Can a payment be traced to who its gone to on a pre payment meter!?

[ARRRGHHHHHH]

Ok here goes

I was with NPower when my landlord at the time decided to do a full sweep of all his properties and transfer over to british gas to save money.

I had an outstanding debt with NPower and had just had a pre-payment meter installed i was paying off the balance plus my usage.

So i was transfered over to British Gas then went back to NPower as i couldnt not afford to pay off the balance in full.

I moved out of the property 6 months after and NPower sent me a bill
for the usage during the period id moved back to them.

They said they had not recieved any payments during the that time. My argument was how can i get power when i have a prepayment meter!!!!! It would appear i was using the wrong key to put money on for the meter but neither british gas or npower can find my payments and NPower are chasing me for something i have already paid for.

I went to energy watch or OFCOM (cant remember which this has been going on so long) and they told me i would need to provide the reciepts to prove i had made the payments which i do not have.

I still have the key from the meter (its an orange thing with a blue tag on it) is there any way i can make a payment and trace where it has gone through the reciept you get when you have put some money on the key!?

Any other help advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

AAARRRRGGGGGHHHH

[treechocred]

The Keys for the meters are all colour coded, so keys for BG will be one colour and Npower a different one. (sorry I do not know who owns the orange/blue ones) if you find out which supplier owns the orange keys, at least then you will have an idea as to whom has been receiving your payments.

Once you know which supplier it is, im sure all payments are logged somehow but this is not my expertise area, and I'm sure someone with a bit more knowledge will be along shortly.

[noggsy]

This is a constant problem with PPMs. Technically it is not down to you to resolve. I believe the orange/blue key is dependent on the meter manufacture, but I could be wrong, but as you have had supply you have been paying for it so if there is a dispute what normally happens is BG and N-Power would sort it out between them with one paying the other.
As far as the key is concerned it has a microchip in it which can be used to check payment history so I would you offer to send the key to N-Power (registered post) for them to download the data off the key. Hope this helps

[blackambermay]

Hi there,
I used to work for British Gas resolving exactly these issues, ie tracking down missing payments and readings for pre payment meters.
What should of happened when you changed supplier, they should have sent you a new key (or card depending on your meter) and an engineer should have been sent from British Gas to reset your meter so that any readings or payments in relation to that meter could be matched correctly. (Formally called an SRV appointment)
Did you receive any letters or a visit from an engineer from British Gas at all?
I don't suppose you have the meter number at all?
The system British Gas use to track payments is extremely complex, otherwise I would explain the whole process.
In any case either Power Supplier would be able to trace any payments that have been made to a meter that wasn't in their control during that time. Trancso would confirm who was responsible for that meter at any given time if that makes sense.
All energy suppliers have an account that holds any money that is unallocated, and we used to track the meters and payments down etc then transfer the money out of this account to correct meter/account.

who read your meter out of curiosity? There is also a high chance that meter readings would not have been allocated correctly either, making that bill if more in dispute.

[ARRRGHHHHHH]

Hi guys thanks for the replys
NPower have been in touch with British Gas about the payments but they cannot be found. This has dragged on for about 3 years now and i have tried many times to get it resolved. when i first reported this NPower put the account into dispute and have tried to trace the money or at least thats what they have told me.
I have been told as they cannont find the payment that i must pay up or provide receipts for the payments which i cant do. I begrudge paying
NPower any more money than i actually owe them. NPower have said they have tried everything they can to find the money and as they and british gas dont know where the payments are i must pay up.
When the meter was first installed (with NPower) i was given a credit then told i would receive a key in the post.
this never arrived i suspect it was because the transfer to Bgas had just occured the key i finally received was
for british gas when i transfered back to NPower i was never provided a key and continued to use the one i had.
As its so long ago i dont remember getting a visit from british gas at all, and i dont have the meter number.
Although i have made a single payment of a pound on to the key and on the receipt it shows meter number F94L06040.
And it does say the payment went to british gas.

