they like and there's not a lot you can do about it, given that they are unregulated.