NPower wrote off final bill now 8 months on they've sent me a final bill

Cardew

Rosielaura wrote: »

They're now offering me £100 off the £506 bill and the same two year period in which to pay it all off.

Do I have a case to go to the ombudsman with?
Any further advice would be great. Thanks

Personally I don't think you have got a case for the ombudsman and £100 off a £506 bill with time to pay is a reasonable offer.


You could be cheeky and offer to pay all of it immediately for £150 off! - and settle for £125 off.

naedanger

Rosielaura wrote: »

They're now offering me £100 off the £506 bill and the same two year period in which to pay it all off. (Not that I'd want the bill hanging round my neck for that long).

Do you think they know they're in the wrong and I have a case against them, as I wasn't expecting them to increase the amount of money they were willing to take off in their final offer letter.

The person on the phone has said I have been told in my final offer letter (which I am yet to receive) that the letter which stated my final bill had been written off was only for customers with £75 or less left to pay on their account and as I supposedly did not fall into that category, the bill was not written off. But that wasn't specified in the letter I received.

Do I have a case to go to the ombudsman with?
Any further advice would be great. Thanks

Have you actually seen the final bill, showing you how the figure of £506 was calculated? I would not pay anything without first checking it has been calculated correctly. Npower's billing is a complete mess, and they have been estimating some bills (see link below). Therefore there is considerable scope for them to have made errors.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/energy-bills/11229164/Npower-the-decision-free-that-shows-how-it-calculates-your-billing-compensation.html

If the bill is correct then I think their offer is reasonable, but only because it should have been clear to you that npower's original promise to waive the bill was based on an error. However if you feel their offer is not reasonable you should pursue your complaint to the Ombudsman. It is very unlikely in my view they will give you less than npower's offer but they will only give you more if they feel npower's offer is unreasonably small.

Rosielaura

I've asked for my final bill to be sent again. I've been making repeated requests for it now (today was the forth request) and have asked for that to be noted on my account.

They said they will send a new copy of it, but I will phone again tomorrow to make sure of it.
They said the block on my bill will be lifted sooner than I thought and the next step will be debt collection letters, so I need to make my decision quick. Not sure how long it takes to get help from an Ombudsman, if I decide to go down that route.

Yes, I need to know the dates the final billing period covers and the meter reads they have used. I have a feeling it will be wrong in some way (why change the habit of a lifetime) but as soon as I get it at least I have something to work with and canmake a final decision based on that.
But if the final bill is wrong in some way, whether wrong meter reads or wrong dates, will NPower do anything about it, now they've sent their final response to my complaint.

Thanks for your replies. It's so nice to know that people are out there and can offer help and advice. It's certainly helped to keep me calmer! :-)

naedanger

Rosielaura wrote: »

I've asked for my final bill to be sent again. I've been making repeated requests for it now (today was the forth request) and have asked for that to be noted on my account.

They said they will send a new copy of it, but I will phone again tomorrow to make sure of it.
They said the block on my bill will be lifted sooner than I thought and the next step will be debt collection letters, so I need to make my decision quick. Not sure how long it takes to get help from an Ombudsman, if I decide to go down that route.

Yes, I need to know the dates the final billing period covers and the meter reads they have used. I have a feeling it will be wrong in some way (why change the habit of a lifetime) but as soon as I get it at least I have something to work with and canmake a final decision based on that.
But if the final bill is wrong in some way, whether wrong meter reads or wrong dates, will NPower do anything about it, now they've sent their final response to my complaint.

Thanks for your replies. It's so nice to know that people are out there and can offer help and advice. It's certainly helped to keep me calmer! :-)

If it was me I would not pay even if I was receiving debt collection letters if I had not been given an itemised bill. Instead I would dispute the debt. However if you don't want the stress of that you could pay, making clear you were doing so under duress. Then complain formally all the way to the Ombudsman until you get a bill. If they don't provide a bill I would expect the Ombudsman to demand all money be refunded.

If the bill is wrong then obviously npower should adjust their offer accordingly. In other words you should only be liable for the revised amount less the deduction they have agreed and with the amount due payable over 24 months. If anything npower should deduct more for their further failing i.e. demanding a wrong payment.

NittyGritty

personally I wouldn't pay anything just yet either,
the fact that they are increasing their offer suggests they may have some cause for concern.


ask for the final bill, and if need be, go to the ombudsman you have the evidence of them stating the bill was written off, make sure to put in a compensation claim also (not too high)


and then wait for their decision,
whats the worst they can say....no?
then and only then work out a plan and take them up on their offer at a last resort.
personally I think u have a chance espically as you have written proof from them stating they have written it off.


good luck n let us know how u get on either way with whatever you choose to do

JamLady_2

Hi,
I've just spent over 6 months battling with NPower over my bill - they forgot to charge me for Electricity for 18 months so I ended up with a huge bill through their fault. After many phone calls, letters and threatening to go to the energy ombudsman, I've finally had my bill written off and got a £100 goodwill payment. Yesterday I changed my supplier and will now be saving over £400 a year - my advice is to persevere, keep chasing and you should eventually get somewhere. But why should we have to??? It's all taken so much time and effort, so if you've got the same problem, stick with it! Good luck.

