npower error

roof30

Hi all,

A year ago, npower sent me a massive gas bill (for £1300) stating that they had been undercharging me for the previous 3 years, and that I had 2 weeks to pay up. After trawling the internet, I found out that they are legally unable to charge me for anything over a year, and I was then sent a 'revised' bill for around £250. Having mentioned to them that they hadn't taken into account any bills I had paid in that time, they claimed that this had all been taken into account in the paperwork sent - despite nothing being mentioned on any of the documents they sent. Rather than go through yet more hassle with them, I reluctantly paid up and have heard nothing until yesterday.

Npower have now sent me a bill for gas usage since June 2009 (!!!), for £285, which does not take into consideration any of the bills I have paid in the interim year. While I am reluctant to go through the arguing I went through with them last year, I have paid well over this amount during the past 12 months and am failing to see how they can just claim they are 'cancelling' the previous bills sent when I have paid them on time.

Interestingly, when I queried their accounting system last year, they were *very* reluctant to put anything in writing to me.

Now is it just me, or are all large companies trying to extort money out of people in the hope we don't know our legal rights? It infuriates me that they rely on making things so difficult that most people just give up for a quiet life.

Any help or advice before I telephone these morons would be much appreciated.

Many thanks,
roof30

dogshome

Hi roof30 - Suggest you look at yesterdays posts from sofaspud, who has proven that even after thier 'Sculpting scam for which customers are still seeking redress thro' the courts, n'power still can't be trusted with the details on a single bill, let alone re-issued bills going back 12 months.

The Utilities have a duty to produce Clear & Accurate bills and a bill from n'power that does not list the payments made to be set against the useage cost, with then a verbal assurance that the payments are reflected in the bill total, does not meet this criteria.
Write a letter headed Complaint to n'power, enclosing copies of any bills that do not include complete details as to how the final total is arrived at, and demand replacement bills that are complete.
Whether or not you get satisfaction on your present problem - The short answer is to vote with your feet

sofa-spud

I would agree with dogshome to have everything in writing otherwise it may come back to haunt you later.

As an example, last year I had a meter change, the new one read 448 when installed, but npower have it on record as reading 0. After a protracted set of discussions they finally agreed with me, resulting in a £500 refund. This is what woke me up to them & ultimately led to my sculpting claim.

I thought at the time that this was the end of this matter as I had my money back.

However, when I spoke to them the other day regarding my DD amounts, it came to light that they still have it recorded that the meter read 0 on install, & it appears that the refund I got was not actually recorded by them as a set of recalculated bills despite the paperwork I have about it.:mad:

Premier_2

roof30 wrote: »

Hi all,

A year ago, npower sent me a massive gas bill (for £1300) stating that they had been undercharging me for the previous 3 years, and that I had 2 weeks to pay up. ...

Do you accept the undercharge actually occurred?
If so, how did it occur?

(This is important as the 12 month back billing rule may not apply depending on the situation)

You can usually negotiate to pay off any debt over a similar period of time as it took to accrue ... but you do have to ask for this.

roof30

Thanks for your advice guys, and I will certainly write to npower this week with a strong complaint.

Premier: npower contacted me last July to say that they had been charging me for a 5 number meter, when my meter is actually only 4 numbers - this is despite me sending them meter readings for the past 3 years, *and* their own inept meter readers taking readings. Clearly I disputed this, and found out that it was unlawful for them to charge me for anything beyond the 12 month period. When I brought this up with them, they backed down almost immediately and my bill went from £1300 to £250ish. I paid that bill (which included from June to November last year) - this is how long it took to resolve - and the latest bill I have had from them does not account for any money I paid during that period last year.

Clearly I am not intending to pay it as they have also failed to take into consideration any money I have paid them since Nov 09 too. To say they are complete morons would be a compliment...

roof30

davidgmmafan

A bill which cancels and replaces others often doesn't show payments which did show on the previous bill (s). I had a similar problem with EDF (the only one in a good few years) and thier complaints team were able to itemize the bill properly. Perhaps NPower's complaints team can also do this?

It seems a failry basic requirement for a customer to have a clear bill before demanding payment...

undaunted

roof30 wrote: »

Thanks for your advice guys, and I will certainly write to npower this week with a strong complaint.

You have to go through the process of course. In reality however I suspect that you may as well write to Santa Claus & the tooth fairy.

Be prepared to stand up & fight for what you believe to be correct or be walked all over by this pernicious company. You can't have it both ways or just rely on a reasonable response from Npower (as you've perhaps found yourself previously) in my opinion.


Good luck