Energy company says we have changed to them but we have not!

[Nothavingfunrightnow]

We received a letter from NPower says that they were sorry we were leaving them. First we knew of it! (We being me and DH :) ) I contacted them to inform them that we were not moving our supplier and NPower advised us that Sparks energy were registered on the National Grid as being our supplier from date X.

NPower said that they would deal with the matter on our behalf, and that they would as Spark to prove that we had entered into an agreement with them to supply our energy. They will not be able to prove this because neither DH nor I had changed our supplier.

Npower said from date x, Sparks would be our supplier because they were not able to stop the supply at that date.

My question is: We did not ask Sparks to supply us anything at all, so even if they have been our energy supplier, do we still owe them anything? We did not ask them to supply us so if they are doing so then surely they can only be doing so out of the goodness of their heart??

Serious question: are we indebted to a supplier for essential supplies we received and used (having no choice), but did not request?

I don't know the answers to those questions but I do know that those door to door people that try to persuade you to change over, have been known to just sign the forms themselves to get the commission. Maybe ask your neighbours to see if they have been switched over too.

Savoy, I thought that is what might have happened. I am certain that the forms were forged.

I am going to put up a fight about paying them, though.

NPower seem like wet blankets.
A few years ago I received a letter from my supplier saying sorry to see you go. I phoned to be told that I was switching suppliers and this would be going through on X date. Around a month later. Said to suppliers (EDF) no, I didn't sign or agree to anything.. Not a problem, we will sort it. Which they did. A letter arrived from BG confirming that they had made a mistake.

I would get back onto both of them, and tell them unless this is sorted immediately you are reporting them for fraud. Also, follow up calls in writing, and then contact OFGEM. Let them both know that you are also contacting OFGEM.

You need to email N power and state again you are not leaving them and tell them if you incur any charges from Spark due to their error you would be looking for them to cover the cost . Attach a copy of your email to Sparks stating you have not changed over to them and that you want full details within 14 days showing why they believe that you are.

On your email to NPower you should enclose the meter reference number off your meter and ask them to check it is correctly registered to your address.

They can stop Sparks from taking over on the day if necessary. Whoever said they cant has given you poor advice.

I have just spent 18 months arguing with British Gas because I wanted to change to N Power but they entered my meter reference number into their system incorrectly and sent the 'sorry you're leaving us letter' to another address who had the changeover stopped immediately.

Its taken me 18 months to get British Gas to admit they got the reference number wrong. They have now sorted it but in the meantime I couldn't change over to N Power because of the other persons ongoing complaint was preventing me from changing suppliers.

Be firm and keep notes of every single person you speak to.

Thanks for the advice. I will follow up. I spoke to NPower about 2 weeks ago and was trusting and thought they would follow up.

When I rang Npower the change over date was about 4 days away.

I still wonder what the result will be if the new supplier asks for payment?

Thanks for the advice. I appreciate it!

I knew before I opened your post that this would be Spark!! They are currently under Ofgem investigation.

start here:

www.adviceguide.org.uk/wales/consumer_w/consumer_energy_supply_e/problems_switching_energy_suppliers/youve_been_switched_to_a_new_gas_or_electricity_supplier_without_your_consent.htm

ps with npower, raise a formal complaint via their complaints page and get it logged. Standard emails are ignored.

Spark are notorious and ignore everything...

We had this a few years ago.
NPower I wrote to say we were joining them. We had no intention of leaving British Gas. Turns out our meter was registered to the wrong address, and it was the people at that address who were moving suppliers. As BG could not be sure we had been billed correctly, they paid back all the money we'd paid since we'd bern at this address!

Oh my word! Thanks for the replies! I had for a millisecond doubted myself, but I can see that Sparks have committed fraud and that Npower needs to pull their fingers out to do something. Thanks, everyone.

Erroneous transfer? That's what happened to us when a house with a similar name transferred from our energy supplier to another. Took ages to sort out

Wayward, what happened about payment? Surely you did not have to pay the fraudulent supplier?