Moving from npower to eon

jalexa

george1939 wrote: »

You must have twelve full direct debits taken out by Npower after switching over to them.

I don't think that is true for "deferred discounts":eek: on currently available NPower tariffs.

The discount is earned on the last day of the 12 months. (a "technical measure" to allow the discount to be included in Consumer Focus accredited comparisons). Possibly paying by Direct Debit is required, but I don't believe the number of payments is a factor in the discount (or "bonus") being "earned".

oliverbrown

It's detailed here: http://www.npower.com/Home/Electricity-and-gas/Electricity-and-gas-prices/Direct-Debit-discounts/

"Your discount will be credited to your account on or before the last day of the 12th month after becoming eligible and then on or before the same last day of each year you continue to pay this way."

backfoot

I had asked CF where my previous query on the deferred discount and eon's final bill policy had got to. Consumer Focus had put these matters to Ofgem, with a view to getting Ofgem ' to publish some consumer friendly guidance on this issue.'

We will see.

I don't know how they get away with the blurb. They call it a Direct Debit discount,when it anything but. If it was a DD discount it would accrue and be earned monthly.

Somehow they have conned the Confidence Code.

oliverbrown

I completely agree, backfoot. It seems that some energy companies will employ any sort of underhand tactic to penalise consumers who switch, even those outside of an agreed minimum term.

davehsug

As far as npower discounts are concerned, it's quite simple. It's paid on the first bill after your "anniversary" date of switching to a DD account. If you leave after that date it will still be applied, provided you are still on npower supply on that date.

backfoot

davehsug wrote: »

As far as npower discounts are concerned, it's quite simple. It's paid on the first bill after your "anniversary" date of switching to a DD account. If you leave after that date it will still be applied, provided you are still on npower supply on that date.

Wow,that's even worse then! It is paid well after 12 months.

How then does it get included in the Comparison Tables?

Why don't NPower play fair and let it accrue and be earned monthly? (warning trick question).:D

jalexa

backfoot wrote: »

Somehow they have conned the Confidence Code.

When I read that last night my initial reaction was your comment was a tad "unfair" (as if that isn't a word suppliers deserve) because the Confidence Code (clearly) allowed it.

This morning I made a close comparison of the previous Code revision and the current Code revison.

The previous Code revision explicitly "required" inclusion of (as in "should include" and not my emphasis, "discounts that are paid annually (e.g. loyalty discounts").

The current Code completely rewrites the relevent Clause 7. The term "loyalty" has disappeared and specific "inclusions" have become specific "exclusions".

Clause 7.1.2 (the "inclusions") states "recurring discounts that are paid automatically:" (note the colon), then a short list of inclusions (none of which relate to "loyalty").

I agree with you that the Code has been "conned" by allowing the term "recurring" to embrace annual, rather than monthly or quarterly. But it cannot be "a con" if Consumer Focus continues to allow it. Sadly it would appear that Consumer Focus reads their own Code differently in a way I think is not a reasonable close reading interpretation of the applicable clause.

IMO, it's Consumer Focus in the dock, not NPower.

backfoot

jalexa wrote: »

IMO, it's Consumer Focus in the dock, not NPower.

Which is why I asked them last night, what was their reaction.

npowerman

backfoot wrote: »

Wow,that's even worse then! It is paid well after 12 months.

How then does it get included in the Comparison Tables?

Why don't NPower play fair and let it accrue and be earned monthly? (warning trick question).:D

It gets included in the comparison tables because in theory, your Direct Debit Discount will be included in your monthly payments to npower every month. So in essence, it is accrued every month if you look at it like that. If your usage is £100.00, your Direct Debit will be set at on a 12 month assessment of around £92.00 per month. Once the discount is taken off, your annual bill should balance out. In theory:D.

In terms of how much you pay, it matters not if the discount is allocated later than exactly 12 months time, for the reason stated above, you should be still paying less because of that same discount every month.

The reason you have to pay 12 Direct Debits for 12 months before receiving £100.00 discount is simply because it is a Direct Debit discount. You get a dual fuel discount, but it is much less, the £100.00 you get is only if you have both fuels on Direct Debit and stay with npower for one full calendar year.

If you default on a payment due to insufficient funds, and then dont reinstate the Direct Debit for another month, then surely its only fair that you do not receive the £100.00 discount?!

Hope this helps.

backfoot

npowerman wrote: »

It gets included in the comparison tables because in theory, your Direct Debit Discount will be included in your monthly payments to npower every month. So in essence, it is accrued every month if you look at it like that. If your usage is £100.00, your Direct Debit will be set at on a 12 month assessment of around £92.00 per month. Once the discount is taken off, your annual bill should balance out. In theory:D.

Which is exactly why it is a very dangerous and misleading policy for customers. It is a loyalty discount rather than a DD discount. It doesn't accrue at all because if you leave you lose all of the discount. If it was a discount for the payment method you would then accrue that part of the discount for the number of months you had paid by monthly direct debit. In practice (not theory)


In terms of how much you pay, it matters not if the discount is allocated later than exactly 12 months time, for the reason stated above, you should be still paying less because of that same discount every month.

Yes so it is a conditional discount, paid only if you stay the course.

The reason you have to pay 12 Direct Debits for 12 months before receiving £100.00 discount is simply because it is a Direct Debit discount. You get a dual fuel discount, but it is much less, the £100.00 you get is only if you have both fuels on Direct Debit and stay with npower for one full calendar year.

No other supplier does it this way. Other Suppliers pay it as you go along. i.e. it is a loyalty discount by another name.

If you default on a payment due to insufficient funds, and then dont reinstate the Direct Debit for another month, then surely its only fair that you do not receive the £100.00 discount?!

Not on about default. We are discussing whether it is right to be included in the Comparison tables or not. If it is, then it is evidence that it is a principal term of the contract. Thereafter, it follows that if there is a price rise, then the Supplier is obliged to honour those terms until the supply switches.

Hope this helps.

Yes it helps to illustrate and break down how the policy misleads customers.It should be caught up by the Ofgem Retail Market review and Chris Huhne's pledges yesterday for tariff simplification.