@npowerhelp nPower - Mismanaged account, County Court claim issued aganst Npower

[Eversir]

Yes, although it doesn't show it as a late payment - just as a balance. Also, these figures keep changing up and down, from month to month, by a few pounds.

 

Cheers BankFodder, sounds like a sensible plan.

 

And yes, she's fed up with them. Feels confident to see them in court if it comes to that. Just needs me to help with the paperwork side of things.

[Eversir]

OK, the time has come. The Debt Collection agencies are back to their usual tricks. Nothing substantive back from Npower regarding the complaint itself, just one of their token "apology" letters and that they are looking into it. Nothing back from the SAR team.

 

Relative feels no other option really exists other than to get the courts involved. Will be starting a claim via MCOL soon.

 

Am I right in thinking at this stage, just file a succinct list of stuff on POC (i.e. don't include anything else at this stage)?

 

I imagine the POC will be fairly straightforward, something along the lines of:

 

1) Breach of contract in regards to mismanagement of account over an extended period of time.

2) Failure to remedy breach of contract despite repeated requests, both in writing and via telephone.

3) Harassment by Npower and multiple third parties instructed by Npower as a result of mismanagement of account.

4) Breach of statutory rights - specifically under The Data Protection Act 1997 (Subject Access Request).

5) Erroneous entries on Credit File (I imagine this is also something that falls under The Data Protection Act)

6) Incurred expenses associated with the above (predominantly letters and phone calls).

 

 

The above is just a draft list, nothing final. How would we go about asking the court to order Npower to comply with the SAR?

 

 

Thanks in advance.

[Eversir]

We need to submit a fresh ICO complaint in relation to Npower's failure to comply after three requests. We can now also prove Npower has cashed the £10 payment necessary for the SAR (back in November). Wescot have also cashed their £10.00 (it was made out in Wescot's name).

 

Not holding much hope for the ICO to actually do anything given their response to the other problem, but who knows.

 

A claim via MCOL is currently being prepared against Npower and will be issued shortly. Will post back up here once it has gone ahead.

[Eversir]

A claim has been filed against Npower - will post up full details shortly.

[Eversir]

Still lurking around, just waiting for Service of court documents to be effected before posting PoC up.

 

An update on Wescot, one of the debt collection agencies' Npower instructed:

 

An SAR was sent to both Npower and Wescot on 12th November 2014 along with a statutory £10.00 fee (each), in the form of a Postal Order made payable to each company respectively.

 

Wescot shirked their obligations under the SAR and instead forwarded the request on to Npower, along with the statutory £10.00 Postal Order that was made out to Wescot Credit Services Ltd only. Notwithstanding their obligations under the SAR, they had a duty to return the £10.00 payment to the sender.

 

There is no sign of this Postal Order at Npower, and Royal Mail can confirm the Postal Order has been presented for payment and cashed on 24th November 2014. Therefore the only conclusion is that Wescot have cashed the Postal Order and kept the money.

 

There is more.

 

A further letter was sent to Wescot on 13th November 2014, highlighting their breaches under Debt Collection Guidelines and once again making clear the debt was in dispute. Wescot received this letter on 14th November 2014, yet never responded. Debt collection activity resumed not long after.

 

A recent letter from Wescot, in response to a more recent letter of complaint, confirms that Wescot took it upon themselves to restart debt collection activity (without instruction from their client Npower). On 20th February 2015, Npower has apparently advised Wescot "they have record of an on-going complaint that has been going on for a long period of time in relation to the billing and the lack of response you had received from Npower." The file with Wescot has apparently now been returned to Npower.

 

Wescot reject the complaint and feel that they have neither been made aware of a dispute nor have they ignored previous correspondence.

[Eversir]

Npower this morning have sent through approximately 500 pages of documents and a CD via two parcels, in response to the SAR request that was sent to them on 12th November 2014. (That's only 71 days after the 40 day deadline!)

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]56262[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]56263[/ATTACH]

 

Will be working our way through this slab of tree later, however a cynical person may wonder if the receipt of a court claim is the only reason that Npower have responded. Hmmm...

