Thank you so much. I will get That all sorted tomorrow morning! 

Hi

ive been trying to sort out my finances over the last couple of years. I’ve had a debt with Lowell that I went to court with and won, and now I have 2 debts left with Lowell which I’m ignoring u TIL they do something more (I hope that’s the right thing to do). I also had an npower issue which I’ve just got a tomlin order for with help from here (thank you!)

But, now I have a huge Lloyd’s overdraft. My situation is that I’ve not been working for about 8 years due to childcare costs meaning that It would literally have cost me to work. My husband works full time. I have been in receipt of child benefit, maintenance payments and tax credits which has just changed to universal credit. Our finances were tight but we’ve mainly got by.  About 18 months ago we were a bit short one month so I applied for an overdraft of £500, to my shock they accepted. I then applied to increase it and they just kept on increasing it until now it’s over £3000. My income that goes into my bank doesn’t come close to even clearing that at any point during the month, so I am charged daily fees every day, which obviously vary but amount to about £180 each month. These fees are making things incredibly difficult for us financially and I’ve realised I have to do something about it, but I’ve absolutely no idea what. I’ve googled and the main advice that seems to be given out is to get an interest free credit card and transfer it to pay it down, but I can’t get one of those so I’ve been stuck desperately trying to cover these fees each month which aren’t even chipping away at the balance. 

So I was asking for advice on two matters here, firstly what is the best way to get rid of this overdraft? I’ve already thought about setting up a new bank account and transfer all of my banking stuff to them, but  then Lloyd’s will just continue adding this interest and the debt will spiral . I have no idea what else to do as I can’t currently afford to pay down the balance at all while I’m paying these fees.

my other thought was that surely they should have never given me the overdraft in the first place, they knew I wasn’t working and obviously knew what my income was exactly as it all goes into this account, can I do anything regarding that? 

Sorry this is so long, but any advice at all would be massively appreciated 

Hiya

i just wanted to say thank you again for all your help with this. My tomlin order is about set up I think! I’m sure this is the best possible outcome I could have got from this. Thank you x

I’ve just received an email saying they’ve accepted my offer of repayment and have attached a Tomlin Order for me to sign and return. I’m shocked as I made a really low offer expecting them to come back and negotiate a higher amount and they haven’t. I fully expect my finances to improve in about a years time, and I’d told them this.. 

They have put this bit in though which worries me,

does this mean that they can demand higher payments from me in a year?

What if I can’t afford what they want?

Will they automatically get a ccj?

And what if I forget to submit an I and e form to them?

Can they automatically get a ccj then? 

Thank you.

she was adamant I was to put without prejudice at the top, I shouldn’t do that either should I? 

I phoned their solicitor and requested a tomlin order.

They said they’re open to it, how much was I offering and on what amount.

I said the full amount without interest.

She said I had to fill in an income and expenditure form and then she’d mention it to npower and see what they said , but she said they’d be unlikely to agree to the amount less interest and at a low figure, which I don’t know what kind of figure they’d be looking at but it’s limited how much I can offer at the moment. 

Am I right to fill in the i and e form?

And was I right to offer without interest or should I have agreed to pay that as well?

I also said my circumstances will probably be different in a year, so she said they’d probably include a clause to agree to it being reassessed in 6 months,

what would happen if they agree an amount I can afford now and if they’ll only accept an amount I can’t at a review?

Thank you for your help again  x

how do I go about getting a tomlin order? I’ve read up a bit on them And I think I understand them.  I think that’s my best option. I don’t dispute I owe them a fair sum of money, and I can’t prove anything against them to reduce the amount and the stress of this is making me ill

I honestly don’t know. I don’t know what to do. I think the amount is ludicrously high, but I don’t see how I can argue it either. I object to them adding interest to it as well, but I don’t think I have a legal argument against that either. I just don’t know.

the income and expenditure sheet was attached to the copy of the email they sent me in feb 2018, which is when they sent me I and E form first time. I don’t think it’s meant for me now. I’m so worried about doing the wrong thing. They have lied about a few things within that, but I doubt any of it would make any difference in court either.

