npower standiing charges

wendy6482

Hi, I've just received my new Npower bill after they have brought in the new standing charge. They sent us a letter in March explaining the changes and I wasn't really concerned because they said "For the vast majority of our customers, the introduction of a standing charge will have no overall cost impact" (unless you spend less than £27 on gas and £12 on electricity which we don't as a household). Today I received a bill saying they are increasing our monthly direct debit to £146 a month when it was previously £106 a month! I have no idea how we can afford to pay this, we struggle financially as it is. Should I just switch to another supplier straight away or are they all the same?

Nada666

wendy6482 wrote: »

Hi, I've just received my new Npower bill after they have brought in the new standing charge. [...] they said "For the vast majority of our customers, the introduction of a standing charge will have no overall cost impact"[...]Today I received a bill saying they are increasing our monthly direct debit to £146 a month when it was previously £106 a month! I have no idea how we can afford to pay this, we struggle financially as it is.[...]

Your change in debit has nothing to do with the introduction of standing charge - with a monthly payment of £106 you are not materially affected.

This will just be an adjustment that has (probably) nothing to do with a change in price (although I assume some tariff price changes may have been rolled in at the start of May.)

What you should do is find out your typical annual usage and compare prices. If you go to a comparison site now you will find an estimate of how much your current usage costs and how much competitor tariffs cost. You will also find out how justified or not the change to £146 is. What is the current balance on your account?

wendy6482

Nada666 wrote: »

Your change in debit has nothing to do with the introduction of standing charge - with a monthly payment of £106 you are not materially affected.

This will just be an adjustment that has (probably) nothing to do with a change in price (although I assume some tariff price changes may have been rolled in at the start of May.)

What you should do is find out your typical annual usage and compare prices. If you go to a comparison site now you will find an estimate of how much your current usage costs and how much competitor tariffs cost. You will also find out how justified or not the change to £146 is. What is the current balance on your account?

Thanks - my current balance is £76.58 (Dual fuel account balance)

Wywth

wendy6482 wrote: »

Hi, I've just received my new Npower bill after they have brought in the new standing charge. They sent us a letter in March explaining the changes and I wasn't really concerned because they said "For the vast majority of our customers, the introduction of a standing charge will have no overall cost impact" (unless you spend less than £27 on gas and £12 on electricity which we don't as a household). Today I received a bill saying they are increasing our monthly direct debit to £146 a month when it was previously £106 a month! I have no idea how we can afford to pay this, we struggle financially as it is. Should I just switch to another supplier straight away or are they all the same?

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/you-switch-gas-electricity