Problems with Npower!

gem250985

Hi

I wonder if anyone can help me on a number of issues with Npower.

Earlier this year we changed elec from Npower to Scottish Power, we gave Scottish Power a final meter reading. About a week later we got a bill from Npower saying we owe them about 550 quid!

To lay down the background and my doubts about the whole thing...I don't trust Npower as far as I can throw them, about 2 years ago I was working at 2 places of work, one a shop, another a law firm...within the space of 2 weeks they had both received an unexplained bill of over £2000...both to the same penny...and I'm sorry but I find that waaaaaaaaaay too much of a coincidence and think they just send bills out hoping someone will pay and not question it.
That in addition to a number of other things I have heard has tarnished my views of them to say the least.

When we received the bill for 550 we called them and asked them what it was about....for over 3 months and approximately 6 telephone calls we were informed, by different people, that there may be a reason for this bill, that being that between 9/11/06 and 20/11/06 we used 2000kw! Obviously ridiculous and we were advised to get Scottish Power to test the meter as Npower believe it is not their responsibility. Scottish Power have refused to test the meter as the readings we gave them last month were consistent.

When I called Npower again to let them know what Scottish Power said and to basically tell them that if they wanted the money I wanted the meter testing the lady I spoke to said that she'd need to speak to someone to find out whether they could test my meter....Following that I was asked why I believed the meter was wrong...I explained the 2000kw in 11 days malarky....lo and behold....I'm afraid I can't see that on our records. After about 10 mins I was informed that....

On 28th August 06 they had made an estimated reading for the end of the year to tell me how much I owed them as the dd may not have covered it....on 9th September 06 (9/11/06 now equals 9/9/06 as far as theya re concerned) an actual reading was taken which was competely different to what they had estimated a week earlier. I received a letter on 29th September 06 informing me that I was 65 in debt that year with them and that they would change my payments accordingly. It took them until I changed suppliers in Jan/Feb 07 to make me aware that there had been any significant change in those readings and to send me a final bill for 550 quid...I just can't help but feel that it was a penalisation as opposed to a bill...it came out of nowhere! And after I disputed it the original 2000kw in 11 days story disappeared despite discussing it with a number of people at Npower and was informed the story above.

They have now sent a final demand despite being in discussions with them.

So my questions are...

1. If their second story in regards to the delayed meter readings etc are correct aren't they under any obligation to let me know? Surely if they have sent a letter on 29th telling me I owe 65, and they have said that this 550 quid has accumulated over 05/06 they should have sent me another letter highlighting their error? I could accept £5 or £10 out but 500 quid!!??

2. Is there anyway to find out the truth about all of this? I feel like I'm on a losing battle as I can only go on what they tell me, which changes when it suits them!

3. How likely is it that this £550 quid is right? We've never previously owed that much and there used to be 4 living here, now there's only 2. Have prices gone u enough to substantiate that? And surely if they have it's up to Npower to take that into account and amend the dd? (which to be honest they did do during 05/06...which again questions this 550...they amended both gas and elec dd by £7 a month..we ended up in credit for gas...why didn't they change the dd substantially if we were in that much debt? (i'd say cos we weren't....but as I say..I don't trust them at all..)

4. Are they obliged to do accurate readings any particular number of times a year or anything?

5. In respect of the final demand from anotehr company...it states we must contact them within 48 hours of the letter otherwise court costs would be applied. The letter is dated 6th June, we received today, 9th. I have contacted them to make them aware we have received it. Are they allowed to state within 48 hours? When I said to her she said oh well we don't really expect that, we do give a bit of time for posting etc....so isn't that just a threat tactic that they're not supposed to use then?

I'd be really grateful for any replies on this as I'm at a loss.

Thanks in advance

G

tripled

1) No they aren't. However the discrepancy would have shown up on the bills. Also many companies only reasess once per year, so it may not be picked up until the next annual review.

2) Write to them and ask them for a written explanation. Go through your records to see what your quarterly bills show up. You will soon be able to see if meter readings where estimated, where balances have accumulated, etc.

3) It depends... prices had pretty much double over the course of the previous 3-4 years. Although £550 is quite high, underestimated readings combined with price increases could cause a large catch up bill, although you wouldn't usually expect it to be as much as that.

4) Once every two years.

5) They can pretty much put what they like, they don't have to carry out the threat.

