MSE News: Npower to hike energy prices in January

CJBeee

Yes, I too have received a letter from npower regarding my Sign Online 18 prices. The unit rate for my elec goes up from 6.95p to 8.68p net of Vat which is a whopping 25% increase! My gas rate goes up from 2.288p to 2.608p which is around 14%. I only signed up to this in April and have to pay an exit fee if I terminate now. Is it worth ringing them or am I wasting my time?

Why do I feel like they lured me in with a cheap rate and now that I'm hooked they can charge what they like knowing the exit fee will put me off switching?

davidgmmafan

MillicentBystander wrote: »

1. An oft-quoted 'fact', usually by industry insiders. Could you give us a detailed breakdown on how these figures are calculated?

2. Who's claiming the oil/fuel industry is competitive? If it wasn't for the supermarkets getting involved in the selling of the stuff the industry would have the same level of collusion (some say it passive, of course, it may well be) as the gas and electric industry.

Didn't want to be seen as one of those people that says things with no basis. https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2892710

Post 55 is the one. There's another one someone posted but I can't find that.

BTW I'd rather spend time helping people, but have a feeling there is more than meets the eye to this.

MillicentBystander

davidgmmafan wrote: »

Didn't want to be seen as one of those people that says things with no basis. https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2892710

Post 55 is the one. There's another one someone posted but I can't find that.

BTW I'd rather spend time helping people, but have a feeling there is more than meets the eye to this.

Thanks for that, davidgmmafan. Yes, I've seen it bandied about before but it's frankly a ridiculous comparison because it would appear that the price in the other country's currency of choice is simply converted to pounds and the comparison is made. For a really meaningful comparison to be made there are far more factors to be taken into account than that.

howy22

I don't see how Npower can justify their statement of an average price increase of 5.1%.
i joined Npower 10 weeks ago on Sign online 19 and although I've yet to receive the official figures I obtained them verbally over the phone yesterday. To my amazement my primary gas rate is going up 35%, primary electricity rate by 28% and the electricity follow on rate by 53%.
To add further insult the electricity rates are between 20- 40% higher than the current Sign online 20 which isn't being increased.
On the issue of leaving bear in mind not only early leaving fees, which can be waved, but also Npower profile the Gas primary units meaning you pay 77% of these costs in the 4 Winter months Nov - Feb and any discounts are applied in arrears every 12 months.

I believe they got away with the same dubious tactics at the beginning of this year.

davidgmmafan

MillicentBystander wrote: »

Thanks for that, davidgmmafan. Yes, I've seen it bandied about before but it's frankly a ridiculous comparison because it would appear that the price in the other country's currency of choice is simply converted to pounds and the comparison is made. For a really meaningful comparison to be made there are far more factors to be taken into account than that.

There was another one quoted which was quite detailed but I can't find it. Anyway I feel its enough to show its not quite the slam dunk it appears at first glance. I remember once being particularly suspicious when a newspaper (the Mail probably) was comparing ONLY the percentage increase between the UK and countries like France and Germany. Clearly this is meaningless without the absolute figures.

Overall I don't see how nationalisation, which is usually regarded as inefficient, would somehow protect the UK from worldwide trends (eg more people using more of the worlds resources than ever before).

davidgmmafan

The answer would be something like the 5.1% is an average across all regions based on average cons (20,500 Kwh for gas, and 3300 for elec). I agree that the cancellation fees suck on tariffs which aren't fixed.

dwigg

mhendo wrote: »

Looks like my increase isn't going to be anywhere near the "average" 5%. Can't see the new rates on the Npower site, but based on the amounts quoted on EnergyHelpLine, I'm looking at a 22% increase based on 6000kWh of Electric in London region, on SignOnline18 (no gas). I'm guessing not many are getting hit that hard!

Just got my new rates through the post.

SignOnline 19 high rate gas unit price is up by 36% !!!!!

:mad:

MillicentBystander

davidgmmafan wrote: »

The answer would be something like the 5.1% is an average across all regions based on average cons (20,500 Kwh for gas, and 3300 for elec). I agree that the cancellation fees suck on tariffs which aren't fixed.

It's about time they were stopped from using this 'average' consumption figure as it seems to give the energy companies carte blanch to base all their 'headline' figures on. It does seem that they maximise the savings based on this mythical 'average user' - stray away from this mythical figure and the story can be somewhat different to the headlines. It's a nonsense figure, anyway. Anyone on here have exactly 20,500 gas consumption and 3300 electric consumption?

meggsy

davidgmmafan wrote: »

The answer would be something like the 5.1% is an average across all regions based on average cons (20,500 Kwh for gas, and 3300 for elec). I agree that the cancellation fees suck on tariffs which aren't fixed.

5.1% price increase: Weighted average across the npower customer base, taking into account payment method, fuel holding and region and using Ofgem's revised medium user consumption figure of 16,500 kWh of gas (coming into effect on 17th January 2011) and 3,300 kWh of electricity (unchanged by Ofgem). Ofgem's previous medium user consumption figure for gas was 20,500 kWh. Actual price increases will vary according to fuels taken, applicability of discounts, and by region and consumption.

http://www.npower.com/Home/Price-change/Price-announcement/index.htm

MillicentBystander

CJBeee wrote: »

Yes, I too have received a letter from npower regarding my Sign Online 18 prices. The unit rate for my elec goes up from 6.95p to 8.68p net of Vat which is a whopping 25% increase! My gas rate goes up from 2.288p to 2.608p which is around 14%. I only signed up to this in April and have to pay an exit fee if I terminate now. Is it worth ringing them or am I wasting my time?

Why do I feel like they lured me in with a cheap rate and now that I'm hooked they can charge what they like knowing the exit fee will put me off switching?

Let this be a lesson learned. As soon as you can RUN!!! Next time make sure you read all the small print before joining. For instance, Eon's rates may look attractive but the sting in the tail here (in addition to the exit fee) is the fact they don't grant any discount on the final bill when you leave them. If you check out Eon's tariffs the 'starting' prices aren't so great but they grant you loads of discounts for paying by DD etc. Time your final bill wrong (say, for a full quarter in the midst of Winter) and this lack of discount would probably come to more than the exit fee. Energy suppliers are devious !!!!!!!s, you have to really go through their T&Cs with a fine tooth comb.