I will spell it out for you, Npower. The relationship’s over
Probes a world of scams and scandals
Mrs K.D. writes: My husband of 30 years left the marital home in 2013, leaving debts unpaid. Utility bills were all in his name, and in March that year I contacted all the companies and set up new accounts in my name. I have fought Npower ever since over his unpaid bills of £971 for electricity and £544 for gas. I endured Npower’s complaints procedure, to no avail. Endless debt recovery firms have written to me, but have backed off when I have explained the facts. At present I am being pursued by BCW Arvato Financial Solutions of Glasgow. I have sought legal advice, but Npower does not even reply to my solicitor.
YOU sent me a thick bundle of demands, correspondence and threats of legal action stretching back three years. Two things stood out.
Debt collector BCW was not just pressing for Npower’s unpaid bills. It had added £200 to the electricity bill and £125 to the gas bill for ‘administration costs’, with the threat of legal action if you did not pay up.
Worse still, Npower wrote, saying it had given you its final response, adding that ‘we will not re-investigate this issue’.
The letter explained: ‘You and your former partner were jointly responsible for energy used.’
According to Npower, you were jointly responsible for the bills, and ‘we consider this a third party dispute between you and your former partner’.
Npower said it had followed the correct process with its demands. What absolute and utter rubbish.
Does Npower regard all married couples as being jointly responsible for utility bills, even if the contract might have been set up by one partner, perhaps before they were married?
In fact, is marriage an essential part of this, or does Npower believe unmarried couples are jointly liable too? What happens if one partner does not even know the details of the contract?
And how about young adults still living with their parents – are they unknowingly running up debts simply because they are living in a household that Npower supplies with gas or electricity?
I asked Npower to explain how you could be held responsible for your husband’s debts that arose under a contract to which you had no access. I also asked the debt collector for a copy of any agreement making you liable.
BCW did not produce any contract showing you were responsible, nor did Npower. The utility company told me there had been ‘some confusion’. You had paid some bills for your husband in the past, Npower said, adding: ‘This is the reason for the mix-up.’
Of course, this does not explain that damning letter from Npower, falsely claiming that you were responsible for your ex-husband’s debts. But happily I can say that you can put all this behind you.
Npower has withdrawn its demands and called off the debt collector. By the time you read this you will have received a written apology. Npower has paid £250 straight into your bank account as a gesture of goodwill.