Help needed: Southern Electric applying for warrant, can't be stopped?!

[exhale]

Hello,

Southern Electric sent a letter to me yesterday saying they were applying for a Rights Of Entry Warrant at the courts over an outstanding debt of £700.

The court date is set for 30th April.

I have just spoken to them by phone and the adviser told me they couldn't stop the warrant going through unless I pay in full.

I would be happy for them to fit a pre-payment meter without them having to get a court warrant as it would apparently mean the weekly repayment would be set to around £3-£5 instead of the £15-£20 it's now going to cost me.

My name's on the bill, and it looks like it's accrued over 18 months of the bill not being paid - the first I heard of this was in September.

To make matters worse, I am a full time student and only earn £250 per month, of which the majority covers my living costs.

Is there any way I can force them to stop court action and simply come and install the pre-payment meter, or do I have any other course of action?

This is the worst possible time for me to have to go through this as I am in the middle of my dissertation

Any help you can give me would be really great, even if it's just a way for me to stall them for a few weeks so I can get my head together!

Exhale

[gondukin]

You won't be able to stall them, but if you ask them to fit a prepayment meter then they will do it witihin a few days which will prevent disconnection.

Is there any reason why, if you fond out there were arrears on the account 7 months ago, you haven't done something about this before? Also, if you are a student, isn't it loan time about now (if you have one)?

[exhale]

Hello Gondukin,

I haven't dealt with the matter until now because, in all honesty, it had slipped my mind due to myriad other problems I'm facing at the moment. As excuses go, it's one of the poorest, I know, but it's the truth

Loan has come in and gone immediately on rent and food. I have around £100 left to last me until the end of the academic year. Certainly not enough to sate the appetite of the electric company

/al

[gondukin]

Call back and ask for a prepaymet meter to pay off the debt and book an appointment for before the court date, otherwise you will be charged fees for disconnection and if you don't pay it will go to a debt collecters, buggering your credit rating for a good few years.

[exhale]

Thanks Gondukin, but as I said, Southern Electric insisted they could not stop court action now.

Are they in their rights to do this (to force this to go to court now)?

[gondukin]

Unfortunately it's too late now to stop them going to court unless they agree to halt action. If you had asked for the prepayment meter before they had started arranging court action you would have been okay.

What you'll need to do now is get things such as statements of outgoings and income, etc, to demonstrate to the magistrates how much you can afford to pay, and hope for the best. I would recommend speaking to the CAB as well for further guidance.

[tiglet]

It's not necessarily too late for them to stop court proceedings - especially as you are prepared to accept a meter. the warrant is only for right of entry and as you are granting them that anyway, they are on tricky ground.

Phone energywatch and speak to them - they may well be able to speak to your supplier on your behalf.