High PFP energy bill - pay or bad credit!?

goldie2506

Hi all, I moved house in October last year and continued to pay £80 a month on my DD for gas with PFP energy, I only realised when going through my accounts in March. I called them and then got the readings from the estate agent (it was a rental property). Sent this in. I then got a bill for £800. I called them and said I was very shocked as I had been paying every month (even six months after I left), the bills also didn't make sense and said I had used energy in the last 6 months when I hadnt been there and didnt show my payment credits. I saw £800 leave my account on 1st May, called PFP who told me to cancel and recall the DD and they would look into it. I called on friday to chase this up and they said if I didnt pay £800 immediately it would impact my credit file (and it already had as I had cancelled the £800 May DD). Is this correct?! Admitedly I hadnt sent readings in as I believed this was being done. I am trying to buy a house this year and now worried about the mess on my credit file. They said If i paid it monthly then I would be entering a payment arrangement and that would also affect my credit file. Any advice would be great. 

Gerry1

All very confusing.  Did you register with the existing supplier when you moved in?  If not, you'll have been placed on an expensive 'deemed' tariff.  You can't just take your existing provider with you, you have to close the account and sign up with the new provider, and then you are free to change.

Never trust anyone to take readings, always do it yourself when you move and then monthly, and do the sums so you can check the bills.

Make sure it's actually your meter.  Check that the number on the meter appears on the bill.  If the meter is external, switch all gas appliances off, read the meter and make sure it's exactly the same a few hours later.  Then turn everything on and make sure it's clocking up.  You might be paying for your neighbour's usage !

Talldave

First thing is to work out if you're liable for all the money being demanded.  You need the reading from when you moved in and the reading from when you moved out in October.  Then you can calculate what you owed in total - deduct the payments you made and you'll have your answer.

However, don't forget that readings from a gas meter have to be converted to kWh first.  For a rough calculation, multiply by 11 for a metric meter measuring in m3.

SnowTiger

goldie2506 said:

Hi all, I moved house in October last year and continued to pay £80 a month on my DD for gas with PFP energy, I only realised when going through my accounts in March. I called them and then got the readings from the estate agent (it was a rental property). Sent this in. I then got a bill for £800. I called them and said I was very shocked as I had been paying every month (even six months after I left), the bills also didn't make sense and said I had used energy in the last 6 months when I hadnt been there and didnt show my payment credits. I saw £800 leave my account on 1st May, called PFP who told me to cancel and recall the DD and they would look into it. I called on friday to chase this up and they said if I didnt pay £800 immediately it would impact my credit file (and it already had as I had cancelled the £800 May DD). Is this correct?! Admitedly I hadnt sent readings in as I believed this was being done. I am trying to buy a house this year and now worried about the mess on my credit file. They said If i paid it monthly then I would be entering a payment arrangement and that would also affect my credit file. Any advice would be great. 

Very confusing.

OP: 'I moved house in October last year and continued to pay £80 a month on my DD for gas with PFP energy, I only realised when going through my accounts in March' and 'the bills also didn't make sense and said I had used energy in the last 6 months when I hadnt been there'.

These two statements suggest OP is referring to energy at their previous home.  I'm guessing they didn't give a final meter reading and didn't close their account with the energy supplier when they left.

OP seems lax at providing meter readings and staying on top of their bills.  OP: 'Admitedly I hadnt sent readings in as I believed this was being done'.

Perhaps they hadn't supplied meter readings for some time and the £800 debt has built.

Paying £80 a month towards a gas account and still ending up with an £800 bill is quite an achievement.

goldie2506

Sorry for any conclusion. I was paying gas for my new property (and my old property)
I paid £80 a month when I lived there and £80 a month for six months after I moved out. It was a 3 bed 1930's semi, 1 adult, 2 children living there..... seems odd to demand another £800 for the final bill considering the irregularity. Now concerned about my credit rating. 

goldie2506

My new property is with a separate provider. 

Gerry1

Still far, far too vague.  You haven't answered most of the queries, so there's not much help that can be given.  You must think in terms of actual consumption in kWh from actual meter readings, not £xx per month on a DD which may or may not keep up with your usage.  Full facts, please.