Does anyone with Npower think these quarterly winter bills are too high?

angel_delight

Sorry if this has been covered before in this forum but i'd be interested to hear if others with Npower reckon they are being charged too much?

My o.h normally deals with the electricity & gas (as I pay other utility bills) but I can't think of one month that's gone by where he hasn't been stressed about being able to afford the bills over the last couple of years- especially during the winter months. Often he's still paying off the last bill still not long before the new one arrives.

He has chopped and changed a few times with different companies (using Uswitch), tried paying quartely, direct debit then back to quarterly..trying to hopefully save some money. We are a family of five living in a three bed rm semi detached house and mostly use electric. Have been real careful in switching off everything when not in use, cutting back on baths/showers, not excessively using the tumble dryer, heating etc but it doesn't appear to make much difference. He makes sure he gives them actual metre readings too.

Personally I thought our last quartely winter bills for elec (£250) and the gas (£177) were about average for our family/house size and knowing all gas/elec prices have gone up a fair bit considerably for everyone? He however seems to think not with work colleagues and even the local post office lady upon seeing one bill saying they were really high and they pay no-where near that amount. Not sure what to think anymore?..hence coming on here.

He's basicly said last night Npower can stuff the remaining of what we owe them as he reckons they've ripped us off somewhere along the line (aarrgghh). That he also wants to change to a different company asap paying by direct debit which he claimed last time he would never do again as although in interest you pay more than you need to which could of gone towards other bills. He's left it in my hands to sort to check out various reviews on other companies online but they all seem as bad as eachother? I do sympathise and am trying my best with plenty of other matters on my plate besides but he's so doing my head in. Nagging like anything if were all freezing cold for hours even with jumpers on, if the weathers that bad for days and I have to use the tumble dryer. With three kids the kitchen would soon resemble that laundarette out of Eastenders if I didn't,lol.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Rach.

Vestra

I would say your gas bill sounds very low for a family of 5, are the bills estimated?

Magentasue

There are a few things you need to know, if you want to get involved in these bills:

- are the supplier using the supplied meter readings or estimating?
- what is causing the problems - gas or electricity?
- paying by DD will lower costs because you'll get a dis count. An online account will attract a further discount.
- your electricity bill seems very high. Won't make much difference switching lights off if you're using a tumble drier a lot. We are a family of six averaging £60 a month for electricity in the winter.

Check how many units of electricity you're using a day (meter read at the same time for a few days) and aim for less than 15 a day.

jimexbox

What type of heating do you have, and like other posters have said are the bills an estimate, and were your previous quarter bills an estimate?

If you have gas CH I would of thought the figures you give would be swapped over, as the electric does seem pretty high, £177 for gas this quarter would be very good, it has been cold. Plus prices have risen dramatically over the last year.

TBH you can get fixated by unit price, obviously you should get the best deal you can, but changing your pattern of energy use can make huge saving. This can only be achieved by all family being careful.

angel_delight

Thanks for the replies.

The metre readings have been supplied by the o.h to them since we got back with them a year or so ago. When I viewed our last gas/elec bill online a few weeks back it didn't state estimated so presumed they were using actual ones supplied.

It's mainly the electricity bills causing worry every time. The only things the gas is used for is heating the water and the central heating. We only put the latter on for short periods of time..once or twice an evening and not every evening at that- only when really cold. The water temp dial has been turned down too. The kids have all been told to do their bit. The o.h does blame the tumble dryer saying he'd get shot of it in a flash if he could but although several yrs old now, it's quite high in energy effiecent ratings and as said before only used when the weather is that bad and the clothes washing is piling up. He's quick to moan if he's no clean dry work clothes etc.

Going back to paying by direct debit would be the obvious answer each month as he can't seem to budget out of his wages each week enough to cover the costs at the end of each quarter. Although granted he is in a seasonal job which unfortunately means he's layed off each dec/jan so has to play catch up with everything. But there was a period a couple of years ago now where he was doing it this way (most probably different company) and it started off a reasonable montly dd but then the price got hiked up to something which he said he couldn't afford to pay on top off the other bills so went back to paying quartely. So i'm left feeling cynical whether the same will happen again?

The bills were paperless up until a few weeks ago. That is until he told me about the difficulties..or rather how bad things had got. I remember him saying several months back how he was going to do it this way because he gets fed up of paper bills everywhere but it might of been to do with saving some more money aswell. So I left him to it.. him paying his share of the household bills, wasn't even aware of the account details/password until recently. Part of me is kicking myself inside because if the bills had come through the door i'd of been made aware of sooner when they were issued/how much for/the fact he'd even defaulted on paying off in installments..matters he probably put off telling me in full until weeks after. It sounds awful saying this but i'm not sure I could put my trust or faith in him again to go paperless with another company.

One thing I've said to him tonight is that if he's so determined to change companies then he has to pay off the remaining of what we owe for elec/gas asap..no buts about it. Often get accused of talking to him like a child yet what does he expect when he says such things like "right that's it..stuff their extortionate bills- I can't pay them". There's times I struggle paying everything else on even half his wages but I don't have that attitude...as I know it wouldn't get me very far. I've sat down with him..done workings out from his wages to budget for each bill every wk with ample enough spending money even in the period before he's out of work when the winter elec/gas bills arrive but i'm sick of hearing excuses. It's usually replies of "that's all very well putting it in writing (figures) but it never works out like that as other bills/other costs get in the way". By costs he means things personal things for himself..games/dvds etc as it's always me buying bits for the home/kids which is irronic as the other excuse is he's sick of working to hardly see anything of his wages after all expenses are accounted for. But that's the same for most people isn't it?

Appologies waffled on far more than intended (good to get it out of my system though,lol). I will be sure to keep an eye on the units used up every few days from now on and to see if we can cut down anymore..but i'm struggling to think of much more that we can do at this moment.

Thanks all again.

Rach.

Magentasue

Have you looked at the Debt Free Wannabe Board? There are lots of stories like yours. There is usually one partner who realises the wheels are loose and the other doesn't want to face up to it. Sometimes one person can turn things rounds and sometimes they can't and the wheels fall off.

It is possible to switch with a debt but very often, the original supplier will block it until the debt is paid. One of you needs to set up a payment plan that is manageable - ignore the bill and prepayment meters will be installed.

I would suggest CAB or one of the free advice companies listed on the DFW board. They will go through a realistic budget with you. When I crawled out of debt, I gave up everything - phone went on incoming calls only (no mobiles then), TV went, food went down to a minimum and we sat in the dark to save electricity! Now people are reluctant to give up life's luxuries (waits for people to tell me a tumble drier is essential) and it's pointless doing it on your own. No good you saving a fiver here and a fiver there if it gets spent on a game.

You could wait for him to grow up but it sounds as if you may be waiting a while but you should talk to someone. Otherwise you'll feel things are sliding out of control - because they will. You may find that if you make the first move, he'll realise he needs to get on board - hope so!