really big gas/leccy problem :(

Cannycareful

Hi it's my 1st post so just learning! I'm in dispute with First Utility as since switching 13 months ago I too have had colossal gas bills, I spent 6 hours on New Years Day looking thru 5 yrs of gas bills to find they have calculated my past years bill using imperial unit readings which they multiply by 2.83 to convert to metric units when my meter is already metric hence my readings were correct but they have been charging for nearly 3 times the amount we use! Check your meters, not sure if electricity is simalar, my gas meter has"m3" at the end for meters cubed but bill had imperial on it. Good luck.

Tissy1

Hi everyone, I'm back again.I have been trying to contact Npower complaints team for ages, but after requesting a call back so many times, and never getting one, I eventually got to speak to someone tonight (yay!)
What a waste of my time.
I have now got a revised bill of £2000, and been told that my minimum payments (over a 24 month period, which they don't have to give me) is £310 per month.
I said I still couldn't afford to pay this, and asked again and again why they didn't tell me over a year ago that my consumption had gone up so much, I could have increased my payments then and I wouldn't have such a huge problem now. The guy said that they couldn't send me a new bill because their IT system was being updated and they had sent me a letter telling me this, I said that I haven't had any contact with them and that I sent in my meter readings and assumed that if I needed to increase payments, they would have told me that. He again said that the IT system couldn't do that, and that it was my problem as I had used the fuel.
I said I wanted to escalate the complaint and he got very stroppy and said that I needed to tell him what I wanted them to do about it, he said he had already been generous in offering me 24 months to pay, and they would normally request the money over 12 months. I said that I wanted them to tell me that there was a problem over a year ago, so he offered me £50 as a good-will gesture, which I said was a drop in the ocean.
He is going to send me another letter in 7 to 10 days, and he said I have to set up a payment plan to pay off the money.
I know I have to pay the money, I used the fuel, but I am really upset that they didn't tell me over a year ago.
Not sure what to do now, I said that I would continue to make payments online (not going to set up a direct debit as he said they would be able to take the money straight out).
I took another reading, just in case any of you very clever, savvy people can tell me that I am just a normal person, not using massive amounts of fuel (I am seriously not growing drugs in the loft!)
14 Jan 14
Gas 45480
Electricity 79901

11 Feb 14
Gas 45782
Electricity 80332

So this is about a month of average winter use.
Oh, by the way, my payments are £192 without the debt, and to pay it off it would have to go up to £310 per month.

scaredofdebt

Tissy1 wrote: »

I have now got a revised bill of £2000, and been told that my minimum payments (over a 24 month period, which they don't have to give me) is £310 per month..

Have they ever tried to bill you for energy used more than a year ago? Have they had a period of more than 12 months without a bill?

If so you need to consult their back billing policy:

http://www.npower.com/web/At_home/customer_service/important_information/WCMS_003398

ie they can't do this and if they do you need to get the regulator to stop them.

Tissy1

The bills go from Jan 13, to Jan 14.
I haven't had a bill for a couple of years, I requested paper bills after this all started.

molerat

You are a high user, 15kWh electricity is 1.5 times the average and gas of 11 units (120 kWh) a day is quite high considering it is quite a warm winter. Your gas is a lot higher than it was in your Jan 21 post (6units /69kWh) but your elec is a bit lower (17).

Tissy1

I just wish they had told me that my use was going up last January, I could have increased my payments then. At least I would have had a chance to catch up with everything, instead I have a huge bill.
I suppose it is a lesson learned. I will always phone in with my readings and never suppose that the meter reader is going to keep things updated.