Thanks for the support and advice! I've drafted a letter stating I dispute the bill and requesting a breakdown of charges, supporting documentation for things like 'out of pocket expenses' and how/when he believes I authorised him to carry out the extent of work. We'll see where it goes from here. Cheers!

Hi, I would be grateful if anyone could give me advice on the situation I am in. I took my car to a mechanic I have used previously a few weeks before my MOT was due as it needed new tyres and I wanted to know if it was worth doing or to just scrap the car. I asked the mechanic (who is an MOT tester) to look over the vehicle and advised him I was planning to scrap the vehicle if it would need much work doing to get through the MOT, as I couldn't afford to throw good money after bad (the year before I spent nearly £1,000 with him keeping the vehicle on the road). The mechanic looked over the vehicle and told me it wouldn't cost much to get through (didn't say a price) and also he knew someone with 2nd hand tyres he may be able to get cheaply. Based on his advice I gave him the go-ahead to fit the tyres and also weld the exhaust. Around three weeks later a front brake siezed on the vehicle, resulting in it needing new pads and discs. At the time he again assured me it was still worth getting the work done, so I authorised him to go ahead with this. A couple of weeks after this a front brake hose ruptured. At the time of the initial inspection he had advised me new a new hose would be needed for the MOT (so would have been included in his initial 'costing'), as I needed the car back on the road I collected the brake hose and fitted it myself. I then left the car with him for the MOT, this would be around 8 weeks after his initial assessment but the vehicle was off the road for the last 2 weeks as the MOT had expired and I was driving another vehicle. When I went to pick up the car, I was astonished to find a final invoice for £630 - significantly more than the value of the car. I removed all my possessions from the car and put in all spares/documentation I had (a new fuel filter, a new brake hose, old MOT certs, two worn spare tyres, the new keeper suppliment and the owner's manual). I wrote across the top of the invoice "I can't afford this, you'll have to take the car". Around a month later, I recieved an updated bill through the post - the car had sold for £400 at auction, auction fees were £30 and he had added on £170 of expenses! These included new wiper blades, valeting and 'out of pocket expenses'. So he still wanted £425 off me. I ignored the invoice to see if he would persue it, I have now had a letter from a solicitors saying I need to pay within 7 days or I will be taken to court. At this point I assume I need to dispute the bill in writing and need to know the best course of action. I am planning first of all to ask for a breakdown of the labour costs (they are one lump on the bill), stating I dispute the charges but nothing else at this point, which is a reasonable request which should also buy me some time. Once this has come through I then planned to write a more detailed explanation of why I dispute the charges (see below), and if he launches court action I will counter claim for the scrap value of the vehicle. The reasons I dispute the bill are: The mechanic assured me it was worth getting the repairs done on the car, although no quote was agreed it would be reasonable to assume it wasn't worth paying 60% more than the value of the car once repaired At no stage did he contact me to advise me the bill would be more than expected, accordingly I never authorised him to run up a bill that size, nor was able to cut my losses and tell him to stop work on the vehicle He ran up costs of £200 selling a car for £400, much of the expense would seem to be unnecessary so he hasn't tried to mitigate his losses If wasn't prepared to accept the car in exchange for the work, he should have notified me rather than sell it anyway I have lost out to the tune of £50 - £70 (scrap value of the vehicle) based on his advice Sorry this is so long winded, any advice would be gratefully accepted!

Whilst I can understand that the paypoint error isn't the HA's fault, the ageement was that he would pay #100 on his payment card by x date, and this is what is on their records. He also called them to tell them he had made the payment, so they ignored that and went ahead with action anyway.

I'm trying to help a mate who has got himself into a spot of bother with his housing association. Basically he has got into arrears, firstly by not paying all his rent when he should, then he lost his job and had problems with housing benefit, resulting in arrears of ~£800 on his account. The housing association told him unless he paid £100 by a certain date on his card, then they would take him to court. He made the payment on time, however due to a problem with paypoint it wasn't received for 10 days, by which time they had filed court action for a suspended possession order, incurring costs of £150. At the court, the judge asked if he agreed with what the housing association were saying. He said yes, thinking he was agreeing he agreed he was in arrears, but was actually agreeing the case, so the order was duly signed, case closed. Basically he feels it is unfair he should pay costs as he made the payment as agreed with the housing (which is noted on their records), the fact paypoint had a problem is nothing to do with him. He has the receipt and the housing admit they have received it and it was made on time. What should he do to have the costs taken out of the judgement, or have it set aside?

Did they actually disconnect you? To me it sounds like a pre-warrant visit, where a debt rep scopes out the siuation and tries to obtain payment and/or try to get you to have a prepayment meter fitted voluntarily before they actually go to court. You are running out of time, you need to follow mree's advice to stop further action. However when they go to court you should be notified of the details as you can turn up and object (although it is unlikely to do any good unless the utility co has completely stuffed something up).

Just to follow up on Martin3030's post, a complaint to energywatch will have no effect whatsoever because they deal with gas and electricity supply, not servicing. I'm not sure who you would go to if you can't reach remedy with BG, perhaps CORGI (as BG engineers haven't been doing their job properly) or maybe trading standards (they have provided the stated service to an adequate standard). Hopefully someone may be able to confirm/correct this.

