Npower doorstep mis-selling and direct debit increase without permission

worried_about_money

Hi, this is a long and confusing post, please bear with me. This is to do with my mum, who is 70 and lives on her own and who fell victim to an Npower doorstep salemans sometime last year. She used to pay about £100 per month for gas and electricity with Scottish Power, but the Npower salesman told her she was paying way too much and guaranteed her that she would save money by switching, and was then paying £67 direct debit per month. Well then it turns out she now owes them £1100 and the company takes £334 out of her direct debit (without authorisation...is this allowed??) and basically cleans her out, I mean barely enough money for food. She has managed to scrape together the rest and paid them a cheque for £700 but she is really now out of pocket for months to come. (she was threatened that if she didnt pay within 10 days they would start adding £300 interest) She was absolutely terrified.

I am really gobsmacked that a company can goad and mislead a vulnerable person with the full knowledge there will be a substantial bill at the end, then clean out her account without her authorisation.

Just in case there are any haters out there, my mum is quite secretive and I live a long way away so I've only just found out.

Is there anything I can do? I thought I'd seen something about mis-selling on watchdog and how it was illegal and thats why they dont sell on the doorstep anymore. I really dont know what I can do to help and would appreciate any advice.

chanz4

For a start suppliers don't add intrest for late payment, and only if going for a warrant would a fee anywhere near be applied

jalexa

worried_about_money wrote: »

She used to pay about £100 per month for gas and electricity with Scottish Power, but the Npower salesman told her she was paying way too much and guaranteed her that she would save money by switching, and was then paying £67 direct debit per month. Well then it turns out she now owes them £1100...

There must be something you are not aware of (or not admitting). A £33/month payment inadequacy would take over 2 years to produce a shortfall of £1100.

BTW, not defending NPower but meaningful help here requires absolute accuracy.

worried_about_money

jalexa wrote: »

There must be something you are not aware of (or not admitting). A £33/month payment inadequacy would take over 2 years to produce a shortfall of £1100.

BTW, not defending NPower but meaningful help here requires absolute accuracy.

I know...I cant understand it, and apparently she's not paid it all off, which is why they were raising her direct debit to 300. She's managed to get them to lower it to 150 so she's paying off what remains over a longer period. I'm trying to get her to send copies of all the paperwork down to me here so I can see actual figures, but she want to remain independent....

jalexa

worried_about_money wrote: »

I'm trying to get her to send copies of all the paperwork down to me here so I can see actual figures...

First thing to look out for is the name of the tariff (and if you can the name of the previous Scottish Power tariff). Assuming it is/was the most competitive NPower tariff the comparative 12 month costs are unlikely to be hugely different to Scottish Power (allowing for market trends) and could even be less. But not £33/month less. Obvious mis-selling is inducing a customer to leave a fixed rate tariff for a variable tariff, or incurring early termination charges.

Energy bills are traditionally difficult to understand, NPower's may be impossible for most people if the primary units are seasonally weighted.

Mis-selling can be difficult to prove as a matter of fact, and the remedy is mainly the cost difference. There is an easy proof if the previous payments were £100/month and the initial NPower payments were £67/month I think NPower would struggle to satisfy independent complaint scrutiny (Energy Ombudsman). Up to you how to guide your mum but studying the bills is imperative. If you are not 100% happy raise a complaint. It is not impossible there is billing error, either estimated reads or imperial/metric issues on gas.

I would recommend that your mum gets herself on the NPower care register so that they cannot say they don't know that the customer is elderly.

Terrylw1

Given the shortfall is unlikely to be the only issue, its likely its something you need to see in the bills.

It could be that the opening reading is incorrectly low or due o low estimation, which is now playing catch up, in effect "squeezed" into the new suppliers period when it should be smoother across both.

Without bill data, its not possible to say.

Per your DD question, 10 days in writing in some form or you can contact the bank for an indemnity. Suggest checking this and if the supplier should be coughing up for any bank charges.

The interest quote is interesting. Yes, some have it in their t&c's like EDF's 8% above HSBC's base rate, bit not heard it with Npower before. It could be a ruse to force a customer into paying? Its been my observation that some, not all, collections staff lack a sense of decency and often laugh at putting customers through this.

chanz4

Terrylw1 wrote: »

Given the shortfall is unlikely to be the only issue, its likely its something you need to see in the bills.

It could be that the opening reading is incorrectly low or due o low estimation, which is now playing catch up, in effect "squeezed" into the new suppliers period when it should be smoother across both.

Without bill data, its not possible to say.

Per your DD question, 10 days in writing in some form or you can contact the bank for an indemnity. Suggest checking this and if the supplier should be coughing up for any bank charges.

The interest quote is interesting. Yes, some have it in their t&c's like EDF's 8% above HSBC's base rate, bit not heard it with Npower before. It could be a ruse to force a customer into paying? Its been my observation that some, not all, collections staff lack a sense of decency and often laugh at putting customers through this.

I know a few people from there that work on warrants, they don't charge intrest.

Terrylw1

chanz4 wrote: »

I know a few people from there that work on warrants, they don't charge intrest.

Based on a thread last week, it seems they add fixed charges but that hasn't been explained yet.

Their t&c's though do state 8% above HSBC's base rate. I wonder why they don't use it? Its actually for late payments/partial payments, so it can be applied a long time before getting to warrants. Perhaps they have opted not to get bashed in the media for being the first supplier to heap internet on people who are struggling yo pay, since they could fall into SLC traps...well if they even care that is...;):D

nPower

Hi worried about money,

It's really upsetting to read about your mother and that she feels she's been miss-sold her energy.

I'd really like to have a look into this and find out where this large bill has come from.

Due to data protection, I can only discuss this with the account holder (your mother), so if you can get her to email me all the details to [EMAIL="forumresponse@npower.com"]forumresponse@npower.com[/EMAIL], I can check this over.

Best wishes,

Adam

flo1922

I recognise the situation described above - I too am a victim of mis-selling. There must be loads of us out there. I was quoted £66 per month dual fuel by Npower, as opposed to the £111 I was paying another provider at that stage. 9 months into my contract I was hit with a statement showing I owed over £800, and that my direct debit would be increased by over £200. I was shocked and angry but didn't realise at that stage that I could take action against mis-selling. I phoned Npower who agreed to extend by repayment time, but I was still paying over £100 more.

I now realise that action can be taken against this sort of sharp practice, ending with the energy ombudsman as a last resort. I am currently drafting my letter of complaint to Npower in the hope that I receive some form of compensation,and a more realistic estimate of what my fuel consumption and therefore my payments should be.