MSE News: Npower price hike to hit 130,000 customers

MillicentBystander

JSR wrote: »

People will moan about anything when it comes to energy companies. For several months customers have had a significantly better deal than they signed up for and can now benefit from waived exit fees. And it is supposed to be npower being evil? Come on.

What about the huge £105 annual discount paid in arrears that they lose? The annual discount paid in arrears that is included in the price shown on the switching sites and the reason that tariff is so near the top of the list?

MillicentBystander

Caddyman wrote: »

I agree and I should have stated "Once my current contract ends", so I only have six months remaining and trust me, my fuel bills are not high enough to worry about in my case. Was this statement not included in the original story though?

Affected customers can, however, leave the supplier penalty-free before 1 July. Until then, Npower is waiving its usual early exit fee of £30 per fuel, which applies regardless of whether you switch to another Npower product or to a rival supplier.

But fact is you are forced into paying the almost 10% increase or lose that £105 annual discount paid in arrears that made your tariff one of the cheapest in the first place! Leave that tariff now and you have effectively been paying more than you signed up to. Whereas with other (similarly priced) tariffs with other suppliers you would be free to leave now penalty free.

Caddyman

MillicentBystander wrote: »

But fact is you are forced into paying the almost 10% increase or lose that £105 annual discount paid in arrears that made your tariff one of the cheapest in the first place! Leave tahat tariff now and you have effectively been paying more than you signed up to. Whereas with other (similarly priced) tariffs with other suppliers you would be free to leave now penalty free.

I'm not disagreeing with you. The point is, the difference is hardly worth worrying about in my own case, so I'm not bothered one iota. I'm perfectly happy to stay put until next January.

MillicentBystander

Caddyman wrote: »

I'm not disagreeing with you. The point is, the difference is hardly worth worrying about in my own case, so I'm not bothered one iota. I'm perfectly happy to stay put until next January.

Now you have changed tack Your point originally was that you, unlike many, read the T&Cs and knew exactly what you were letting yourself in for. If that's right, surely you must have known that this increase could have happened at any time and that you would effectively be locked in when it did. If a supposedly savvy G&E customer can find themselves locked in to a now 'expensive' tariff for 7 months what hope the others? it's further proof that this industry makes things intentionally confusing.

Caddyman

MillicentBystander wrote: »

Now you have changed tack Your point originally was that you, unlike many, read the T&Cs and knew exactly what you were letting yourself in for. If that's right, surely you must have known that this increase could have happened at any time and that you would effectively be locked in when it did. If a supposedly savvy G&E customer can find themselves locked in to a now 'expensive' tariff for 7 months what hope the others? it's further proof that this industry makes things intentionally confusing.

Actually, I haven't changed tack at all, you're merely twisting things to suit your own ends! I did read the T&Cs, I did know the prices could change and I accepted the risk with it because I know my energy useage isn't significant enough to worry about it. I'm sorry you have an issue with that.

jbuchanangb

I switched from EDF to the NPower Energy Online January 2014 last September. I did understand that it was a 3% below standard, not a fixed tariff.

As soon as I got the letter informing me that the rate was going up, I hit the price comparison sites, and decided to ask them to change me to the Online Price Fix August 2014. They agreed to do that, without penalty, with effect from 1st July.

They asked that I submit meter readings around end June to make the changeover as accurate as possible.

Interestingly, although I have registered with the MSE Cheap Energy Club, it has not yet notified me that I should be switching at all.

Caddyman

Having just re-checked my estimated annual energy cost over a year for both gas and electric with Npower (£774 inclusive of £100 dual fuel discount - figures taken from latest Npower letter informing of their price increase) on my current online January 2014 tariff, even my rubbish maths brings my daily total energy cost in at £2.12 a day over an entire year.

I have one of those wireless Npower electric power consumption meters. I'm not sure how accurate they are, but as of 10.16 pm today, I've used just £4.51 of electricity over the last 7 days and just forty nine pence worth of electric today.

If that is considered in any way expensive by anyone to run my 3 bed semi, then I'm stumped! I'm certainly not going to bother my backside trying to find a tariff a few pennies a week cheaper in the hope of saving myself maybe 40 quid a year just yet!

Wywth

MillicentBystander wrote: »

What about the huge £105 annual discount paid in arrears that they lose? The annual discount paid in arrears that is included in the price shown on the switching sites and the reason that tariff is so near the top of the list?

If a customer switches tariff (but stays with nPower) and continues to pay monthly by DD, will they not retain their entitlement to the DD discount?
(I don't know for sure, but I think it can be carried over)

The energy online January 2014 tariff was launched in September 2012. So most people (unless they happened to be switched in January this year) would probably end up losing some form DD discount at the end of the tariff (unless the above is true and the customer elects to stay with nPower paying monthly by DD until the anniversary date)

MillicentBystander

Wywth wrote: »

If a customer switches tariff (but stays with nPower) and continues to pay monthly by DD, will they not retain their entitlement to the DD discount?
(I don't know for sure, but I think it can be carried over)

The energy online January 2014 tariff was launched in September 2012. So most people (unless they happened to be switched in January this year) would probably end up losing some form DD discount at the end of the tariff (unless the above is true and the customer elects to stay with nPower paying monthly by DD until the anniversary date)

I believe it does transfer over but my point has remained consistent in this thread - and that is once you get on the npower treadmill it's hard to get off without taking a financial hit. When other suppliers have equally as good deals that don't involve being committed for a whole year no matter what price increases happen why would you choose npower? My theory is the vast majority of punters either don't read the £105 discount T&C or they read it and don't fully appreciate the consequences of it.

MillicentBystander

Caddyman wrote: »

Actually, I haven't changed tack at all, you're merely twisting things to suit your own ends! I did read the T&Cs, I did know the prices could change and I accepted the risk with it because I know my energy useage isn't significant enough to worry about it. I'm sorry you have an issue with that.

I think maybe we will have to agree to disagree here but my belief remains that you haven't *totally* understood the significance of the T&Cs. Funnily enough, your argument along the lines of 'my consumption is so low it doesn't matter' is way off the pace - the £105 discount is a flat rate and applies whether you spend £700/yr or £7,000/yr but obviously becomes a far bigger hit if you spend just £700/yr on your fuel. 15% on £700/yr as opposed to 1.5% on £7,000.