nPower fixed rate 2011 rip off!!?

perino

Help! I took Martin Lewis' advise and got in on nPower's fixed rate 2011 deal as it looked like the best on offer. Now our duel fuel bills have rocketed sky high! We initially were quoted £90 per month direct debit which, although a lot higher then we were on previously with EDF was a 'safe' option with the rising prices (or so I thought!). Our first quarterly statement has come in saying that for Electricity we are £144.38 in debit and we have used £324.38 and our Gas is £90.88 in debit and we have used £270.88. The total is £595.26. They 'adjusted' the direct debit amount to £242.00 per month to cover the debit and to estimate for next 6 months! I rang immediately and was told they could reduce payment to £165 over 12 months. After hanging up, I still felt unhappy and couldn't see how we had used so much fuel, so I rang back. Spoke to another adviser who said she could reduce the Direct Debit amount further to £140 but that we must cut back on our fuel 'usage' by only putting dishwasher on every 3rd day, not putting immersion heater on (its only on for an hour each day!) only having heating on low etc. My partner is blowing a gasket and I feel like I've been duped! We don't leave lights on and although I'm home with our baby all day, I have heating on 18degrees and don't have a tumble dryer and try to be careful with money. I really feel like I've 'cocked up' by switching to nPower's fixed rate and see from other postings that they use a 'clever' price adjustment thingy every few months or so to up their costings? Advice please, cos I'm no good with figures and feel out of my depth with this problem!!

krkdec1

I also took this out in June 2008, moving away from EDF when they wanted to increase my monthly DD from £70 to £110. This now seems cheap!! My usual bill with EDF for the winter is about £400, I was assured by the nPower doorstep cowboy that i would save money by switching. This years winter bill with nPower is £685 and my DD is increasing to £175, I wish i'd never moved!!

I tried ringing them and was told to call the Energy Efficiency number but after being informed by automated message that the waiting time to speak to someone was 40mins i gave up and have send a complaint to nPower, I'll let you know how i get on.

As i work 4 days a week and am quite frugal with the gas and electricity for the time i am at home this bill is just ridiculous. My neighbour who took the same fixed rate deal out at the same time is also hopping mad.

Good luck you to with sorting this out although i feel we'll need more than good luck!!

Magentasue

Regardless of which tariff you're on, the more you use, the more it will cost and if you don't read your meter regularly, especially in a cold winter, you run the risk of bills higher than you expected.

Perino If you have duel fuel, why do you use an immersion heater? They're expensive! Use the gas boiler for hot water. Cut right back on heating as far as you can. That's what's racking the bills up. Read your meter every day for a week. As a guide, our family of six are currently using 14kwh of electricity a day and 2.5 imperial units of gas a day (about 78kwh or 7 metric units).

And both of you - make sure your bills are based on actual (A) readings, not estimated (E).

KimYeovil

Have either of you compared the actual prices?

Chalky_WIS

I'm personally not a fan of nPower. They recently cold called and convinced me that I would be better of switching. After a lengthy call going through figures I agreed. It took a long time for their more detailed letter to arrive. I went through the rates they had and I worked out it would cost me more!
I rang the next day to cancel. Be careful. They give you 14days to change your mind. By the time the letter came through with the details I only had 2 days to work out if is was for me.
This is the 2nd time I have tried a switch to nPower and had the same problem both times. They are not upfront on their initial call about the true cost.
All you need is your price per unit and your previous yearly readings to work out how much you'll use in a year.

Magentasue

Chalky_WIS wrote: »

All you need is your price per unit and your previous yearly readings to work out how much you'll use in a year.

... and then use a comparison site, maybe with cashback. Don't sign at the door. At best, you won't get offered anything better than you can get yourself and at worst, you'll sign up for something that will cost you more than you'd pay if you did a bit of research.

skadooshka

i got a visit from someone from npower yesterday attempting to convince me that npower 'is now the cheapest' and that she'd 'done her own research' even after i said i couldn't switch because i use a prepay meter. thoughts anyone?

1carminestocky

Interesting locic from the npower rep, lol. When you take into account the fact that they are the only one of the Big 6 not to announce price cuts and being as they very probably weren't 'the cheapest' before, anyway, I would be interested how that theory was arrived at. WHY don't these reprobates ever knock on my door? We have a nice enough house with nice enough cars on the drive in a nice enough area so I can't see it being because they are intimidated or anything. I would absolutely love it...

basmic

This is why you shouldn't take Martin's advice as gospel.

SWITCH NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW!

Oh wait... what happens if we ride out the 6 months of higher prices? I'll tell you what happens - you end up paying the now reduced prices.

I detest scare mongering, and Martin Lewis guilty of just this! He used people's fear of energy prices continuously rising, so they all capped their prices - but to cap your prices, you pay extra. Hmmm, wait...something's not right - I'm paying say £80/month, and you want another £15/month to cap my prices? Ooooookaaaaayyyy...?!

So what if those prices come down? Well now we have whining threads with people suddenly wanting to know if they can drop out of their capped price tarriffs, because people's bills are now falling well below theirs! Yes, at further cost! Hey, this capped price tarriff is really paying off, eh?

Next time, engage your brain before falling for profiteering scare mongering tactics.

Rusty!

skadooshka wrote: »

thoughts anyone?

She's a moron.

ronald208

What exactly is your tariff?

Direct debit payments are meaningless unless we know what you are paying per unit and how much gas and electricity units you are using.

Eon put up my direct debit from £65 per month to £114 per month. I made a spreadsheet and after reading my meter for a few days I was actually able to work out why they increased the direct debit. If they had not I would have been £100's in debit by summer.

I am still using the same amount of gas for heating this year as last year even although there is someone at home all day now that my wife has retired and the heating is on all day because I increased the insulation in my house.

Electricity has went up though as she watches TV all day:rotfl:

Ron