crazy charging policy

jonsmum

I have just received an amended gas bill from npower which I just didn't understand. I have had an amazing conversation with a very helpful customer service rep. who told me that during the months when the weather is coldest they charge more units at the higher rate per unit, then when the weather gets warmer they lower the number of units charged at the higher rate! Since customers are using more units in the colder months almost all the bill is at the higher rate. Can someone more knowledgeable than me explain the logic of this!

penrhyn

Its called sculpting, a long thread on it here.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=822299&highlight=npower+sculpting

Cardew

Sculpting or 'seasonal weighting'!

You pay for 4,572kWh a year at the higher 'Tier1' of 'Primary' rate.

Every other firm that uses this method charge pro-rata throughout the year. So 4,572/365 = 12.52kWh per day. So in January you would pay for 388kWh at the high rate.

Not so with NPower. They 'seasonally weight' their Tier 1 units so you pay for more in winter and less in summer - 880kWh in Jan I believe.

The purpose of this is to ensure that those who use very little gas in Summer(some turn off their boiler) do not escape paying for most of the 4,572kWh tier 1 units.

Pincher

Bring back standing charge, for the love of god!
This is mad.

Are you sure it's not spelt "scalping"?

KimYeovil

There's nothing remotely mad about seasonal weighting. Plenty of tariffs exist with standing charges if that is your preference.

Pincher

My preference is for them to stop pretending there is no standing charge and just make it clear what the rate is for you gas and electricity.

Whenever a door stepping salesman try to tell me they have no standing charge, trying to mislead me, I want to strangle him/her for insulting my intelligence.

Are they fooling anyone with this non-sense? If so, these poor sods should be put into a sanatorium for their own protection.

jonsmum

Many thanks to all who have replied. It still seems grossly unfair, especially to those on a low income.

peachyprice

I'm afraid all you can do is vote with your feet.

Cardew

Pincher wrote: »

Bring back standing charge, for the love of god!
This is mad.

Are you sure it's not spelt "scalping"?

The 2 Tier charging system is in fact a way of collecting a standing charge.

Most people 'use up' all their high priced Tier 1 units and thus pay the same as someone on a standing charge.

The only people who gained from the tier system is those with very low consumption at certain times of the year. Indeed some people have posted on here that they turn off gas for several months in the summer - shower at work/gym etc.

It is to ensure that these people pay most of their 'standing charge' when on the tier system that NPower introduced 'sculpting'.

The downside is that in winter, at a time when your gas consump[tion is high, you pay for a lot more tier1 units. However that only affects those who pay quarterly; if you have a monthly direct debit it doesn't affect you in the same way.

Pincher

Cardew wrote: »

The 2 Tier charging system is in fact a way of collecting a standing charge.

Have you become Pod People? Why have another way to collect the standing charge, when you can, you know, COLLECT THE STANDING CHARGE.

All this cat and mouse from both sides is just a reaction to one stupid manoeuvre piled on top of another stupid manoeuvre so that customers end up paying the standing charge the utility company wants to charge in the first place.

Cardew

Pincher wrote: »

Have you become Pod People? Why have another way to collect the standing charge, when you can, you know, COLLECT THE STANDING CHARGE.

All this cat and mouse from both sides is just a reaction to one stupid manoeuvre piled on top of another stupid manoeuvre so that customers end up paying the standing charge the utility company wants to charge in the first place.

The tier system suits some customers very well.

For instance I have a annex that has little use but a seperate gas and electricity supply.

I use very little gas and electricity every year, so I look for a tariff without a standing charge. The cost of my total annual consumption of gas and electricity is less than I would pay in just standing charges.

People with second/holiday homes, or spend several months out of the country each year, similarly gain by having no standing charge.