NPower - back billing and compensation

Jojo55

Would just like some advice on what to expect. In short, I hadn't recieved a gas bill for 13 months until last week when it finally came through the post at £1000. Whilst my complaint has been running I've recieved a £20 high street voucher as a good will gesture.

NPower had the audacity to write me a letter - recieved before the bill but dated after, weirdly - saying they hoped i was now satisfied and will close my complaint if they didn't hear from me. Needless to say i was straight on the phone to them. I've asked them to look into their back billing policy and compensation and refused to set up payments on the gas account until the matter is closed.

Can anyone advise what sort of outcome i should be expecting? I know its been heavily covered in the media but i don't know what people's actual results were with them.

I am also moving house in two weeks and wonder if its less trouble to stick with them whilst i have a balance left to pay or switch supplier.

dogshome

The "Back-Billing Agreement" covers situations where the supplier has not sent out a bill for over 12 months, even though the customer contacted the supplier to get a bill - When applied, the supplier cannot demand payment for supplies used by the customer 12 months before the date on which a bill was eventually issued.

So in your case, it appears that n'power should not be billing you for appx. one months Elec & Gas - It's up to you to calculate what you used 365 days prior to the bill date and make a claim.
BUT
The B/Billing code is specifically designed to protect customers from "Bill Shock" when huge bills arrives out of the blue.
However, for customers who are paying by D/Debit who will have built up a big credit with their supplier because no bills have been sent, do not not suffer "Bill Shock" and the 12 month rule will not be applied.

So if you have been paying by D/Debits I'm afraid the £20 Voucher is about as good as it gets as the Ombudsman is unlikely to award anything more

Jojo55

So let me get this straight - they can bill me for the past year but nothing prior to that???

Cardew

Jojo55 wrote: »

So let me get this straight - they can bill me for the past year but nothing prior to that???

That is correct IF it is their fault.


They can go back 12 months from the date this latest bill was produced.


What complaint was 'running' over the last year?


You need to read this to see how it applies to your situation:


http://www.energy-uk.org.uk/publication/finish/3/703.html

Jojo55

The complaint was the actual fact that they had failed to set up a gas account when we moved in, though elec side of things was fine. I also had an outstanding balance on our old property which they've been advising me not to worry about because they will lump it with this account when they get round to setting it up. So there's that left to pay too. I've never been in debt with energy and never would have been if they hadn't made such a royal mess of this, that is what angers me most.

matelodave

So you've been using gas and not paying for it?.
Have you been sending them readings and doing a few sums of your own to work out how much you've been using.
Surely you would have been saving the money in anticipation of a bill dropping through the door. You should be able to pay it out of what you've been saving plus the accrued interest and therefore not be in debt.

chanz4

op can you tell us the full story, then we can advice

davehsug

It's quite simple. They will not bill you for anything prior to a year before the bill, that you have not already paid for. In your case it would be one month. However, if, for example your usage in that month amounted to £50 & you had paid £50 or more in that month, you would be entitled to nothing. If you paid less or nothing, then you would be entitled to the difference between the £50 & the shortfall in payments.
It is a myth that you are not charged at all, sadly, one even perpetrated by many call centre staff & some people in complaints teams, who don't understand the code & would like to get you off the line!

Reacher

Hi JoJo,
I also had a complaint with NPower after not setting up my gas and electric accounts properly. I could not pay any direct debits or did not receive any bills since November 2013. I finally got a bill a couple of weeks ago for £887.00. I telephoned to ask for compensation and was initially offered £40. I then asked if that was the best offer they could make and went on to list all the problems I had encountered and the telephone calls I had to make. After about 5 seconds of listening to this I was offered £87 - to bring my bill down to a round £800. I accepted this and my account was credited then and there and a new bill issued within a couple of days. Hope this helps

davehsug

Can I just add, to avoid confusion, that if there are any other issues, such as failure to collect DDs etc, I believe, that they would need to be resolved by a complaints team, rather than the billing team, who apply the billing code only.

nPower

Jojo55 wrote: »

Would just like some advice on what to expect. In short, I hadn't recieved a gas bill for 13 months until last week when it finally came through the post at £1000. Whilst my complaint has been running I've recieved a £20 high street voucher as a good will gesture.

NPower had the audacity to write me a letter - recieved before the bill but dated after, weirdly - saying they hoped i was now satisfied and will close my complaint if they didn't hear from me. Needless to say i was straight on the phone to them. I've asked them to look into their back billing policy and compensation and refused to set up payments on the gas account until the matter is closed.

Can anyone advise what sort of outcome i should be expecting? I know its been heavily covered in the media but i don't know what people's actual results were with them.

I am also moving house in two weeks and wonder if its less trouble to stick with them whilst i have a balance left to pay or switch supplier.

Hello Jojo55,

thank you for your post.

I would like to look into your account for you and the query around setting up your gas account.

If you can send your account details and confirmation if you are paying your old supplier still for gas on an email, to the address on my profile page I will be able to look into this.

Thanks

Carmel