Can you see anything I could argue or do you think I’d be better to try and come to a payment arrangement now.

I don’t dispute owing them some, I just don’t think I owe that much, but other than the interest they’ve added I can’t prove anything at all. 

I’ve attached most of the documents that they sent and hope I’ve redacted all my info. I had to leave out some bits as it was too large to upload. The bits I’ve left out that they also sent are copies of lots more bills, I’ve included some.

Also there were lots of sheets, mainly in code from when they state they came to read the metre. These and the solicitors letter says I refused them access to read the metre, this is absolutely not true, the metres were at the back of the garage that we used for storage, and once that I remember he said it was too full to get through, it wasn’t that bad or that full. Other times he didn’t mention that and could get through ok, but the metre was really high up in the wall and he couldn’t access it due to the height. I also at one point requested pre payment metres but they couldn’t fit them due to the height of the metres, and I think there was an issue that they were on an internal wall too. 

Also, they said the metre readings weren’t provided by the letting agents, they were. The agents told us this, as did npower, and all of the letters they sent to us after we’d moved they had our address because the letting agents had given it to them. I spoke to npower within a couple of weeks of moving and they already had all of the information from the letting agents. There also were no tenants after us. The house was sold but stood empty for over a year first. 

The income and expenditure form I had filled in and sent off to them, but they have never referred to that so they must have lost it.

I dont one know what to do now. If it goes to court what can I argue? I don’t think I owe that much but I don’t what I can say. I really want to avoid a ccj, and I don’t see why I should pay all that interest as well but I don’t know what my options are now. I’ve been reading and reading and can’t find anything similar. I’m am so panicked by it all

Npower_smaller.pdf

It said that they have to file or confirm with the court by 17th, and that they have done.

and that I have to respond with to them within 7 days of the date of the letter, which is actually 4th,

they sent me an email saying that the date on the letter should be 11th,

but that they’re aware that they sent me an email

but the attachments were too large so I didn’t receive it,

they’ve sent me a paper copy of what they’d sent through.

do I even have a defence?

I’m so confused.

I don’t doubt that I owe something, but just not that much.

There paper work says I have paid over £2000, but still owe over £4000, and then they’ve added interest of over £1000.

Could someone please help me?

ive received a reply from the solicitors and I don’t really understand it and I have no idea how to respond.

It’s pages and pages long, but if I can work out how to redact my info from it and I post it up could someone please helpe?

Its dated 11th and says I have to reply by the 18th, so Thursday.

I’m so worried.

Theyve refuted every point I made in my defence.

They’ve sent copies of lots of bills, and said a few things which simply aren’t true but I don’t think they’re important things.

They’ve said that I refused entry for the meter readers which simply isn’t true, and their screenshot of attempted meter reads said couldn’t access, which is true, the meter was too high at the back of the garage, the man who used to come to read it couldn’t access it either.

Almost all of the readings are estimates but they say that doesn’t matter.

They said they didn’t respond for a year between last year and this because I’d said I was approaching a fund for help paying the bill, which isn’t true, I do know about the funds, and I did ask for help from them when I heard about them, but that was March  this year, I’d not heard of it when I spoke to them. 

ok!

I will add in the dates and submit it now.

I really can't thank you enough for your help x

Thank you so much. This is brilliant, and a lot of help, thank you!

Just one thing, do I need to mention that I didn't get a default notice or does that not matter with this?

x

Thank you so much 

Is the 14th the right date, that I have until then to file it? X

Hiya

i thought I was sorted with my defence, I was just going to post it up here, but I thought it was ok, then when I've come to post it here and hope that you'd check it I realised I'd messed up, as its from the solicitors of npower and the debt hasn't been sold. I've had another go but I'm not sure I'm right with this, would you have a look at it for me please?

