Powergen and Robinson Way & Co

[kregrs]

I moved house 9mths ago, for the 7yrs I'd lived in previous property I'd been using a pre-pay meter, fitted by previous owners. I had a bill for for £619, rang Powergen and asked why? Was told it was for increases in charges that hadn't been applied to my meter, explained that it not really my fault or problem, that I had no way of applying said charges to my meter, they were the supplier and any changes would have needed to be made by them. They said they'd look into it, then on Saturday I got a letter from Robinson Way & Co demanding £619 or go to court. I've rung them andtold them I'm in dispute with Powergen, but all they said was "tough, not their problem, pay up or else". What I want to know is, when I ring RWC again, how should I put it to them about the dispute and what can I quote for them to back off?

One other question, 5yrs ago I changed my name by deed poll, all the paperwork I have from Powergen and RWC is in the old name, is there any way I can use this to my advantage? I really don't want to give RWC my 'new' name for them to match to this address as I have previous dealings with them in this name for another matter which I believe they are trying to trace me for, but for which they only have my old address.

[ozzywizard]

Ok lets try to get this sorted the simpliest way, at the property were they say you owe the money from was you on a prepay meter all the time and did you use token cards or a key or a powercard ? . What were the dates and did you get an actual bill/statement from them?

Best to deal with Powergen because if they remove the debt it is auto removed from Rob way. If you try to dispute with Rob way it will be an harder route as all they are interested in is collections.

[kregrs]

Yes, I had the pre pay meter the whole time, went and bought cards to top it up with. I used to get statements every quarter saying how much I'd used etc but no mention of any amount owing. The only reason I stuck with the meter was convenience.

[kregrs]

Just thought, if they were to suggest anything about meter readings and not being able to gain access, the meter was outside, didn't need access to house to be able to read meter.

[ozzywizard]

Ok so you was on a token meter which meens it is probably due to estimated reads and also your meter not being calibrated correctly. They have no excuse for not resetting your meter to the correct prices after a price increase due to your meter being on the outside. Also the amount you say is outstanding is too great for recal. They can only go back to April 2005. Phone them and ask them what the balance was at this date and if it was based on an actual read.

[kregrs]

Right, today I received a revised bill from Powergen, down from £619 to £379. But, all the charges are grouped under different headings, eg, from feb 2003, from feb 2004 etc. Am I right in thinking I can't be chased for these, only the charges from 2005 onwards, which are £53. I did query with them on the phone that they couldn't charge me for any outstanding from over 2yrs and the chap I spoke to agreed.

[charlie1963]

hi, due to problems with powergen i've just been through all my bills and to my horror when i worked out the units used on the prepayment meter up to the final reading when it was taken out years ago (wouldn't accept card], then added up all the money i put into the meter, they actually owe me hundreds. at the time i thought the meter just used what you put in and when the money was used you'd used that amount of electricity. the next prepayment meter went mad and i had a dry meter put in. i now find that after about 9mnths trying to get my credit back they suddenly changed the final reading to fit the money put in so they didn't have to pay me back!! might be a good idea just to check the readings with money spent plus standing charge and see if they've fiddled you. Ozzie seems to have gone but energywatch should be able to help you with the 2yr thing. good luck.