Powergen forgetting to bill.

[andrew4178]

Hi,

I wonder if anyone can help?

In october last year i switched from a prepayment meter to a standard meter with powergen. I received my first bill last month for £390. Now they are sending me letters telling me they will switch off my supply, take me to court and all the usual things like that. They never once tried to make a meter readin (although they claimed they had repeatedly). We had no contact from them at all.

Is there anything i can do? i am not arguing that i owe it just their methods. 7 months of gas with no bill received and they want £390 (that i just don't have) in a 4 week period.

My wife spoke to them and they basically told her it needed to be paid, the woman told my wife that they were in the wrong but she was powerless to do anything about it.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Andrew

[shywazz]

Couldnt you ask them to revert it back to the pre-payment card/meter and take small weekly amounts to recover the sum owed, although saying that, that just takes you back to square one, you could ask to go on a monthly pay plan, where there estimate the useage for the comming year and you pay each month to cover it, any monies you might owe them are added within the monthly payment, there are ways to repay the money to them, without having to pay in one huge payment, don't matter whos in the wrong for the non-billing, there should'nt seek payment in full but offer ways of re-payment to cover the monies owed, just try speaking to them again, hopefully with someone who can arrange such a plan for you.

[bram stoker]

I suggest you write a comprehensive complaint which they will then not be able to ignore. In your letter make sure you give a fully detailed suggestion of a payment plan that will suit you. They want their money and they won't get it by cutting off your supply. You will also have written proof that you have shown a willingness to pay and how to do so.

[2Grumpy]

How do the estimates compare with the actual meter readings? If they are too high then you should give them the actual reading - that might help.

No bill for 7 months obviously didn't help - that contributed to your problem. They could argue that you should have anticipated the bill and saved for it. Conversely if they had sent their bills you would have paid them instead of being in this position. I doubt that many people could find enough cash to pay 7 months gas in a short timescale. How about suggesting that if they take 7 months to bill then you should have 7 months to pay?

Have you tried EnergyWatch? They were able to help me with British Gas billing.

[Clare_L]

Powergen will normally spread the cost if you make a part payment now. Just call them, I doubt they will argue that. Make sure they have billed you correctly with the installation read and an upto date reading. Also make sure no debt has been carried over from your prepayment meter (shouldnt have any money owing on it but you never know)