pre payment

waylander_3

i have a prepayment meter fitted about 3 months ago i recieved a letter saying i was £30 in debt i finally got round to emailing an enquiry on the 19.10.08 to npower asking how i was in debt when i had a prepayment meter and to show me clearly how they had worked this out i have still not had an answer other than confirmation of reciept of my email which said it would take a few days in the mean time they are taking £3 a week off .basically not getting anywhere who can i complain to ofgem,media what has the best effect on firms to deal with problems

brysiewysie

You need to register a compliant with Npower first. Ofgem will probably pass you back to Npower if you don't complain to them first.

Vestra

Why was the meter changed in the first place? Was the debt from before the meter was changed?

fernliebee

I had the same thing happen to me and after lot's of phonecalls to Eon (made them ring me back on mob!!) They admitted fault, as they hadn't registered my key or card properly. They then had to go back to the company who deals with keys and cards and see where my payments had been going ( to british gas?????)

A friend told me this was a bit of a scam as the company usually know it's a card error but rather than look into it, bill you in the hope that many people will pay it without questions. Hope they sort it out quickly for you.

Pssst

You cant complain to Ofgem. they dont handle complaints directly from the public. Energywatch,who did handle complaints from the public,were shut down it october because the huge weight of complaints became a Government embarrassment and demonstrated that liberalised energy markets are a total failure.

BexTech

Still today many people don't realise that pre-payment meters don't mean you are actually fully paying up front for the energy used and can quite easily get into a debt on them. This is why every 12 months you get a statement and then you are either in credit or in debt.

Years ago when prices weren't rising very much, most people ended up in credit and every 12 months they received a cheque, nowadays with the prices changing so often, people can end up with a debt. This is due to the meter not being updated with the higher prices, so the meter is only deducting at the lower price, when the statement comes it will be listed at the correct price and with the amount you have paid in to the meter. For example the meter is set to deduct at 8p/kWhr when the actual rate is 10p/kWhr.

As you have had a prepayment meter fitted it could be because you have a debt and this is still on your account, you also now will be paying a lot more for your energy, though the meter should have been set correctly.