Help! - npower "underestimated" our bill!

Haloumiface

We just got a phonecall claiming that we owe them £750 for the last year on top of what we paid, which wasn't a great price to start with. They claim to have not had a reading since last January 09 and got a new one this january. But we have had meter readings taken at least 3 times in the last 6 months.

We dont really know what is going on here - and we are students, without much money to spare. Does anyone have any good advise for this situation? Could the meter be broken? Can we switch to a cheaper energy provider?

Thanks in advance!

KimYeovil

It is up to you to compare your bills with your meters. It is also up to you to keep an eye on your meter from month to month to compare how much what you are using would cost with how much you are actually paying. Being students there must be one of you with the primary school arithmetic necessary to do this.

You can switch to a cheaper provider if you like - after you have cleared the debt. You should also make sure you are on one of nPower's cheaper tariffs in the interim - any such switch can be made immediately. (But watch out for tie-in fees or annual discounts.)

Haloumiface

it was all fine last year with numbers matching up so we got a bit lax in checking this year, but the jump in price doesn't make any sense to us, might get the meter checked.

KimYeovil

Being a student house with multiple living spaces that are being heated I would expect there to be a substantial increase in the bill this winter compared to last.

Since it's still cold just now you can take a careful look at how much a typical day or three's useage is and see on reflection just how not out (or not) the demand is.

DirectDebacle

Odd that they should phone you about this. Usually this is shown on a bill with either an enclosed or separate letter explaining the situation. If you have had meter readings taken 3 times then I would have thought at least one of the readings would have generated a bill or a statement. Are you sure this didn't get overlooked if it was received?

In order to check if what you were told is correct is take the January 09 reading and subtract it from your current reading. Work out the cost and then deduct what you know you have paid.

There may be a fault with the meter but unlikely. Best to check the obvious first. By all means shop around for cheaper energy but npower wont allow a switch with such a large amount outstanding. Best to get this sorted first.

KimYeovil

By the way, how many names are on the bill? You need to get this sorted out now and amicably before people start to run off in summer and leave one mug with the entire debt on their plate.

Haloumiface

We have had people round to take readings, but according to npower they were never registered with them which seems odd. I'm going to check the January readings shortly, but it seems odd that it would be higher as most of us were not even here during the cold spell at christmas.

DirectDebacle

Haloumiface wrote: »

We have had people round to take readings, but according to npower they were never registered with them which seems odd. I'm going to check the January readings shortly, but it seems odd that it would be higher as most of us were not even here during the cold spell at christmas.

npower say they have not had a reading since Jan. 09. We have just said goodbye to Jan. 2010. I wouldn't think it odd if the Jan 2010 reading is higher than the Jan 09.

jenna205

I've just moved from Npower myself due to the some issue.

They wrote to me saying i owned them £590 for 7 months (Feb - Sept 09) of use of electric. I rang them up and complained that a family of two in a two bed house could not make the price that high. We had already paid £150 to them. They kept lowering the price each time i spoke to someone but I would not pay until I thought it was right. They had wrong meter readings and said that I had not sent any in but I sent one in every month ( I would recommend you starts this).


All sorted now though, only had to pay £250. What a big difference to £590!!!

I would rang and ask for them to check the readings again and speak to a manager. I took me from june 09 until feb 10 to sort this. I did in the mean time change providers.

Hope this helps