Gas & Elec overpayment - Your advice is needed!

*kortex

Hello,

I'm a dual fuel customer with npower and have just received my Annual Review statement. It tells me I'm £280 in credit and I'm not sure whether I can/should ask for this back.

They have estimated my usage for the next 6 months and are lowering my monthly payment from £51 to £5! Even with another 6 months, their calculations show I will still be £50 in credit. What should I do? Can they refuse a refund or can I demand they give me my £280 and adjust my direct debit according to their estimation of my usage for the next 6 months??

Any advice much appreciated!

zzzLazyDaisy

This is only my opinion - but I would wait until the winter billing period is over and then look at it again. £280 credit might sound a lot, but you might be surprised how much fuel you use if we have a harsh winter like last year.

If you ask for a refund now, they will certainly put your DD back up, because £5 a month for both gas and electricity is extremely unlikely to cover a winter fuel bill, even in the most frugal of households.

marmitedog

The revised amount is intended to run down the £280 credit over the next 12 months.

If you do ask for it back, then your payments will clearly have to go back up to one twelfth of your estimated future consumption.

If you do go down this route, ensure the bill and review is based on actual reads. Estimates based on estimates are the road to big future !!!! ups!

*kortex

Hi,

Thanks so much for the speedy replies! After hearing what you say and thinking about it more, I decided to call and ask about a refund because their included leaflet says automatic refunds are given if the overpayment is over £60. I asked why I wasn't offered this and he said it was an error. (??)

I always send in meter readings and so all my bills are based on actual readings. He says my usage for the next 6 months accounts for higher winter use and my new DD payment will be £36. So I've got back £283 I didn't expect and a reduction in my DD! So I'm very happy :j Seems they just had my DD payment set too high.

Thanks for the help guys.