Npower billing issue.

cg994013

I'm not sure where to start with this so please excuse me. Back in June 2013 I think it was I had amassed over £700 in credit with npower because they'd not sent me a bill. I phoned to ask why not and the reason was because I have two electricity meters and their new computer system couldn't cope with this. This is true as I have one for standard electricity and another for Economy 7 that I don't use and the reading on the meter has always stayed the same. I was told it would be September / October before this was rectified. Well, this came and went and still no sign of a bill. I've now been sent a bill for about £950 after a bill reversal and I've been told my monthly direct debit payments are rising from £25 per month to £101 per month. I was told today that this was because I'm using £66 per month overnight and £36 per month during the day. I live alone in a small one-bedroom flat and I'm out for about 12 hours a day in the week with work and I can't see how I can be using that much. I also read that you can't be back-billed if the bill is over a year old and it's not your fault it hasn't been paid. Any help would be much appreciated.

naedanger

cg994013 wrote: »

I'm not sure where to start with this so please excuse me. Back in June 2013 I think it was I had amassed over £700 in credit with npower because they'd not sent me a bill. I phoned to ask why not and the reason was because I have two electricity meters and their new computer system couldn't cope with this. This is true as I have one for standard electricity and another for Economy 7 that I don't use and the reading on the meter has always stayed the same. I was told it would be September / October before this was rectified. Well, this came and went and still no sign of a bill. I've now been sent a bill for about £950 after a bill reversal and I've been told my monthly direct debit payments are rising from £25 per month to £101 per month. I was told today that this was because I'm using £66 per month overnight and £36 per month during the day. I live alone in a small one-bedroom flat and I'm out for about 12 hours a day in the week with work and I can't see how I can be using that much. I also read that you can't be back-billed if the bill is over a year old and it's not your fault it hasn't been paid. Any help would be much appreciated.

The back billing code is here:

Back Billing Code

In summary the code says customers should not be billed for previously unbilled energy that is more than 12 months old provided certain conditions are met e.g the customer did not contribute to the delay in a bill being issued. However the supplier will use payments that are more than 12 months old against this unbilled energy. You will have to pay for the last 12 months energy.

Unfortunately you are dealing with npower who are very bad indeed.

Have npower given you a clear explanation of the bill and are you able to check it? If they have not sent a clear bill then complain in writing using their complaint process:

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

Npower are unlikely to reply quickly or be helpful, so don't be surprised if you need to take your complaint to the Ombudsman after 8 weeks before you get any meaningful answer from npower.

There is an npower rep who may offer to help. If they do then keep your complaint going in parallel until it has been fully resolved to your satisfaction, with any promised actions implemented. This will enable you to take your complaint to the Ombudsman with minimum delay if necessary.

I don't know enough to answer the detail of your post but have a couple of comments.
1) You say you do not use economy 7, yet npower have split your usage into day and night usage. (I may be wrong but this seems inconsistent, since I would have thought your usage would not be split if you were not using economy 7.)
2) £25 pm for electricity seems very low if your heating and hot water are on electric.

nPower

cg994013 wrote: »

I'm not sure where to start with this so please excuse me. Back in June 2013 I think it was I had amassed over £700 in credit with npower because they'd not sent me a bill. I phoned to ask why not and the reason was because I have two electricity meters and their new computer system couldn't cope with this. This is true as I have one for standard electricity and another for Economy 7 that I don't use and the reading on the meter has always stayed the same. I was told it would be September / October before this was rectified. Well, this came and went and still no sign of a bill. I've now been sent a bill for about £950 after a bill reversal and I've been told my monthly direct debit payments are rising from £25 per month to £101 per month. I was told today that this was because I'm using £66 per month overnight and £36 per month during the day. I live alone in a small one-bedroom flat and I'm out for about 12 hours a day in the week with work and I can't see how I can be using that much. I also read that you can't be back-billed if the bill is over a year old and it's not your fault it hasn't been paid. Any help would be much appreciated.

Hi cg994013

Thanks for your post.

I'm disappointed to hear about your billing issues; it's correct that we were initially unable to support those addresses who had multiple meters in them, however this has now been resolved.

In terms of the UK Code of Practice, if you haven't already been charged for energy used more than 12 months ago, any usage more than 12 months old minus any payments made during that time won't be charged for. I'm more than happy to look into this for you if you can get in touch using the details on our profile with your account details. Please mark it for my attention and advise that you initially contacted via MSE. If you have up to date meter readings to hand, I'll also update your account and check your payments are set at a suitable level to cover any usage and credit or debit balance.

Thanks.

Jess