NPower owe me £545-how to get back

Sandie11

Hi
I am with NPower and got them to raise a revise bill to the end of Aug as i new i had overpaid.
It works out to be £545 in credit, i have requested this refunded, however this is their reply

I understand that you want the amount of £545.00 refunded, however, I wish to inform you that the amount you requested is a down payment amount which is used in the future Direct Debit amount. The remaining amount will then be adjusted during the next invoicing date on the bill.

Where do i stand with this?, i think the next revised statement is due November, however why should i wait until then when this money is an overpayment and therefore due to me.

Any advice would be appreciated

zaax

Might be a good idea if the coming winter is as bad as the last,
otherwise change to someone cheaper.

thriftylass

It's a lot more than what we are in credit. On our suppliers website it says you can request anything owed over £150, the rest will be used as backup during the winter and they slashed our DD in half to £50 (we usually use £100 in winter) so we'll use the overpayment up.

Although having found this article I would just switch to a cheaper one (there are many) and persist on getting that money back otherwise you'll always be in credit with them. http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-2324453/Youve-switched--wont-Npower-hand-cash.html

However, that's what I found on the MSE website:

Providers' refund policies (correct at 4 June 2013)

Npower

Anyone £60 or above in credit at the end of their 12 months gets automatically refunded provided their bill is based on an actual meter reading. Alternatively, the credit is taken off DD rates for the next 12 mths. More info http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/lower-energy-direct-debits

Hope that helps

LEJC

I have had a similar experience with N power and in the end I actually had to switch suppliers in odrer to get the £700 I was owed back.

Their customer service is appalling and even when I pointed out to them that they were holding something in the region of 2 years worth of payments for my small gas/electrical usage they were unrepentant.

It may well be an option for you to request that your direct debit is reduced to the minimum amount ...for me that was £15 per month,which was better than the original £60 but it doesnt really solve the problem if you are only a light user it just means that the money they hold in reserve doesnt increase as quickly!

matelodave

If you had been reading the meter and checking your consumption you would have realised that you were overpaying and could have got it sorted out earlier.

You could change suppliers, so they'd have to refund you or you could cancel your DD until you'd evened it out a bit. I'd still recommend that you check your usage carefully so you don't get into the same situation again

Sandie11

Hindsight is always a great thing!

But know now,

Sandie11

Thanks for all your constructive replies.

I am locked into an agreement until next year so unfortunately cannot change.

It seems i may have to wait until the annual reveiw, which is fine, as long as they decrease the DD.

Many thanks for all your input

Nada666

A £545 balance is not that high for the start of winter - £109 extra over five months or £135 over four months. Many households can easily spend that much. Of course it may be too much for you and you may well ought to demand a refund. But is a small lump sum really more useful than lower ongoing monthly instalments?

Wywth

Sandie11 wrote: »

Thanks for all your constructive replies.

I am locked into an agreement until next year so unfortunately cannot change.

It seems i may have to wait until the annual reveiw, which is fine, as long as they decrease the DD.

Many thanks for all your input

Unless you are talking about a business tariff, you are not locked into anything ... although a small early exit fee may apply which might even be more than offset by any possible cashback.

But if you are currently £500+ in credit (and the DD is now set correctly) and you switch supplier, you'll be paying a heck of a lot more per month with any new supplier (but you will get your £500+ back from nPower)