Npower woes return!

Minbee

Hello,

This may be in the wrong place, sorry if so but I'd appreciate any advice on the following please!

Many moons ago I started this thread about our woes with npower:

I was going to post a hyperlink but can't, as a new user!(?) Here's the title of my old post Huge utility bill, faulty thermostat?

In the end we pushed back on the landlord after much arguing, moved out, got our deposits back (in line with our contract, once all final bills were settled) and moved on. Two weeks ago we returned from honeymoon to find a letter from a debt collection agency to the tune of £2,600 for a debt to npower.

The last bill we received from npower in 2013 was for around £1800, which was the one we pushed back to the landlord. This was more than enough to be hit with at the time but it now seems to have skyrocketed!

Husband called npower and was informed that actually the debt had been written off and for the inconvenience he would be compensated £20. I suggested he ought to get that in writing and so he called again this morning, it was confirmed they no longer had a debt in our name and he was then put through to about three different departments at npower for confirmation only to find out that the debt has not in fact been written off.

WHAT SHOULD WE DO?! :eek:

thanks in advance
Charis

naedanger

Link to the earlier thread you mentioned:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4710501

naedanger

Minbee wrote: »

Husband called npower and was informed that actually the debt had been written off and for the inconvenience he would be compensated £20. I suggested he ought to get that in writing and so he called again this morning, it was confirmed they no longer had a debt in our name and he was then put through to about three different departments at npower for confirmation only to find out that the debt has not in fact been written off.

I can't understand the timeline.

When approximately do you think the debt was written off?

When did you or your husband first ask for written confirmation it had been written off? And did you get the confirmation? If not when and what did npower say when they told you they had written off the debt?

When did you find out that it had not been written off?

Also why did you push the debt initially to your landlord? Who was responsible under your tenancy agreement for paying the utility bills?

Minbee

Ok sorry, let's start again!

Moved out of old flat in 2013. We were responsible for payment of bills, however there had been a lot of going backwards and forwards with our landlord in the final months of our tenancy as there were unresolved plumbing problems. Their answer to any maintenance problem was to put silicon sealant on EVERYTHING and although they were quick to respond to problems, everything was an amateurish quick-fix.

In addition, at that time we were receiving npower bills on what felt like a weekly basis with very different amounts on every time.

It was npower that suggested our bills may be the result of a maintenance problem and as a result I told Landlord we were prepared to accept liability for the bill if they could resolve the problems and prove that the faults had had no effect on our energy usage for that period. They ceased contact. We paid all the other utilities and they returned our deposit.

Around the start of September 2015 we received a letter from a debt collector demanding £2,600 in respect of an npower bill (which is £800 more than the last bill we got from npower). We were on honeymoon at the time so the deadline for payment passed without our even knowing it.

Around two weeks ago, husband called npower (not debt collector) for clarification on the debt and he was informed that the debt had been written off, amount had been incorrect, debt collector should not have been involved and to compensate for inconvenience they would award £20 (in what, I don't know).

I said at the time that husband should have requested this in writing, however he has been sitting it out to see whether anything arrived in the post. This morning he called again to ask for written confirmation and that's when he got the runaround being put through to the team who rectify billing problems, only to eventually be told that the debt is still active.


Is that any clearer? I do tend to waffle.

naedanger

Minbee wrote: »

Ok sorry, let's start again!

Moved out of old flat in 2013. We were responsible for payment of bills, however there had been a lot of going backwards and forwards with our landlord in the final months of our tenancy as there were unresolved plumbing problems. Their answer to any maintenance problem was to put silicon sealant on EVERYTHING and although they were quick to respond to problems, everything was an amateurish quick-fix.

In addition, at that time we were receiving npower bills on what felt like a weekly basis with very different amounts on every time.

It was npower that suggested our bills may be the result of a maintenance problem and as a result I told Landlord we were prepared to accept liability for the bill if they could resolve the problems and prove that the faults had had no effect on our energy usage for that period. They ceased contact. We paid all the other utilities and they returned our deposit.

Around the start of September 2015 we received a letter from a debt collector demanding £2,600 in respect of an npower bill (which is £800 more than the last bill we got from npower). We were on honeymoon at the time so the deadline for payment passed without our even knowing it.

