'why would my estimated bill for the next year be over £400 cheaper than last year?

ButterPie_2

We just moved out of a house, where we had been supplied by npower for two years. As the direct debit had been set at the wrong level at first, we built up a debt of £338, and our direct debit was switched to £172 a month ten months ago.

We despaired at this, obviously - for a small two bed bungalow with two adults and two young children, heating on for only three hours a day except in the two coldest months, this was huge, but we did comparisons, and for our useage, it was the best deal. However, the big daft aga-alike oven broke in Spetember and the landlord never got it fixed (whole other issue!) until we moved out, so we suspected we were overpaying on the gas bill.

Sure enough, when we rang to give our final readings, the man on the end of the phone said that we would be looking at a refund of around £1000, but we had to wait to find out the amount.

This seemed to be confirmed by a letter from npower telling us our estimated bill for the next year (so what we would have based our direct debits on) was £1169 - so around £97.42 a month.

Given that the last year has seen big price rises with npower, you would think that it would be more, not £75 a month less. Even factoring in the debt and ignoring the price rise, if we assume that the estimated bill is at all based on last years consumption, that leaves us over paying by just over £40 a month for ten months, so, roughly, £400.

We are due a cheque of £65 for overpayment, and they insist that is right, so where has this estimated bill come from?

EDIT - Sorry for typo in title!

mackemdave

I moved house in Aug last year....They read my meter for the first bill for gas and electic which arrived in Jan.....Earlier this week I got estimated bills for the period Jan -April.....Gas estimate was £600 for the quarter and electric estimate was £200.....I filed meter readings with them and today got the updated bills...Gas £120 and electric £45...It appears they drastically over estimate in the first year as they dont have any comparisons...The 2nd year will be baed on your usage in the first year

ButterPie_2

That's what I thought, but on that principle, why would my estimated bill be £400 cheaper than what I had used each year for the first two years?