Npower Problems - Help please!

RICK..._2

We have VERY slight arrears on our gas account, due to them constantly sending the bills in the name of someone who doesn't even live here.. but they refuse to admit liability for that and say it's our fault :mad: but anyway..

We had our prepayment gas meter taken out in January and replaced with a normal credit meter.. The guy over the phone agreed to put us on a 'Spreading the warmth tariff' and set up a direct debit for £30 a month, he also said it'd stay at that price for 6 months then they'll review it and providing we make all payments they'll wipe the arrears. That was fine, got the letter confirming it etc...

Now a few days ago we got a letter saying they did a 'consumption check' and have actually noticed our consumption is more than what they quoted so are now trying to charge us £57 a month!

Are they able to do this? I spent an hour on the phone to them yesterday and he said it was 'an error on his part' and 'his line manager is aware of it' and that the line manager has suggested that we either pay the £57 a month OR switch back to a prepayment meter...

Now are they able to do this? Agree to us paying a certain amount, confirming it by letter, then all of a sudden change it because they did their figures wrong?

Another thing is all through January once we had the new meter fitted we had the heating on all the time, now it's starting to slowly get warmer we're not having it on as much, maybe once or twice a day! But they've based their calculations on one month, which was one of the coldest!

The £57 consists of £41 useage, and £16 arrears - The useage isn't that bad, but it will be to say we probably use the gas half as much as we have been doing... Also he said over the phone they cannot accept less than £16 a month arrears. I said I'll go to the CAB and he said they won't be able to help us and that they will take Npowers side!

Help! And apologies for the massive post!

dogshome

Hi RICK - I'm afraid that n'power come a very long way the list of Desirable suppliers, but if the confirmation letter that you had really does say thet they will hold your D/D's at £30 a month for six months, then do go to the CAB When they see the actual wording on the letter, they might say there is nothing they can do, but they certainly won't be taking n'powers side

Your £30 D/D will buy £360 worth of gas over the year, which is well below average, but if you are using it for heating as well as cooking, your consumption will drop by 80% in summer and on the basis that you used £28 more gas in 2 winter months than your D/D's paid for, it won't take long to eliminate the debt over the summer.

One BIG problem with n'power is that on the No Standing Charge tariffs, they 'sculpt' the high cost Prime units ( See thread on this site) so that you pay for more of them in winter than summer, which increases the winter bills.

Don't be bullied and use the CAB, also your gas use is low, so check Ebico as what their cost would be for your useage
Good Luck

RICK..._2

Thank you.

We've had a letter today stating they've changed the DD to £57 without me evening authorising it!

How on earth can they agree to something and then change their mind because one months consumption was slightly higher?! Surely if they'd of waited and done it at the 6 months like they said they would, they would see the useage would be minimal! The line manager is phoning me on Monday but I can pretty much guess he won't budge/care.

The WHOLE reason they turned around and said we'll do it for £30 a month is because we couldn't afford the £70-80 a month we were putting on the prepayment meter and for that amount we barely used the gas! never had the heating on or anything, even in winter.

Yeah we've looked at Ebico etc but Npower refuse to let us switch until we pay the arrears off.

kjsmith7

You must be realistic however - to only use £30pm / £360 per year is very low consumption - is it not better to pay the right amount via direct debit/voluntarily go back to a Prepayment Meter that to pay £30pm but that be wrong? You'd then build up FURTHER debt and then be forced to go back onto the prepayment meter.

If you were using £70-£80 per month on the prepayment meter is high, however it sounds like you're now on their social tariff, which may be a little cheaper, but not 50% cheaper (£40 consumption per month?)... Or, where you merely quoting what you put in the Winter?

dogshome - there is no point in the OP going to the Citizens Advice bureau: even if the OP was 'promised' £30pm, if the OP had used more than £30pm, the direct debit would have increased after 6 months anyway, and probably more so because of the increased debt. If I were the OP, I'd see what insulation, etc. I can get for free using the various schemes going on (sometimes supplier-run) for those receiving certain benefits (even Child or Working Tax Credit). This will then bring consumption down overall. Also look at how long you have the heating for, and at what temperature. Having it on "all the time" will give you a huge bill.

