Npower huge bill

geewcee · 22 May 2015 at 5:00PM

My younger brothers just received a huge bill from NPower 13 months after moving into his rental property. When he moved in the landlord said that NPower was the supplier and he would prefer that tenants stay with them to avoid chopping and changing bills etc. So for the past five years the property had been supplied by them, so you would think they would have a pretty good estimation on bills.
Anyway, the day he moved in he submitted his opening reading to them. They sent him an estimated bill and also a quarterly payment plan which he has paid every quarter up until yesterday.
Today he has been sent a huge bill for £560 which they say he now owes on top of his regular payments. He questioned why they would allow someone to go a full year and run up credit of £560 but the customer service rep he spoke to said they don't have to do that for 24 months at a time(?)
Anyway, in October last year he lost his job and basically spent all winter without any heating so I know for sure his usage hasn't been excessive. I've asked him to email his opening reading and usage figures so will look at it for him.
My question really is, presuming the figures are correct, is it standard practice for utility companies to allow you to go so far into debt without increasing the payment plan somewhere over the course of the year?
I've never been in this situation before personally as I always use online plans and keep track pretty well. My brother is on a very low income, isn't the brightest spark either but he always pays his way and he's stressed about how he's ever going to be able to pay this back. Npower want him to ring back on Monday to discuss further.

naedanger · 22 May 2015 at 6:04PM

geewcee wrote: »

My younger brothers just received a huge bill from NPower 13 months after moving into his rental property. When he moved in the landlord said that NPower was the supplier and he would prefer that tenants stay with them to avoid chopping and changing bills etc. So for the past five years the property had been supplied by them, so you would think they would have a pretty good estimation on bills.
Anyway, the day he moved in he submitted his opening reading to them. They sent him an estimated bill and also a quarterly payment plan which he has paid every quarter up until yesterday.
Today he has been sent a huge bill for £560 which they say he now owes on top of his regular payments. He questioned why they would allow someone to go a full year and run up credit of £560 but the customer service rep he spoke to said they don't have to do that for 24 months at a time(?)
Anyway, in October last year he lost his job and basically spent all winter without any heating so I know for sure his usage hasn't been excessive. I've asked him to email his opening reading and usage figures so will look at it for him.
My question really is, presuming the figures are correct, is it standard practice for utility companies to allow you to go so far into debt without increasing the payment plan somewhere over the course of the year?
I've never been in this situation before personally as I always use online plans and keep track pretty well. My brother is on a very low income, isn't the brightest spark either but he always pays his way and he's stressed about how he's ever going to be able to pay this back. Npower want him to ring back on Monday to discuss further.

Unfortunately, presuming the figures are correct, your younger brothers are very likely to be liable for the full amount.

You should read the terms and conditions of the account to see if npower have failed in any way e.g. did they issue bills as frequently as they said they would, did they use any meter readings provided by your brothers etc. (However even if they failed to perform in line with the account terms and conditions it is unlikely this would result in any change to the debt, although they might deduct a small amount for any service failings.)

If this is their first bill and it covers a period of more than 12 months then your brother's might be entitled to a small reduction as suppliers are not supposed to back bill for more than 12 months usage. (However if this is the case you are probably only talking about a reduction of approx 1/13th of the debt, or around £40.)

If they have trouble paying they should contact npower to see if they can pay the bill off over a longer period.

geewcee · 22 May 2015 at 9:11PM

OK thanks for your feedback. It just seems bizarre to me that Npower would undercharge for a year on a property they seem to have a long history of usage data with.

matelodave · 23 May 2015 at 8:45AM

When was the meter last read. The electricity companies make an estimate of how much they think you might use but they aren't clairvoyant.

If you don't check your bills against the meter and get them corrected then arrears can mount up very quickly.

It takes a bit of effort (about 5 minutes a month or even a quarter) to read your meters and either phone or mail the readings through.

geewcee · 23 May 2015 at 4:03PM

You're preaching to the converted. I submit mine online every month.
The situation is alien to me, hence why I posted. He sent me his readings and usage last night, of course they had him on their most expensive plan, 50% more per units than I pay on mine. Ridiculous.

corbyboy · 23 May 2015 at 4:09PM

So how many meter readings did he submit since he moved in?

Presumably he is on the standard tariff. Which tariff are you on that us 50% cheaper?

It's not the power company's job to look after him, he has to look out for himself. Also, he isn't required to stick with Npower, no matter what his landlord says.

pogofish · 23 May 2015 at 4:17PM

geewcee wrote: »

Today he has been sent a huge bill for £560 which they say he now owes on top of his regular payments.

TBH, that is not a huge bill by Npower's standards - They hit my 89yr old mother with something like £5K a while back - needless to say there was a few days I thought she wouldn't make 90! :eek:

By the time we got it sorted-out they ended-up paying her a £1200 refund and the next year they only over-projected by around £2K. This year they are only over the score by around £400 so far.

With a bit more bloody mindedness on my part they might just get it right for her next year!

matelodave · 23 May 2015 at 6:21PM

Do your own projections - don't let the leccy company do the guessing, do it yourself and then monitor your meter, bills & payments.

Works for me

nPower · 28 May 2015 at 1:35PM

geewcee wrote: »

My younger brothers just received a huge bill from NPower 13 months after moving into his rental property. When he moved in the landlord said that NPower was the supplier and he would prefer that tenants stay with them to avoid chopping and changing bills etc. So for the past five years the property had been supplied by them, so you would think they would have a pretty good estimation on bills.
Anyway, the day he moved in he submitted his opening reading to them. They sent him an estimated bill and also a quarterly payment plan which he has paid every quarter up until yesterday.
Today he has been sent a huge bill for £560 which they say he now owes on top of his regular payments. He questioned why they would allow someone to go a full year and run up credit of £560 but the customer service rep he spoke to said they don't have to do that for 24 months at a time(?)
Anyway, in October last year he lost his job and basically spent all winter without any heating so I know for sure his usage hasn't been excessive. I've asked him to email his opening reading and usage figures so will look at it for him.
My question really is, presuming the figures are correct, is it standard practice for utility companies to allow you to go so far into debt without increasing the payment plan somewhere over the course of the year?
I've never been in this situation before personally as I always use online plans and keep track pretty well. My brother is on a very low income, isn't the brightest spark either but he always pays his way and he's stressed about how he's ever going to be able to pay this back. Npower want him to ring back on Monday to discuss further.

Hi Geewcee

Thanks for your post.

I'm sorry that your brother is having issues with his bills. If he can contact me using the details on our profile page with his meter readings and account details, I'll look into this.

Kind Regards

Jen

Npower huge bill

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