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NPower - Help needed!
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I'm new here and this is my first post, so I appologise to you if it's placed in the wrong forum. Although a minefield to a newcomer, I'll tread carefilly.
God, where do I start. I'm all stressed and I don't know what to Do, sixes and sevens spring to mind. But I'll give it a go.
July 1st 2016 was the date I took up residence of my new rented accommodation, my energy supplier at the time was EDF. They supplied both the gas and the electricity which were placed in my name And to be auctioned on this date.
Several months passed, bills came, and bills were paid just as soon as they came in. One night soon after, I'd incorporated my new micro business with Companies House in Cardiff, whilst I was at my twice weekly volunteering charity when I started getting a barrage of phone calls from a various number of energy suppliers from all over the country. I had been around all points of the compass without ever having to move from my chair. This annoying disturbance had lasted right throughout the day which had filtered into the next with the last being NPower.
An NPower representative waffled an endless string of words in relation to this new low-cost business tariff and how low it was and that it would be capped at such a rate for a certain amount of time etc, etc. Well I was right in the middle of things what with my charity work, a sea of people coming through the reception area, dealing with customers, as well as having to deal with the NPower rep on the mobile. He asked if it sounded like a good plan, which I stated that it seemed ok.
A few days later I received a letter stating that my energy supply was now in the middle of a transfer between the two suppliers. So now I find that my gas is being supplied by EDF and the electricity with NPower.
I will state at this juncture, that I wasn't told anything about my cooling off period, had I known about this I would have gone back to EDF Energy. I haven't, to this day, signed any contract whatsoever with NPower. (Where do I stand here?)
I later found out that my tariff was a little under £100 a month for a business. The business is all done over the internet, I have no customers who come to my home and receive no footfall whatsoever. So the only difference between my domestic and a business tariff is a computer.
Needless to say at this stage, no trading has commenced. I'm unemployed receiving JSA and hoping to forge a career of sorts with this new business. Anyway, bills were getting paid although I found it a struggle at times to be fair. Ok, a month or so had now passed and a bill fell on the floor for an amount in excess of £500. What! I immediately phoned up NPower wh had asked me to get a meter reading, which I did, and found that the bill was even higher!
Long story short, a repayment plan had started to come into play, needless to say, this too was a struggle. A further letter from NPower found it's way to the letterbox stating that I was now in default of the plan and that it was now being dealt with collections. I phoned up collections to see if a further repayment plan could be generated to recoup the debt. "No, it's 50% or nothing!". No customer service at all, no gentle or soft talking, but straight in there with his words of complete discomfort.
A few more days had passed and a further NPower letter arrived by hand. Stating that they had tried to gain entry but had no luck and that NPower were now intending to apply to the courts to gain entry for disconnection. I'm sorry, I may be 50 years old, but my hearings not gone just yet. And I'm sat right by The bell to. The bill is the name of the business and yet the electricity supply in for my house. I've not even been offered a prepayment meter either.
So where or what do I do now?
I'm a 50 year old gay male with a heart condition with high blood pressure and who has Type 2 diabetes.
Your help in any way would be very grateful.
Marc
God, where do I start. I'm all stressed and I don't know what to Do, sixes and sevens spring to mind. But I'll give it a go.
July 1st 2016 was the date I took up residence of my new rented accommodation, my energy supplier at the time was EDF. They supplied both the gas and the electricity which were placed in my name And to be auctioned on this date.
Several months passed, bills came, and bills were paid just as soon as they came in. One night soon after, I'd incorporated my new micro business with Companies House in Cardiff, whilst I was at my twice weekly volunteering charity when I started getting a barrage of phone calls from a various number of energy suppliers from all over the country. I had been around all points of the compass without ever having to move from my chair. This annoying disturbance had lasted right throughout the day which had filtered into the next with the last being NPower.
An NPower representative waffled an endless string of words in relation to this new low-cost business tariff and how low it was and that it would be capped at such a rate for a certain amount of time etc, etc. Well I was right in the middle of things what with my charity work, a sea of people coming through the reception area, dealing with customers, as well as having to deal with the NPower rep on the mobile. He asked if it sounded like a good plan, which I stated that it seemed ok.
