Npower final bill How much!!??

resident

I will try to keep it brief, moved into a new property on the 31st of January 2012 and was told by the supplier (Atlantic)to my previous address that it would take a few weeks to change over the gas supply so in the meantime I would have an account with NPower. Just received my final bill from them and it is for £204.80 that seems an awful lot for such a short time of supplying my gas.


Okay so my housing association gave them a reading on the 31st of January which I checked was the same as the reading I had taken and I gave Altantic the final reading on the 6th of March which they passed on to NPower.

The readings on the final bill are as follows:

2/12/11
4002
Actual

31/01/12
4087
Estimate

pc*
31/01/12
4087
Estimate

06/02/12
4096
Estimate

*Price change please note there's been a price change during this bill period.We've split your fuel usage over the different prices.

Can anyone help on this one?

yoda011087

Before we can advise, please clarify the date you became responsible for the property, and not the day you moved in, as they are often not the same.

If you took occupancy of the property on 31/01/12, why do you have readings on your bill from 2/12/11? This bill should run only from the date and reading that you can confirm as correct for the start of your occupancy. If you're being charged for gas used before you took occupancy, this needs amending by contacting Npower as soon as possible.

Regardless of dates and readings, Npower's gas tiering is such that any winter bills will seem higher in comparison to other suppliers, yet it evens out as summer billing is generally far cheaper than other suppliers**.

**https://customerservices.npower.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/95/session/L3RpbWUvMTMzMTcyMDgyNy9zaWQvQmFQdlAyVGs%3D

Let us know how goes!

resident

Thanks for your reply Yoda011087.

My tenancy for the property started on the 31/01/12 so that would be when I became responsible for the property. I don't know when the previous tenant moved out but I do know that when I did a viewing of the property with a housing officer the workmen had the heating on this was a number of weeks before my tenancy started.

I will query why there is a reading for 2/12/11 also am wondering why the final reading on the bill is 6/2/12 when this should be the 6th of March.

macman

You need to say if your meter is metric or imperial, otherwise the actual kWh usage cannot be calcuated.

Terrylw1

If the reading or the 2011 period is before you moved in then it sounds li,e npower have missed an account out. If they closed the previous tenant months earlier, their closing reading becomes the opening reading of the next customer. So if there is a gap it will hit your account.

If you contact npower I bet your account start date is earlier than you say because by csnt bill a reading that's before your move I date as its too early, readings have to be later. That 2011 reading may even be your start date/read, if its on your first bill it will be.

The landlord has been very sneaky here. He/she knows they are responsible inbetween and have tried to odge the bill for the workmen.

Is your move in reading higher than test one for 2011? If so, they have done the above.

resident

I contacted the energy bills helpline that my housing association provides for new move tenants and they have advised me to pass both the gas and electricity bills from Npower onto the housing association.

The chap on the phone said opening readings were given to the supplier on the 6th of February and this is the date I became responsible for the property so any charges before then are for the housing association.

Phew!.

Will being popping the bills in the post today and hopefully that is the last I will hear of it, thanks again to everyone for taking the time to respond to my posts.

jalexa

Terrylw1 wrote: »

If they closed the previous tenant months earlier, their closing reading becomes the opening reading of the next customer. So if there is a gap it will hit your account.

I think you explained that better later in your post. The current tenant, supported by a tenancy agreement, is only responsible from the tenanacy date and the start reading advised by the tenant (or agent).

It is not correct for NPower to levy the void period on the new tenant. So I do not understand your "so if there is a gap it will hit your account".:(

Terrylw1

jalexa wrote: »

I think you explained that better later in your post. The current tenant, supported by a tenancy agreement, is only responsible from the tenanacy date and the start reading advised by the tenant (or agent).

It is not correct for NPower to levy the void period on the new tenant. So I do not understand your "so if there is a gap it will hit your account".:(

If say a tenant left with a reading 10001 but there was usage I between that meant the new customer (the OP) moved in and the reading on the meter was say 10201, unless the new customer stated this their account would begin on 10001 thus billing them or 200 units that didn't match to the meter when they moved on. This could be either a landlord, some workmen or even a tenant that never contacted the supplier.

The problem making this worse has always been estimates to close accounts. In these cases the new tenant can have the previous pulled into their account period and its also common for the leaving tenant to be overestimated thus paying some of the new tenants. In these cases, all the supplier can do is try and re-estimate it, but the customers will have to live with it.

So its very important to protect yourself on any change in tenancy, supplier, meter, fuse installation or even removal.

Terrylw1

resident wrote: »

I contacted the energy bills helpline that my housing association provides for new move tenants and they have advised me to pass both the gas and electricity bills from Npower onto the housing association.

The chap on the phone said opening readings were given to the supplier on the 6th of February and this is the date I became responsible for the property so any charges before then are for the housing association.

Phew!.

Will being popping the bills in the post today and hopefully that is the last I will hear of it, thanks again to everyone for taking the time to respond to my posts.

Cool. So he housing association never told them they took responsibility hence you got lumbered with their bill! No biggie to a supplier, inbetween debt such as landlords has always been very common, but anmoying as they probably know suppliers write off small values!

That first actual by the way may be an estimate to close the previous account. Start readings tend to appear as actual to new customers unless that suppliers system does really show thise as actual or estimates.