To 'The Occupier', love Collections Direct

[sillygirl1]

Ok, what happens if your credit runs out in the middle of the night? Does your gas/electricity suddenly stop? No, there is a small credit facility of a few pounds to cover emergencies. Normally, the credit is immediately recovered when the next payment is put on the card. However, if suppliers are changed when there is a debit balance, the new suppliers card will not be aware that there is a small balance outstanding on the old card?

 

Whilst I see your point, the above situation doesn't happen as if you are on a credit meter you CAN'T change suppliers that easily... the system is set for one supplier only and they take MONTHS to get somebody out to see if there is a problem. I speak with experience here.

 

All I am saying is that it is feasible for there to be a slight payment due (the rest would be charges).

 

Sorry but this isn't possible, any credit payment is taken FIRST then the card is credited with the remainder... and trying to get your money back from them is a nightmare when there has been an overpayment or change of meter.

 

If the old card you were using was not supplied by npower then you certainly have nothing to worry about, in fact it may be best to wash your hands of it and pass it to your landlord.

 

A TO THE OCCUPIER letter from NPower isn't worth the paper it is written on, if you don't owe them money ignore it, if they write again send them a copy of your tenancy agreement and point out that you have been in constant contact with them as evidenced by payments on your meter.

[make them aktiv runners]

I agree money is taken first for an outstanding balance. The situation here is that suppliers were changed, therefore in theory the old card could have a balance owing but the new suppliers card would not.

 

It is not really relevant now though Sillygirl as the OP has already stated that there was nothing outstanding on the card when suppliers changed.

 

Again Sillygirl, read the thread, OP is not in constant contact with npower via constantly paying (his supplier is EDF). OP does not have to give his name/tenancy agreement as evidence as it is not his debt, he simply needs to tell them he is now the tenant and if they have a query over a previous tenant then they would have to contact his landlord.

[Tazzy's_Boy]

Here's another curious thing that only just hit me...it must be the cold weather slowing me down

 

The postal address for 'Collections Direct' is NE11 0BR. The NE11 0.. series of postcodes are those for the Team Valley Trading Estate which, among others, boasts nPower as a resident business...

 

Collections Direct lives in the Team valley with nPower...Rebyl Ltd lives in Windmill Hill with nPower...these coincidences just keep popping up.

 

Right now, if I was a cynic, I'd be just about ready to bet some small change that Collections Direct is basically nPower in a plain brown wrapper, Rebyl is a dormant company used as a 'postbox' to avoid having to give an nPower company as a 'Registered Office', and the idea is to make an 'inside' collection job look like an 'outside' DCA.

 

IF I was a cynic, of course...

[ScarletPimpernel]

As done by all the banks; most DCAs have at least one other trading name too. However, despicable though they are, they have usually registered all their names with the Information Commissioner...

[morteee]

personally I would send the letter back stating that there is no one of the name 'the occupier' known at this address

[Newborn]

When dealing with problems I usually approach from first principles. So when looking at the DPA I approached it as a potential DCA.

I may have missed something here but, having looked at how companies have to register as data controllers I noted that they have to declare the data use for 'data processing to collect debt for a third party, or to purchase debt'. It doesn't seem to let them process data to buy debt AND to collect it as one company with the same data controller. I researched this as it seems that every DCA I deal with has an 'alter ego'.

So has the DPA and IC inadvertantly caused a conflict here where all we have to do is to 'withdraw consent' for (for example) Cabot (Europe) to data process with Cabot (UK) whilst the debt is in dispute or maybe even before that! Would it not put another barrier in our favour between the 'legal owner' of the debt and the CRA?

This may also explain the old chestnuts 'getting in touch with the original creditor' and 'rights v responsibilities' as this may just be undeclared ineterests between group companies. So by withdrawing consent for the two data controllers to process data between them we queer that pitch so the 'account administrator' won't be able to talk to the 'creditor'.

Am I reading too much into this?

[Sadegh]

In January 2006 my wife and I inherited (from the previous owner of my house) a gas account with Npower Gas Limited. We never signed a contract, and retained the gas account until 12 September 2006 when I managed, two months after I had signed the transfer instructions, to move to SSE. Npower then continued to bill us, even as I was being billed (and debited) by SSE. Around the middle of this year 2007 I thought I had finally clarified with Npower that we were with SSE and not Npower, and that Npower should leave us alone. But on 19 December 2007 Nicola Cook, writing for (Rebyl Limited trading as) “Collections Direct”, issued us a demand on Npower’s behalf for £856.59.

 

Looking at the data on WebCheck at Companies House, it appears that Rebyl Limited’s last return (as a dormant company) was made on 29 June 2007: so Rebyl possibly could argue that they started to trade from July 2007. Looking at the Register of Data Controllers, I see that Npower Gas Limited is registered to transfer data to “agents of the data controller… other companies in the same group as the data controller… debt collection and tracing agencies…” Assuming Rebyl falls within one or more of these categories, that would still leave Rebyl and Npower open to fines from the Information Commissioner for unlawful disclosure (by Npower to Rebyl) and use (by Rebyl) of personal data. Rebyl is not listed as a data controller, nobody at the postcode NE11 0BR is listed as a data controller, and no person called Nicola Cook is listed as a data controller at the Npower postcode SN5 6PB. So it should be unlawful for Rebyl and this Nicola Cook (in her capacity as an officer of Rebyl) to use personal data from Npower. Since Npower must know that Rebyl etc are not registered, it should also be unlawful for Npower to disclose data to Rebyl etc.

 

Am I missing something?

[Goldlady]

npower have recently issued an amended bill addressed to myself and OH personally for business premises which were leased by our limited company which went into liquidation over two years ago:(

[timlcfc]

Anyone have any more letters from Collections Direct aka NPower? We left them a few months ago but still are billing us for £20 when we were using our new supplier.

 

Should I bother writting to them or is is a complete waste of time?

[honey5]

i had one a while back for £4800 and odd pound (bearing in mind i pay mine monthly) i rang and explained that i had not moved house (not sure how many bedrooms it wouldve taken to use that amount of gas an elec anyways ) , my bill was by DD monthly and asked what they were on?

i got the "this IS YOUR bill...................................."

until it came to them rechecking the ref numbers yet again and the bill actually belonged to the NR which is about 1/2 mile away :o

didnt half give me a fright when i opened it tho :o

honey x

[Goldlady]

So the NR hadn't paid their gas/elec bill? Hmmm. Wonder if Collections Direct tried the same bully boy tactics on them:D.

[honey5]

So the NR hadn't paid their gas/elec bill? Hmmm. Wonder if Collections Direct tried the same bully boy tactics on them:D.

 

 

;-) you could be right, just shows you in a space of 4 weeks where money is spent huh ;-)

 

honey x

[connellyg]

collections direct is the npower internal collections department ring thro on

0800 551 555 and ask for the collections department i think its closed collections.

[jharbottle]

We have just had a lovely letter from a Mr Howell (operations manager) of Collections Direct threatening all sorts. Our nPower bill is 12 days late, we have been on holidays for god sake and you get back to a letter from this pr*ck saying "if you don't pay bla bla bla"

This company have angered me so much that I have joined here to let off steam lol:D

Needless to say, we won't be staying with nPower. We have signed over to EON now and we get Tesco club card points on our bills plus 500 points for joining. Well, every little helps......no thats ASDA isn't it.