Offer to pay debt balance

[dori2o]

Hi,

 

I have a problem.

 

I had a guy from British Gas call a few months ago, you know, the ' We can save you 25% on what your curently paying for Gas and Electricity..... balh..blah'

 

So I signed up just to get rid of the guy, he just wouldn't take no for an answer. I then cancelled the contract within 14 days of signing it.

 

Anyway, for some reason, even though I have a debt with Powergen totalling £450, they have transferred me to British Gas. Why, I don't know, especially as I cancelled the contract, but that is currently another issue hopefully being resolved.

 

I contacted Powergen to ask about this outstanding balance, and they said that they were sending me a bill, and the balance was payable within 14 days of the bill being issued, or , they would pass the details onto a debt collection agency.

 

I asked if the cal was being recorded and said I didn't want to go down that route, and wanted to sort this out in a civilised manner and see if we could come to some agreement to pay the balance, which I'm willing to do, I used the energy so I have to pay for it.

 

The advisor passed me to his manager, (who must have had a bad day from his attitude), he confirmed the call was recorded, but only for training purposes, and advised there was no agreement to be made, either pay up, or have a default notice served and then deal with a DCA.

 

I said that I felt this was a bit harsh and that I would like to agree to a payment of £15 per month, which when you consider that this debt started off at £750, and I have been paying £10 a month, over my gas and electricity to clear this would actually mean they are getting more than before.

 

He said he wasn't interested, and I would have to speak to the DCA when they issued their letters.

 

Surely, as I have made an effort to pay this amount, before they have issued any bill, I can object to this debt being sold to a DCA, and should have this dealt with between myself and Powergen, or am I totally wrong.

[buzby]

Isn't the easiest way to stop the transfer to British Gas? They are without doubt the most expensive energy supplier, so if you cancelled - Powergen need to be told that you cancelled the request within the deadline and should not be transferred. As an existin Powergen customer, you may find them more amenable to your paying off ther debt without reference to a DCA, but they'll still log the late payments...

[ozzywizard]

Buzby is right, phone powergen and tell them you wish to file the transfer of supply as an erroneous Transfer. They will file this to BG and bring back your supply. Then you can arrange to make payments over a period of time which suits you.

[dori2o]

Hi,

 

Have tried advising this is a mistake, but Powergen have said there is nothing they can now do, they have given the acount to BG. BG just don't care, but thats no surprise.

 

Now Powergen have said that as my current balance is £430ish, they want it at £95 per month.

 

I simply cannot afford this, I asked Powergen to send me a I & E form, but they just said no. They also said they will be charging intrast on the balance and if it is not paid within 21 days will be looking to the courts.

 

What can I do?

[buzby]

Have they said no for any particular reason? Explain that you are far from satisfied and you will pass the matter to Energywatch as you are far from happy at the way this matter has been conducted. (the website is energywatch: Home Page). The complaint form is here: energywatch: Make a complaint

 

Explain you're paying nobody until this mess is sorted out!

[Movingon]

Hi,

 

Have tried advising this is a mistake, but Powergen have said there is nothing they can now do, they have given the acount to BG. BG just don't care, but thats no surprise.

 

Now Powergen have said that as my current balance is £430ish, they want it at £95 per month.

 

I simply cannot afford this, I asked Powergen to send me a I & E form, but they just said no. They also said they will be charging intrast on the balance and if it is not paid within 21 days will be looking to the courts.

 

What can I do?

 

First of all, immediately write to them and state that the amount is "in dispute" and you will pay them nothing until the dispute is resolved. They are NOT PERMITTED to pursue the debt (or register a default) until they have entered into a dialogue with you and resolved the dispute.

 

You are NOT REQUIRED to tell them of your income and expenditure. If you have made an offer to pay, they are REQUIRED to accept it - however they may ask you for more. You can simply refuse. If they went to court and you told the court that they refused your offer to pay, they would look really REALLY stupid.

 

Make your offer to pay in writing, and at the same time advise them that any action they take will be vigourously defended. Advise them further that you require that they register the transfer of account as erroneous and retrieve the account from British Gas. If they refuse to do so, you will be contacting OFGEM and the OFT immediately.

 

You seem to be in a very strong position; let us know how it goes. Forget the 'phone though - it's just another opportunity for them to try and intimidate you.

[dori2o]

OK, got another letter from powergen, basically it does not refer to my letter I sent last month, but basically says I have a fuyrther 14 days to make the payment before they pass to a DCA.