Edit:

 

In fact we should probably run a "Guess how many pages there are from the photo" competition.

[Eversir]

A complaint has already been sent to the ICO for failing to respond (this morning before the documents arrived!). Tempted to wait and see what their response is before following up with further complaint, what do you reckon?

 

Will post back with details once we've been through. Looks like they have provided direct printouts from SAP, which may reveal some interesting stuff in addition to the phone records (if complete of course).

[Eversir]

Wow. So glad an SAR was sent. The documents, SAP print-outs and call recordings have confirmed just how badly Npower has mismanaged the account. This includes:

 

• Complaints not actioned
  
• Direct debits not setup despite repeated assurances
  
• Complaints not logged despite repeated assurances
  
• Meter readings not logged despite repeated assurances (you're seeing the pattern here?)
  
• Account not setup properly
  
• Complaints actioned with the wrong action by staff, causing the complaint to be cancelled by back office staff
  
• Admission that a serious problem with account existed, but no action taken
  
• Admission there is a known problem with sending customers bills late, in general
  
• Admission of failure in it's Service Level Agreement
  

Other interesting points:

 

• Some recordings are missing entirely
  
• Some recordings have audio segments missing
  
• SAP records are a general mess. Hopefully we can post these up in future.
  

There is also evidence that Npower has a policy to automatically close down complaints in a short time frame (about two weeks). This is regardless of the complaint's status. It is specifically referred to as the "Pre-Regent Backlog bulk closure exercise". In the event the customer is still unhappy, a new complaint is opened and the cycle begins again. No wonder it feels like banging your head against a brick wall dealing with them.

 

Project Regent is when Npower axed nearly 1,500 jobs and outsourced it's call centre staff and also it's back office staff to India in 2013. More info here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/10477681/Npower-to-outsource-call-centres-and-axe-1500-jobs.html

 

There are some additional things discovered which will be posted up at a later date. There is also still a lot more to go through.

 

If you have problems with Npower, it is crucial that you issue them with a Subject Access Request without delay. You may need to be persistent, but what it may reveal is certainly worth the effort!

[Eversir]

Definitely name and shame them!

 

Interested to hear more and sure others will be too.

[Eversir]

i then post processed them to reduce noise..... the GOD AWFUL on hold music (remember i am a studio owner here... ) which is either VERY poorly chosen or deliberately chosen and it does not translate well over a telephone earpiece/speaker... it's VERY high in the 2-4khz frequency band which will FATIGUE a persons listening in only a few minutes... i have also found i am generally put on hold for 4 minutes or more... ask ANYONE with mental health 'de-escalation' training and they well confirm that this is the amount of time after which most people start to 'calm down' when they are angry.... your guide is entirely correct in assuming that CS techniques ARE designed to wear you down.. as is being asked the same questions repeatedly...

 

But of course, Npower would never do something like this deliberately...

 

Very useful information, thank you for sharing it. Stellar customer service from Npower as always.

[Eversir]

Finally got around to updating this properly!

 

Claim Summary sent to Npower:

 

This claim is for breaches of contract and the Data Protection Act.

 

The defendant supplied gas and electricity to the claimant. They mismanaged the claimant's account and sent inaccurate bills. They also failed to apply their Complaints Handling Policy correctly. The defendant's also breached their contract by failing to treat the claimant fairly, including that they instructed debt collectors and duplicate debt collectors whilst, by their own admission, the account was in dispute. The defendants have breached the Data Protection Act by keeping inaccurate records and by placing inaccurate information on the claimant's credit file. They also failed to satisfy a statutory request for data disclosure. The claimant seeks damages for breaches, loss and distress not exceeding £3000.00.

Full Particulars of Claim sent to Npower:

 

Download the Word Document Here

 

More to follow shortly...

[Eversir]

Mod / Admin - Autolinking feature appears to be breaking the attachment link.

 

Any solution on your end or is it just a case of renaming and re-uploading the file?

