Last year NPower decided to bill me £136 for months of electricity use in a flat that I had only stayed in for three weeks (with almost no electrical items), for a period after I had left. They finally dropped their demands after the intervention of Energywatch, but not before admitting a mistake twice, and lowering their demand to £17.
Months later, out of the blue, I’ve received a debt collection letter demanding the original amount again! I have replied with the following:
I was quite surprised to receive an urgent letter from JB Debt Recovery on behalf of NPower, threatening legal action for a sum of ¬£136.19. NPower originally requested that I pay them that amount in March 2005, for a period at which I was not living at the property in question. I am still not willing to pay this amount. I was particularly impressed by this part of your letter: “Our clients have instructed us to collect the above outstanding debt as you ignored all previous correspondence.” For the record, I have explained why I am not paying this amount using a variety of methods: * I have phoned NPower a number of times over this issue. * I have written three letters to NPower over this issue. * NPower admitted their mistake a number of times but continued to demand various other seemingly random amounts, finally settling on a demand for ¬£17.14 instead. * I have emailed Energywatch to complain about NPower’s strange behaviour. * Energywatch have investigated and NPower have accepted that they had made a mistake, and that they would drop the claim. Which makes getting another debt recovery letter months later quite a surprise. From this I infer that your claim that I have “ignored all previous correspondence” is either: a) A lie, with the intent of intimidation b) A result of NPower’s incompetence c) The written word and human speech are not acceptable means of communication for NPower, and I must use some other, unspecified method. If NPower insist that I must appear in court in order to explain myself again (perhaps through interpretive dance, sock puppets, or by holding up a series of explanatory cartoons, since other methods have failed) I will do so. I will also bring with me a series of letters from myself, NPower and EnergyWatch, bills, and other evidence. Thank you for warning me of the additional legal costs and damage to my credit rating that may occur if I refuse to pay an amount which NPower have already admitted is incorrect. I appreciate your kind concern. I am not contacting NPower again. As you are able to communicate with them, I would be grateful if you could inform your client on my behalf.
