Utility Warehouse & Power2Contact ...

[accesspwd]

My partner has not been paying the electric and gas bills so know we owe £280 to them

 

We called them last month to setup a direct debit to start taking payments this month but they told us they wouldnt setup a direct debit unless we made an initial payment there and then.

 

We told them we couldnt afford to but was still happy to setup the direct debit with them to start taking payments,

we wanted the first payment to be taken 23rd April - But they refused to set this up because we wouldnt pay anything of there and then

 

A few days later a letter came in the post from them saying 'Thank you for setting up a direct debit'

- I thought they must have decided to set it up and take the payments (althought they told us they wouldnt set nothing up)

 

Then last week they took £79 from my partners account - a little annoyed as we had originally asked to pay £23 per month (but as mentioned they refused this.

 

We didnt phone them because £79 less on future bills - but today we got a letter from power2contact

saying they will be looking to gain access to the house on 6th June to disconnect the electric

 

Can they even do this?

Can they pass this to power2contact seeing as we DID pay them £79 only last week

and are showing interest that we are paying them back?

Please give us some advice

 

Thanks in advance

[accesspwd]

Sorry for such a long post - there should be paragraphs amonst my post but they have not shown for some reason

[dx100uk]

lines added sorry site has issues...

dx

[dx100uk]

haha

 

power2contact - they are a DCA - they wouldn't know which end of a screwdriver let alone be allowed to touch an electric meter installation:lol:

 

they have NO LEGAL POWERS TO DO ANYTHING!!

 

ignore them!

 

now this £79 - did thety inform you IN WRITING before hand it they were going to take £79??

 

if they did not - they phone your bank and demand it is refunded immefiately under the DD guarantee - THIS THEY MUST DO BY LAW.

dont take any rubbish either - if the telephone monkey doen't know how to - then ask for the supervisor.

 

dont let UU get away with this - or they will continue to fleece you.

 

its YOUR money - take control of it

 

dx

[accesspwd]

Really? They jave mentioned a court date on 6th JuneI have not seen the letter yet my partner has it - Ill try shed more light on it when I see the letter later

[dx100uk]

scan the required letters/agreements/sheets

as a picture file

remove all pers info inc barcodes etc using paint

but leave all figures and dates.

goto one of the many free online pdf converter websites

convert the image to pdf format.

or ir you have PDF as an installed printer drive use that

open a new msg box here

hit go advanced below the msg box

hit manage attachments below that box

hit the add files button on the top right

hit select files, navigate to your file on your pc

hit upload files

NB:you can set where it goes in the post by hitting insert inline.

the hit reply button

dx

[count orlok]

How long has it been since the bill was paid? Are you on benefits? Have you tried the Energy trust?

 

You should never let utility companies set up direct debits, they think nothing of upping the payments without your sayso. DD is not the way to pay a bill that keeps going up even when you use less.

 

I had similar problems with utilities but the reason why I racked up a massive (bigger than yours) bill was their fault. In order to get me to sign with them they set up a small amount by DD, after a year we owed 100s and they wanted to take £94 a month (we are on pension credits and payments of this magnitude would caused no end of troubles with the bank). I contacted them to say this was not possible, and they agreed they would no take the payment untill the mater was sorted. Just to make sure I cancelled the DD anyway. A couple of weeks later I got a letter from them saying the bank had refused their £94 DD!

 

I contacted the Energy Trust re the outstanding balance and started to put the money by to pay quaterly. The Energy Trust contacted the utility company to say they were dealing with it but they still kept calling me to start paying of the arrears. I kept saying no, reminding them it was their fault (they lied about the cost and put me on the wrong much higher tariff), as I needed the money to pay the next bill. They would not accept that if I paid this bill I would not be able to pay the next and the help from the energy trust would only be once and for the present not future bills.