A few days later I received a letter stating that my energy supply was now in the middle of a transfer between the two suppliers. So now I find that my gas is being supplied by EDF and the electricity with NPower.
I will state at this juncture, that I wasn't told anything about my cooling off period, had I known about this I would have gone back to EDF Energy. I haven't, to this day, signed any contract whatsoever with NPower. (Where do I stand here?)
I later found out that my tariff was a little under £100 a month for a business. The business is all done over the internet, I have no customers who come to my home and receive no footfall whatsoever. So the only difference between my domestic and a business tariff is a computer.
Needless to say at this stage, no trading has commenced. I'm unemployed receiving JSA and hoping to forge a career of sorts with this new business. Anyway, bills were getting paid although I found it a struggle at times to be fair. Ok, a month or so had now passed and a bill fell on the floor for an amount in excess of £500. What! I immediately phoned up NPower wh had asked me to get a meter reading, which I did, and found that the bill was even higher!
Long story short, a repayment plan had started to come into play, needless to say, this too was a struggle. A further letter from NPower found it's way to the letterbox stating that I was now in default of the plan and that it was now being dealt with collections. I phoned up collections to see if a further repayment plan could be generated to recoup the debt. "No, it's 50% or nothing!". No customer service at all, no gentle or soft talking, but straight in there with his words of complete discomfort.
A few more days had passed and a further NPower letter arrived by hand. Stating that they had tried to gain entry but had no luck and that NPower were now intending to apply to the courts to gain entry for disconnection. I'm sorry, I may be 50 years old, but my hearings not gone just yet. And I'm sat right by The bell to. The bill is the name of the business and yet the electricity supply in for my house. I've not even been offered a prepayment meter either.
So where or what do I do now?
I'm a 50 year old gay male with a heart condition with high blood pressure and who has Type 2 diabetes.
Your help in any way would be very grateful.
Marc
0
Comments
-
Well done in having the courage to go into business.
Firstly your're in business now and business can be hard - only the strongest businesses stand any chance of surviving.
Secondly - please don't play the poor health, do charity work, on JSA cards. Stick solely to facts.
As you were on JSA what help and guidance did you get about how to set up a business - were you offered any courses or mentors to help you on the business path ? Advice re banking, accounts ?
What contract / paperwork did you get from nPower - was the tariff quoted, VAT (20% rather than 5% for domestic)
Many people run businesses from back bedrooms, kitchen table sat their early stages - I'm not sure why you registered a company at all.Never pay on an estimated bill. Always read and understand your bill0 -
It would be a good idea to contact Citizens Advice as it looks messy as to whether you ever needed to be on a business tariff, also is the tariff is in your name or the business as a limited Company?0
-
I'm new here and this is my first post, so I appologise to you if it's placed in the wrong forum. Although a minefield to a newcomer, I'll tread carefilly.
God, where do I start. I'm all stressed and I don't know what to Do, sixes and sevens spring to mind. But I'll give it a go.
July 1st 2016 was the date I took up residence of my new rented accommodation, my energy supplier at the time was EDF. They supplied both the gas and the electricity which were placed in my name And to be auctioned on this date.
Several months passed, bills came, and bills were paid just as soon as they came in. One night soon after, I'd incorporated my new micro business with Companies House in Cardiff, whilst I was at my twice weekly volunteering charity when I started getting a barrage of phone calls from a various number of energy suppliers from all over the country. I had been around all points of the compass without ever having to move from my chair. This annoying disturbance had lasted right throughout the day which had filtered into the next with the last being NPower.
An NPower representative waffled an endless string of words in relation to this new low-cost business tariff and how low it was and that it would be capped at such a rate for a certain amount of time etc, etc. Well I was right in the middle of things what with my charity work, a sea of people coming through the reception area, dealing with customers, as well as having to deal with the NPower rep on the mobile. He asked if it sounded like a good plan, which I stated that it seemed ok.
A few days later I received a letter stating that my energy supply was now in the middle of a transfer between the two suppliers. So now I find that my gas is being supplied by EDF and the electricity with NPower.
