N Power want £9500 off me...

[powwerr]

So.... i run a small Fabrication workshop which employees 4 people and usually day to day we have 2/3 welders/grinders/saws/bending machines or guillotines running constant.

so since joining up with n power in early 2009, the bills for approx £250 per month have been coming in and getting paid ( these have been estimated bills )

cue August 2010 and suddenly theres £9500 taken from the bank, get on the phone to see what the F is goin on and they tell me that my bills have been underestimated for over a year and a half!!

obviously i tell them thats not my fault, havent had any warning of this or time to budget for such a thing. they say were not interested, thats whats due etc.

so im wondering if anyone has had exp of a similar dispute or legally where i stand?

any info appreciated, good or bad.


Thanks

[Pothole]

You must have some paperwork from when you first signed up with them, probably covered under Ts & Cs isn't it?

Legally I suspect you're sunk, letting it go for that long with estimated bills is usually a recipe for disaster, as you've found out the hard way. Sorry I can't be more help.

[powwerr]

cheers anyway.

in my defence, i wasnt the one who started the company it was my dad, who is no longer here so taking over has been a struggle from the word go. the estimated billing just wasnt somthing i thought to check out.

[Pothole]

powwerr said:

cheers anyway.

in my defence, i wasnt the one who started the company it was my dad, who is no longer here so taking over has been a struggle from the word go. the estimated billing just wasnt somthing i thought to check out.

Bit harsh they took it all from the bank without informing you, perhaps that's an avenue worth exploring, should they have notified you first?

[SystemParanoia]

in future... no direct debits! big faceless corporations cannot be trusted

[Simpo Two]

SystemParanoia said:

in future... no direct debits! big faceless corporations cannot be trusted

This.

But check the maths - do you think you've used that much electricity? Meters can and do go wrong.

[JustinP1]

powwerr said:

So.... i run a small Fabrication workshop which employees 4 people and usually day to day we have 2/3 welders/grinders/saws/bending machines or guillotines running constant.

so since joining up with n power in early 2009, the bills for approx £250 per month have been coming in and getting paid ( these have been estimated bills )

cue August 2010 and suddenly theres £9500 taken from the bank, get on the phone to see what the F is goin on and they tell me that my bills have been underestimated for over a year and a half!!

obviously i tell them thats not my fault, havent had any warning of this or time to budget for such a thing. they say were not interested, thats whats due etc.

so im wondering if anyone has had exp of a similar dispute or legally where i stand?

any info appreciated, good or bad.


Thanks

Do you know about the Direct Debit guarantee?

If you ring your bank, tell them that the amount has been taken in error, they must put it back into your account.

If they usually take £250 and £9500 has been taken, then I am sure the bank will believe you.

When the money is back into your account and the DD has been cancelled, then you can start investigating the issue.

[Mr Overheads]

Powwerr this is exactly what I specialise in and do day in day out. I regularly get these bills reduced/refunded etc etc (Just had £3k rebate confirmed today from EDF as it happens and last week £2k from E-on)

I'll send you a PM, fax me through the latest bill, the first bill and any other paperwork you have and we can talk about it tomorrow on the phone.

[Mr Overheads]

Simpo Two said:

SystemParanoia said:

in future... no direct debits! big faceless corporations cannot be trusted

This.

But check the maths - do you think you've used that much electricity? Meters can and do go wrong.

Don't listen to these 2. If you want to pay much much less with Energy then you need to pay by Direct Debit.

[mondeoman]

had similar from nPower last year - on a one year contract, come renewal time they wanted to double our rates, so we swapped suppliers. What a headache!

I can well believe that they've just done you over, but tbh running for that long without doing a meter check was a tad, ermmm, silly.

Hope you manage to get it all sorted.

[deevlash]

Npower are awful. In one of my old student flats I lived in theyd previously billed the flat before it had been totally gutted and rewired. Scottish Power had taken over the supply, Npower continued to demand payment and sent estimated bills, no amount of telling them they didnt supply us and the readings they were estimating were based on a meter which had gone in a skip about 2 years previously as part of the renovations.