You can get the meter tested if you are sure it is at fault, but if it turns out there is nothing wrong with it most suppliers will charge you £50-£70 for the privilege. You can do a basic test yourself by turning everything off then plugging in something like a 1kw heater for an hour and making sure 1 kwh is used.

gem250985

Hi

Thanks for your reply.

It may well be worth doing that test. Thanks for the advice.

nikki&asha

I have had a very similar problem regarding Npower. I switched to ebico in July o6 and assumed as i am on a prepayment meter for my electric it was all paid up. I had no bills showing estimated readings or a debt building up, in fact i was told that i didn't need to give meter readings as i was on a pre payment meter.
Any way in October 06 i received a final demand from them for £119 ( not as much as you but i only put about £7 a week in meter as use very little) . I had no normal bill or warning , just a 'pay in 7 days ' demand. I called them and customer services were useless and said they would look into to it for me and write back. they didn't... ANOTHER THREATENING LETTER WAS SENT! I wrote a complaint explaining all of the above and they replied that the debt had built up due to the meter not being re set in June 05. I wrote again saying why why why didn't you reset it then and i get another snotty letter saying 'we tried on 22/06/05 and 22/12/06 but no one was there. why always the 22nd!
i went to energy watch who agreed with me that they could of rang or wrote or tried more than once every 6 months so i put a complaint in with them saying i shouldn't be liable as it was due to their errors. Npower continued to send demands through out the process then offered me £20 off the bill as a gesture of good will and energy watch could not force them to do any thing else.
Then i went to the energy supply ombudsman and put in a complaint with them.. npower still sending regular demands to me even though it is in dispute! Eventually npower offer to reduce bill to £70, which i decline but ombudsman agree with them too!:mad: on morning i received final decision from ombudsman i received a 'we have taken court proceedings against you type letter as well. i rang them and complained about the timing saying it was ridiculous as the decision as just been made so they called it off awaiting further correspondence from me.
I have sent another letter to them saying i do not accept liability for the bill, and do not admit to owing it but will pay them £50 @£2 per week as that is all as i can afford. I have been paying this for 5 weeks and npower haven't had the decency to reply to me!

energy watch originally told me that npower were unlikely to write the bill off as i was no longer a customer and if i was a customer they would probably forget it....... they only bothered to charge me when i left i think its their way of getting more money out of you.

Every thing i have tried failed but got the bill reduced so try these options first. THEN offer them a token payment if you have to , as long as you are paying something every week,if they take you to court the judge will say 'their paying whats your problem' keep records of everything!:D

I hope you have more success than me, hopefully if the energy supply ombudsman receive enough complaints they will have to make a ruling against them.

good luck

gem250985

Hi

Thanks for your reply.

We offered them (the debt collectors) £10 a month today but made them perfectly aware that it was as a gesture of goodwill and purely because it seemed an impossible task to get npower to read any notes on my account! They only agreed to £10 a month because of all the other bills we have....luckily the account with npower is in my partners name (we're not married), as is the mortgage, a secured loan and all other utilities, household insurances etc, so we just played dumb and told them about his income and his outgoings and ignored me being there....end of day it's technically not my bill anyway so why should 'I' pay towards it, and I'll be damned if they're getting any more than they need to have of my hard earned cash, there's a lot of things which need to be paid for on a monthly basis, and they certainly ain't at the top of the priority list!!!


I'm going to ring Npower sometime this week and kick off to high hell. Bur very much doubt i'll get anywhere...you end up just losing the will to live with these lot!

G

kayla

i have also had problems with npower and scottish power!!!!!!! last year in april i switched my electricity and gas from scottish power to npower. a couple of weeks later i recived a letter stating that i couldnt switch to npower as i had a recent bill which i couldnt pay in full.
yesterday i had a man from meter plus stating that they were here to fit an electric meter on behalf of npower due to an unpaid bill of £250. i challenged this as i had been getting billed from scottish power for both gas and electricity. after a few phone calls mpan confirmed that i had been supplied by npower since 1st april 2006. i also recieved no bills or communication from npower. so i was getting charged by 2 companies. so the meter was fitted.
i got on the phone to scottish power and told them everything. i have arranged for a prepayment to be fitted for the gas as i had a huge bill roughly of £2000 ( or so i thought ). i asked the man to check the systems as this didnt seem right. told him all meter readings and type of meter and he said i was being charged at an imperial rate!!!!!!! shockingly my bill went down to just £500 which i owed!!!!!!! so i dont know which company is worse!!!!!!!