N Power Estimate Shock - Please Help.

Sharpies_2

Hi there,

I'm in a bit of a panic over an account statement I just got through from N Power Gas. Having been paying them £30-odd a month via direct debit for gas on a small one and a half bedroom property which my girlfriend and I didn't use any heat for throughout the summer. We're not in for the majority of the day and out a lot evenings and weekends and only run the central heating for maybe four hours a day at the absolute most (there's also the heating of water which is gas too I guess). At our previous place we paid Scottish Power around £75 a month for combined gas and electric (I'm starting to wish I'd never switched!) and this left us in credit by quite a lot. However, after paying five months of £30 a month to N Power I received a statement saying that we owed them £60 (fair enough I thought - if it's gone over the amount then I'll just write a cheque for the difference and have done with it) but then saw that they'd recalculated our direct debit a month from £35 a month to £133! Does this not seem a bit of an insane leap?
I phoned them up and gave a proper reading of the meter and it turns out that they'd estimated our opening May meter reading as the numbers on the meter being a lot lower than they actually were even though I'd phoned and given a meter reading upon joining them. I was then told that there were 'errors' in their computer system and the bill would be recalculated. However, I'm a bit worried that they're going to mess it up again as I can't imagine that two people who are rarely in could be able to get through a hundred and thirty quid's worth of gas in a month. I was just wondering if anyone else on here has had a similar experience with N Power and how they got it resolved?
Sorry if this is a bit convoluted - I'm just angry, confused and a bit panicked by it - it's a hundred and thirty pounds a month I can't afford to add to monthly outgoings.
Thanks for reading and I hope to hear from you soon.

DVardysShadow

Ask them to supply the calculation which justifies £135. They never can. All Utilities will wriggle and squirm and claim that it is their secret formula.

The truth of the matter is that DD used to be away of spreading your energy costs through the year, but now the utilities tend to use it for their own purposes.

To my mind, the Direct Debit discounts are not nearly enough to pay for the effort you have to put out to keep them under control. It is better to bear the seasonal differences yourself than to take the far greater fluctuations in your finances from companies who will not tell you how they calculate monthly DD's

Sharpies_2

Thanks for the reply DVardysShadow! It's really appreciated! Do you think it's worth saying to them that I'll increase the direct debit by around a tenner a month and pay the difference when I get the next statement through and if they get funny about that instead of me going for their estimate threaten to immediately switch companies? It did indeed seem that over the phone that they couldn't justify why it would be that much convincingly. Thanks again for the reply! If anyone else has any more advice it would also be massively appreciated!