Unhappy with N-Power

tco03

I feel like im being robbed to be honest but dont know where to start looking.

I received my bill for both utilities (estimate) (approx £480) which was considerably over so submitted a proper reading.

New bill arrived and barely any difference !??? (£470)

How can a lower reading produce a similar bill.

Unfortunately id binned the old one so couldnt compare closely.

Its as though they have used the very latest prices and then billed back 3 months at the higher rate as opposed to splitting into different rates.

Do you think i would fare better submitting areading online evey month to ensure there is no fiddling goin on.

i do not trust any energy company and would switch instantly if i could find a reputable one

jalexa

tco03 wrote: »

Unfortunately id binned the old one so couldnt compare closely...

i do not trust any energy company ...

In that case best keep all bills...

As long as the revised bill is "correct" then the comparison with the binned bill is irrelevant. However maybe you can challenge the apportioning over the tariff increase. Post the details for further advice.

Another possibility is that you are on a NPower no standing charge tariff which seasonally weights the primary units. As if it is not large enough already that can make the winter bill even larger.:(

If you are thinking of switching from NPower be aware you stand to lose any unearned "deferred discount":eek:.

dogshome

Toco03 - It's down to the way N'power charge the Premium Priced units on an NSC tariff, which pays your Service Charge instead of levying a fixed cost per day.

Almost all suppliers have these NSC tariffs which charge a fixed number of Premium Priced units a year, but even them out by charging X number per day for how many days the bill covers.

However, N'power do it differently. They load them up on the Winter bills and allocate fewer to the Summer Bills - In the end you will have only paid for the correct annual amount, but by golly it slams up your winter billing, which has already gone up because it's Winter.

So the reason your Actual Read/ Estimated Read bill dropped by only £10, was that the useage adjustment was made only against your 'Standard' priced Kwh, and the LARGE amount of Premium Price units at their BIG price didn't change.

meggsy

High rate units are applied as follows tco03 -

Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb 882 19.30%
March 272 5.94%
April, Oct 271 5.93%
May, June, July, Aug, Sept 46 1.00%

Annual total 4572

Always a good idea to give meter reads monthly and at the time of increases/decreases in prices to avoid estimated bills

undaunted

Have a look at Ebico or the Co-op if you want a none profit making / ethically based energy supplier.

Your mistrust of others may or may not be well founded but numerous surveys have shown Npower to be the worst of the lot when it comes to customer service / satisfaction.

chanz4

Isnt it billing that they are bad at not customer service? I prefer scottish power personally. Co-op are ok but when things go wrong are they.....

undaunted

It's both actually,

Consistent low "stars" from Consumer Focus surveys! http://energyapps.consumerfocus.org.uk/performance/historical

Lower star rating than major competitors at Money Supermarket! http://www.moneysupermarket.com/c/utilities/suppliers/npower/reviews/8/0/1/1/0/

Bottom of the pile at Which!
http://www.which.co.uk/switch/energy-suppliers/energy-companies-rated

Bottom of the pile at Uswitch! http://www.uswitch.com/gas-electricity/customer-satisfaction-survey/

Need we go on?

tco03

However, N'power do it differently. They load them up on the
Winter bills and allocate fewer to the Summer Bills - In the end you will have
only paid for the correct annual amount, but by golly it slams up your winter
billing, which has already gone up because it's Winter.

thanks.

This may explain why last year i had an unusually low one then (its only my second year of homeoenership)

Will see how the rest of the year pans out but still submitting monthly readings anyway.