Npower more than doubling my monthly payment

speedyvic

Hi there, i was just wondering if anyone can give me a bit of avise before i ring Npower.
I have just recieved a bill stating that my new payment will go up from £102 to £238. There is no way i can possibly afford this as i am a single mum with 2 kids and getting no help from my ex husband (i won't even go into that, i've been trying to get something from the skinflint for over 6 years and the csa are a joke).
So how do i approch npower? Any ideas?

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.

Without having any details it is probable that you have run up a large debit balance because of estimated bills - or at least that is the normal reason.

At this time of year - approaching winter - you should be well in credit with your £102 payments. Especially with Npower as they seasonally weight bills(you pay more in Winter over and above the extra consumption)

You need to establish what you owe, and how long it has taken to run up that debit balance.

Npower should allow the same length of time to pay back any debt as it took to build up.

If there have been a lot of estimated bills they might offer you a goodwill reduction.

oxster

Be careful a similar thing happened to me (same supplier) but they wanted to increase it four fold I checked my meter and they had the right readings (but had been under charging me), when I told them I couldn't afford it they guy at the call centre actually suggested that I took a card meter as that's what he had and it was actually cheaper than direct debit!! Yeah right it's obvious he hadn't been watching the news. So basically he told me I either pay it or get a card meter. I hung up resigned to having to pay the extra costs.


I thought about it and called again to make a complaint I was told this time that i could spread the extra cost over 12 months, which was much more manageable. Npower have a terrible (and well earned) reputation for customer service, so don't take what they first say you.