beware npower spread warmth tariff

sam79_2

hi there im a newby here and thought i had better put this warning up to others.

after reading one of the posts on here about npowers "spreading warmth" deal for those on low income and benefits i rang and applied.

5 days later i got a letter informing me that my tarriff had been changed from my online 8 tarriff to the standard one for spreading warmth.

looking at the prices per unit there was a significant difference. my online 8 was 11.57 inc vat for the first 728kwh and 11.05 with vat for the rate over the 728kwh and on the standard for spreading warmth was 1612 inc vat and 14.12 inc vat ofter 728kwh. so therefore it was not benefitical for me to be on this spreading warmth.

when i rang and questioned this i was told that i should have been given a comparison over the phone to see if it was worth it. i wasnot. so make sure you do your homework bfor you swap!!!

queeniebuttercup

This is wrong and they are not allowed to do it, their social tariffs must be the as low as their cheapest tariff, here is the link below in which ofgem ruled this. If you need anymore help pm me

http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Resources/Daily-news/Energy-efficiency-consumer-new-tag/Ofgem-social-tariffs-must-be-cheapest-deal

sam79_2

thanks for the quick reply....

the npower spreading warmth deal is that they will give a lump sum of £125 each fuel (total £250 for gas and elec) in january for those on low incomes.....does the ruling by ofgem apply to this??

when i applied for this spreading warmth they never actually notified me that my tarriff was going to change

KimYeovil

Yup, this problem comes up regularly. (Eg http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1263877)