Ridiculously expensive and unexplained NPower Bill

barnsleybarista

I currently live in a 2 bedroom apartment in Leeds, and when I moved in less than 3 months ago, I was told by npower that I would be using approximately £50 per month, which to me sounded slightly over the amount we would use, as we are both very economical. We also have friends living in a very similar flat, and their electricity bill is only £35 per month.

However, a few days ago I received a letter in the post saying that npower have estimated I will be using £270 per month, and so this is the direct debit amount that will be taken. I cannot understand where this amount came from. I have spoken to two people at npower and neither of them were shocked or even surprised by this.

One person worked out (based on a meter reading) that we are actually using £80 per month, which is ridiculous. The only things that are on in the flat are the fridge and the wifi. We have an electric powered hot water cylinder but that is only on for the minimum amount of time possible and we don't even have the heating on! Anyway, so this person at npower change my direct debit from £270 to £100 per month. (Still double the amount of my first quote).

So my questions are:

- Do you think there is a problem with my electricity meter? We definitely do not use £80 per month. We don't actually have access to the meter, we live in a block of apartments, and the building manager sends us the reading.

- Is the electricity rate cheaper at night, or the same throughout the day? I have no idea whether it is an Economy-7 meter or not.

- I logged into my account online and it still says I have a direct debit balance of £300 for some reason. This isn't right, and neither of the people I have spoken to at npower have changed this.

Horseunderwater

Suggest you ask a couple of your immediate neighbours what they pay a month - might be interesting. If it is a shared meter then in theory you should all be paying roughly a similar amount depending on obviously usage. But it will give you a better idea. I have no idea if each flat has a separate clock for each unit - but if that is not the case, then you are just paying a share of the whole blocks bill, which could be why it is higher than you thought? It definitely needs looking into.

Wywth

barnsleybarista wrote: »

I currently live in a 2 bedroom apartment in Leeds, and when I moved in less than 3 months ago, I was told by npower that I would be using approximately £50 per month, which to me sounded slightly over the amount we would use, as we are both very economical. We also have friends living in a very similar flat, and their electricity bill is only £35 per month.

However, a few days ago I received a letter in the post saying that npower have estimated I will be using £270 per month, and so this is the direct debit amount that will be taken. I cannot understand where this amount came from. I have spoken to two people at npower and neither of them were shocked or even surprised by this.

One person worked out (based on a meter reading) that we are actually using £80 per month, which is ridiculous. The only things that are on in the flat are the fridge and the wifi. We have an electric powered hot water cylinder but that is only on for the minimum amount of time possible and we don't even have the heating on! Anyway, so this person at npower change my direct debit from £270 to £100 per month. (Still double the amount of my first quote).

So my questions are:

- Do you think there is a problem with my electricity meter? We definitely do not use £80 per month. We don't actually have access to the meter, we live in a block of apartments, and the building manager sends us the reading.

- Is the electricity rate cheaper at night, or the same throughout the day? I have no idea whether it is an Economy-7 meter or not.

- I logged into my account online and it still says I have a direct debit balance of £300 for some reason. This isn't right, and neither of the people I have spoken to at npower have changed this.

I suggest you call the supplier and ask them to explain.

They should be able to answer all the questions you have and possibly advise you on some options open to you

If you are still not happy with the responses, follow their complaint procedure

barnsleybarista

Thanks for the replies!

Re the shared meter, The building manager sent me our meter reading so I presume we all have separate meters, but I will definitely ask the neighbours.

The lady at npower that told me we're using £80 per month didn't really explain anything. i told her that we haven't had the heating on and everything else and she said 'it's because it's winter'. doesn't really explain anything, think she was starting to get a bit irate!

Also thinking about turning everything off in the flat and asking the building manager to see if the meter keeps turning.

dogshome

It appears that your meter, yet to be identified as an ECO 7 or standard meter,
is in a communial Service Room along with everybody elses

1) It's vital that you gain access to the Service Room and check that meter the caretaker thinks is yours, really is
2) Check that the Number on the meter matches the one on your bills
3) Switch off everything in the flat, the meter should stop completely, then double check it, ( you need mobile phones for this), by having someone in the flat switch the kettle on and off a few times - The meter should record this use in synch. with the kettle

Michael_Nottingham

Did you get an initial meter reading when you moved in? How many actual reads have you had since being in the property? If you dont have a series of actual reads they are likely to be using historic industry data for that meters readings - the only data available. This could be a lot higher if they were using Electricity heating and you weren't.

