Hi there, I currently have a problem with Npower of which I have already turned to the Ombudsman and have filed a complaint. I contacted Npower in May and notified Npower I had been there since February, they told me this wasn't a problem and they would get the account set up in my name, I also supplied my readings for when I moved in at this time. A month went by and I hadn't received a welcome package, I called them and asked what the hold up was, they apologized and said the account should be set up soon. Shortly after this I started to get letters threatening forced entry into my apartment (all addressed to the Occupier). I contacted them to tell them that I was still waiting for an account set up in my name and was waiting for them to send a bill in my name, it took many phone calls but eventually Npower called off the debt collectors (after all I don't even think you can get a court order against the Occupier). I called them every month right up until November when they finally set up an account in my name, they also gave me a bill for around £1200. I called them up to see if they would reduce the bill considering that they had taken so long to set up my account and had raised the prices during the time this account was stuck in limbo. They offered to reduce the bill by £70 and set up payment plan which would have me tied to them for around 2 years. As you can imagine I have no interest in being tied to a company that cannot write my name on a bill for more than 6 months. I cant afford to pay the whole bill in one go (the most I can manage is £800) so to avoid a payment plan (of which they mentioned that they would block me from trying to change supply while there was an outstanding balance with them) I contacted them and made an offer to resolve the case, I offered them half of the balance that they asked for which I would pay immediately upon receiving the ok in writing so that I could close the account and switch supply, I put in my mail that I feel as though they are trying to trap me into a contract with them for a 2 year payment plan in order to pay the balance and that I did not have the chance to change my supply since they didn't set up an account for me in my name. I said in this mail that I if we cant come to an agreement I would contact the Ombudsman to resolve the case. They contacted me back saying my request was totally unreasonable and that I was free to contact the Ombudsman (they even included a flyer with the number for them in their mail). They have demanded that I call them to set up a payment plan with in 10 working days or else it would go over to a debt collection agency. The kicker with this is that they haven't even taken my readings, they called me once before they sent their final stance on the issue, I gave them the gas reading fine, then when they asked about the electric, the guy on the phone kept giving me a serial number that didn't appear on my box, so they said they would send someone out, which never happened. So all this is based on estimated readings. I am in a place where I can either try and pay the amount that they are asking and wait and see what the Ombudsman say, or I can not pay them until the case is settled. What should I do in this situation? Kind Regards, Matt

Ok I have read through the info I can find on the site and want to check with you to make sure I understand the process of taking US Airways to small claims court, if I miss something or have made a mistake please let me know! Step 1 - I send a letter before action (LBA) to US Airways telling them that if they don't reconsider their stance within 14 days I will file a case against them in small claims court with no further notice, I also mention in this letter that I do not accept the vouchers as compensation at all and ask them once more for the money I believe they owe me (should I or do I need to mention that it will be small claims court that I file with?) Step 2 - I file the case online, making sure that I state that I am a private bringing a case against an institution and fill out the forms on their website. Step 3 - I send a Particulars of case (POC) recorded delivery to their office which states my issue with them, how much I believe they are liable for and what evidence I will bring against them in court. Step 4 - If they do not respond to the case I file for judgement immediately, if they do I await further instructions from the Judge on what to do next. Step 5 - Go to a hearing if it comes to that and present the evidence (which in my case is boarding passes, all email correspondence and a photo we took in the airport of the gate with the time of departure showing at that point we were delayed 4 hours). Is this all correct? am I missing something else I need to do before I file the case? Thank you all so much for your help and Merry Christmas!

@ FairWorldCitizen hi there, thank you for your advice! The issue I have with their vouchers offer is that I have to fly on their airline again, and based on my past 2 experiences (there and back again) this is not something I would want to do. Because of this I don't really want the vouchers that they have sent, from what I can tell in the regulation is that they need to pay me cash and I do not need to accept vouchers as compensation. It should be noted that they have not offered any cash as compensation, just 2 flight vouchers for $600 USD and they put it forward as a gesture of goodwill as opposed to compensation, they can have the vouchers back if this is something that needs to be done to be compensated. @ ericsbrother I am thinking this is my best move, this is the only way that I think I will see any of the compensation I believe we are entitled to. I will do some reading on this site to learn about how to file for small claims court and what I should do to prepare myself for it. In your message you mention a breach of contract, which contract are you referring to? Thank you for the help guys its all very much appreciated!

Hi all, I got a reply after i requested the info for the fault which the airline has refused to supply to back up their claim that the fault was out of their control. the mail I received can be seen here: - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So looking at this, where can I go from here, without seeing a detailed report on what the fault is I have no idea if their defense makes them exempt from paying compensation. As for the bold part above, does anyone know if this is true or is this just something that they are trying to get me to back off of the case? Any help to plan the next move would be appreciated! Kind Regards, Matt PS the mail I sent to them can be found here: -

Hi All, A good friend of mine linked me to a thread on this site regarding flight compensation for when a flight was significantly delayed. To give you the back story my girlfriend and I traveled to Denver last month on US Airways (November 2013) and was delayed 7 hours in London Heathrow due to a technical fault, because of the delay we missed our connecting flights and the airline put us up in a hotel for 6 hours before we could be put onto another plane to get to Denver. We arrived at our final destination 14 hours later than we were suppose to. While we were in the US i received an email where the airline mentioned it was giving us 2 vouchers for $600 as a gesture of good will because of the delay. I didn't respond to the mail because I thought I would deal with this after I got back to the UK. On the way back we found ourselves on another delayed flight (only 3 hours this time) and when we finally got back US Airways had manged to lose my suitcase (although to their credit they did get this back to me a day after I arrived in the UK). Understandably I don't want to use their airline ever again as the money I saved using that option was not worth the time I lost by everything that went wrong. I found a template and some information on money saving expert and contacted the airline using their template to request the €600 for each passenger. I received a response from them stating that they didn't have to pay any compensation because they did all necessary checks that they are required to do and that the problem was out of their control.The exact mail I sent to them with our personal info removed can be found here: - The response I received was this: - After reading your sticky thread about this I did notice the following was posted on the sticky, post number 5 - 1. Article 5(3) of Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 February 2004 establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights, and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 295/91, must be interpreted as meaning that a technical problem in an aircraft which leads to the cancellation of a flight is not covered by the concept of ‘extraordinary circumstances’ within the meaning of that provision, unless that problem stems from events which, by their nature or origin, are not inherent in the normal exercise of the activity of the air carrier concerned and are beyond its actual control. The Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air, concluded in Montreal on 28 May 1999, is not decisive for the interpretation of the grounds of exemption under Article 5(3) of Regulation No 261/2004. 2. The frequency of the technical problems experienced by an air carrier is not in itself a factor from which the presence or absence of ‘extraordinary circumstances’ within the meaning of Article 5(3) of Regulation No 261/2004 can be concluded. 3. The fact that an air carrier has complied with the minimum rules on maintenance of an aircraft cannot in itself suffice to establish that that carrier has taken ‘all reasonable measures’ within the meaning of Article 5(3) of Regulation No 261/2004 and, therefore, to relieve that carrier of its obligation to pay compensation provided for by Articles 5(1)© and 7(1) of that regulation The last part (listed as 3) suggests to me that they are still responsible to pay compensation, however I this is the first time I have ever had a possible legal problem and I wanted to make sure I understood what has been written correctly, and secondly ask if i can use the above quote, how do I need to reference it and is there a proper link to a page with this ruling that I can link to directly? Sorry to pester your board with stuff like this, however I figured the best course of action was to ask some guys in the know for advice before I responded to their email. Kind Regards, Matt