Swerving a CCJ
Discussion
My electricity supplier has just issued a money claim against me. They have persistently overestimated my consumption, so some time ago I cancelled the DD and paid what I considered to be a reasonable amount each month. Out of the blue I have now received notification from HMCTS threatening a CCJ, the amount being the latest (overestimated) bill, plus charges and interest. No Final Demand or red bill. The total claim is about £450, whereas I calculate that the current amount owed is more like £300.
I want to switch to another supplier, but of course cannot do so while I have an outstanding bill with the current supplier.
I do not want to take any risk of having a CCJ against my name.
Is it worth my while trying to contest the claim, or should I just suck it up and expect the current supplier to repay the overpayment after I have switched (and how long should I give them before I issue a claim against them) ?
I want to switch to another supplier, but of course cannot do so while I have an outstanding bill with the current supplier.
I do not want to take any risk of having a CCJ against my name.
Is it worth my while trying to contest the claim, or should I just suck it up and expect the current supplier to repay the overpayment after I have switched (and how long should I give them before I issue a claim against them) ?
You might need to supply a bit more information to get a suitable response, other than cancel your DD, have you done anything else, have you sent the correct readings out, has someone been to read your meter, and if so did you let them do that, when you have previously told them about the overestimation, what did they say.
Smurfsarepeopletoo said:
You might need to supply a bit more information to get a suitable response, other than cancel your DD, have you done anything else, have you sent the correct readings out, has someone been to read your meter, and if so did you let them do that, when you have previously told them about the overestimation, what did they say.
Have sent correct readings, no human meter reader sent out (to my knowledge - meter is accessible from outside, but the bills don't show any reading done by them). Not sure if they even have human meter readers these days ?98elise said:
bigandclever said:
What did they say when you sent the meter reading(s)?
This. Why not just send the correct meter reading, and pay what's owed rather then what you think is reasonable?That's exactly what will happen when you swap suppliers.
But that's all history. I think I'll just pay the over-estimate and wait for a repayment after switching.
This sounds odd.
They wouldn't go to Legal unless the debt had been outstanding for a while with no efforts made by the Customer to contact them or make payment. And I don't think they can go to Legal based on an estimated reading
Based on what you've said I wouldsuggest you happily let them take you to County Court. Make sure you write to them explaining the above and an offer to pay what you owe and that way the Judge will note you've tried to reach an agreement
They wouldn't go to Legal unless the debt had been outstanding for a while with no efforts made by the Customer to contact them or make payment. And I don't think they can go to Legal based on an estimated reading
Based on what you've said I wouldsuggest you happily let them take you to County Court. Make sure you write to them explaining the above and an offer to pay what you owe and that way the Judge will note you've tried to reach an agreement
Lily the Pink said:
No response to my updating the account with the next reading. Next bill would then use my correct reading with an over-estimate for the following month..
If the next bill is based on the actual reading then it will be correct, and as soon as you pay it any arrears will disappear. The overestimate for the following month is irrelevant (as you aren't paying by DD). When you get the following month's bill you simply send them the correct readings and await another corrected bill (surely it's quarterly rather than monthly?)Lily the Pink said:
Smurfsarepeopletoo said:
You might need to supply a bit more information to get a suitable response, other than cancel your DD, have you done anything else, have you sent the correct readings out, has someone been to read your meter, and if so did you let them do that, when you have previously told them about the overestimation, what did they say.
Have sent correct readings, no human meter reader sent out (to my knowledge - meter is accessible from outside, but the bills don't show any reading done by them). Not sure if they even have human meter readers these days ?98elise said:
bigandclever said:
What did they say when you sent the meter reading(s)?
This. Why not just send the correct meter reading, and pay what's owed rather then what you think is reasonable?That's exactly what will happen when you swap suppliers.
But that's all history. I think I'll just pay the over-estimate and wait for a repayment after switching.
I was with Scottish Power for years. They kept upping my DD which was really odd our useage hadn't gone up. When I finally logged I to the account to check what was going on I was a couple of grand in credit!
I got that refunded and changed the DD to a lower amount in line with what I'd been using. Next review they upped the DD again.
I changed suppliers and they hounded me to come back. By that I mean texts, emails, calls etc. When I blocked their number they called me on another one!
Countdown said:
If the next bill is based on the actual reading then it will be correct, and as soon as you pay it any arrears will disappear. The overestimate for the following month is irrelevant (as you aren't paying by DD). When you get the following month's bill you simply send them the correct readings and await another corrected bill (surely it's quarterly rather than monthly?)
They bill a month in advance, so it is always estimated.If I were to pay their estimated bill, can they then withdraw the claim (which includes not just that bill, but additional Late Payment Fee, Cost of Application and Interest) ? The interest is particularly aggravating, as that is based on an over-estimate. Last time I tried to contact them by phone, all I could get was a recorded message giving the usual pandemic excuse - as if they haven't had enough time to get to grips with that.
Lily the Pink said:
Countdown said:
If the next bill is based on the actual reading then it will be correct, and as soon as you pay it any arrears will disappear. The overestimate for the following month is irrelevant (as you aren't paying by DD). When you get the following month's bill you simply send them the correct readings and await another corrected bill (surely it's quarterly rather than monthly?)
They bill a month in advance, so it is always estimated.Lily the Pink said:
No, not a credit meter. Supplier is Symbio, tariff is their "Low Fair and Green Standard v1".
I confess I had assumed that payment in advance was commonplace these days.
Advanced Billing is what it’s called. They do the estimates based on what you / your previous supplier told them was your estimated annual usage when you moved to them. They give you an estimated monthly bill, you pay it up front and provide a meter reading. Then next month this is repeated. You only get an Actual final bill when you leave. Your problem comes from you not paying their estimated bill and choosing to pay some other amount. That’s how I understand it anyway.I confess I had assumed that payment in advance was commonplace these days.
Next months bill will change based on any meter readings you have provided, but it will still be skewed by the annual estimate.
Edited by bigandclever on Sunday 6th June 14:30
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