HUMBUG

Rosielaura wrote: »

Also, when I first complained about this bill, the woman on the phone said it was for energy used between May 2013 and May 2014. That was the reason why I asked them to review my account under the Backbilling code of practice as I was being charged for energy over 12 months old.

Now when I phone, they say the bill is for the energy used in the final billing period.
Change of story...

Hi there,
I have had ongoing problems with NPOWER since Nov 2013 where they have been billing me for my neighbours electricity. I suggest that before you pay anything find out what supply line number they are billing you for. There seems to be lots of problems with flats in particular where energy suppliers are switching the wrong supply lines. Ask them to check the ECOES database and confirm that they are billing you for the correct supply line linked to your meter for your flat address. For me personally, they screwed things up badly and was billing me for my upstairs neighbours electricity. I had switched from Scottish Power but they misinterpreted the ECOES database and linked my neighbours electricity supply line to my NPOWER billing account. Going through the Ombudsman might get you a goodwill credit of £150 , but I've also had to escalate my issue via my local MP (might be worthwhile finding your MP's email address and sending him details of your issue). There are specific staff who look after customers who have raised the issue via their MP .
Another way to approach this (if you think the billing is correct but you can't pay) is to send a letter and cheque saying that you can only pay £XXX amount in 'FULL AND FINAL PAYMENT' . If they cash the cheque , then they are agreeing with a final partial payment of the debt and the rest will need to be written off.

Rosielaura

Thank you both, I have emailed my local MP. Great idea and definitely worth a try. :-)
I'm still waiting on my final bill to be resent and my final response letter. I'm phoning everyday to make sure of the fact I'm definitely getting my final bill resent.

Would it be possible for NPower to lie to me about the ECOES database, if I asked. I just don't feel I can trust them.
When I joined the Co-op last year, they said the meter readings were transposed after they got me to do a kettle test. NPower had told them which way round they were supposed to be when they'd transfered me over. But when I spoke to NPower they said they didn't have them the wrong way round at their end and they'd always been the right way round.
I have to just take NPowers word for it. But my bills had never been right when I was with NPower. I can't believe I didn't think to swap energy provider sooner. I don't think I really thought it was an option.
People at Npower I used to speak to on the phone used to query whether my day and night meter reads might be the wrong way round. Whatever it was, something clearly wasn't right and they were ripping me off. My bills were enormous for a house, let alone a one bed flat.
Thanks again for help. :-)

Rosielaura

Thank you HUMBUG!

Today I got a call from NPower, I think she said she was part of the executive complaints team, and she's looking into my account because my local MP's team had been in touch with NPower on my behalf.

I wanted to cry on the phone (totally pathetic I know) which was silly because this could all still come to nothing, but it's nice to know people have tried to help, people who I don't even know.

She said my bill will be put on hold until April whilst they try to look into. She hasn't made me any promises, she hasn't said anything about possibly reducing the bill.

I asked her if I could please be sent a copy of my final bill. At first she said yes then she said, as she was looking at my account, that she can't because there doesn't seem to be one, because of the way the account was closed. She said it looks like there was a problem with the way my account was closed and she would need to look into it. Where have they got £506 from then as a sum of money I owe them?? No wonder no one would send me my final bill!! There isn't one!
But this has also concerned me, in that, what if they now decide that £506 isn't enough and they feel I owe them even more money (which would be ridiculous). I asked her that and she said they can't do that. But nothing surprises me with NPower anymore.
It's nice to know there is one person dealing with it all now, but having seen so many people's cases on these forums, I know it doesn't mean everything will magic away. She listened to me.
She said she understood that there were no conditions printed on the letter I received back in July, to say I wouldn't qualify for the write off.

If my final bill was nowhere to be seen at the point the write off letter was issued, then they didn't know themselves if I qualified for it so they shouldn't have sent me the write off letter.

Anyone with a balance of £75 or under would qualify. They must have assumed my bill would be £75 or less when they sent it maybe.

The problem is, they did send me the write off letter, and I feel they should adhere to that now. They should've sorted this mess out a lot sooner.
The stress and worry this all causes, is horrible.

It's almost as if they have plucked a sum of money from thin air and demanded I pay it, to be sure they fit inside the 12 month Backbilling code of practice rule.

scaredofdebt

They haven't billed you and you left supply on May 28th 2014.

Under the back billing policy they cannot bill for anything over 12 months old, so the final bill, if they ever get around to doing one, can only cover (as of today) 7th Feb - 28th May 2014.

Do not pay anything until you see a final bill, when they do finally get around to issuing it, post the details on here.

I suspect they will write the whole amount off, fingers crossed.

They probably worked out the bill but there was some kind of technical error on it and so it was cancelled. This could be something trivial like the tariff information missing or something more serious. But it's not your problem.