 

Eventually the Energy Trust paid the arrears and they shut up. If you have children, are old or disabled they can't cut you off anyway. It never got as far as a DCA, but they did mark my credit file (it was already trashed so no biggy, but I don't think its right that utility companies can mark credit files as it is not credit)

[accesspwd]

OK, below is the letter they have sent me - Hopefully you can see it...

..

I guess there is nothing to be worried about? Thanks in advance

 

Please click on the PDF attachment

 

100_0262.pdf

Edited May 8, 2011 by accesspwd

[accesspwd]

anyone read the letter - any advice would help

 

thanks

[Bazooka Boo]

That is the first time I have ever seen or read a "Human Rights Notification"??????

 

I have absolutely zero idea what that really is? But they have given you a date and a time that they are going to go to court, is this your local one?

IMO I would turn up and put in a defence, but I'm not up to scratch on Utility bill debts, give me a while to do some research.

[Bazooka Boo]

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/ManagingDebt/DebtsAndArrears/DG_10025592

 

Another story http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?267414-Utility-Warehouse-just-broke-into-my-house&p=3163802&viewfull=1

[dx100uk]

can you please post the letter up as asked

 

cant read postage stamps

 

dx

[Bazooka Boo]

100_0262.pdf

 

Its already in his post DX

[dx100uk]

wasnt last night

 

dx

[dx100uk]

urm.....

 

something fishy here

 

a dca cannot and is not the one that does this in the cases of meter replacement.

 

there is no way they will get this if you attend

 

now, can you just check something please

 

ring the court and ask if the case exists please tomorrow.

 

i've got more info

 

i'll be back in a mo.

 

dx

[dx100uk]

right this is not UU but they will have the samething ... it needs to be investigated though...........

 

 

Not sure if any of this could be of use:

 

From 1st October 2010, companies of the Scottish and Southern group:

 

•Atlantic Electric and Gas

•Southern Electric

•SWALEC and

•Scottish Hydro Electric

offer a three-tier package for customers who are vulnerable or in fuel poverty (i.e. spending 10% or more of their income on fuel).

 

 

 

What the package offers

 

 

 

First Tier

 

Customers who spend between 10% to 14% of household income on energy costs: a Winter Care Rebate of £50.00 per fuel.

 

 

 

Second Tier

 

Customers who spend between 15% to 19% of household income on energy costs: are offered either

 

•£100.00 rebate per fuel; or

•referral to their Community Interest Company (CIC) for appropriate assistance (for example, a more detailed conversation to identify how to help that person in their situation) and, if they have an outstanding balance on their fuel account greater than the rebate, they will be encouraged to take it.

Third Tier

 

Customers who spend 20% or over of household income on energy costs will:

 

•qualify for the energyplus Care tariff. This gives a 30% reduction on their standard tariff rate.

•be referred to CIC for further support and assistance, depending on their circumstances.

CIC offers include:

 

•choice from a range of A-rated appliances

•a retail pack (a range of smaller products to help use energy efficiently in the home)

•benefit entitlement check and money advice (through a third-party partnership)

•detailed energy efficiency advice and help with additional energy efficiency measures.

 

Careline

 

 

 

Careline provides a team of specially trained advisers for:

 

•the elderly (over 60)

•people with disabilities

•the chronically sick

•the partially-sighted

•the blind

•the hearing-impaired and

•the deaf.

This service can provide:

 

•a freephone helpline with direct routing to an adviser

•a password scheme to confirm that meter readers and representatives are genuine

•a meter reading service

•free relocation of the meter where this is difficult to read for customers with an infirmity or a disability

•a Knock and Wait scheme which allows the customer time to answer their door

•advice on keeping warm, energy-efficient use of appliances and energy efficiency options generally and

•a free gas safety check.

 

 

the other thing is

that no company has a right to enter your premis if they or a meter reader has done so in the lat 24mts

'just' to replace the meter.......

