npower annual discount

GasPants

Thank you for the replies. It appears there is a lack of consensus - 12 months from start of supply or 12 direct debit payment. This confusion is due to the vague wording npower employs.

Interestingly enough I've noticed that my electricity started on 11 May but my gas started on 19 May.

The most recent correspondence received from npower states that 'Your discount will be credited to your account on or before the last day of the 12 month after becoming eligible ...'.

If we assume that it is from the start of the first direct debit (in my case July) then this means that I will not receive the discount until the end of June.

My feeling is that npower deliberately employ obfuscation in order to maximise retention or to exclude people from the discount.

I have sent npower an email asking for the specific date when I will receive this discount.

SnowMan

GasPants wrote: »

Interestingly enough I've noticed that my electricity started on 11 May but my gas started on 19 May.

I have sent npower an email asking for the specific date when I will receive this discount.

On that information I think your entitlement to the FULL discount will be on 19th May rather than 11th May (i.e. the anniversary of taking duel fuel from them). I am sure I have seen a reference to this somewhere on the npower website but can't find the reference at the moment (my gas was switched 6 days after my electricity so I remember checking).

I suspect someone switching on 15th May who didn't get the full discount and was expecting it would have every chance of challenging that through a complaint.

My advice to npower customers is to keep a screen print of the npower page linked to above which says the direct debit discount qualification is 12 months after supply (for those choosing direct debit from the outset) for use later if there happens to be a dispute.


The whole purpose of the npower direct debit discount (it should be named 'whole year direct debit discount') is to make sneaky profits from customers who don't stay with them for exactly a whole number of years (and as jalexa has said that effective increase in price doesn't have to be reflected in the main price comparison figures), so I agree that it is in their interests in many ways to make the information as unclear as possible on their website.

The discount (or loss of it) is also effectively a termination fee if they put up prices for variable contracts and customers switch away mid-year, and gets around the requirement that suppliers can't apply a termination fee for variable contracts when they increase utility prices. Sadly Consumer Focus and OFGEM are aware of this trick but have done nothing about it, an indication of weak and ineffective regulation.


Many thanks to Terrylw1 for the earlier explanation of the process :T

It is useful to know what is going on behind the scenes especially if you are relying on a transfer not proceeding too speedily to get a discount or to allow a fixed rate deal to end.

MillicentBystander

I'd love to know just how many accounts actually do get credited on the last day of the 12 months. IIRC npower brought this in to still stay near the top of the switching sites when OFGEM ruled the previous discount payment date made it ineligible to be included in the switching site's figure. Personally, I think ANY discount that isn't divided up throughout the year should be excluded from the switching site's figure. Such a sneaky way of doing business.

PS I would also love to know the %tage of new customers who even realised the figure showing was based on a discount they had to wait 364 days to receive.

Terrylw1

If it was a duel fuel discount paid annually, it will be the latter of the 2 registration date anniversary dates that you need to wait for.

If its a DD discount, you don't have to have 2 fuels with them and you could also switch 1 fuel to them 6 months later than the other. On this basis they couldn't pay at the anniversary date of the 2nd switch or it would be 18 months instead.

However, given the sneaky nature of utilities, it would be best to check that in the case of switching both at the same time whether its the later registration dates anniversary date.

Personally, I would find that very poor but I don't know sure, so I wouldn't put it past them and would be checking to make sure I didn't get fiddled by some obscure small print.

hermante

bengal-stripe wrote: »

I believe, you are entitled to the discount once the 12th Direct Debit has gone through (in your case after June 1st), presuming there weren't any hiccups (like bounced, rejected Direct Debits) throughout the year.

I called npower today and was advised this is the case. However they also said I would only get a bill (offline) every 6 months. How do I know they are calculating my bills properly, are monthly statements posted on the online account?

Interestingly my topcashback cashback is estimated to go payable on the date of the "first bill" (31 Oct as advised by the call centre)

Terrylw1 wrote: »

I don't think the DD for the first year includes the discount as its applied after 12 months effectively making it year 2.

Actually, the DD I was offered in the switching page did include the discount - but based on another question I asked here, it may not reflect my actual use. This is because my winter usage isn't going to increase massively (longer showers and slightly longer to cook perhaps), so I may actually be paying Tier 2 rates for lots of units during the summer despite using less than 4572kWh annually (have I got this right?)