Do they all do this?

Sueinbirmingham · 30 December 2010 at 6:06PM

I had an npower combined bill. I phoned up with a reading for one fuel and was asked for a reading for the other one. I said that their estimate was fine but they were pushy, so I gave a reading.

I've now had a revised bill which has been increased by £20 for an extra 5 units. When I queried this, they said that this was because they calculate usage differently at different times of the year and my reading was later in the year than their estimate.

I've read something on another site where something similar has happened to someone else, so I know that this isn't just me, but what I want to know is do all the utilities charge different rates for units at different times of the year? I'm really shocked at having to pay an extra £20 for 5 units.

molerat · 30 December 2010 at 6:59PM

No, this is an NPower peculiarity called sculpting designed to screw the maximum out of the customer. They charge for more first tier units in the higher useage periods to make sure they get all of them in the year because if you did not use any in the low season they would not get all of their "standing charge"

Sueinbirmingham · 30 December 2010 at 7:16PM

Time to start shopping around, then. I've been lazy about it so far.

madm00se · 4 January 2011 at 5:22PM

The longer period a time a bills is for, the more is charged at the higher rate, most suppliers do this. it's because the bill isn't for an exact quarter, so they'll use a daily threshold. eg, eact 90 day quarter, you'll be charged at x amount of units on tier 1, then the remainder will be charged at tier 2. if the quarter is longer or shorter than 90 days, this is when the daily threshold kicks in.