Dont know what to do.

[Ickle K G]

Im offcially in debt especially with my electricity company. I have not even lived here a year and they are saying i owe 798 pounds which is in know way true. Ive rung them and they have said that is how much i have used in the last8 months but that just isnt possible.

Not long back the fuse went on my meter because it was spinning to fast so they had to come and repair it, i asked on the phone if this could have anything to do with it and they said they don't have no repair noted down! I tried to make a payment plan arrangement and they said i couldnt until i payed 118 pounds, i told them there was no way i could afford that and they just said well we cant set it up until that payment is made.

In the last month or so my bill as suddenly jumped up from £374 to £798, i don't see how that is possible. I tried switching companys but the company im wih at the moment won't allow this. I just don't know what to do. Any suggestions?

 

[sarahhoney]

Have you tried calling Citizens Advice? Also both The One Show and Watchdog have good websites about situations like this where they might also have appropriate helplines.

Getting a third party involved also shows you believe there to be a serious problem.

Sorry I can't help more xxx

 

[KellyMH]

Speaks to Citizens Advice or a financial advisor. Is it just your Electricity your in debit with or is it debt in general? Sorry to be nosey but there are so many ways of helping with payments now is untrue! Debt management agencies can advise for free and get interest frozen and just pay back what you can afford every month.
I sound like a saleswoman, bugger me!! haha Im a bookkeeper / Accountant and know these things from work.
If your electricity people wont accept a payment plan of what you can afford then deffo speak to Citizens Advice, there will be a way round it dont worry.
It may take some paperwork and a bit of embarrassing trawling through what you owe but it will get sorted in the long run, try not to worry

 

[kintenda]

I work for Consumer Direct. Call 08454 04 05 06 & press the option for energy advice. xx

 

[Ickle K G]

Is it just your Electricity your in debit with or is it debt in general?

Im in a debt with a few things but the others are not this back at most with the others im a few weeks behind but with my electric bill they have been threatening to switch me of and take me to court. The electricity bill is the only one that wories me as with the others i don't owe that much and i know alot of people have a little debt.

Also thanks 4 the advice so far.

 

[aly888]

Are they actually coming out and reading your meter to establish how much electricity you are using or are they working from 'guess-timations' (as i like to call them)? If you havent even lived there a year yet they may still be working out your electricity usage based on the previous ppl (who for all you know could have kept their house lit up like blackpool tower 24/7, 365 days a year). When we first moved into our house we were paying alot for our bill (but nothing like they seem to want you to pay), but after a year when they came out and read the meter they realised we werent actually using as much as they thought and gave us some money back.
Good luck

 

[Ickle K G]

They took a meter reading when they fitted me a new meter in may. I rung them today and they said that i have used £400 pound of electricty since then i said how the hell is this possible and they said well i don't know what it is like in your household i was thinking even somene who used tons of elcetricty could not spend £400 between may and july when the set amount for the year is £600. I also mentioned on the phone about when the fuse in my meter blew and the disc in my meter was spinning out of control and about 3 times the speed as everyone elses, asking if this could have anything to do with it and they told me they had no record of anyone coming out to repay it. I couldn't believe it you would think they would write it on the computer especially since i was on the phone to them all day asking for someone to come out as i had no electricity it was lucky my LO was not at home that day. I really don't understand how they cant have it recorded down when they must of wrote it down that day because everytime i rung up they understood the situation.

 

[aly888]

I hate utility companies!! they hold all the cards and they know it

I dont really know what else to suggest other then repeating what everyone else has said and visit or call your CAB. if im honest, my OH handles all the bills for the house but i can imagine how stressful this is for you

 

[DizzyMoo]

Can i just ask is it e-on or n power by any chance??? i've had this type of shit with both of these especially e-on !! They kept saying the same i couldn't set up a payment plan until i paid a certain amount off which i told them i physically could not do, I offered to make a set payment per wk. They can take you to court but the court will just accept what ever payment you offered anyway. You can even offer to pay £1 a week !!
Yes you can change companies !! E-on were swines for this & refused to let me move, but eventually after lots of hassle i got with scottishpower & they have been the cheapest company ever for me! I still have debt with e-on but there is very little they can do until i start work

Defo contact your local cab office though hun x

 

[Abz1982]

I am thinking that we are going to have a huge bill - We are with NPower, and we got our meter installed in the middle of march, and so far it is reading nearly 1600 units! Which is 240 pounds. For the first 2 months tho we received no bills, then I enquired and seems they had us down as being a prepay meter as it got changed to a normal one about a week before we switched.
We are going to have to pay it in instalments as there is no way in hell we can afford that right off - and they will no doubt be annoyed.