 

Do I write again or just go straight to Energywatch.

 

They are insisting in the balance being paid by an amount of £95 per month.

 

If I send the letter again, what should I say in it?

[dori2o]

Can someone please check this letter and if possible amend to make it better.

 

Dear Sirs,

 

 

 

RE: Outstanding balance of £XXX

Please be advised that following your latest letter dated 5 December 2006, I am now advising you that I dispute the amount due.

May I take this opportunity to advise that I will be making no payment towards the balance of this account until this dispute is resolved.

The remaining balance on the account has arisen due to a fault that I feel is partly due to your negligence in the running of the account, and partly due to myself.

The problem started in 2003 whilst I was paying a monthly payment to you of £XX per month, the quarterly bill would arrive and although I was using more gas and electric than the monthly payments would cover, your statements carried a message that indicated that I was paying my bill by way of a monthly direct debit, and that I didn't need to do anything to change the amount, or make payment towards any balance.

This went on until February 2005 when I received a demand for over £XXXX.

I feel it would be in all our interests if you would accept liability for part of this outstanding balance.

I am willing to pay whatever is outstanding but I cannot pay this all in one go. I will be able to offer you a maximum of £15 pounds per month. This is all I can afford to pay considering the other financial commitments I have.

I hope to receive a positive response from you soon, this will help to resolve the situation.

Yours Sincerely

[Movingon]

Too nice but it will do to start with. Once they start with the threatening, you can stop feeling that you should be respectful. Believe me, they have absolutely no respect for you; and they have earned none from you.

[patdavies]

The advisor passed me to his manager, (who must have had a bad day from his attitude), he confirmed the call was recorded, but only for training purposes, and advised there was no agreement to be made, either pay up, or have a default notice served and then deal with a DCA.

 

I said that I felt this was a bit harsh and that I would like to agree to a payment of £15 per month, which when you consider that this debt started off at £750, and I have been paying £10 a month, over my gas and electricity to clear this would actually mean they are getting more than before.

 

He said he wasn't interested, and I would have to speak to the DCA when they issued their letters.

 

Surely, as I have made an effort to pay this amount, before they have issued any bill, I can object to this debt being sold to a DCA, and should have this dealt with between myself and Powergen, or am I totally wrong.

 

If you really want to wind them up, then demand a copy of the recording under the DPA. In legal terms a recording, audio and/or video, is a document.

 

The statement about training purposes only is totally irrelevant. They have a recording containing your personal data and you are entitled to a copy of it.

[dori2o]

OK had a response today to my letter, basically it advises they are not willing to reduce the balance, and have refused the offer of £15 per month. They have sent me a I & E form to complete, but I was under the impression that they had no right to this information.

 

Also I thought that they could not continue to demand payments of more than I can reasonably afford.

 

What do I do now?

 

Read through the sites for Energywatch and OFGEM but they don't seem to be of any help, they seem to be more related to the actual suply of energy.

 

Please help, I have not got the money to pay these people.

 

(And the day started so well after getting my money back from GE Money)

[buzby]

A supplier has no right to this information - I'd ignore it. However, they can demand you pay any debt, whether you can afford it or not. It is easier to work with them than against, and I think to end the brinkmanship you respond by saying that to unfortunately if they do not agree your only option is an IVA and they may get considerably less than you are offering. There's no magic solution to get the debt to disappear, but at least an offer to replay is better than none.

[Movingon]

Start paying them £15 per month. Don't bother replying to their request for I&E info - they have no right to it. Demands for payments you cannot afford can amount to harrassment. Remind them of that, and also remind them that any action taken against you will be vigourously defended. Do this in writing; forget the phone now. In fact - you could include something in your letter requiring all future communications to be in writing, and please delete all telephone details from your database.

[dori2o]

Can someone please answer a question for me.

 

I was talking to a Union guy at work regarding this, and he informed me that by law there is a legal amount I am allowed every month to live on, i.e. an amount of money I am entitled to have in order to feed/clothe my family every month and that this was determined by how many kids we have.

 

Is this right?, does anyone know where I can find this information if it is right?

 

Only asking as Powergen have said that if I have any money left at the end of paying out any bills, essential travel costs, food, they would be entitled to it.

 

I'm not trying to get out of payment here, I just want to be able to live as normally as possible after all my monthly bills have been paid.

