Powergen - Massive Bill

[karen69]

Summer 2005 powergen phoned me on a sunday afternoon to say that they were about to send out a bill which was rather high, so they were phoning to discuss it with me. The bill was for just over £2000. I was very shocked to say the least. We only live in a 3 bedroomed bungalow so I questioned the meter. She said that I had had a few estimated readings which had made it fall out of line. We agreed to me paying £111 a month to catch up.

I have received a letter this morning telling me that they now want to increase my monthly amount to an absolutely staggering £693 a month. There is no way on this earth that I can afford this.

My most recent bill was overestimated by over £300, so taking this into account, my bill is falling, (albeit slowly) and this bill was over winter so the next couple of bills should be even less.

Can I stop them making this increase, because I definitely cant afford to pay more than £111 - I thought that was extortionate!!!!

[ozzywizard]

Phone them up, I am sure they will work this out with you. See it is a really silly system they have that the computer looks at your previous useage and debt owed and auto works out a fixed payment amount for you. It would of incorrectly taken into concideration the estimated readings and seen you as a huge user. It really needs somone to manually look at this for you. Do it as soon as possible before the next payment is due out or it will just take it. Direct debit really does give the company heaps of power over your finances account, most of us on this forum hate DD expecially when setup on a fixed prepay rate that can be changed at anytime.

[naughtydruid]

Hi Karen,

I had exactly the same problem with Powergen a few years ago and in the end I went to the CAB and had them do a budget sheet with me. They contacted powergen on my behalf and arranged for a realistic weekly repayment (in my case they fitted a payment meter and added the agreed amount on each week, but try and avoid this if you can as it is a real pain).

If you have not done so already do a budget sheet and have it with you when you call them. They have already agreed to the £111 so unless your circumstances have changed considerably there is no reason for them to not carry on with it.

There have been some change in guidelines recently regarding how long they can go without taking a proper meter reading. PM if you want me to dig out the link, it might be relevant.

[ozzywizard]

Regarding the readings, they have to get an actual read every 24 months, From July this year that will drop to 15 months.

[Innocenti]

Powergen did this with me. My bill came in at over £500 so they wanted to charge me £150 a month. We got it down to £114 as I couldnt afford the £150.

I got my new bill in and I am £345 in arrears and then got a letter to say they wanted to increase my payments to £160. Well I read my meter and gave them the new reading and it was so over estimated that my new readings actually put me in credit and they still wanted to charge me £160! Told them to put it back to £114 for now and when I get my bill in April we will look again at my payments. Hopefully they will reduce.

Ring them and say you cant afford this payment and you will cancel your DD if you have to

[karen69]

Thanks for this. I am currently waiting for them to get back to me but I have told them, in no uncertain terms, not to try and take £693 as it will not go through because I simply cannot afford it. I have told them that I will bill them for any charges I incur if they fail to adhere to my request here, so fingers crossed they will be reasonable. I am sure Posh and Becks dont pay 693 per month even at Beckingham Palace!!!!

[Bookworm]

Are you paying by DD?

CANCEL IT IMMEDIATELY!!!!

They WILL take the whole payment without your permission.

Set up a Standing Order instead, this way, you call the shots: YOu say how much, you say when, and they can't just help themselves to your cash. It's a lot easier to negotiate when YOU are in control of your cashflow.

[ozzywizard]

Bookworm is right . . DD is evil !!!

[Innocenti]

Well I got a letter from them today saying my DD has been put back to £114. Have you got a letter from them? If not then canel the DD. I gave my meter reading and I logged online today and checked my balance and I have gone from being £350 in debt to being £156 in credit. And they still wanted to raise my DD to £160 cheeky beggars.

[Kerrie78]

Agree re DD's. I cancelled every one of mine, except Talk Talk who don't accept any other payment method.
I pay all of my bills standing order. I have set them all up on internet banking so I can increase or decrease the amounts as I choose.

[karen69]

I think that is a great idea, will get on to it. Thanks guys

[Jonnie Reclaim]

Hi, You can legally ask for an accuracy check to be carried out on your meter if you think that it may be at fault. Power companies tend to avoid carrying out any accuracy checks and automatically assume that the meter (however old) is accuarate.

J

[karen69]

I did query whether the meter was accurate but they told me I would have to pay to have it checked - even more money they are trying to squeeze out of me!!!

[ozzywizard]

Check this post

[karen69]

After contacting Powergen they have agreed to leave the Direct Debit at £111 and will not increase to the ridiculous amount suggested.