Money owed to me by N Power

mikul182

Hi,
I'm looking for some advice/feedback from anyone who has or is in a similar situation to myself.
Last year I moved into a property with my partner, we took out a mortgage on a house that had previously been rented out.
The electricity and gas were both on pre payment key meters.
The electricity provider was Eon and the gas provider was Npower. We decided before me moved in that we would swap both over to British gas and also have both pre payment meters removed and new meters installed so we could pay by direct debit.
In the mean time we had to top up both meters until the change over, the electric meter provided by eon was easy to top up but the gas meter provided by Npower would deduct credit from the top up everytime. We found out that everytime we topped it up it was taking 90% of the credit off for a 'debt'.
After countless phone calls to Npower we found out that there was an unpaid debt on the meter from a previous tenant. Yet again, after many phone calls and hours on hold to Npower, we still didn't get a solution or more importantly any of the money back that we had been paying towards this unpaid debt.
After paying well over £100 of someone else's debt we finally switched over to British Gas and had both meters removed and new ones installed. Yet still staying in contact with Npower regarding the money that i am owed by them, they finally said that an 'investigation case' would be opened to decide an outcome and they would contact me after deciding an outcome but this could take up to 12 weeks.
Over a year has now passed since I was told about the case that was opened and I have heard absolutely nothing regarding this. I have recently started to chase this up after waiting so long but have gotten nowhere. I today started the official complaint procedure but am not holding out much hope.

Has anyone else had this problem with Npower? If so did u get a result? Any feedback or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Mike

naedanger

mikul182 wrote: »

Hi,
I'm looking for some advice/feedback from anyone who has or is in a similar situation to myself.
Last year I moved into a property with my partner, we took out a mortgage on a house that had previously been rented out.
The electricity and gas were both on pre payment key meters.
The electricity provider was Eon and the gas provider was Npower. We decided before me moved in that we would swap both over to British gas and also have both pre payment meters removed and new meters installed so we could pay by direct debit.
In the mean time we had to top up both meters until the change over, the electric meter provided by eon was easy to top up but the gas meter provided by Npower would deduct credit from the top up everytime. We found out that everytime we topped it up it was taking 90% of the credit off for a 'debt'.
After countless phone calls to Npower we found out that there was an unpaid debt on the meter from a previous tenant. Yet again, after many phone calls and hours on hold to Npower, we still didn't get a solution or more importantly any of the money back that we had been paying towards this unpaid debt.
After paying well over £100 of someone else's debt we finally switched over to British Gas and had both meters removed and new ones installed. Yet still staying in contact with Npower regarding the money that i am owed by them, they finally said that an 'investigation case' would be opened to decide an outcome and they would contact me after deciding an outcome but this could take up to 12 weeks.
Over a year has now passed since I was told about the case that was opened and I have heard absolutely nothing regarding this. I have recently started to chase this up after waiting so long but have gotten nowhere. I today started the official complaint procedure but am not holding out much hope.

Has anyone else had this problem with Npower? If so did u get a result? Any feedback or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Mike

Follow the official complaints procedure:

http://www.npower.com/home/help-and-support/contact-us/complaints/complaints-handling-policy/

It is slow but is free and if it needs to go to the Ombudsman they should give you a fair hearing.

I suggest you put your complaint in an email (stating in the heading that it is an "official complaint") to the address given in the above link. Do not give npower 12 weeks they they only have 8 weeks according to their own policy. If after 8 weeks your money has not been refunded then go to the Ombudsman.

Also it is very important to note that you must submit your complaint to the ombudsman within nine months of your original complaint to your supplier or the Ombudsman will not look at it (leaving you either at npower's mercy or having to take them to court).

The following link quotes the nine month time limit on taking your case to the Ombudsman.
http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/wales/consumer_w/consumer_energy_supply_e/consumer_complaining_about_energy_companies_e/complaining_to_the_energy_ombudsman.htm

If you are patient and persistent you should get your money back. I would complain in writing since it means you have evidence of what is said and you don't need to keep repeating yourself as you can refer to your earlier emails if necessary. (Npower don't like replying to emails but insist they do. If you have any problems then post back here.)

nPower

mikul182 wrote: »

Hi,
I'm looking for some advice/feedback from anyone who has or is in a similar situation to myself.
Last year I moved into a property with my partner, we took out a mortgage on a house that had previously been rented out.
The electricity and gas were both on pre payment key meters.
The electricity provider was Eon and the gas provider was Npower. We decided before me moved in that we would swap both over to British gas and also have both pre payment meters removed and new meters installed so we could pay by direct debit.
In the mean time we had to top up both meters until the change over, the electric meter provided by eon was easy to top up but the gas meter provided by Npower would deduct credit from the top up everytime. We found out that everytime we topped it up it was taking 90% of the credit off for a 'debt'.
After countless phone calls to Npower we found out that there was an unpaid debt on the meter from a previous tenant. Yet again, after many phone calls and hours on hold to Npower, we still didn't get a solution or more importantly any of the money back that we had been paying towards this unpaid debt.
After paying well over £100 of someone else's debt we finally switched over to British Gas and had both meters removed and new ones installed. Yet still staying in contact with Npower regarding the money that i am owed by them, they finally said that an 'investigation case' would be opened to decide an outcome and they would contact me after deciding an outcome but this could take up to 12 weeks.
Over a year has now passed since I was told about the case that was opened and I have heard absolutely nothing regarding this. I have recently started to chase this up after waiting so long but have gotten nowhere. I today started the official complaint procedure but am not holding out much hope.

Has anyone else had this problem with Npower? If so did u get a result? Any feedback or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Mike

Hi mikul182

Thanks for your post.

In order to resolve this for you, we'll need documented confirmation of the date you became responsible for the property. This will help us to determine how much debt was carried over on the meter prior to you obtaining the property. We can then update our records accordingly and ensure you have only paid for the energy you have used.

If you could forward this information to me using the details on our profile page, I'm happy to get this updated for you. Please mark any correspondence for my attention and advise initial contact was through MSE, so I know to pick this up.

Regards

Jess