 

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Eliz2/2-3/21

 

dx

[accesspwd]

Hi DX sorry for not getting back to you I didnt receive any emails to say there was replies etc on the forum, and been busy to check

 

Had a call in work earlier and had to rush home because there was people trying to get access to my house - Yup you guessed it, they did goto court and got the warrant for access to put a pre-meter in, lega costs ext are now 1000 so i have no idea how we are going to be able to live. I mean we did try to pay the utility company but they made everything so hard and this has all come about

 

I am completely fuming

[Bazooka Boo]

Why didn't you do anything at the time? Did you not attend the court and defend this?

 

I'm not surprised your fuming, I'm a little peeved that the time and advice that I gave fell on deaf ears..oh well, you live & learn.

[dx100uk]

:roll::roll:

[accesspwd]

Im gutted and fuming - has caused a lot of stress on my relationship today, hope well be OK.

 

It wasnt i didnt listen to your advice mate, i just didnt log onto the site to see any feed back from anyone.

 

I have involved Ofgem as of today so hopefully something will work - im so in shock i dont know what to say

[dx100uk]

yes but regardless, you should still have done 'something'!

 

dx

[accesspwd]

Can someone read my emails to Utility Warehouse over the past 2 days - I strongly feel they have not helped me repay the debt on the account although I did actively try.

 

Here are the recent emails from their complaints department:-

 

 

On Mon, Jun 6, 2011 at 5:07 PM, Energy Escalations wrote:

 

I am emailing in relation to your email complaining about the handling of the debt on the above account. I apologise for the distress and inconvenience caused by this and below is a reply to the points raised.

 

I have listened to the calls from the time when a payment plan was discussed. Miss Rossiter spoke with Melodi on 24/03/2011, made a card payment of £47.39 and provided bank details for a payment plan. Melodi confirmed the details of the payment plan and passed the call to Lisa working for the debt company to arrange this. However, when Lisa advised Miss Rossiter that an initial payment would have to be made at that time to arrange the payment plan Miss Rossiter refused. The only refusal by Lisa was to hold the account until 23/04/2011 for a payment plan to be arranged then. Due to the inconsistent payments on your account this is why a hold was refused.

 

The bank details that were provided to Melodi were saved on the account. Therefore, as you referred to in your email, the April invoice of £69.07 was taken from that account. Miss Rossiter should have been advised that the direct debit would be used for ongoing invoices and I apologise that she wasn't. Also I am sorry that this caused you problems with transport back from work. However, we sent the letter you refer to confirming the direct debit and sent the April invoice to allow time for you to dispute or cancel this.

 

These are the main points raised in your complaint and I hope I have provided a suitable explanation for these. If you require any further assistance or would like to raise and further points please don't hesitate to reply to this email or call 0844 815 7777.

 

Regards,

 

 

My Reply to his email:-

 

 

Firstly I want to thank you for such a prompt reply - So thank you

 

Having read your email there is some things that I disagree with being:-

 

You mentioned inconsistent payment on my account - Yet on that call on 24/03/11 we called you to make a payment of £47.39 and also set-up a payment plan to gradually pay off our debt, this was the first time we had ever discussed the arrears on this account and strongly feel benefit of the doubt should have been given to see if we did honour our promise to repay on the payment plan

 

So in that call not only did we make an initial payment of £47.39 but we also offered to set-up a payment plan which was rejected on the basis that we were not reliable? Should we have not had the intention to pay wouldn't we have not called you in the first place to discuss the payment plan?

 

Surely this makes our case stronger on the pretence that we were trying, and also willing to catch up on the payments but no help offered from you other than a rejection? I've not heard of a company turning down money before so fail to see why the big fuss of not being straight forward and just taking the payment plan on the same date that was agreed with Melodi

 

You also mention that you sent us a letter confirming the Direct Debit

Again this is something that we agree with - we certainly did receive that letter. However, seeing as we discussed payment plans on that call and the Direct Debit details handed over for that purpose then once the letter was received we had assumed you had since agreed to take the payment plan on the dates as discussed.