Neither company did any reading on the meter as far as i am aware after it being insatlled. When i left the property
and informed them i was moving out i took the final meter reading.
I have mentioned before to both companies that i have the key but neither from memory every mentioned they could find the payments
from the key.

I will contact NPower for the 50000 gazzillion time and suggest them using the key to trace the payment.
Is there anything else i could or should be doing?!

Thanks again for all the help and information

ARRRGHHHHHH

[blackambermay]

Right that helps alot actually.
British Gas would have had the TGB system in place when you transferred to them, now this may not mean anything to you, but a quick explanation....this is the system that was used to track down payments and missing readings etc and was extremely complex hence them moving to the Jupiter system and transferring the whole process to India, which is obviously why I no longer work for them. So there is your inside knowledge. Here's abit more. Write to British Gas and ask for the details of any SRV's that were issued on your account. An SRV is the raising of an appointment with an engineer in order to reset a customer's meter so that the meter would match the card/key. There are six stages of SRV. You want to know how many were actually raised. Give them the meter number and ask when there records show that the meter was in your property (they can trace a meter number, I could trace a meter from one property to another at complete opposite sides of the country, so don't let them fob you off. Now British Gas have an extremely strict rule regarding notes that are left on your account. I feel it may be a good idea if you Subject Access Request British Gas, if you can get hold of all notes on your account then I will of course decipher them for you. I feel the reason you may be struggling to sort this out now is because the process is now abroad and I doubt very much it is a manual system like TGB. In other words if the computer cant trace your payments by itself then it just isnt going to happen. If you manage to get the information and want a letter drafting let me know. But keep calm, you have no idea how many customers British Gas have done this to. You are most definately not the only one. I would also write to both companies and state that you are looking into the matter further etc etc.

[ozzywizard]

Great advise Black

[ARRRGHHHHHH]

Wow thanks blackambermay. your help and advice is much appreciated.

Should i request the SRV info first before the Subject Access Request or would the Subject Access Request show
details about the SRVs?!

How do i go about doing a Subject Access Request?! Is it just as simple as typing up a letter requesting all the information they have about my self?

Will i need to give an address or the meter number?
I have also read there is a £10 charge for this is this correct??

What address should i send it to?!

Thanks again vbmenu_register("postmenu _1478448", true);

[ARRRGHHHHHH]

Scratch the questions about SRVs found some looking through the forums,
Ill edit one of the ones suggested for sending to a bank!!!

Been a long day at work and only just had time to look!

[ARRRGHHHHHH]

arrr i ment Subject Access Request long day........

[blackambermay]

Hiya,
As before, British Gas is extremely strict about the notes left on a customers account.....one word out of place and we would be knocked down on quality control....pretty serious stuff then so it was.
An Subject Access Request would show the name of the person accessing your account, any action, what action, which letter (stage of the SRV) was sent if and when you were sent a new card/key etc. the list goes on.
When you have received all of this information then we can jump in with a killer letter, written as though you know what you are talking about (coz you know you are clever like that don't you) and get them to sort it out. Then in the unlikely event of court action they would have to explain their old TGB system to a judge and why they did not take the action they should have taken. Lol would be interesting to be a fly on the wall when they receive the letter discussing their system in great detail.
I would pay good money to witness that

[ARRRGHHHHHH]

Hi Black

Ok a letter is on its way out to NPower asking them to hold the account as its in query!

Just knocking up the one for British Gas what address do i send the Subject Access Request to?! Im not sure where to send it and i dont want it floating around British Gas departments, as its NPower who i owe the money if they defaulted on the Subject Access Request then i could have a legal leg to stand on regarding the payments!

[blackambermay]

Hi, sorry I haven't been on for a few days, been busy as hell.
If you haven't already sent your letter to British Gas I would just use the normal customer service correspondance address on the letters that you have received from them. All letters get logged anyway and will usually be forwarded to the correct department.

[blackambermay]

Well if either company default on the Subject Access Request then of course you have a legal leg to stand on. You have made every effort to resolve this haven't you?! Any court action would result in you taking copies of the letters you have sent to prove that you have indeed made every effort and the assistance of either/both companies has not been forthcoming.