They are also v bad at having bills for you online, as we opted for paperless billing - but it means we have to phone up and ask what the balance is!! Its a pain!

I had E-on on the phone today trying to get me to switch and saying they were cheaper in our area - and how it would be £22 a month instead of the £31 Npower charge. That was without knowing the meter readings etc, haha. I said ok, but I am going to look into it then just call up saying I have changed my mind as you have 14 days to cancel - so the paperwork better arrive within the 14 days!

 

[Ickle K G]

Can i just ask is it e-on or n power by any chance??? i've had this type of shit with both of these especially e-on !! They kept saying the same i couldn't set up a payment plan until i paid a certain amount off which i told them i physically could not do, I offered to make a set payment per wk. They can take you to court but the court will just accept what ever payment you offered anyway. You can even offer to pay £1 a week !!
Yes you can change companies !! E-on were swines for this & refused to let me move, but eventually after lots of hassle i got with scottishpower & they have been the cheapest company ever for me! I still have debt with e-on but there is very little they can do until i start work

Defo contact your local cab office though hun x

Yes it is n power, what did you have to go through for them to change supplier then? I don't mind them taking me to court i just can't afford the fees.

 

[Blah11]

Change your provider and then phone CAB. That cant be right surely? Anything over £50 a month is just unrealistic.
I'm with Scottish Power also and they're by far the cheapest provider we could find. X

 

[Blah11]

Can i just ask is it e-on or n power by any chance??? i've had this type of shit with both of these especially e-on !! They kept saying the same i couldn't set up a payment plan until i paid a certain amount off which i told them i physically could not do, I offered to make a set payment per wk. They can take you to court but the court will just accept what ever payment you offered anyway. You can even offer to pay £1 a week !!
Yes you can change companies !! E-on were swines for this & refused to let me move, but eventually after lots of hassle i got with scottishpower & they have been the cheapest company ever for me! I still have debt with e-on but there is very little they can do until i start work

Defo contact your local cab office though hun x

Yes it is n power, what did you have to go through for them to change supplier then? I don't mind them taking me to court i just can't afford the fees.

Find who you want to switch to and phone them up and they'll do everything for you They'll tell the provider you're with at the moment that you're switching too.

 

[kaylynn040485]

Im having this same problem atm, we pay by dd and have been with eon for just over a year. Never missed a direct debit payment which is £35 a month and they have just hit us with a massive bill, think its something like £1400 so ive had a constant battle with them as we have a one level, 2 bedroom flat which has storage heaters but they dont work so we are not using any heating (know this is strange but for some reason the flat is always warm, its crazy but has always been this way without heating) and the baby room is not in use so nothing on in there and nothing but a plug in air freshner in our room!! U can c where im going with this, very little getting used in flat!! Anyway they got me to take readings over a week and nothing flagged up as not working so after a battle they have agreed to put in a check meter ( u normally have to pay to have this installed but told them we dont have the money for it and i wasnt paying this outstanding amound until this had been done, costs £90 normally) so this is being installed next week and we have it for a fortnight and then if nothing shows up ive agreed i will pay the amount. I also kicked up about the fact it took them a year to inform us that the dd wasnt covering the consumption which they have agreed is theyre fault so have said if it turns out we need to pay it we can pay at £5 per week so i wouldnt pay them anything until they have looked at everything otherwise your going to keep getting massive bills! Kx

 

[Ickle K G]

Find who you want to switch to and phone them up and they'll do everything for you They'll tell the provider you're with at the moment that you're switching too.

I did this i rang britsh Gas and said i wanted to switch and when they contacted Npower they refused to let me switch.