Npower -claiming we owe £3k no bills or correspondence

What_to_Do

Npower took £995 from my account without a bill, I called them and they proceeded to tell me that I owe them £k in total.

I have heard the horror stories about Npower but they were both rude and agreessive on the phone which shocked me almost as much as the values they were talking about.

I pointed out to them that they have a direct debit from my account which they normally take around £75 a month from but over the winter months at the beginning of the year they upped to £115 for 3 months and then dropped it back to £75. I pointed out that i have had no correspondence whatsoever but they have continued taking my money and they explained that there is a stop on my account to not send correspondence so I cannot understand:

- How we have got to a bill of £3k debt - is this legal?

- They have not sent any bills or meter reading requests in as long as i can remember but they have stopped this internally but expect me to correct their errors.

- They explained it will take a month to go through the reading I have provided to ensure the billing is accurate and will not provide me with a bill until this is doe.

I'm not quite sure what to do next, i have reversed the direct debit with my bank and I think i am right in saying that Npower have breeched the Direct Debit Guarantee in taking the £955 wiithout providing a bill?


Any suggestions or comments are greatly appreciated.

naedanger

What_to_Do wrote: »

Npower took £995 from my account without a bill, I called them and they proceeded to tell me that I owe them £k in total.

I have heard the horror stories about Npower but they were both rude and agreessive on the phone which shocked me almost as much as the values they were talking about.

I pointed out to them that they have a direct debit from my account which they normally take around £75 a month from but over the winter months at the beginning of the year they upped to £115 for 3 months and then dropped it back to £75. I pointed out that i have had no correspondence whatsoever but they have continued taking my money and they explained that there is a stop on my account to not send correspondence so I cannot understand:

- How we have got to a bill of £3k debt - is this legal?

- They have not sent any bills or meter reading requests in as long as i can remember but they have stopped this internally but expect me to correct their errors.

- They explained it will take a month to go through the reading I have provided to ensure the billing is accurate and will not provide me with a bill until this is doe.

I'm not quite sure what to do next, i have reversed the direct debit with my bank and I think i am right in saying that Npower have breeched the Direct Debit Guarantee in taking the £955 wiithout providing a bill?


Any suggestions or comments are greatly appreciated.

You are being treated dreadfully by npower. Unfortunately there is not a quick solution because they are awful at sorting out their own mistakes.

I think the only answer is to complaint formally. I would do so in writing so that I had evidence of what was said. Unfortunately they are very bad at responding to emails so you will probably need to wait 8 weeks and then take your case to the Ombudsman. (At least then you can refer to any written correspondence.)

In my complaint I would state that I had not had a bill for over a year and would expect a proper bill showing a clear and accurate position of the amount owed.

I would ask them to confirm that they had applied the back billing code and to show its affect on the amount owed.

I would ask them to explain why they have not sent information for so long. If they say it was because they put a stop on the account I would ask why they did so. (If they blame you in any way then ask them to substantiate the claim with evidence.)

Assuming you are on a tariff that requires payment by direct debit I would keep it in place but state to npower they must tell you in advance and justify any change in the amount due. If they don't do so you will invoke the direct debit guarantee. (If they say they are not required under their terms and conditions to tell you in advance or justify any change in payments then say the condition is unfair and not enforceable.)

I suspect you will not get any meaningful answers until the case gets to the Ombudsman.

Expect endless hassle and absolutely awful service. Sorry I can't be more positive.

Re your question: How we have got to a bill of £3k debt - is this legal? Well unfortunately I doubt anyone in authority will see it as criminal. I think you are best viewing it as a "mistake" albeit a massive and seemingly endless one. In the unlikely event it is accurate I think the back-billing code should see the amount reduced significantly.

dogshome

N'power have the right to vary the amount of your D/Debit, but they should notify you before taking the money - Are you sure that they aren't posting notices of this on the 'My Account' section of their web site.

Just how long has it been since you had a bill? - If it's more than a year, an agreement that n'power have signed up to forbids them to bill for any Elec/Gas supplied one year before the date that they did manage to send a bill

nPower

What_to_Do wrote: »

Npower took £995 from my account without a bill, I called them and they proceeded to tell me that I owe them £k in total.

I have heard the horror stories about Npower but they were both rude and agreessive on the phone which shocked me almost as much as the values they were talking about.

I pointed out to them that they have a direct debit from my account which they normally take around £75 a month from but over the winter months at the beginning of the year they upped to £115 for 3 months and then dropped it back to £75. I pointed out that i have had no correspondence whatsoever but they have continued taking my money and they explained that there is a stop on my account to not send correspondence so I cannot understand:

- How we have got to a bill of £3k debt - is this legal?

- They have not sent any bills or meter reading requests in as long as i can remember but they have stopped this internally but expect me to correct their errors.

- They explained it will take a month to go through the reading I have provided to ensure the billing is accurate and will not provide me with a bill until this is doe.

I'm not quite sure what to do next, i have reversed the direct debit with my bank and I think i am right in saying that Npower have breeched the Direct Debit Guarantee in taking the £955 wiithout providing a bill?


Any suggestions or comments are greatly appreciated.

Hi What to Do

Thanks for your post.

In order to investigate this further we'd need to look at your specific account. If you can get in touch with us using the details on our profile and mark it for my attention, I'll take a look at this for you. It would also be helpful to provide up to date meter readings so we can make sure the bills are accurate. I'll also check any discounts are applied where applicable.

Regards

Jess