Welcome price rise letter from Npower

thor

I switched gas and electric to npower's 'online price fix November 2014 deal' about a month ago before the increases were announced.
I have just received a letter from them informing me that their prices will be increasing but that I will be protected due to the fixed nature of my tariff and that my prices will not be changing.
I did not need a letter to tell me this but they also printed the figures to prove that my prices will not change and I was pleasantly surprised to see that my gas standing charge actually goes down from 9.66p per day to 6.78p. I can honestly say that this is the first time in my life I have had a letter from a utility company giving me good news:beer:

apt

Has your standing charge actually gone down or has Npower presented its direct debit discount in a different way? I.e. as a reduction on the standing charge, as instructed by the regulator, instead of an annual discount.

ExtraMask

The discount is applied to the daily standing charge for paying by direct debit. That way customers benefit immediately rather than waiting a whole year. Also, if you missed a month of DD, you'd just have normal standing charge prices and get discounted DSC upon reinstating it. The old way would cause your anniversary date to reset, meaning you'd have to wait another full twelve months.

Nada666

ExtraMask wrote: »

The discount is applied to the daily standing charge for paying by direct debit. That way customers benefit immediately rather than waiting a whole year. Also, if you missed a month of DD[...]

It is the misleading including it in the quoted DSC that is the issue. Yes, the switch to crediting it daily is welcome but the obfuscation through not declaring it separately (or, rather, often being declared separately and already applied to a quoted DSC or unit price) is silly.

ExtraMask

Nada666 wrote: »

It is the misleading including it in the quoted DSC that is the issue. Yes, the switch to crediting it daily is welcome but the obfuscation through not declaring it separately (or, rather, often being declared separately and already applied to a quoted DSC or unit price) is silly.

It's not misleading at all, the DSC a direct debit customer pays is lower because of the discount. All the information regarding this is readily available upon setting up the tariff on direct debit. Confirmation is sent by email or post including the terms and conditions stating your discount is deducted from the daily standing charge. It's idle laziness that causes people to feel mislead in these situations because they feel T&Cs aren't important or don't have time to read them.