MSE News: Warning: Npower's slapping ex-customers with huge bills

Bethsgran

In May/June last year I switched both my electricity and gas from Npower to EDF. Received a final electricity bill which was well in credit. Then received a gas bill which had been worked out on an estimated meter reading 66 cub mtrs above the switchover meter reading plus several extra days standing charge. Notified Npower that there was a mistake and they agreed that I had been overcharged. Seven months later I received an amended bill now using the correct meter reading which to my astonishment had not decreased but had increased by £65.62 this now making the total overcharge of more than £100.00. After many phone calls, emails and letters Npower refuse to admit their mistake and I have received several threatening letters demanding payment and court action. I am a pensioner with health issues and the stress is not doing me any good, but I know I am in the right and I am determined not to pay until they come up with the correct figure. Citizens Advice have told me that I am doing everything correct keeping copies of letters, e-mails and even copies of the recorded delivery receipts when sending letters. I find by sending letter 'recorded delivery' is the only way I can get a reply from Npower. :mad:

TrickeyD

I received a threatening letter from a debt collection company out of the blue a couple of days ago asking for £950 for an account that I closed with nPower in February. I had the most surreal phone conversation with one of there staff yesterday.

According to her, 2 months later they decided the amount they had charged me was wrong, despite the fact I had given them readings for both gas and electricity at the time, and despite the fact I was told the account was closed and fully paid off at the time.

So she says that 2 months later the payment was reversed and a new bill was issued. I checked my account and no money ever reached me from this 'reversal' so I have no idea where this cash has gone. I asked her to give me the account number that the money was paid into and she said 'sure', followed by 'oh... we don't seem to have any bank details for you on the system,'. So obviously my next question was 'Well how the hell did you pay me any money then!?'.

I also asked why I hadn't received any correspondence from them about the reversal when it had supposedly happened rather than waiting and then getting a debt collection agency onto me and probably lowering my credit rating in the process. This is the best bit... she told me that I had requested paperless billing so I should have been checking the account online... yeah I should have been constantly checking the account that I closed 6 months ago. That makes total sense.

So now all I can do is send them 6 months of bank statements (my personal data and my time organising it) to try and prove that they never refunded the initial bill. Obviously I'm not paying it again. They can take me to court. I'm so angry about this! If anyone has any advice I'd appreciate it.

Consumerist

I'd say the first thing to do is to start their formal (written) complaints procedure. Head the letter with the word Complaint, in bold, and start by disputing the bill. Send the complaint letter by Recorded Delivery post and then you can confirm online that it was delivered - no ifs, buts or maybes.

Keep a copy of the letter to show any debt collector who contacts you; they are required to give you time to settle a dispute.

The process is a bit long-winded but if the complaint hasn't been resolved after 8 weeks, you can refer it to the Ombudsman Services: Energy.

Good luck.

zaax

I would go even further keep a diary of the time you spent on the problem and when you finally sort it out bill them at £10 per hour, don't forget expenses as well.

If you can also record all calls with them and keep verbatim notes of what is said.

Good Luck

downshifted

Erroneous transfer

I cancelled my transfer to NPower and had them switch me back to Eon. I contributed to a thread about it on here at the time. It was an erroneous transfer because they never sent the contractual paperwork.

They did this - and that means I never had any power from NPower at all - I was put back to where I started with Eon. So today I get a REMINDER from NPower saying I had not paid a bill they had recently sent and they want £15.84 for Electricity and £44.16 for Gas. Of course, there has not been an earlier bill - and I know I can't owe them anything as my case was treated as an erroneous transfer.

Of course - the phone lines have had to close early because of high demand!

eMadCanadian

I have received a bill for a property I have not lived at for over three years. Even worse, nPower was not even my energy supplier for at least the last year I lived at the property! It is ludicrous!

Anyone else had a similar experience and get nPower to back down?

Chickod

I moved into my house Oct 2013 and signed up for edf power as did not know who my supplier was, edf advised it was n power and I would have to set up with them, then edf would take it over.
I advised n power my details, in December edf advised that they were my provider.
Nothing was heard from npower until June when I started getting gas bills from October to June totalling £700, I rang and said I wasn't with them, they raised a query which would take 8 weeks.
Today I have had a letter from debt collectors dated 10 days ago saying if I didn't pay up within 7 days, the bailiffs are coming!!!

zaax

You only owe npower for the power (and gas) you used between the reading you gave them when you took over the house, and the new readings you gave efd when you changed over to them, if the readings were the same you don't owe npower anything.

downshifted

downshifted wrote: »

Erroneous transfer

I cancelled my transfer to NPower and had them switch me back to Eon. I contributed to a thread about it on here at the time. It was an erroneous transfer because they never sent the contractual paperwork.

They did this - and that means I never had any power from NPower at all - I was put back to where I started with Eon. So today I get a REMINDER from NPower saying I had not paid a bill they had recently sent and they want £15.84 for Electricity and £44.16 for Gas. Of course, there has not been an earlier bill - and I know I can't owe them anything as my case was treated as an erroneous transfer.

Of course - the phone lines have had to close early because of high demand!

Thanks to the NPower representative on here the bills have been cancelled. They have acted promptly to resolve the situation and deserve credit for that, and I have thanked them.

However, the fact that NPower sent REMINDERS for bills never sent out, to a house where they have never supplied power, shows that their computer systems are not fit for purpose - I would advise anyone to avoid using them until this is totally resolved.

I know some old and vulnerable people who have a real fear of being in debt and these REMINDERS could easily result in NPower being paid monies they are not owed.

Email from NPower support

"Thanks for getting in touch.

I've looked into this and you are correct in that your gas and electricity supplies were returned to your former supplier as an erroneous transfer. I can confirm that you do not have any balance with us and the letters you have received have been sent in error. Please accept my since apologies for this.

I have spoken with the necessary team and updated all records to prevent any further letters from being sent to you. I would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused and I hope my email helps to provide you with some peace of mind."

staffordgooner

We were shocked to receive a final gas statement from npower this month demanding £572.02 for service supplied from February to December 2013. We switched to First Utility last year and as far as we were concerned our npower accounts were closed. We have never had any correspondence over this issue until now. Apart from the shock of the bill, we are even more annoyed as we were paying monthly, so how did npower allow our account to get so far in arrears if indeed the reading is true?

Your site has been useful and I will be appealing against the elements of the bill over 12 months old.

May I also say that First Utility's service and web interface are exceptional.