Around two weeks ago, husband called npower (not debt collector) for clarification on the debt and he was informed that the debt had been written off, amount had been incorrect, debt collector should not have been involved and to compensate for inconvenience they would award £20 (in what, I don't know).

I said at the time that husband should have requested this in writing, however he has been sitting it out to see whether anything arrived in the post. This morning he called again to ask for written confirmation and that's when he got the runaround being put through to the team who rectify billing problems, only to eventually be told that the debt is still active.


Is that any clearer? I do tend to waffle.

OK. That is clearer. The following is all just my opinion and I hope for your sake I am wrong.

Unfortunately I think you are in a difficult position.

You were sent a bill for £1,800 from npower in 2013 and you were responsible for the npower account. The dispute between you and your landlord is a third party dispute and npower are very unlikely to care about it. They will expect you to pay their bill (and sort out any redress from your landlord separately).

Your husband was very recently told the bill was not due by npower. However that sounds like it was probably just a mistake. (Npower are entitled to correct any mistakes. And you don't appear to have suffered any financial loss from this mistake i.e. from mistakenly been told now that a previously incurred bill had been written off.)

Npower now say the bill is for £2,600.

I suggest you ask npower to send you a breakdown of the bill, if they have not done so already. Then you can see if you are able to dispute any of the facts. However after all this time that may be difficult.

If you kept copies of the previous bill then you should at least be able to work out why the bill has grown by £800 and whether any of this increase is invalid.

(While you may have a valid complaint against your landlord I suspect it will be impossible to prove unless you have written or recorded evidence, such as an admission of liability).

Your best option may be to try and negotiate the bill down with npower and try to negotiate a lengthy repayment term.

Minbee

Thanks for the response! Actually we do have the last bill (£1,800) so that's something.

Landlord admitted nothing, the last time they wrote back to me they said 'there can't have been any fault within the flat or you'd have brought this to our attention' - the email equivalent of sticking two fingers up at us! There was no further response to my email after that, about liability for the bill, and the next thing we knew they'd returned the deposit!
Landlord no longer operates under that name and I've no idea where to even find the guy now.

Will contact npower for clarification on the amounts. Thanks!

nPower

Minbee wrote: »

Hello,

This may be in the wrong place, sorry if so but I'd appreciate any advice on the following please!

Many moons ago I started this thread about our woes with npower:

I was going to post a hyperlink but can't, as a new user!(?) Here's the title of my old post Huge utility bill, faulty thermostat?

In the end we pushed back on the landlord after much arguing, moved out, got our deposits back (in line with our contract, once all final bills were settled) and moved on. Two weeks ago we returned from honeymoon to find a letter from a debt collection agency to the tune of £2,600 for a debt to npower.

The last bill we received from npower in 2013 was for around £1800, which was the one we pushed back to the landlord. This was more than enough to be hit with at the time but it now seems to have skyrocketed!

Husband called npower and was informed that actually the debt had been written off and for the inconvenience he would be compensated £20. I suggested he ought to get that in writing and so he called again this morning, it was confirmed they no longer had a debt in our name and he was then put through to about three different departments at npower for confirmation only to find out that the debt has not in fact been written off.

WHAT SHOULD WE DO?! :eek:

thanks in advance
Charis

Hello Minbee

Thank you for your post.

If you would like me to look into this in more detail please email me using the address on our profile page; be sure to mark it for my attention.

Thanks

Neil

brewerdave

Minbee wrote: »

Thanks for the response! Actually we do have the last bill (£1,800) so that's something.

Landlord admitted nothing, the last time they wrote back to me they said 'there can't have been any fault within the flat or you'd have brought this to our attention' - the email equivalent of sticking two fingers up at us! There was no further response to my email after that, about liability for the bill, and the next thing we knew they'd returned the deposit!
Landlord no longer operates under that name and I've no idea where to even find the guy now.

Will contact npower for clarification on the amounts. Thanks!

Sounds as if the landlord has not changed over supply to new tenant (or himself) on your departure and you are being charged for x months after you left -did you actually give NPower meter readings on departure ???

Minbee

Hello again,
Husband has contacted collection agency and they're going back to npower for more details of the dates etc. I do recall that while we lived there we had lots of mail for an ex tenant delivered and am now wondering whether we picked up his debt on the account? Will wait and see what happens next!