Massive Bills from Npower....any advice

fatsober

Hi all

Sorry this is probably going to be a long post but I would value any one's input...

We were with Eon (when they were still Powergen) paying 35 a month dd for our electricity (which I thought a tad high). We got a cold call from Npower in September last year and switching to them seemed like a good idea from the patter the lady gave us. What a mistake.

The first bill came in just before Christmas (for sep-dec) for just over 400gbp. I rang to query this and have being ringing every month, keeping a track of who I speak to, what they say and what they were going to do (which has amounted to nothing) I have been told the meter is not working properly, the meter is the incorrect type, the starting reading was wrong, so on and so forth. I have sent meter readings and done all I can to try to get someone to come out and look at the house/meter. To put it into context the house is a small 2 up 2 down, oil central heating, 1 tv, two computers (turned off when not in use), washing machine, dishwasher (both with good energy efficiency) e/s light bulbs, and normal things such as a hairdryer etc...2 of us live in the house. The readings I took were over the Christmas period so they were possibly a bit higher as we "hosted" Christmas and showed us using 20units per day (still seems high to me).

Every month I get another higher bill, ring up and query it...and nothing happens no one comes to look at the meter etc...the last bill for 9Mar - 18 jun was for 259...which is 86 gbp per month?? I have followed all the proper Npower channels have a complaints ref but nothing ever gets done I go round in circles have kept a note of everyone I have spoken to but am getting nowhere. can anyone suggest anything? the total bill from sept- now (18 Jun) is now 991.25 which seems ludicrous? Does this seem a bit high to anyone?

Many thanks

Geoff

Magentasue

Can you tell us how many kwh (units) you have used between Sept last year and now? You can't really go by what you're being charged as some of your bills may be based on estimated readings.

20kwh a day is not spectacularly high for a family house where you are not consciously trying to cut back. If you're not using anything that uses a lot of electricity (tumble drier, electric shower etc), you shouldn't be using anything like 20kwh a day now. Taking a few readings at the same time every day should confirm whether your meter seems OK.

fatsober

Yep sure...as long as I haven't lost a bill somewhere the total from sep last year to now is:

Day 5479 kWh
Night 858 kWh

We have (had) an electric shower but we used it very infrequently and had baths given the electric bills! All the heating and hot water was from the Oil central heating no immersion heater a tumble dryer used infrequently and that was it. There is (was) only two of us living in the house...we have since moved hence the change in tenses . I just can't see how we could possibly use so much electricity....

Magentasue

The two readings suggest Economy 7 and you're not using enough off-peak units to make it worthwhile, so you could have cut your bills instantly by getting rid of that.

Aside from that, in nine months, you've used 6337kwh so an average of 23kwh a day. Quite a lot! No idea what could have been using that? Was your moving in reading accurate?

stewie_griffin

Do you still have copies of your old bills from E.on? If you do what was your usage like with them? Also if you've got them check if you were on an economy 7 tariff with them and if the day and the night rates are the same way round as they are now.

fatsober

Yep it was E7 but I think this was perhaps a leftover from when the house maybe had storage heaters or something? Npower said they would change the meter and change the rate, but nothing ever happened despite my constant phone calls. I'm glad you think 23kWh seems high I wasn't sure if perhaps I had made an error thinking it was a lot but the bills seem so disproportionate to the size of house/things we have plugged in. Perhaps if it was for heating also but with the oil fired boiler that takes that out of the equation. Re the start reading I have no idea but Npower said they have raised that with Eon who are rejecting it as they came and took a reading when we swapped over. I should have been more observent perhaps and done it myself but it just sounded like a good deal and that they had everything in hand. Seems I was wrong...The thing with it is I have never tried not to pay i just don't want to pay more tan I should and am now staring down the barrel of nearly 1,000 worth of bill which I'm pretty sure is way out....and thats not even for a year!

Magentasue

I think all you can do is sort out actual readings and dates and put your case in writing. If you're disputing readings that you accepted at the time, I'd say you have a weak case unless you have evidence and may end up having to pay as charged.

fatsober

@ stewie not sure we have any of the old Eon/Powergen bills but its a good idea and I'll have a check

fatsober

Well I never actually agreed the readings at the time as I got on the phone to Npower as soon as the first bill arrived so from day one I have been disputing it. Our first bill (from 10/09/08- 12/12/08) was 447.51 given that they were supposed to be cheaper than Eon I was expecting something around 90-100 quid give or take...not over 4 times as much!

stewie_griffin

If you don't have your old bills then if I were you I'd contact E.on and check what readings they used to close your account. I'd also ask what your last years consumption was with them (see if they will give you a list of meter readings they took whilst they supplied you).

Robert2009

Never work out what your gas and electric bills are going to be from what your previous direct debit was if you are going to change suppliers. You need the actual meter readings.

There are 2 people at home all day and night in my house, both retired, and my computer is on from about 9:00am to 01:00 every day. My wife dries clothes in the tumble dryer at leaast twice a week. We have gas warm air heating which, in the winter, is on from 08:00 to 22:00 but is turned off just now to save on the pilot light (1 to 3 Kwh per day, cannot measure it any more accurate) and yes we had it tested. A hot water heater on 24 hrs a day (the way it works ) and gas cooking. We use about 18500Kwh gas and 4250Kwh electricity a year. We could cut down maybe 250Kwh electricity a year but we are too old to bother about saving that for the convenience of picking up a remote control. We worked all our life so have a comfortable retirement and there is no point in having money in the bank to leave it to our children, we never got anything from our parents, so we are just spending money on being comfortable, we would rather have the heating at 22C and be warm than have it at 18C and feel cold, etc, but we are only paying £102 per month combined for our fuel in a 3 bed semi built in 1991.
Every time I check to see if I would be better off changing supplier, if I put in how much we pay there is always someone cheaper but if I put my actual usage in even Scottish(British) gas say it will cost more than I am paying now with Eon.

Sort of rant over I think I will go and sit in the garden for a while, nice and sunny just now

Rob