NPower haven't billed my gas correctly for 2 year

Squareski

My first post so hi everyone!

I've just been looking at switching (prompted by a money saving expert email!) so pulled out my 6 monthly statement (as I’m on paperless billing) and spent 10-15 minutes trying to fathom all the facts and figures it presented. Finally I realise that there is something wrong with the amount of gas consumption that is being reported so I call npower. I speak to someone called Nicky (extension number not disclosed). She wonders if there is a problem with my meter and asks for a reading there and then. I’m at work so I say I’ll call my wife and get back to them.

Roughly an hour later and a text from my wife gives the current meter reading. I phone back and try and get hold of Nicky. The person who answers says she’s busy and says she can deal with the problem. Unfortunately, I didn’t write her name down. She says that it would appear that when we moved into the property (2 years ago), we didn’t give her the correct reading and they have been working off the wrong reading. She accuses me of giving them the ‘red’ portion of the reading and not the ‘black’. I find this ridiculous! I am of sound mind and body (as well as a graduate of Computer Science!) and am completely capable of reading and providing a meter reading. Some other things trouble me with this. I have give readings since and I’m positive we’ve had people round to read the meter. Also, I have built up over £600 of credit with npower from their monthly direct debits. If I didn’t give them the correct reading to begin with, why did they originally set my direct debit so high as to accumulate so much credit? Why have they not spotted the problem with this bill before? Why has subsequent meter reading submissions not highlighted any problems?

I have been told that a bill will be prepared for mid December and is likely to be around £800. This is going to have a serious effect on my finances at about the worse time of year.

I'm sorry for the lengthy rant

Does anyone have any advice for me? Can they do this?

Best wishes and thank you for any advice you can give.

Richard.

mattcanary

More like they had the wrong meter details on their computer records. Do the meter details on your statements match up to that on the meter?

dogshome

Hi Squareski - Hopefully you have not had a Gas meter change since you moved in.

Your post implies that n'power have issued bills based on readings that include the Red decimal places on you meter - To counter this you must take a photo of your meter on which it's Registration Number and the figures on the Unit Recorder, are clearly legible.
Send this with a letter headed Complaint to n'power demanding that they re-calculate your past billing, using the whole numbers only.

For your own sake you should look at your past bills, and having struck off the last digits to bring the reading into line with your meter's whole numbers, work out what the bill should be

Premier_2

Squareski wrote: »

My first post so hi everyone!

I've just been looking at switching (prompted by a money saving expert email!) so pulled out my 6 monthly statement (as I’m on paperless billing) and spent 10-15 minutes trying to fathom all the facts and figures it presented. Finally I realise that there is something wrong with the amount of gas consumption that is being reported so I call npower. I speak to someone called Nicky (extension number not disclosed). She wonders if there is a problem with my meter and asks for a reading there and then. I’m at work so I say I’ll call my wife and get back to them.

Roughly an hour later and a text from my wife gives the current meter reading. I phone back and try and get hold of Nicky. The person who answers says she’s busy and says she can deal with the problem. Unfortunately, I didn’t write her name down. She says that it would appear that when we moved into the property (2 years ago), we didn’t give her the correct reading and they have been working off the wrong reading. She accuses me of giving them the ‘red’ portion of the reading and not the ‘black’. I find this ridiculous! I am of sound mind and body (as well as a graduate of Computer Science!) and am completely capable of reading and providing a meter reading. Some other things trouble me with this. I have give readings since and I’m positive we’ve had people round to read the meter. Also, I have built up over £600 of credit with npower from their monthly direct debits. If I didn’t give them the correct reading to begin with, why did they originally set my direct debit so high as to accumulate so much credit? Why have they not spotted the problem with this bill before? Why has subsequent meter reading submissions not highlighted any problems?

I have been told that a bill will be prepared for mid December and is likely to be around £800. This is going to have a serious effect on my finances at about the worse time of year.

I'm sorry for the lengthy rant

Does anyone have any advice for me? Can they do this?

Best wishes and thank you for any advice you can give.

Richard.

You may be of sound mind and a computer whizkid, but what about your wife? It's she that provided you with the latest meter reading via text

Either way, no worries.

If the origimal number supplied was say 12345678

and the current reading is say 22345, then as a computer whizzkid, I'm sure you could work out what the original number should have been, more importantly what you have consumed and so what it costed.

Finally I'm sure your degree in Computer Science allows you to work out what balance results.

In future, check your bills carefully, especially to ensure the meter readings are correct. The meter is in your property, not the suppliers.

It ain't rocket science, nor computer science, ... but having a degree clearly isn't the sign of intellectual ability it once was.

Squareski

Thank you. I do appreciate the time you've taken to reply to my post. I'll have to go back over my six monthly statements as I have paperless billing. Hopefully, when I next log in, some of the replies will be less derogatory.

undaunted

Typical of Npower, all your fault and nothing to do with their failings / incompetence.

Presumably the last occupier gave a (final) meter reading at some point & any anomoly with the reading you gave or those they have since taken should therefore have been obvious to them (if there was one.)

They have an obligation to read the meter (at least every two years), bill the account accurately etc and not you (though you may find this a long & difficult thing to argue in practice)

Perhaps you could look into the back billing rules & how they may apply to your case?

Could luck