Also, if its due on the 14th, I was going to submit it today or tomorrow, is that right? I've been waiting too to see if I do get the documents I've requested but I haven't received them. I thought they would in all honesty get them out. I've been back through all of my paperwork again and I have not got the invoice they refer to. I've carefully filed everything I have received from them, which is actually very little, but I definitely don't have that so I can only assume I never received it at all.

Here is my second attempt at a defence..

Defence

1.       The Defendant contends that the particulars of claim are vague and generic in nature The Defendant accordingly sets out its case below and relies on CPR 31.14 in relation to any particular allegation to which a specific response has not been made.

2.       Paragraph 1 and 2 are noted however as I do not recall the precise details of the alleged agreement, nor did I receive the invoice referred to and am unaware of a default being issued I have sought verification from the claimant.

3.       I have requested from the claimant information pertaining to this claim by way of a 31.14 request. The claimant has failed to date to respond the CPR.

4.       It is therefore denied with regards to the Defendant owing any monies to the Claimant, the Claimant has failed to provide any evidence of assignment/balance/breach requested by CPR 31.14, therefore the Claimant is put to strict proof to:

a)       Show how the defendant entered into an agreement; and

b)      Show and evidence the breach and service of the Default Notice

c)       Show how the Defendant has reached the amount claimed for

5.       As per Civil Procedure Rule 16.5(4), it is expected that the Claimant prove the allegation that the money is owed.

6.       By reasons of the facts and matters set out above, it is denied that the Claimant is entitled to the relief claimed or any relief

Thank you! I’ve seen that one and can adjust..

but what do I do if they do send the paperwork? 

Am i ok to put it up here and would you check it for me please?

The solicitors haven’t responded to my cpr request yet. 

I’ve been reading and reading and I have no clue what to base my defence on, can anyone give me any pointers at all please? 

Yeah it was rented so the agents took photos of the start and end readings and phoned npower and gave their readings

I’ve looked through all of my paperwork and can’t find it anywhere so I don’t think so, I will have another look tonight 

And I remember most of the bills were estimates, they had a lot of trouble getting to one of the meters as it had been fitted really high. They did occasionally bring ladders and read it properly though

This is the thing, we lived there for 3 years almost to the day, we weren’t with npower at the house before or after. And over that 3 years we did struggle to pay the bill for some of that time, and we did get some arrears, but it wasn’t anywhere near all of the time we live there

Thank you, I’ve done that. X

I will send the letter to solicitors in the morning.

what grounds have I got to defend it on? I’m getting so confused

Oh sorry, it’s NPOWER ltd

Hello

i was hoping someone might be able to give me some advice please.

It’s a bit complicated, but I’ve ended up with a claim form and I’m terrified. 

I moved house two years ago.

At my old address I was with npower.

I lived there for 3 years.

We had some financial issues and we were in arrears with npower, but we also were making some payments to them, as agreed with them.

When we moved, I had health issues (problematic pregnancy)  and was in hospital a bit and I didn’t straight away try to resolve the npower issues.

I heard no more from them

just over a year ago when I got a letter from William chapman solicitors, it was demanding over £4000 from us for npower.

They said they’d sent me an incoming and outgoing letter which I hadn’t received, so they emailed me a copy,

I sent it back to them and heard no more from them and didn’t chase them.

I then received a letter before action a few weeks ago and I now have a claim form from them, dated 14th May.

I don’t dispute that I owe npower some money, but I have no idea how the bill can possibly be as high as they’re saying.

Even if I hadn’t paid at all for three years that would still be a high bill, but we did pay, even though I know there were arrears. I don’t know how to proceed at all.

I can’t afford to pay them over £5000 which they now have the bill at, and I also can’t afford to get a ccj.

I’d like to come up with a payment plan but they didn’t respond last time I sent them one.

I’d really appreciate any advice please!