N power advice needed

Heathermka

N POWER query

My parents received a bill from N Power yesterday, or rather several bills, covering previous years that they have already paid. They have gas central heating and electricity both through NPOWER. Yesterday they received four different bills, one of which totalling £2375, saying that their monthly payments would now be £697 per MONTH!! They have had the metre read several times over the years by the N POWER people, they have also read it themselves and passed on the figures to N Power. They have paid religiously by direct debit every month, an amount specified by N Power, approximately £120 per month. Their last bill only totalled £98 outstanding.

Obviously as soon as they got these bills, they called straight up to complain, and was told that for some reason the past three years have been 'reverse charged' and new bills sent out which is why they received so many at once. He really couldn't explain how all of a sudden they have sent such a massive bill when there is no way it is anywhere near that high, as they have always paid and the past few months the heating has been switched off completely!!

Obviously the guy they spoke to didnt really understand either and is putting it in for formal investigation/complaint, as there is no way on earth they owe this amount of money!! It seems what they are trying to say is that they are on economy 7 heating (which they are not and have never been, lived in the home 13 years and was gas when they bought it), and some mistake has been made at their end but they are still not sure.

What i would like to know is what their rights are regarding this. Obviously NOBODY can afford a payment of £700 PER MONTH just for gas and electricity, it is absolutely ludicrous!! What rights/entitlement do they have? I mean if N Power determine they made a mistake for the past three years and charged the wrong amount (and even if they did i don't see how it would total over £2000) surely that is not my parent's fault. NPOWER set the amount they pay monthly and my parents pay it, and give them the readings/allow their engineer in to check whenever.

What rights do they have and also who would they take it to if they get no joy from N Power themselves?

Interestingly although they sent these bills, they sent no cover letters or any letter whatsoever explaining why they have received 4 bills, why reverse charges, why such a high bill now, etc etc. Nothing!

I appreciate any help or advice

Heathermka

Please does anyone have any advice on this? I've just been told as well my parents have just realised from their bank statement that N power also took £1200 from their bank BEFORE they sent these bills and put it back in the same day!!

liney

N power have failed to bill me for nearly a year, and the ombudsman have now been contacted.
http://www.ombudsman-services.org/energy.html
You can contact the ombudsman if Npower fail to reslove your complaint after 8 weeks. I suggest emailing Npower so using their online complaints form so that you have a proper record of the complain being made.

Personally I would cancel the direct debits immediately, and put the money aside until they sort it.

Heathermka

Yes, the person they spoke to did advise they would stop the direct debits and be in contact with my parents within 10 days, but as they don't trust them (since they took 1200 out of their account without permission!) they have cancelled themselves with the bank but will continue to put money aside like they have been doing all along (and paying monthly) I just can't believe where they've gotten this massive £2300 bill from, even if they had made a mistake and miscalculated there is no way that would be the difference. We live in a small 3 bed semi-detached house!!! The heating has even been completely off for the last few months! Thanks for your advice i will save that ombudsman link.

bebewoo

Heather you need to get your parents to switch.
Npower's computer systems were changed last year and this sort of thing has happened to many many people since then. It is almost impossible to sort out as the systems are will say different things at different times, so if you ring they may say its sorted then later on it will happen again.
It is entirely likely that your parents readings are correct, in fact they are more likely to be correct than npower given the current state of npower's systems.
Just search on this forum to see other people's experiences.

Heathermka

bebewoo wrote: »

Heather you need to get your parents to switch.
Npower's computer systems were changed last year and this sort of thing has happened to many many people since then. It is almost impossible to sort out as the systems are will say different things at different times, so if you ring they may say its sorted then later on it will happen again.
It is entirely likely that your parents readings are correct, in fact they are more likely to be correct than npower given the current state of npower's systems.
Just search on this forum to see other people's experiences.

Thanks very much, they are definitely going to switch but obviously can't right now until this issue is sorted. They have said regardless they are moving to another supplier as soon as they are actually able to. It has made me extra conscious as I am getting my own place soon, so if ours is with N power i will be switching immediately!! I just cannot believe they think they have the right to do this. From what we can tell, what they think has happened is that they had us on a normal tarrif for gas heating, and thats what they've been paying, then they have all of a sudden decided that was wrong and that we were on economy 7 heating (never had economy 7 heating even when the house was built!!) and so reversed everything and re-charged us based on us having economy 7 heating - which we do not! It's just horrendous and why they think they can start taking random amounts in the thousands out of their bank account (sending them into the red) and then placing it back in again i don't know! How dare they!!

nPower

Heathermka wrote: »

N POWER query

My parents received a bill from N Power yesterday, or rather several bills, covering previous years that they have already paid. They have gas central heating and electricity both through NPOWER. Yesterday they received four different bills, one of which totalling £2375, saying that their monthly payments would now be £697 per MONTH!! They have had the metre read several times over the years by the N POWER people, they have also read it themselves and passed on the figures to N Power. They have paid religiously by direct debit every month, an amount specified by N Power, approximately £120 per month. Their last bill only totalled £98 outstanding.

Obviously as soon as they got these bills, they called straight up to complain, and was told that for some reason the past three years have been 'reverse charged' and new bills sent out which is why they received so many at once. He really couldn't explain how all of a sudden they have sent such a massive bill when there is no way it is anywhere near that high, as they have always paid and the past few months the heating has been switched off completely!!

