I need advice regarding Npower, i got into debt with my bills and its now £1,000.00, i called Npower and arranged to pay £125.00 per month starting from Oct and the payment was made via online, however they have now passed the issue for Past Credit debt collection who call me every day and email as well, i explained the arrangement and have been told no the bill must be paid in full. So i have refused in full payment and will still pay the £125.00 each month directly to Npower.

They have listed the default on my credit file as well, is there anything i can do to stop the action they are taking.

You need to get evidence of the agreement that you entered into with them. I'm afraid that by doing things on the telephone you have no record and of course you can't rely on Npower who are either disorganised or completely dishonest.

I'm afraid to say that although you've been here since 2008, you still don't seem to have understood that you should be recording all your calls. Now you know.

Read our customer services guide and implement the advice there. Once you have got a call recorder going then see if you can call the customer services department and talk to them and see whether they actually have a note of your agreement on their files and get them to refer to it during the recorded telephone conversation.

This may take several phone calls because you will speak to variety of people and each person will probably come up with a different story or look up a different system.

If somebody does agree that you did have a payment arrangement in place then after having recorded the call, you should send Npower an SAR to get a copy of the written note/computer entry which records this.

If eventually you draw a blank on this then you need to call them and see if you can enter into a new agreement for the £125 per month. This time of course you will be recording the call and also you will confirm it with them in writing.

If you are not able to do any of this then I'm afraid the best thing you can do is pay as much you can every month and keep us informed of any further threats or any further action that they make.

In terms of the default on your credit file I'm afraid that there is nothing you can do.

Once again, if you don't take sensible precautions to protect yourself then you will always be a victim to these people. Recording your calls should be your first priority in every instance of dealing with any company. It is down to basic survival.