Powergen excess billing...is this legal?

concerned1

Could someone please let me know where I stand on this problem I have:

Until November 2006 we lived at a rented apartment with a Powergen electricity meter that we had to insert pre-paid cards in. When we moved into the apartment, we applied for a Powergen card that we could 'top up' at the local shop.
When we were moving into our new (bought) house, we called Powergen to see how we can open an account for the new house (which was in the nearby area, so we figured that Powergen was the local supplier).
To our shock, we were told by the Powergen cust services that we owed 170 pounds?!? We said that we were using pre-paid cards, so there is no was we could have owed them anything...They told us that electricity prices went up 6 months previous and they had not got around to recalibrating our meter.
I asked the Powergen cust serv person why we would pay this amount...it was not our fault they couldn't be bothered to recalibrate our meter at the time of the price increases, in addition, we never entered into a contract nor applied for a credit account with them...so why would we just pay them because all of a sudden they tell us they want some money from us??
We decided not to pay Powergen (out of principle) and as they did not have any account details for us nor could we see the justification in the charges.

We have now recently received 2 letters from a Credit chasing company called 1st Credit, who have said that they will take us to court if we do not pay immediately.

We do notr want to risk getting poor credit or risk having to go to court, so could someone please advise me if we have to pay this bill if if there is a case we can refer to in order to get Powergen to cancel this outstanding amount??

Many thanks in advance!

SwanJon

This is a known issue - 3 of the big 6 will write this balance off, but Powergen aren't one of them (neither is npower, I think).

The meter is just a way of collecting money, the prices may be different.
How would you feel if the prices were too high on your meter - you'd probably want the excess money back?

It is legal (but maybe not moral) and they are fully entitled to chase you for the money.

I've said elsewhere that I would expect the 3 that currently write it off to change their mind if they have tried to fix the meter but weren't allowed into the house to do it. As more people become aware that they aren't paying enough and that their supplier won't chase for the difference, they'll probably not let them in to keep the cheap prices...

Cardew

Welcome to the Forum.

SwanJon is correct in everything stated - so many people do not realise that pre-pay meters do not always pre-pay for the electricity you use. The subject has been raised in Parliament.

Had you remained in the house, Power Gen would have adjusted your meter to a higher rate to recover the £170 debt over a year or so.

BG would have written your debt off - Powergen won't, and it has been ruled that it is a legitmate debt.

If you contact Energywatch(who hate this situation) they might put pressure on Powergen to reduce the amount or give you time to pay.

Unfortunately your mistake was ignoring(on principle) the bill a year ago and now it is in the hands of a DCA it may be too late.

Terrylw1

Hi,

All perfectly legal and supported by Ofgem. Energywatch & CAB are trying to get Ofgem to change the policy on this and outlaw this practice. Ofgem has admitted it's poor practice but have not agreed to change it (just a matter of time though but the whole issue needs some processes putting together since as SwanJon says, some customers will try and use it as a loophole and deny access. Suppliers would then need to go through the warrant process which they try to avoid whre possibly as they get additional complaints)

You entered into a deemed contract the day you moved into the property. PP metering is the same as credit metering in terms of your responsibility to pay for the service.