Obviously the guy they spoke to didnt really understand either and is putting it in for formal investigation/complaint, as there is no way on earth they owe this amount of money!! It seems what they are trying to say is that they are on economy 7 heating (which they are not and have never been, lived in the home 13 years and was gas when they bought it), and some mistake has been made at their end but they are still not sure.

What i would like to know is what their rights are regarding this. Obviously NOBODY can afford a payment of £700 PER MONTH just for gas and electricity, it is absolutely ludicrous!! What rights/entitlement do they have? I mean if N Power determine they made a mistake for the past three years and charged the wrong amount (and even if they did i don't see how it would total over £2000) surely that is not my parent's fault. NPOWER set the amount they pay monthly and my parents pay it, and give them the readings/allow their engineer in to check whenever.

What rights do they have and also who would they take it to if they get no joy from N Power themselves?

Interestingly although they sent these bills, they sent no cover letters or any letter whatsoever explaining why they have received 4 bills, why reverse charges, why such a high bill now, etc etc. Nothing!

I appreciate any help or advice

Hello Heather,

Thanks for your post about your parents billing issues. If you would like me to take a look at this for you, please email me at the address on my profile page.

Thanks

Carmel

dogshome

Hmmm - An error on the type of Elec meter your parents have should make no difference to past Gas bills, so it would appear that the demands for additional money are all based on a Standard Meter v ECO7 mix-up

1) Check that the actual number on the Elec meter. is the same as that printed on the bills

2) What type of Elec meter is installed in what home is recorded on Central Registers, based on the old pre-privatisation areas- Punch "Who supplies my Electricity ?" onto Google and it will bring up the phone number for your parents area, phone and ask what type of meter is recorded at that address.
( The answer you get is not infallible as the registers can also get it wrong)

Look hard at the Elec meter, older types of ECO7 are easily identifiable, but with newer meters it's not so easy.
If you are not familiar with ECO 7 meters, ask a friend who is to look at it
In the event it is not an ECO7, send a photo of it to n'power

undercover_peon

From what you have said it seems that, although your parents have gas, they may have an economy 7 meter. I suspect either NPower's systems have gone haywire (not uncommon as others have suggested) or there is some confusion with the meter readings.

Let me give you some rough figures to explain. Lets say economy 7 or night rate (usually around 12 am to 7 am) is 5 pence per unit and day rate is 15 pence (the rest of the time). Most people would use very little at night unless they have storage heaters (which I understand isn't the case here).

Now lets say the readings come in the wrong way round a few times. If you re-bill after swapping them round it can make a significant difference to the bill.

There is an easy way to check if there are two readings which is day.

Just read the meter twice on the same day, usually around 2 hours apart. The one which has advanced is the day rate.

Oh and regarding

"Interestingly although they sent these bills, they sent no cover letters or any letter whatsoever explaining why they have received 4 bills, why reverse charges, why such a high bill now, etc etc. Nothing!"

Again this is not uncommon. Basically Npower has bought a system which isn't fit for purpose. It reverses bills often based on some spurious logic but for whatever reason the geniuses didn't think to put something in the code to say generate a letter, or have someone check this manually.

I have even seen cases where there was a reversed bill, a huge new direct debit payment, then that bill was reversed so the customer was not notified (sound familiar???).

So the priorities are find out if it is a single rate meter, if it is economy 7 you may have to press a button on the meter marked cycle display to get the other reading (s).

Find out how long this has been going on for. If Npower had all the information then generally speaking they can only back bill for a year.

I would personally also check the opening readings on past and previous bills and ask Npower what they have as there may have been a !!!! up there.

If the meter has been misread it may have recalculated on that basis.

Oh and if you aren't getting anywhere, or maybe as a matter of course) say you will be going to the ombudsmen. This gets your complaint taken seriously and percentage wise gets it to someone who might have a clue what they are doing.

undercover_peon

I would keep it all in writing to so you have everything documented if/when you go to the ombudsmen. No disrespect to the call center staff but they just don't have the time to look into anything properly or do a good job. Npower's idea of efficiency lately is get them off the phone, which works short term in making the numbers look good but long term creates a vicious cycle of failure and frustration as the many threads on here bear out.

Good luck.

Worse case scenario if all the number check out you can still complain that they allowed this to happen, and about poor service in terms of not explaining the revised bills, breaching the direct debit guarantee (and maybe having a system which does this on a regular basis?) etc.

I am hoping there is some mistake though, as if not you need to get some idea about thier energy usage and try to reduce it.

Bizarre as it sounds I wouldn't advocate switching until you get at least some sense. If the readings are wrong the new supplier could have a nightmare.

Oh and check the meter number too. Long shot but worth checking. There may have been a meter exchange they are not aware of.

Sorry to go on a bit, but there are lots of possibilities here.

Last thing if you haven't already get something put in writing from the account holders saying you can discuss or deal with the account on their behalf. Npower like to hide behind DPA.

undaunted

Make a written complaint including a request that if it is found that Npower have inaccurately billed the account as suggested they consider the E R A back billing guidelines http://www.energy-uk.org.uk/publication/finish/43/412.html