[Movingon]

You have said that you can afford £15 per month. Pay them that. They are entitled to be paid back - full stop. No court in the land is going to make you pay back more than you say you can afford and Powergen know it. There is absolutely NO WAY they will take you to court while you are paying them.

 

If you really want to find out what the minimum you require to live on is, look to someone working full time (37-40 hrs per week) on the National Minimum Wage - there's your answer. But to be honest, it's utterly irrelevant.

[dori2o]

Right, I replied to powergen, with a copy of the origional letter, and another letter saying I did not feel this has been handled sufficiently.

 

Got this reply.

 

Dear Dori2o

 

A/C Number XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Thank you for your recent correspondence regarding the outstanding balance on your account.

 

As Stated, your account went into debt because you was using more gas and electricity than you were paying. It is your responsibility to keep an eye on your statements to ensure taht you are paying enough.

 

As you have now changed suppliers, final balances are required to be paid within 3 months. As a gesture of goodwil I can arrange for your debt to be cleared over a maximum of 9 months. This wil mean you will need to pay £48.02 per month.

 

If you cannot clear your balance withn this time, the debt will be sent to a Debt Colection Agency and a repayment arrangement can be set with them.

 

To set up a payment arrangement or if you would like to discuss the mater further, you can cal me on XXXX XXX XXXX and I will be happy to help.

 

Yours Sincerely

 

 

Customer Liaison

What should I do now?

 

Who decides when a dispute is closed?

 

Can I object to the sending the account to a DCA? recording information with CRA's before I believe the dispute has been settled?

[Movingon]

Right, I replied to powergen, with a copy of the origional letter, and another letter saying I did not feel this has been handled sufficiently.

 

Got this reply.

 

 

 

What should I do now?

 

Who decides when a dispute is closed?

 

Can I object to the sending the account to a DCA? recording information with CRA's before I believe the dispute has been settled?

 

Remind them that the account is IN DISPUTE and that THEY MAY NOT TAKE ENFORCEMENT ACTION (including but not limited to referral to a DCA).

 

Make a payment of £15. Do so again next month. Don't do it in a way which requires you to contact them, use the paying in slip on your bill, or pay at a post office or whatever. Have you made a £15 payment yet, as advised above? Why not? As long as you are paying, and you have disputed the account formally as I said above, they cannot do any more.

 

If a DCA write to you, reply very firmly that you have no contract with them, that you will not enter into any further correspondence with them, and that you are dealing with Powergen. All the time, keep making those payments to powergen, and DO NOT under any circumstances pay any DCA.

 

Regarding CRA's, write to them that this account is in dispute and that they are not under any circumstances to register a default - explain that you are making regular payments and that the balance is reducing.

[Movingon]

Just remember, that if they take this to court, you making regular payments will weaken their case CONSIDERABLY. You can point to their harrassment, you can show that they ignored your requests for help, you can show that they defaulted you while you were paying it off, you can show that the account was defaulted and passed to a DCA whilst it was in dispute... the list goes on. The Judge will laugh them out of court and not stop 'til they're three streets away.

[Movingon]

By the way - I work for Powergen's parent company...

 

and before you ask, No, I will NOT contact her, that would be extremely unprofessional of me.

[breadline]

only read first post as in a hurry but just wanted to say i had this problem when i agreed to change my supplier.

 

I recieved a bill for only £60 but £60 i didnt have, i was extremely cross and advised i had not been told at the signing of the agreement that this would need to be paid and I was under the impression the whole account would pass over and the new suppleir would take the account as it stood.

 

yes nieve in those days, but as i was not advised i would have a final debit immeditaley due, (when i had advised the salesman that i was on a debit pay back agreement), So they reconnected my supply and all went back to normal.

 

Not sure if adding this to your communictaions may help sorry cant read the whole thread at mo. Surely giving someone an agreement and not advising of the actions and change in circumstance that will follow. Would not look very good for them.

 

BL:)

[dori2o]

Remind them that the account is IN DISPUTE and that THEY MAY NOT TAKE ENFORCEMENT ACTION (including but not limited to referral to a DCA).

 

Make a payment of £15. Do so again next month. Don't do it in a way which requires you to contact them, use the paying in slip on your bill, or pay at a post office or whatever. Have you made a £15 payment yet, as advised above? Why not? As long as you are paying, and you have disputed the account formally as I said above, they cannot do any more.