In the end I email offgen and they sorted it all out in no time. Npower even sent me a £40 cheque to say sorry, which paid for a lot of 50p vodkas in the union!

[DonkeyApple]

I suspect that your bank may be able to take it back and this will give the ability to negotiate fair terms.

It may be a false hope but after over a year of estimates a chap came and read my meter and I was subsequently billed £3k for a residential flat.

Utility co wasn't interested, I decided to check their numbers against the meter myself and noticed that the number they had down for the gas was actually the reading from the elec meter. The daft schmuck had read the wrong meter.

Even then they didn't want to repay and said it would be held on my account. That took some sorting. I now do not have any utilities on DD.

[Mr Overheads]

Donkeyapple and Deevlash - your's are residential issues and the OP is a Business issue, all the utility companies operate VERY differently for business consumers and residential consumers.

There are different process's and protocols, T&C's and contracts.

[Simpo Two]

Mr Overheads said:

Simpo Two said:

SystemParanoia said:

in future... no direct debits! big faceless corporations cannot be trusted

This.

But check the maths - do you think you've used that much electricity? Meters can and do go wrong.

Don't listen to these 2. If you want to pay much much less with Energy then you need to pay by Direct Debit.

Direct Debit is a splendid way for Financial Directors to boost their cashflow by loading up from customer's bank accounts. Witness the OP. Eventually Harry Punter wakes up and the utility company has to hand some back, but not before their in-house energy futurists have done some gambling with it and made some extra cash.

If you want control of your money, do it hands-on yourself. Don't let the corporate sharks stitch you up. And don't let posters touting for business do the same either - you pay for their profit.

[Rude-boy]

Mr Overheads said:

Donkeyapple and Deevlash - your's are residential issues and the OP is a Business issue, all the utility companies operate VERY differently for business consumers and residential consumers.

There are different process's and protocols, T&C's and contracts.

Having read a few of these contracts myself in the last few months I can say that they are very different, like an entire sharks nest different.

I would not be surprised that someone with good knowledge of their workings and good forward planning can obtain a far cheaper supply than those who stay put and get rolled over into a fresh 36 month term at 'Standard Rates'.

Edited by Rude-boy on Thursday 30th September 21:47

[DonkeyApple]

Mr Overheads said:

Donkeyapple and Deevlash - your's are residential issues and the OP is a Business issue, all the utility companies operate VERY differently for business consumers and residential consumers.

There are different process's and protocols, T&C's and contracts.

Wasn't aware that commercial units have different meters from residential. My offices must all be flats and I never noticed the beds and sofas.

And I also wasn't aware that a retailer could amend a bank's legal terms for their services.

[MarsellusWallace]

Many years ago I received an electric bill of around £3000 for a company I was running.We weren't doing very well at the time so I called them and explained we could not afford to pay.They put me through to a department who asked me what we could afford to pay so I told them(£500).They said that's fine,make the payment of what you can afford and that was that.I couldn't quite believe it at the time but the outstanding ammount never made it's way onto the next invoice.

[Boosted LS1]

OP, who's name is on the billing? A company name or your Dad?

[Pothole]

MarsellusWallace said:

Many years ago I received an electric bill of around £3000 for a company I was running.We weren't doing very well at the time so I called them and explained we could not afford to pay.They put me through to a department who asked me what we could afford to pay so I told them(£500).They said that's fine,make the payment of what you can afford and that was that.I couldn't quite believe it at the time but the outstanding ammount never made it's way onto the next invoice.

You got an electric bill? That must have been shocking!

[powwerr]

thanks very much for the replies folks.

to answer a few questions, yes it was (with hindsight) silly to run for that amount of time with estimated bills but to be honest, i was more concerend with the day to day running of the buisness rather than who was charging what and why. that was the girl in the offices job (another headache).

The name on the bill is of the company.

the amount has been taken from the account twice now and both times i have put indemnity claims against them and the bank has refunded the £. This has caused Npower to cancel my direct debit anyway so now is the time i need to sort something out.

Mr overheads will check pm's, thanks