[Eversir]

Quicker yes, however it will also break the link in the email sent to thread subscribers. If there is a way to disable the autolink as a mod that would be preferable.

 

Edit: Found a workaround. Post #69 updated.

[Eversir]

Thanks, I don't think it's over yet though.

 

It was a while back so you may not have seen this, but the general consensus is that class action lawsuits in the UK are not like class action lawsuits in the US. In a nutshell, unless the issues are identical it doesn't work. Even if the issues are identical, then it takes a huge amount of co-ordination.

 

Far better to issue a company with lots of individual claims, with the added bonus it takes more effort for the company to defend against each individual claim.

[Eversir]

Npower's Defence:

 

 

1. It is denied that the Defendant is in breach of contract.

 

2. It is denied that the Defendant is in breach of the Data Protection Act 1998.

 

3. It is denied that that Claimant to seek to recover compensation under the Data Protection Act 1998, Section 13 (1) or (2). The Defendant requires the Claimant to prove that she has suffered damage amounting to £2850.00.

 

4. The Data Protection Act 1998, Section 13 requires a Claimant to have suffered damage due to a contravention by the data controller. It is denied that the any alleged breach by the data controller has lead to any damage being suffered by the Claimant. The Claimant is required to explain in detail the nature and extent of the alleged damage, as required in paragraph 3 above.

 

5. It is denied that there has been any maladministration of the Claimant's account by the Defendant. The Claimant is required to explain in detail how the alleged maladministration of her account founds a cause of action to recover £100.00.

 

6. It is denied that the Claimant can recover costs for 20 hours of her time, postage, printing and stationary. The Defendant requires the Claimant to explain upon what legal basis she can seek relief in the sum of £50.00.

 

7. The Claimant has received a supply of gas an electricity at two separate properties. The first property [previous address] was held on account numbers [a] and .

 

8. The Claimant moved to the second property in or around January 2013 at [current address]. The account number was [c]. The Claimant then transferred her supply to a new provider.

 

9. At the time of the transfer account [c] had unpaid charges against it of £437.87. Those charges remain to be paid to the Defendant.

 

10. The Defendant reserves the right to amend this defence to include a counterclaim.

 

11. In the circumstances, it is denied that the Claimant has a cause of action, or a right to the relief claimed or any relief howsoever claimed.

 

All in all, a very bland denial which doesn't actually address, or attempt to address, the particulars of claim.

 

Courtesy of the paralegal Kenneth Radley Davies.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]56922[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]56921[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]56920[/ATTACH]

[Eversir]

Letter to Radley Davies, requesting Npower provide a better defence:

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]57108[/ATTACH]

Response from Radley Davies, refusing to provide a better defence:

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]57107[/ATTACH]

 

Our application to have Npower provide a better defence, or else it be struck out:

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]57109[/ATTACH]

 

Npower's application to amend their defence to include a counterclaim:

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]57112[/ATTACH]

 

It would appear Npower believe their only duty is the net supply of energy. Npower denies that it is contractually obliged to manage it's customer's energy contracts with reasonable care and skill:

Paragraph 3 is denied. The Claimant is required to prove that there is a term, whether implied or stated, that the Defendant will administer the Claimant's account with reasonable care and skill.

 

Npower also makes the astounding claim that the complaints process does not form part of it's supply contract with consumers:

 

Paragraph 5 is denied in so far as the complaints process does not form part of the supply contract with the Claimant. The Defendant requires the Claimant to prove that the Defendant failed to abide by its published complaints procedure, and to explain in detail how this allegation provides a foundation for a cause of action.

 

Npower denies that it's own written policy / charter for treating it's customers fairly form any part of a contract with consumers:

 

Paragraph 7 is denied in that the published article “Treating customers fairly – putting you first” does not form part of a contract with the Claimant. The Defendant requires the Claimant to explain in detail the basis upon which the document forms part of the contract and the extra consideration provided by the Claimant to make it part of the contractual terms.

 

Npower deny that a consumer is entitled to have their energy accounts correctly managed. Npower deny that a consumer is entitled to enjoy peaceful and untroubled use of energy.

