Is changing supplier such a good idea!

Muppet81

I am a long term convert to MSE and what I have learnt on here has changed my life for the better in so many ways.


All that is, except the idea of changing energy suppliers. Yes .... the figures SEEM to show it would be a good idea and so I go ahead. Leave British Gas and move to npower.


8 months on and I have still not had a bill which is correct!


I am on variable quarterly DD so how complex should it be? I submit regular meter readings online. I pay for what I use quarterly by DD .... how hard is that for them to bill accurately.


Yet, things go from bad to worse! Despite no debt ever having been accrued they have chosen to set me up on a debt payment plan. None of the staff I have spoken to have a clue why.


I receive bills at the wrong times when none due, showing energy already paid for as still outstanding.


I spend hours each month talking to very pleasant staff who assure me, yes I have paid and it has cleared and they do not know why it is showing as outstanding and they will get it sorted and they will ring me at an arranged time.


Has it happened yet? No it has not.


The theory behind changing supplier is excellent but in practice I think not.


I just want to escape now from npower but feel I cannot until some semblance of order is restored to my bills. Otherwise I fear that I will receive some crazy final bill.


I am beginning to suspect that these companies cause such chaos to a persons finances on purpose. Get us so confused we do not know what the hell we should be paying. Put us off the idea of changing supplier because we are simply terrified to do so.


I like to think I am a pretty intelligent person who can sort out problems when they occur, but this is screwing my life up big time. I cannot get anywhere no matter how hard I try.

jazzy

You shouldn't have chosen NPower. I was in exactly the same situation. Last week I just couldn't cope any longer with this awful inefficient company, so I have moved again.. just hope that things now revert back to normality..

Chris_Preston

I've been a keen follower of this site since about 2004 and having listened to the recommendations on here, changed my mother's supplier from British Gas to Scottish Power over a year ago. BG have now written to us saying they neglected to take a final payment and that we now owe them over £200. She must pay by 8.7.14 or they will call in the debt collectors. I would be tempted to fight them all the way through complaints, ombudsman and courts but my poor mother is 83 years of age and does not want anyone to think she's a "bad payer". Don't get me wrong; I think this is a great site but sometimes I wonder if other factors such as these should make us think twice before switching. Does anyone know if BG are legally entitled to demand this money, please?

Cornucopia

How long ago does the outstanding amount relate to?

Whilst it may not strictly apply here, there is a rule that utility companies cannot back-bill beyond 12 months ago.

Do you have meter readings, old bills, etc? Is it likely that the amount is an error? How many months' consumption does it relate to?

Chris_Preston

Thanks Cornucopia. We switched from them in April 2013 but they say they wrote to my mother some months ago although she doesn't recall receiving a letter. We had been paying £65 per month and this was the debit that had built up over the winter months. I don't have old meter readings or bills, I'm afraid. I would have expected the new provider to deal with this as part of the switching process but having read on here how bad they are, I'm now not surprised. Could you point me towards the 12 month rule that you mention, please?

lstar337

jazzy wrote: »

You shouldn't have chosen NPower.

But the advice here is always "Choose the cheapest" at least that is mostly what I see.

Switching would be a no-brainer if all the companies offered the same level of service, but they don't.

I think it is best to go in with a level of caution, look at what the cheaper companies have to offer, and try to read some reviews about their service.

Then you can make a switch that is less likely to bite you in the butt.

You may end up paying a little more, but sometimes people seem to think that money is the 'only' cost.

Battling on the phone for issues that never seem to get resolved are also a cost, and a few quid extra spent a year might be better for your mental health!

Muppet81

lstar337 wrote: »

But the advice here is always "Choose the cheapest" at least that is mostly what I see.

Switching would be a no-brainer if all the companies offered the same level of service, but they don't.

I think it is best to go in with a level of caution, look at what the cheaper companies have to offer, and try to read some reviews about their service.

Then you can make a switch that is less likely to bite you in the butt.

You may end up paying a little more, but sometimes people seem to think that money is the 'only' cost.

Battling on the phone for issues that never seem to get resolved are also a cost, and a few quid extra spent a year might be better for your mental health!

Sadly this is how I now view it. I will leave npower as soon as I can get the present mess sorted but really doubt that I will ever switch again if I find a company who are halfway efficient. Sorry Martin! :money:

Cornucopia

Whilst it's very annoying when the utility companies mess up, if you keep a record of your own meter readings, there's not too much that cannot be resolved in the end.

I've just moved and have issues with both the old accounts and the new ones. The most likely outcome at the moment is that some or all of my old gas bill will get written off, and I will get £600 back from from my old electricity bill. So I can't really complain.

The two companies involved are Scottish Power and nPower.

Cornucopia

Chris_Preston wrote: »

Could you point me towards the 12 month rule that you mention, please?

No problem...

http://www.energy-uk.org.uk/publication/finish/43-code-of-practice-for-accurate-bills/412-the-code-of-practice-for-accurate-bills-back-billing-for-domestic-customers.html

lstar337

Cornucopia wrote: »

Whilst it's very annoying when the utility companies mess up, if you keep a record of your own meter readings, there's not too much that cannot be resolved in the end.

I've just moved and have issues with both the old accounts and the new ones. The most likely outcome at the moment is that some or all of my old gas bill will get written off, and I will get £600 back from from my old electricity bill. So I can't really complain.

The two companies involved are Scottish Power and nPower.

Which is great for you, a nice £600 rebate. Trouble I have is that sometimes the budget is so tight that I cannot afford for a £600 mistake in the first place.

If a utility company decides to take an erroneous sum one month, it impacts every month after until I can claw that money back.

I know you can get the money back in the end, what you cant get back is the time wasted on the phone and the stress of finding money to keep all the other utilities happy before you get it back!

That is time I would rather spend with my family!

Cornucopia

I'm sure that's true. To be fair, when they told me I would be paying £79 per month, I wasn't really in a position to argue.

Watching the harrowing Dispatches programme this week about child poverty, the striking thing was that beyond the parents' reliance on food banks, the other thing that united them was the pressure of their utility payments.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/dispatches/4od#3712963

Given this situation, I think that Government ought to do more to extend the best rates to all customers, instead of allowing them to be limited to customers who can tolerate an overpayment of £££s per month. And perhaps for very vulnerable households, they should be underwriting energy costs in some way.

One tip for easing the stress is always to call them on a free number, if you can find one.