Letter from nPower

A question about : Letter from nPower

Hello,

I really hope someone can help me with this - in 2011 I was running a takeaway for a brief period of time, about 2 months. During this time, all the bills etc were on my name which I paid. However, due to unforeseen circumstances I could no longer run the takeaway so it was handed over to the guy that I had a joint partnership with in front of the owner of the property. When this change took place, I called up nPower as well as all other companies involved in the billing of the business to inform them of this change and give the new details of the person taking over - the owner of the property as well as the new guy who was going to takeover were witnesses to this.

Last week I got a phone call from a debt company saying nPower had contacted them to about me as I had not paid any bills for this business for the period of about 11 months and that I owe them Ј1200.

No letters were sent to me, the owner of the property or the guy that took over after me or those that ran the takeaway after him. No one was contacted at all. Npower did not contact me about this either until I called them to confirm if this call was legit. They said they had no record of this and have asked for a full account history.

Now, I have no idea what has happened here - obviously, I did everything I needed to as it wasn't the first time I moved from running a takeaway. I'm currently going through my papers to see if there anything from that period but it was 4 years ago and it was all sorted then :S

Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas as to what has happened here and what I can do? Should I seek legal advice? Surely, if this was genuine or if someone after me used my name, then nPower would have picked this up sooner :S I mean why continue to provide power to a business for 4 years after Ј1200 worth of bills were not paid?

Any insight would be useful as I'm totally out of my depth here.

Thank you.

Best answers:

• Tell them to prove it
• https://www.businessdebtline.org/EW/...joint%29-.aspx
• Thank you so so much fermi
• That's the basic letter anyway. Adjust to suit and perhaps also give business debtline a call freephone on 0800 197 6026 as this is a commercial debt that is disputed.
• Just an update after finally speaking to nPower this morning.
  1. They say they have no record of the phone call I made in front of the owner and the guy taking over the business when I left in Oct 2011.
  2. They have record of the guy who took over after me leaving in Dec 2011 and reverted the account to my name from Dec 2011 until March 2012, when another guy took over the business and gave them a new meter reading.
  3. Apparently, they have attempted to contact me by sending letters to the business address but then passed my details on to a debt company to find me.
  4. Also, the normal bill for that business over 3 months is about Ј400, so the Ј1600 they are asking for is very off - I think the guy who took over from Dec 2011 to March 2012 gave them a wrong meter reading.
  I have asked for copies of all correspondences made by nPower within the questioned period of time.
  I have in writing that I left in Oct 2011 by the guy who took over from then to Dec 2011 but I am still discussing this with the property owner as he is concerned if he confirms I left in writing, then he will have to pay the debt himself. I have also asked him for the name of the guy that took over in Dec 2011 to March 2012 but he is reluctant to give me this, which makes me think the guy was less than legitimate to run the business.
  I have spoken to the debt company who have said they will hold any interest for 2 weeks only after which it will start incurring.
  Any further insights please?
• Ok, You have done, almost the right thing in asking them to provide proof, thing is, phone calls, can be seldom acted upon, its more official if its in writing, i appreciate you want to sort this out, but dont speak to the DCA on the phone again either, everything in writing, then you have a papertrail.
  I would still back up the request for evidence in writing, as i doubt you will get it otherwise, as for the DCA charging interest, as its a business debt, they may be allowed to do this, normally they are not allowed to add any charges or interest to a debt, that needs to be clarified.
  This two week suspension of interest, that is there deadline, not yours, if they have added charges/interest and its subsequently found out they are not allowed to do so, that can be challenged, you wont have to pay it.
• Basically, and this applies to any debt, the onus is on them to prove you owe this money, not for you to prove you dont.
  If it got to court, they would need to have proof that you are liable for this debt, no proof, no debt, its as simple as that.