N Power bill shocker!

lfckerry

We are currently with N Power for our gas and electricity and have been since november last year.
We were paying £35p.m for gas and the same for electric( 2 of us in a 2 bed semi)
A couple of weeks ago we got our 6 monthly bill which changed our DD to £82p.m for gas(based on actual reading) and £2p.m(i laughed too!) for electric(based on 1 actual reading and then estimates).
I called them as this was clearly wrong and was told i would get a new bill-and gave them an actual reading for the electric. Few days later i get a new combined bill of £150p.m as they say we are now £400 in debit and are putting it up for 6 months then will reduce it back(not that theres much point as it doesnt seem we were paying enough anyway).
My main point is why dont they let you know if you arent paying enough earlier on instead of waiting 6mths till we owe over £400 and then more than doubling our monthly payments?
Also, if we decide to move suppliers do we have to pay the outstanding debit in one go or can we arrange a repayment plan?
Thanks
Kerry

Vestra

lfckerry wrote: »

We are currently with N Power for our gas and electricity and have been since november last year.
We were paying £35p.m for gas and the same for electric( 2 of us in a 2 bed semi)
A couple of weeks ago we got our 6 monthly bill which changed our DD to £82p.m for gas(based on actual reading) and £2p.m(i laughed too!) for electric(based on 1 actual reading and then estimates).
I called them as this was clearly wrong and was told i would get a new bill-and gave them an actual reading for the electric. Few days later i get a new combined bill of £150p.m as they say we are now £400 in debit and are putting it up for 6 months then will reduce it back(not that theres much point as it doesnt seem we were paying enough anyway).
My main point is why dont they let you know if you arent paying enough earlier on instead of waiting 6mths till we owe over £400 and then more than doubling our monthly payments?
Also, if we decide to move suppliers do we have to pay the outstanding debit in one go or can we arrange a repayment plan?
Thanks
Kerry

You will need to pay off any arrears before changing supplier.

beecher

Were you taking actual readings of your meters during this time? You really need to get into the habit of taking them and making sure you're paying enough for what you're using.

If you do move suppliers, make sure you start taking actual readings once a month so as the same thing doesn't happen again.

Lusty

I'm in a similar sort of boat as the original poster with N Power.
I'm about to change suppliers.
My monthly payment plan has just doubled and are based on estimated readings.
I've read the meters and got on to them.
My problem is that I haven't got a problem if I owe them money BUT I have got a problem that I have been informed that the payment is doubling one week before the direct debit payment is due and I haven't had time to work it into the budget at such short notice!
What do I do now?

lfckerry

Thanks for the replies. Thats what I dont understand Lusty, why they wait till 6 months to tell you that you are not paying enough and then double payments straight away.
my gas bill was from actual readings, the electric was a reading in november but estimates til june. I'm defo gonna get into the habit of giving them a reading every month!

Wallhart

phone them up. Wont they cancel it and reset it for the following month if you agree you will pay them the same as you have been paying this month

andygb

Vestra wrote: »

You will need to pay off any arrears before changing supplier.

I am sorry, but you are wrong about this. I was with NPower, and switched over to EON back in May. I am paying the balance of the NPower bill over 24 months.

lfckerry

oh right so i'm not suck with them for the duration then??
I moved to Southern electric for a month last year and got stung really so not sure how to find the best supplier,is it down to pence per whatever?

Vestra

andygb wrote: »

I am sorry, but you are wrong about this. I was with NPower, and switched over to EON back in May. I am paying the balance of the NPower bill over 24 months.

Well then you got lucky. If a debt on an account is older than 28 days the supplier may block the transfer.

If the supplier allows the transfer to go through a closing balance will be calculated once the final reading is received, this is usually asked to be paid within 10 days of receipt of bill, sometimes a supplier will allow a final payment plan to be set up but usually only spreading the debt over 3 months.

ayla

Just like IFCKERRY,we got stung by Npower.
We were with them for a long time and in March our bill came and said we owed £190 pm. When we queried this it was found that our meter was wrong,it took them four months to sort the problem out,when we asked about reducing our Direct debit they said we would have wait for the final bill.
We are also now thinking of switching.

Viper_7

You got a bill...wow, my last two quarterly bills have both been nil! In fact they credited me £5 for being a "good customer". Both were estimated - and both estimated Zero usage.
contract states they will not perform two estimates in a row - so I look forward to the argument when they do finally send me the right bill. Don't mind too much as it will be at the lower rate than the high price per unit over winter just passed.

In short they are hopeless.