Did you have a single reading or two at a certain date - if a dual register its likely to be E7. Either way nPower will be able to tell you what type of meter you have (its a very simple question). If it is E7 - this is mainly designed for people using Electricity to heat a property (via storage heaters through the night normally) and can be more expensive for people who have non-electric heating. If you are on E7 check by asking your supplier (or uswitch) whether your usage justifies an E7 tariff or it makes more sense to switch to non E7 tariff.

How old is the property? It is not unheard that the meters in new properties (especially Flats) are mixed up (hence the suggestion from dogshome to check that the meter for your property is the one you think and the one you are being billed for).

nPower should have a specialist team of people who deal with high usage rates. They should be able to talk you through a series of steps to understand the cause - this will likely involve taking a series of meter readings at specified intervals.

If it was me I would certainly want access to my own meter - as this will really help resolve the issue more quickly.

barnsleybarista

I did get an inital reading when I moved in. However I have never seen the meter. When we've had readings from the building manager, it has always just been one reading so I presume it's the standard meter.

However, as our hot water is heated by a range flowmax electrical cylinder, it should probably be an eco-7?

The building is less than ten years old, but the technologoy with the hot water seems fifty years old. I don't understand why there is no gas.

The whole episode is just so stressful and really starting to get me down. We're students at the minute, and could only just afford the original bills, but this is just ridiculous!

macman

You can't presume any such thing. As already stressed, it's your meter and your bill and account. They cannot deny you access to it-so enforce your rights.
You need to start quoting actual kWh consumption, the DD amount tells us nothing.
E7 is only likely to make sense if you have night storage heaters fitted-do you? You have said nothing about your heating system.
If you heat your water during the day and you are on E7, then you are doing so at a premium rate.
PS: £50pm for a 2 b/r all electric flat would be optimistic in the extreme, even with E7. Without E7, it will be much more.
Since npower know nothing about your property or lifestyle, you cannot expect them to give accurate estimates of your consumption.
What you have received is not a bill, it is an advice of a change to your DD, which does not mean that your actual consumption is £270pm.

Michael_Nottingham

Its not unusual to not have Gas - especially in flats. Only c80% of UK households have a gas supply.

I would try to start reading your meter on a frequent basis (perhaps daily) to see what your current consumption is. Then you can see whether its an estimated consumption issue or whether the meter is genuinely saying that you are using that much. The cause will be different.

I would also phone nPower again and ask to speak to someone who specialises in high meter reads / consumption

plane_boy2000

Npower have just tried to change my direct debit. Over the last year we have used 12,000 kw of gas, so they have decided that we will use 25500 in the next 12 months and are trying to more than double our monthly payment.

Not impressed, combined with the fact that my fix is about to end so they are moving me to one of their most expensive tariffs. Think its time for a change of supplier.

I dont think £50 pcm sounds unreasonable - we use slightly more in a 4 bed house with tumble dryer

barnsleybarista

Right basically here's the setup.

All the radiators in the flat are electric. However we have hardly had them on at all. I'd say about five times in the last 3 months have they been switched on. We are also very economical when we're in the flat. Only ever take showers. All lights are energy saving and hardly ever on. If we are in on an evening, only have 2 energy saving lamps on. Only things on constantly are wifi and the fridge.

The water boiler is a range flowmax cylinder heater. I don't really know much about this. It was set to come on for 2 hours in the morning, and then for a couple of hours in the evening. (I have cut this by half but it isn't keeping the water hot).

When I received the new DD bill in the post, i sent off a meter reading, which when calculated with our initial reading worked out that we have actually used £80 per month in electricity, which is ludicrous!

My first thoughts were it was the boiler that was using all the electricity up, and that it should be on all night when electricity is cheaper (and that is the default setting on the timer), but as I'm not on Eco-7, I don't know what the best thing is, should I be on eco-7 for just hot water?

My second thoughts were whether there is a problem with the meter. There is no way we are using that amount of electricity, unless there is a problem with the water heater or something else. I will get in touch with the building manager this week and arrange to look at it, turn all power off etc to see if it keeps turning.

It's just so annoying when our friends live in a flat across the road, all electric, and they have all their lights on ALL the time, the electric heaters on full blast etc, and they're only paying £35 per month!

Here is what npower estimated and what the meter says we have used:

NPower estimation from 22nd Sept 2012 with initial meter read to an estimate meter read on 22nd Nov 2012: 2,679 kWh.

Our meter says from 22nd Sept 2012 to 7th Dec 2012 we have used: 1,546 kWh.