I will state at this juncture, that I wasn't told anything about my cooling off period, had I known about this I would have gone back to EDF Energy. I haven't, to this day, signed any contract whatsoever with NPower. (Where do I stand here?)
I later found out that my tariff was a little under £100 a month for a business. The business is all done over the internet, I have no customers who come to my home and receive no footfall whatsoever. So the only difference between my domestic and a business tariff is a computer.
Needless to say at this stage, no trading has commenced. I'm unemployed receiving JSA and hoping to forge a career of sorts with this new business. Anyway, bills were getting paid although I found it a struggle at times to be fair. Ok, a month or so had now passed and a bill fell on the floor for an amount in excess of £500. What! I immediately phoned up NPower wh had asked me to get a meter reading, which I did, and found that the bill was even higher!
Long story short, a repayment plan had started to come into play, needless to say, this too was a struggle. A further letter from NPower found it's way to the letterbox stating that I was now in default of the plan and that it was now being dealt with collections. I phoned up collections to see if a further repayment plan could be generated to recoup the debt. "No, it's 50% or nothing!". No customer service at all, no gentle or soft talking, but straight in there with his words of complete discomfort.
A few more days had passed and a further NPower letter arrived by hand. Stating that they had tried to gain entry but had no luck and that NPower were now intending to apply to the courts to gain entry for disconnection. I'm sorry, I may be 50 years old, but my hearings not gone just yet. And I'm sat right by The bell to. The bill is the name of the business and yet the electricity supply in for my house. I've not even been offered a prepayment meter either.
So where or what do I do now?
I'm a 50 year old gay male with a heart condition with high blood pressure and who has Type 2 diabetes.
Your help in any way would be very grateful.
Marc
Hi 2weet2woo,
Thanks for your message. Please contact us using the details on our profile page so we can help.
Thanks
Jen:)“Official Company Representative"
I am the official company representative of nPower. MSE has given permission for me to post in response to queries about the company, so that I can help solve issues. You can see my name on the companies with permission to post list. I am not allowed to tout for business at all. If you believe I am please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com This does NOT imply any form of approval of my company or its products by MSE.
If we ask you to contact us, please do so using helpandsupport@npower.com - MSE Forum has temporarily allowed the display of our contact details in our signature due to a technical issue with our profile0 -
Hi Robin9,
Thanks for your information you've kindly provided.
To be honest with you I've not had any mentorship or the like before going into business I was merely trying to do the right thing.
The contract which came through the post does not stipulate what % I'm on.
The business is solely run from my bedroom which I am seriously considering dissolving because of all this.
Dear Trickytree1963,
The bill is in the name of the company's limited name.
Marc0 -
Hi Jen,
I have called customer services a number of times now and all I get is "you need to speak to collections, we can't do anything here, our hands our tied". I contact collections who repeatedly highlight, "it's 50% or nothing". No solution or offer to help in any way. I made a complaint to customer services who noted it, and then two days later I get a letter hand delivered through the door stating that they "had" rang the bell, got no answer, therefore left the note. I don't think they did ring the bell. I'm right on top if it. If I get any closer to it I'd be up on a charge for it. Anyway, they left this letter stating that they'd now be going through the courts to get a warrant to gain access for disconnection.
What else can I do? I call customer service, the buck gets passed to collections who then state 50% or nothing!
Am I on the right tariff, I'm having to close down my business which has not traded to date, i run it from my bedroom, i have two huge credit notes from NPower, yet in the dame breath i get bills of a similar amount. Its a minefield! Not all of us were born with a head for all these things.
Very, VERY confusing to say the least. Yet all that your company wants to do is plough forward despite my trying to talk to them and cut me off! Everywhere I seem to turn with all this, I find a door closed or heavily guarded by a gatekeeper where nothing gets through.
Marc0 -
So you entered your company into a contract that you now regret.
Time to put in place some measures that will hinder you ever doing this again.
Are you really considering dissolving the business just because you made a mistake? We all make mistakes - those that have never made a mistake have never done anything.