 

The claimant was entitled to have her energy account correctly managed and to enjoy peaceful and untroubled use of the contracted energy supply.

 

Paragraph 14 is denied. The terms of supply contract require the Claimant to make payment of the gas and electricity supplied to her premises. Where the Claimant is breach of that term the Defendant is entitled to seek to recover the debt by all lawful means.

[Eversir]

Defence to Npower's Counterclaim:

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]57183[/ATTACH]

[Eversir]

Npower have now requested to have their own Counterclaim struck-out as they admit they have no right to pursue a Counterclaim:

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]57243[/ATTACH]

[Eversir]

Also:

 

Credit report now shows Npower as "settled" and with a zero balance - although they have not corrected the previous, incorrect entries.

[Eversir]

A somewhat watery response from the Information Commissioner's Office:

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]57335[/ATTACH]

 

So much for their motto of "Upholding information rights".

[Eversir]

Letter sent to Npower 28th April 2015:

 

 

Dear Mr Radley-Davies,

Re: Claim XXXXXXXX

 

 

I have received notice of your application to withdraw your Counterclaim.

 

I have informed the Court I have no objection to this.

 

However, I have drawn to the attention of the Court the reckless way in which you are prepared to sign statements of truth and the trouble which you have caused to both myself and the Court, much to the embarrassment to your employers.

 

I strongly suggest that you take this opportunity to have a hard look at all the files and correspondence which have been produced as a result of this dispute, since 2010, before you go on to embarrass yourself any further.

 

 

 

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

[Eversir]

Response from Ofgem:

 

 

Thank you for your letter of 15th April 2015.

 

I am concerned to read of the problems you have experiences with npower. I would urge you to draw this matter to their attention and would expect the company to respond in accordance with the complaints handling standards.

 

You may be aware that Ofgem does not have a direct role in investigating or resolving individual consumer complaints. All energy companies are subject to strict complaints handling standards which are backed up by an independent Ombudsman (Ombudsman Services - Energy). If your complaint is not resolved within eight weeks - or sooner if npower says it can do no more you can ask the Ombudsman to investigate your complaint. The Ombudsman has a range of remedies at its disposal including the award of compensation, its decisions are binding on the company but not on the customer.

 

Should you require advice, you may wish to contact Citizens Advice consumer service. The Citizens Advice consumer service provides free, confidential and impartial advice on consumer issues. For further information please visit their website www.adviceguide.org.uk or call the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 03454 040506. You can write to them at the following address: Citizens Advice consumer service, Post Point 24, Town Hall, Walliscote Grove Road, Weston super Mare, North Somerset, BS23 1UJ.

 

You may also be interested in the attached information on Ofgem's website regarding our Standards of Conduct that all suppliers must comply with to ensure that they treat customers fairly.

 

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/simpler-clearer-fairer/fairer-treatment

 

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/new-standards-conduct-suppliers-domestic-consumers

 

I would be grateful if you could please provide me with any copies of correspondence that you have received from npower confirming the information and advice that you have referred to in your letter and also your permission to forward this information to npower. You may also be interest in our current investigation into npower and their Standards of Conduct and I attach a link to our website for further information.

 

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/investigation-npower%E2%80%99s-compliance-standards-conduct-standard-licence-condition-25c-standard-licence-condition-27-provision-final-bills-and-gas-and-electricity-consumer-complaints-handling-standards-regulations-2008

 

Whilst Ofgem does not have a direct role in handling individual disputes, we do have a role in enforcing consumer protection legislation. I have therefore retained a copy of your letter for our files for market monitoring purposes.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]57453[/ATTACH]

[Eversir]

[Now removed]

 

Same person for you?

[Eversir]

Loving this thread, Energy Ombudsman usual response, about as much good as a chocolate fireguard.

 

GO GET THEM!!!

 

Perhaps, although they do seem keen to obtain more information.

[Eversir]

Letter to Alan Johnson (Local MP):

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]57586[/ATTACH]

 

Letter from Alan Johnson's office:

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]57587[/ATTACH]