Claim number: 7QZ72961 Issued: 16/05/07 Court: Cardiff County Court Charges: £310.50 Interest: £140.77 Costs: £50 Total Claim: £501.27 Currently due for a directions hearing in Cardiff 14th August if it goes ahead. The AQ was dispensed with and no fee was payable.

Put a letter of complaint in writing, if they fail to demonstrate you have used all the power you have paid for, complain to energywatch.

You sign up to Ebico as you would with any other supplier

I would recommend sending them a cheque for what you owe them (actually owe them ie less the £53), along with a letter of complaint, address to their Customer Relations Team, British Gas Trading, Admail AA3119, Southampton, SO14 0NU. If you don't receive a satisfactory response within 14 days, take bankfodder's advice and go to either energywatch or the energy ombudsman.

I don't understand your problem with network rail, why not continue using a young person's railcard?

Unfortunately when you moved in you enetered into a 'deemed contract' with British Gas, so you are legally liable for the power you have used. Whilst they cannot take 'the occupier' to court, they often get details off credit records, the voters roll and the land registry and change the name on the bill. You need to provide BG with the date you moved in and a copy of the meter readings. If you do not have the readings, then BG will estimate them. From the date you spoke to nPower, it usually takes between 4-8 weeks to switch back at your new address. You can check the changeover date independantly with Xoserve (National Grid Transco) for gas (08706081524) and your local MPAS service for electricity. nPower should have advised you to let BG have a copy of the readings and of the changeover period when you moved in. Whilst all companies have some staff who don't always mention this, nPower are particularly bad in this area.

There is no 'fixed limit' as such, but energywatch will only take on a complaint if you have given the company an opportunity to resolve it first. 21 days would seem ample, at least to acknowledge your complaint if not resolve it altogether.

I would recommend sending in a letter requesting a copy of all statements for that 3 year period, to investigate your missing direct debit payments (you are sure they were taking both payments aren't you, not just gas?), and to hold collection action until this is resolved. If there is no response within 21 days complain to energywatch Just one point though, in all fairness BG couldn't have persued this through your agents as if they discussed the account with them they would be breaking the data protection act.

It's not unprofitable - that's why they charge higher prices. They wouldn't want their margins to be hurt now would they?

Why not take your business somewhere else?

They are more expensive for a reason - they cost more to run. The equipment is more complex therefore much more expensive and also far more likely to break down (higher maintenance costs). People also lose/damage their cards over time (cost of replacements, callcentre staff to take the call and issue them and even engineers to come out and give extra emergency credit), and each time the card is used the shop will take a transaction fee. To my knowledge only Ebico actually charge everyone the same, but they acknowledge people who use prepayment meters are less profitable - here is a quote from their site... Of course, the model only works as long as direct debit customers use them, if they only had prepayment customers then the prices would be higher.

They are not obliged to give her a credit meter, it is down to the company. I suspect she has been given duff information, but if the comany continues to refuse to change the meter I can only suggest she finds a new provider.

If you only pay 50% now they will still come around (and charge you for the privilege). Pay what you can afford and get them to put you on a monthly payment scheme, then cancel it when you can afford to pay the remainder of the bill (even if that is only next month).

The scenario you have described wouldn't happen to a landlord/tenant as the account would be in the landlord's name not in the tenants (so they shouldn't open the letter). Your brother in law couldn't have gone shopping online as for that he would need the card number, not your account number and sort code. He could have used them to set up direct debits, but these are easily reversible and he would be traced by the police pretty quickly.

As mree said... they have to actually apply to the court, wait for a court date, go to court, get the warrant, then execute it. You will have plently of notice as this progresses.

They are only obliged to read meters once every two years for domestic meters, although I'm not sure if this even applies to business accounts. It appears that since 20th Feb 06 they have been underestimating your usage. They have presumably now obtained a reading and discovered this, and now billed you accordingly. While providers should make more effort to get accurate readings, the onus is on you to check bills are correct. If they have now billed you correctly, there is little you can do I'm afraid other than see if they will allow you to spread repayments and check your bills more carefully in future. Businesses have very little consumer protection.

He needs to take the serial number of his meter(s) that he is getting billed twice for, then contact Xoserve to confirm who the correct gas supplier is (08706051524) and his local distributor's MPAS service to confirm who his registered ele provider is. Depending on the outcome of the calls, he will either need to reclaim his payments from BG to pay Scottish Power or write to SP advising them he has confirmed with the above services BG is his supplier and to cancel all accounts. The most likely explanation is there is a mix up between the flats and one company is billing the wrong meter.

You need to contact nPower and make a complaint. They should then investigate and send your supply back to Southern (known as an errouneous transfer). If they refuse, complain to energywatch. As for Southern, you will need to contact them to arrange payment. They might agree to hold the bill or let you pay installments until the account is retuned to them, but only they can tell you that.

The £95 is a deposit, not a fee. You get it back (with interest) if you pay your bills on time. They are allowed to charge security deposits or refuse new customers under their licence, so energywatch are unlikely to be able to help I'm afraid. I can only suggest you follow Clare's advice and switch to another provider.