Npower monthly DD increase??

NittyGritty

just viewed my bill after giving upto date meter reading to Npower,
I,m now in credit, I think great, then I go further down the bill and notice they want to INCREASE my monthly direct debit from £93 to a whopping £134


my pojections/estimates for the next 12 months according to npower is £1084


I might have been rubbish at maths but no way does £134 a month for the next 12 months justifies that increase,


no surprise I sent them an email stating I REFUSE this increase, if/when it comes a time I need to increase payments should I be in debt then fine, but at the current time with my usage over the past 12 months in no way justifies it,


how they get away with this I never know, its just to fill their even more overflowing pockets by ripping us off even further.


rant over

System

Presumably, you have just had a 6 monthly review and NPower believes - based on your usage to date - that you are using more energy than predicted. FWiW, my year starts in April; I pay £71 per month and I am currently £234 in credit at the start of the winter season. They are hardly 'ripping us off even further' if the aim is a zero balance at the end of your usage year. They are only complying with OFGEM's rules. All energy companies work in the same way. A DD is an estimate and you will only pay for the energy that you use.

nPower

NittyGritty wrote: »

just viewed my bill after giving upto date meter reading to Npower,
I,m now in credit, I think great, then I go further down the bill and notice they want to INCREASE my monthly direct debit from £93 to a whopping £134


my pojections/estimates for the next 12 months according to npower is £1084


I might have been rubbish at maths but no way does £134 a month for the next 12 months justifies that increase,


no surprise I sent them an email stating I REFUSE this increase, if/when it comes a time I need to increase payments should I be in debt then fine, but at the current time with my usage over the past 12 months in no way justifies it,


how they get away with this I never know, its just to fill their even more overflowing pockets by ripping us off even further.


rant over

Hi NittyGritty

Thanks for your post.

Hengus is correct in advising we base a Direct Debit figure over 12 months and check this at the 6 month point to ensure that this is set at a suitable amount. As your payments remain approximately the same all year round, we'd expect to be in credit just before winter to help cover your increased usage.

I'm happy to double check your payment amount if you can get in touch with us using the details on our profile page. Please mark it for my attention and advise you contacted via MSE, so I can ensure this is picked up. If you can also provide up to date meter readings, this will help me check your payments and make sure you're on the most appropriate tariff.

Regards

Jess

MABLE

I hate the idea of monthly dd. We are in the process of going back to NP for our gas and the fixed deal is quarterly variable dd. That way I am in control.

System

MABLE wrote: »

I hate the idea of monthly dd. We are in the process of going back to NP for our gas and the fixed deal is quarterly variable dd. That way I am in control.

I respect your opinion - and at the end of the day it is a personal choice - but I don't believe for a moment that people who pay by monthly DD are in any less control than those who don't. The key to being in control requires nothing more than reading the meters.

FarmerGilesUK

They are cheeky fsckers indeed. They are trying to put up my direct debit which, in fairness, does need to go up a little but......

What really p*sses me off is that on page 1 of my bill they state that my personal projection is £552 per annum, and on page 2 they say my projected annual kWh usage is 3700, both of which are correct. Then on page 5 where they work out my "new" direct debit, they base the calculation on a projected usage of 4331 kWh - Where the hell did figure that come from?

Now, I've been tracking my energy usage on a spreadsheet and graphing it for the last 5 years so I know *exactly* what my electricity usage is, it averages 10.1 kWh/day and due to the way we heat our house, and the fact that every single lightbulb is LED, our usage doesn't go up in winter at all.

I will be on the phone to them tomorrow!

For anyone with any complaints, please don't waste your time with their hopeless customer services. Npower's complaints line is 0800 31 69 328 and they are quite switched on (groan at the pun!)

daveyjp

Hengus wrote: »

I respect your opinion - and at the end of the day it is a personal choice - but I don't believe for a moment that people who pay by monthly DD are in any less control than those who don't. The key to being in control requires nothing more than reading the meters.

You need half an hour with my parents. Npower are always changing the DD and usually without letting them know. As very low users they have gone back to quarterly pay on bill as the DD discount just isn't worth the hassle.

MABLE

Hengus wrote: »

I respect your opinion - and at the end of the day it is a personal choice - but I don't believe for a moment that people who pay by monthly DD are in any less control than those who don't. The key to being in control requires nothing more than reading the meters.

What I like with variable dd is they send a bill 14 days prior to the money being taken from my bank account. No spreading the cost over 12 months and then deciding I have not been paying enough.

However I read my meter every month with my present supplier and have no issues. However with NP I can pay by my cash back credit card and this stops the dd being actioned for that particular quarter and still enjoy the dd discounts.

I know this does work because I was with them about 8 months ago.

C_Mababejive

It seems to me that the strategy that some suppliers use is to up your DD to ensure you are a fair bit in credit which is money up front for them but really,isnt that like being treated as a prepayment customer when in fact you have a credit meter fitted? No credit is being given!

Terry98

If you want to be in control of your Direct Debits you have got to know your annual usage.

The only way you will find that out is to read your meter regularly for a couple of years and prove to Npower or any other supplier what your usage will be.

Until you have actual figures they can only estimate your Direct Debit and it will always be in their favour.

jackieb

I'm not with NP but with Scottish Gas. I have paid by direct debit for many years. Last year I claimed back over £800 that had been overpaid from my gas and electric and they still put up both direct debits at my annual review! One went up by £1 a month and the other by £13.