I suspect you won't be able to dissolve your company unless and until you have paid off all your creditors. At which point you may reflect on the decision to dissolve the company.
Btw, your company has traded if you have entered it into a contract to purchase energy from nPower, and energy has been consumed under that supply contract.
Good luck!0 -
Thank you to everyone who has either taken the time or to read and reply to my dilemma.
I have since spoken with the Citizens Advise Bureau, (CAB), and the Business Debt Online representatives, both of whom have either referred me or have taken the case on regarding NPower.
All details, times, dates, names etc have been forwarded to the CAB office. They've agreed to embark upon this issue and for me now to wait for a return call from their Extra Help Unit. During the time spent with Luke at CAB, who, I have to say was very professional, sympathetic and warming from the off, you weren't just another stat which the representatives of NPower made you feel.
So, thank you to them and to you for all your help in this matter. The advice which had been given has certainly displayed a flicker at the end of the tunnel, which had not been there before. I had given NPower every chance to help, speak and to highlight matters, something which they were not interested in. Collections were only interested in ever saying one thing to you without any compassion whatsoever, or not wanting to help you, which was "50% or nothing!". You'd probably feel very low and depressed at the time, but you'd be left feeling even lower when NPower terminated the call.
So, would I recommend you and your services to others who find themselves in this situation - YES I would!
Marc0 -
So you entered your company into a contract that you now regret.
Time to put in place some measures that will hinder you ever doing this again.
Are you really considering dissolving the business just because you made a mistake? We all make mistakes - those that have never made a mistake have never done anything.
I suspect you won't be able to dissolve your company unless and until you have paid off all your creditors. At which point you may reflect on the decision to dissolve the company.
Btw, your company has traded if you have entered it into a contract to purchase energy from nPower, and energy has been consumed under that supply contract.
Good luck!
Thank you FootyGuy,
I was seriously thinking about dissolving as I was made to feel so small by the NPower representatives who had no compassion whatsoever in their dealing with this situation. That is until I had spoken to the Citizens Advice Bureau, they were very helpful and threw, not only a lifeline, but also a completely different outlook on this matter.
Thank you again my friend.
Marc0 -
I'm afraid that you have innocently fallen into the Shark infested waters of Business Energy supplies.
The moment you registered your company the sharks who monitor these websites went into a feeding frenzy - Hence all the unsolicted phone calls
You're lucky you ended up with n'power, believe it or there are far, far worse.
What to do
Research Ofgem - there are rules as to wether or not a business based in domestic premises should be on Business tariffs - depends on amount of Domestic use v Business use - If the business is computer only, my old tower comp uses 0.9 Kwh for a day of 12 hours, with a later one it will be a lot less
and/or
Dissolve the Co. you have set up and inform N'power you are now a domestic customer only, backing this up with a copy of your Council Tax bill that shows it's a Domestic dwelling.
There are no magic bullets, even if you quote Ofgem rules and dissolve the Co., it will be some time before N'power realease you from the contract0 -
Thank you to everyone who has either taken the time or to read and reply to my dilemma.
I have since spoken with the Citizens Advise Bureau, (CAB), and the Business Debt Online representatives, both of whom have either referred me or have taken the case on regarding NPower.
All details, times, dates, names etc have been forwarded to the CAB office. They've agreed to embark upon this issue and for me now to wait for a return call from their Extra Help Unit. During the time spent with Luke at CAB, who, I have to say was very professional, sympathetic and warming from the off, you weren't just another stat which the representatives of NPower made you feel.
So, thank you to them and to you for all your help in this matter. The advice which had been given has certainly displayed a flicker at the end of the tunnel, which had not been there before. I had given NPower every chance to help, speak and to highlight matters, something which they were not interested in. Collections were only interested in ever saying one thing to you without any compassion whatsoever, or not wanting to help you, which was "50% or nothing!". You'd probably feel very low and depressed at the time, but you'd be left feeling even lower when NPower terminated the call.
So, would I recommend you and your services to others who find themselves in this situation - YES I would!
Marc
I wasn't aware that the CITIZENS Advice Bureau offered any advice to BUSINESS
:cool:0
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