Other schemes:
England - http://www.warmfront.co.uk
Wales - http://www.heeswales.co.uk/
Scotland - http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/scotland/Scotland-Welcome-page/At-Home/Energy-Assistance-Package

Remember also that you are paying back a debit, even of £100 for instance, that you have already built up. Your payments will obviously drop when this has cleared.

PNPSUKNET

Its ilegal for a supplier to get customers knowingly further into debt if they know you use them more, if it stayed at £30 and you got a further bill for the extra £240 would you complain, you would

markharding557

They can legally change the direct debit at any time provided they give you the required notice period

RICK..._2

kjsmith7 wrote: »

You must be realistic however - to only use £30pm / £360 per year is very low consumption - is it not better to pay the right amount via direct debit/voluntarily go back to a Prepayment Meter that to pay £30pm but that be wrong? You'd then build up FURTHER debt and then be forced to go back onto the prepayment meter.

If you were using £70-£80 per month on the prepayment meter is high, however it sounds like you're now on their social tariff, which may be a little cheaper, but not 50% cheaper (£40 consumption per month?)... Or, where you merely quoting what you put in the Winter?

dogshome - there is no point in the OP going to the Citizens Advice bureau: even if the OP was 'promised' £30pm, if the OP had used more than £30pm, the direct debit would have increased after 6 months anyway, and probably more so because of the increased debt. If I were the OP, I'd see what insulation, etc. I can get for free using the various schemes going on (sometimes supplier-run) for those receiving certain benefits (even Child or Working Tax Credit). This will then bring consumption down overall. Also look at how long you have the heating for, and at what temperature. Having it on "all the time" will give you a huge bill.

Other schemes:
England - http://www.warmfront.co.uk
Wales - http://www.heeswales.co.uk/
Scotland - http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/scotland/Scotland-Welcome-page/At-Home/Energy-Assistance-Package

Remember also that you are paying back a debit, even of £100 for instance, that you have already built up. Your payments will obviously drop when this has cleared.

Sorry for the late reply, not had chance to come on.

With regards to putting £70-80 a month on the prepayment meter, I was having to manually light the pilot light if we wanted the water heating up, which only happened once or twice a week, and then I'd blow it out. The rest was used for cooking and gas fire only, and the gas fire wasn't on that much really. The house was constantly cold, as we just couldn't afford to have the heating on... say for example if we put the heating on for one hour, it'd take around £3 off the meter. They agreed this wasn't acceptable which is why they changed the meter and put us on a 'cheaper' tarriff.

We did use the heating a lot in January after the new meter was fitted because it was a very cold month and also it was like a luxury to us. In the last month or so we've barely had it on, as the house has been alright.

The £30 a month they said we would be paying, we would of only been paying £14 consumption, as £16 of it was for arrears. So our consumption has jumped from that to £41 a month, based over one month, which is why I'm not happy.

I phoned them on Monday as I didn't get a call back and they still won't budge, so looks like we're back to square one. They said they 'may' review it in 3 months..

I could really do with working out my consumption myself, but I have absolutely no idea how to do it. I'll have a search on here!

thanks for the replies, and I will have a look at that website

oldsam

The only way to save your hard earned cash is an on-line account and you take control by feeding meter readings to the account . Plus you can get a discount every month and view the bill at any time, This may help you stay in the blue not the red on the account. Martin Lewis's advice as well could save you up to £300.
I junked Npower Just before Xmas and went to Southern . On the same point you are on about D/D amounts, Mine went from £82 to £177 a month . So I hope save at least £1300 a year compare with their projection for dual fuel energy .
Early this year the rules changed OFGEM had a word or two about this Problem with N power , They have to give you a review before the energy company raise the cost of D/d. I may not be correct on this go to the on-line site You Gov direct for more info . Plus Simon Hughes M.P. has been asking questions in Parliment .