@npowerhelp NPOWER - 'deemed contract' - crazy estimate

[daz2273]

Hello all,

Wondering if someone could help.

Bought a house as a joint owner in 2005 as an investment and was going to move in but never did.

The other joint owner moved in for a while and then moved away and so various tenants have rented the property since.

 

In march this year i moved in and subsequently recieved a letter from npower saying i'de automatically become an npower customer on a 'deemed contract' and then one saying they'de opened a new contract for the address under the name 'the occupier' and could i call their moving home team to update their records. With one thing and another i did'nt and in june went on holiday to return to a bill from npower for £149.

 

I was quite ok with this so was going to phone npower and pay the bill/update their records and give them a meter reading all in one go.

I read the meter and it was 51674kw but then noticed on the bill the actual reading for the account opening dated 10/03/09 was 37956kw.

Obviously panick set in and after a sleepless night i phoned npower to explain this first to be told the meter had actually been read to open the account and then later told by customer support that the reading was the last reading taken by themselves in feb 2005 when i did'nt even own the house let alone live there.

 

Npower say they will look into who's supplied the house since and what the last reading was but after reading some scare stories on various sites i think they will try to bill me for the lot as surely if the contract was a deemed contract they should have been supplying the house.

 

Basically i would like to know where i stand. ei: can they bill me for the entire amount. Can i just switch suppliers and pay the last bill. Do i have any rights to contest them.

I have never signed anything with them and was just going to settle for them supplying me out of convienience so am i contracted to them by law when they cant even say who they took over the contract from.

 

Any help would be greatly appreaciated......thanyou.

[ErikaPNP]

No. You haven't entered into a contract with them. They are trying it on.

 

ETA:If this was read earlier - Ignore this post - wrong thread!! (In fact wrong forum altogether - that's what happens with multiple tabs)

 

Utilities can impose a deemed contract upon a person. It is set out in the Utilities Act 2000: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/Acts/acts2000/ukpga_20000027_en_1

Edited July 15, 2009 by ErikaPNP

[Clare_L]

Unfortunately yes you ARE in a deemed contract as you have used the fuel that THEY have supplied you. They are not trying it on in that respect.

 

However, you need to find out the following from Npower, when was the last time they sent a meter reader to the property to read the meter? I would imagine the reading for the 10/03/09 has got to be an estimate. Did the previous occupants have accounts in their names? Do you have tenancy agreements for the previous occupants? If you can prove that you were not responsible then they cannot expect you to pay the full outstanding balance. Did you take any reads when you moved in in March?

 

Sorry for all the questions, just need to establish the full circumstances.

[ErikaPNP]

Woopsie - I see Clare had already corrected it - cheers me dear.

[daz2273]

Cheers.

Slightly contradicting.

They say the last time they read the meter was in early 2005 when i didnt own the house. They dont seem to know who was living in the property as all mail i've recieved has been addressed to 'The occupier' and they dont seem to know whose been supplying the address since their last reading in early 2005.

 

Since the other co-owner moved out in 2007 i've had a couple we know rent it and a friend and his children but NO - foolish i know but they were never under tenency ageements because they were only meant to be short stays as i always intending to move in.

 

I didnt take any reads in march but it would have been impossible for me to use 15000kw in 4months.

 

I had read that since changes in the law in 2007 the most i could be charged is 1 years worth of bills.

 

Hopefully it will turn out that someone else had supplied the address since 2005 but then why would npower be supplying it now and not have the information of who's been supplying it since.

It all seems a bit strange to me.

Any advise about anything concerning this matter or similar things happening to other people would be most welcome.

Thankyou all.