NPower - confusing bills

Rachylou1981

In April I received a bill saying I was £284.80 in debit to Npower. After discussion on the phone we came to an agreement where I would pay £80 off the debt and start to pay £73 per month and I would ring in July with up to date meter readings and see where we were in terms of balance. During those few days they took out the £80 and two direct debits that made up £73 (a mess up on their part) and then I started paying my £73 per month from May. I then rang up on 15 July to be told that I was in credit by about £70 but I would need to ring back in a few days to let the balance 'settle'. When I rang back I was told there was a lock on my account and they could not help me with anything. Then yesterday I got two separate bills, one saying I was £97.52 in debit and my DD payment would be going up to £107 per month whereby the other bill said I was £170.02 in debit but gave no new payment information. I cannot made head nor tail of the bills and so I rang up and was given so much jargon that I couldn't follow what he was saying and so was advised to email customer services to get copies of all of my statements from them and so I have done.

Now maths and energy bills are not my strong point but does it seem normal that I have paid them £445 since April yet I am still in debt to them by £100-170? Is that an average Summer time bill?

I live alone in a 2 bed terrace and I am out all day. No heating on since March and hot water on for 2 hours max on an evening. I do have a gas cooker though and a back boiler.

nPower

Rachylou1981 wrote: »

In April I received a bill saying I was £284.80 in debit to Npower. After discussion on the phone we came to an agreement where I would pay £80 off the debt and start to pay £73 per month and I would ring in July with up to date meter readings and see where we were in terms of balance. During those few days they took out the £80 and two direct debits that made up £73 (a mess up on their part) and then I started paying my £73 per month from May. I then rang up on 15 July to be told that I was in credit by about £70 but I would need to ring back in a few days to let the balance 'settle'. When I rang back I was told there was a lock on my account and they could not help me with anything. Then yesterday I got two separate bills, one saying I was £97.52 in debit and my DD payment would be going up to £107 per month whereby the other bill said I was £170.02 in debit but gave no new payment information. I cannot made head nor tail of the bills and so I rang up and was given so much jargon that I couldn't follow what he was saying and so was advised to email customer services to get copies of all of my statements from them and so I have done.

Now maths and energy bills are not my strong point but does it seem normal that I have paid them £445 since April yet I am still in debt to them by £100-170? Is that an average Summer time bill?

I live alone in a 2 bed terrace and I am out all day. No heating on since March and hot water on for 2 hours max on an evening. I do have a gas cooker though and a back boiler.

Hi Rachylou1981,

This does sound a little confusing.

Would you like me to take a look and see what's happening with your account, and make sure all payments and meter readings are all up to date and accurate?

You can send me all the details to the email address on my profile page and I can take a look.

Best wishes,

Adam

Rachylou1981

Sorry Adam but that link did not work. How do I contact you?

Rachylou1981

No response or even an acknowledgement to the email I sent so I will have to ring up again today.

Useless!

dogshome

Stop counting the money and start counting the Kwh
Every one of the 'Wise heads' to whom you are looking for help, was once a 'Learner Driver' just like you, so don't put yourself down

Go through those bills, what you are looking for is:

That the End Reading on each bill coincides with the Start reading on the next

Any End Reading that has an E next to it - this means it has been Estimated and is not a true record of your use and will remain so until a later bill is issued based on a Meter Readers reading, or one you have reported to n'power.

Keep a weekly record of your meter readings so that you 'learn' what uses power and can easily check future bills.
Don't rely on what n'power are telling you - Apart from the fact that staff on Customer Service Desks quite often get it wrong, at the moment n'power have
massive computer problems and aren't even sure of which way is up themselves

Rachylou1981

dogshome wrote: »

Stop counting the money and start counting the Kwh
Every one of the 'Wise heads' to whom you are looking for help, was once a 'Learner Driver' just like you, so don't put yourself down

Go through those bills, what you are looking for is:

That the End Reading on each bill coincides with the Start reading on the next

Any End Reading that has an E next to it - this means it has been Estimated and is not a true record of your use and will remain so until a later bill is issued based on a Meter Readers reading, or one you have reported to n'power.

Keep a weekly record of your meter readings so that you 'learn' what uses power and can easily check future bills.
Don't rely on what n'power are telling you - Apart from the fact that staff on Customer Service Desks quite often get it wrong, at the moment n'power have
massive computer problems and aren't even sure of which way is up themselves

Thanks but these bills are based on my meter readings I submitted in July, which I only did for them to check my balance and DD payments - not to produce a bill. They seem to just produce bills when they like.

I got told that the call in July where I was told my balance was in credit was an error (convenient) and the bottom line is that I owe them £170.02 which will be paid either at £107 per month DD from next month or I can pay off the debt and pay £99 per month. I will be charged £60 if I leave them.

Compared to my friends who are families in 3 bedroom houses, I am paying £10 per month more. The mind boggles but I am getting nowhere with customer service to help explain to me

Rachylou1981

For gas used, the bill says:

Calorific Value 39.8
35 (100s cubic feet)
= 1120 kWh

Cost split

1120 at 3.452p
16 days at 42.800p per day

Nada666

I am not sure what what your friends are paying has to do with npower. As Dogshome says you have to find out in kWhs what you use over a typical year and work out how much that costs. Look at how much you used over winter. Only then can you see whether or not your monthly instalment is reasonable.

Rachylou1981

Nada666 wrote: »

I am not sure what what your friends are paying has to do with npower. As Dogshome says you have to find out in kWhs what you use over a typical year and work out how much that costs. Look at how much you used over winter. Only then can you see whether or not your monthly instalment is reasonable.

It's just to compare, one of my friends works from home and so has electricity running all day. Another friend has a bigger home and also kids with Xboxes etc running a lot of power. They pay less than me.

It is difficult for me to check bills because I always get 2 or more for one period that conflict and I can't make head nor tail of the jargon in them so I have to ring up and am just met with 'this is how much you have used'

dogshome

This gas bill based on 35 meter units calculated to be 1120 chargeable Kwh, what are it's Start & End dates ? - I'd like to know as it seeems a lot of gas for a couple of summer months.

You are being charged on the basis of haveing an Imperial Gas meter which will be marked ft3 on the front, but there is also a Metric type of meter in use which is marked m3
There is a rare, but contiueing hic-cup in the entire system whereby the supplier thinks you have one type, when in fact you have the other

Check for the ft3 or m3 mark on your meter - If you find your meter is marked m3, WRITE a letter headed Complaint n'power enclosing a photo of your meter.
( If you have a Metric meter, that bill for 1120Kwh should have been for only 40Kwh)

neneromanova

Have you signed up online to have a look at all your usage, bills and to submit meter readings? If you haven't I really would. It's so much easier for you to see yourself and easier than ringing people to be told different things.