 

It then came to light what you have actually gone and taken the standard monthly bill rather than any payment plan at all

 

You have now since passed my file to Power2Contact who gained access to my house and fitted pre-payment meters and charged us £350 EACH for these boxes, plus court costs and the original debt - Now this debt is over £1000 because you wanted a £23 payment on that day rather than a Direct Debit being set-up and my account being brought out of arrears,

 

This is something that I wont just let go of, and now personally feel very bitter about such a company that refused to help a customer who actively made contact with you, made a payment, and volunteered a payment plan

 

I look forward to receiving a reply to my email that will hopefully have a solution to the dreadful way in which we have been dealt with

 

Regards

 

 

Please give me some advice on this - surely we have been unfairly treated somewhere - Its been worked out that Dec, Jan, Feb payments were missed and we called in March to make a payment and setup a repayment which they refused to setup with us

[clio2010]

If anyone has said this before i apoligies but please never ever set up a direct debit with a dca could you not pay them by standing order?

[dx100uk]

i have edit your email above - as you had inculded names and pers details.

 

i have also tried to correct the english, because to be frank, the original made little sense.

 

i hope UU get the idea of what you meant to say!.

 

dx

[answer>question]

Ok, I've got bad news. You can try and by all means do to take the complaint further but at the end of the day, you wasn't paying all of your bills, they gave notice, you took no action to pay the bills (you kind of made a promise to in the future but this does not count) and warrant applied and carried out. You will have the warrant costs held to you as UW won't accept these costs. You state you tired to pay but as the reply mentions, you agreed to start paying by Direct Debit, and this was all well and good for your future bills and to enable a payment plan to be setup; but you refused to make the 1st payment on any kind of payment plan that UW were chasing you for and due to a poor history on the account, the advisor refused further time to hold off any action, which you have to also understand they're point-of-view it was the end of March, and you hadn't paid a bill since November 2010 I'm guessing and wasn't prepared to at least meet halfway by paying 1st payment to stop any action? You have to ask, why would they, it backdates all the actions they were trying to do in regards to warrants/prepay meters, if you then go on not to pay as promised, the debt will continue to grow putting both them and you into further debt.

 

You then had that time until the warrant date (more importantly the court date to stop the warrant costs) to sort something out, if you didn't, costs applied and Prepayment meters go in and this is what has happened. Now, I will admit I work for UW (actually work, in the energy department - not an exec) so I speak from experience here, and it is horrible to have to tell you this information.

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Two things to help 1. in regards to your complaint, if you want to continue and no resolve with escalations team, you can raise to their supervisor (level 2) and then manager (level 3), if still no joy, then you can write to CEO Team and if still no joy you can go to the Energy Ombudsman, if you refuse the Ombudsman's final decision you can take it to the small claims court. That is an internal way, or 2. you could go the route of speaking to Consumer Focus, you can offer advise in regards to your issues (sorry not got the number to hand), these I would say are better to help than CAB as they are not energy knowledgable, but more often than not, they will ask if you have gone through the complaints process.

 

Ok so finally and sorry this is such a long post; helping you going forward. You have a large debt to be placed on your meters, these will have a recovery rate, I believe you work so what I advise you do is write to Prepayment Team, on the Network HQ address (you can find on the UW website) basically putting an offer of what you can pay weekly in regards to the recovery rate and supportive reasons why, now they can't ask for your ins and out goings but you also have to give a supportive reason why they should lower the recovery rates for you so if it was me, I would be honest put an offer and rough supporting reason why (i.e. I cannot afford £20 per week per meter, please lower to £10 per meter as earn household earnings are £1200 a month, and have have to pay for this, and this, etc). Therefore if it is reasonable, it helps them, help you.

 

Thanks for reading, sorry if it's not the answer you wanted but hope some of it helps. As I said I work for UW, but I'm off the clock so this is just me trying to help and be as honest as I can.