 

If a DCA write to you, reply very firmly that you have no contract with them, that you will not enter into any further correspondence with them, and that you are dealing with Powergen. All the time, keep making those payments to powergen, and DO NOT under any circumstances pay any DCA.

 

Regarding CRA's, write to them that this account is in dispute and that they are not under any circumstances to register a default - explain that you are making regular payments and that the balance is reducing.

 

Would the end of this month be too late to start making the payments. I would have made payment when I got paid at the end of December, but I had other things to pay off, i.e. Xmas.

 

Or

 

Would you advise to try and pay something before then.

 

I have the bank account and sort code details as I was paying them by standing order, so I'll just re-set this again to pay £15 on the 1st of every month.

[Movingon]

The longer you leave it the worse it will be. If you can, make a payment; and then set up your standing order for the first of each month.

[SHERLOCK]

It would be ideal for you to pay as advised a set amount to the powergen account, bypassing the DCA.

 

When I changed I had a balance of around £90.00 and I pay them £1.00 per month .

 

The other option is to get it back with powergen and get one of those card meters fitted and agree a set amount to come off the card every week. (If you stay with BG, they cannot do this obviously, but the gas/electric can get a court order to have the token meters fitted as a way of guaranteeing getting their money.)

 

 

SHERLOCK

[dori2o]

Logged onto my online powergen account tonight,(initially trying to work out annual gas/elec consumption for price comparison), and Powergen have amended all bills from Jan 2003 and reduced the outstanding amount by £300.

 

This is the last letter I sent to them on 15/01. The newest statement on my account is dated 19/01.

 

 

I have received your letter dated 8 january and express my dissapointment of the fact that you have failed to help resolve this matter.

 

As this account remains in dispute, I am advising you that I will not be majking any payments until such a time that this matter is resolved. must also make you fully aware tat you must refrain from any further action until this dispute is resolved.

 

In your latest letter, you advise that I am solely responsible for the balance of the account. However your statements, at the time, included a comment which suggested that the payments that I was aking, the same amount that had been paid monthly since November 2002, of £60 were sufficient, and therefore did not need to change anything. Due to this I feel that you are at east partly liable for a proportion of the current balance.

 

I base this on the fact that you are responsible for the content and information held on the statement, and as is the case that your statements advised that I was paying monthly payments via DD and that I needed to do nothing to change this situation, then i would accept this advice as it had been issued by you, who is in control of the account.

 

Also on this particular matter, lets not forget that the payment arrangement of £60 per month was inplace from the start of the agreement in November 2002, untilMarch 205, when you wrote to me advising you were increasing th direct debit to over £150 per month. This is a period of 24 moths before you decided to take action.

 

My second point is that this current situation would not have arisen had you not approved the transfer to British Gas.

 

I had an agreement with you t pay of th balance by paying a higher monthl amunt, in excess of my monthly useage, and I had succeded in reducing this balance which was just over £1000 in March 2005 down to £433 that is currently outstanding. This would have continued however I have been erroneously ransferred to British gas.

 

I say erroneousy transferred as I contacted you in Sept/ct 2006 to advise that I did not want to be transferred, I had been forced into signing the documents by the saesman as it was the only way to get him off my doorstep. i contacted British Gas also, who informed me the transfer would not be allowed by you if I had not settled the account. This was also the same advice I gt from your customer service rep, when I said I did not want to transfer.

 

The next correspondance I received was from yourselves, advising that yu did not want to lose me as a valued customer, so I caled the number on the letter and advised that i did not want to transfer, again I explained that it was due to te fact I could not afford to pay the balance, and was told not to worry, and that I wuld not be transferred. Nex thing I know, British Gas contact me to confirm that the transfer is complete.

 

You allowed the transfer despite my objections, and your promises, therefore causing the problem I find myself in, just as you contributed to the origional problem. However, from your reply to my origional letter, I assume you again will deny all iability to what has happened.

 

I take this oportunity to advise again that I will not be making any payments until this dispute is settled. And once a resolution has been met I will be able to make monthly contributions to you of a maximum of £15 per month.

 

Please note that I will only correspond with you (Powergen) and I refuse to deal with any other organisation regarding this matter. All correspondence must be made in writing, I will not be contacted by telephone, or by visiting my property. Any attempt to do so will be met with legal action.

 

I expect to hear from you again with a more acceptable reply.

 

Yours,