Issues with NPower & Scottish Power

dKeith0904

Ok, so this is a really strange one and i'm trying to work out what my rights are.

Me and my wife have lived in our flat for 5 and a half years - when we moved in, the gas and electricity were with Scottish Power. We continued on with this and have been paying our bills to Scottish Power ever since.

Last week, we receive a bill to 'the occupant' of our flat...but its from NPower. Now, they've sent us correspondence before, to which I contacted them 2-3 times, told them we were with Scottish Power and they said it was an error, and to ignore any future stuff. That's fine, I do that. But when they sent us a bill for £700+, for power since last year, i'm a bit spooked and contact them again.

Their phone service is abysmal as i'm first handed over to a different department and cut off on the way there, then given a callback which simply rings out for 5 minutes, and then made to wait for a long time with no answer. Ended up contacting them via Twitter (far easier!), as they didnt respond to my email.

After investigation, NPower claim they have been providing our gas and electricity since 2011! I point out i've never chosen to switch and they say it must have 'erroneously taken over' our gas and they will try to switch it back to Scottish Power. Pretty weird that they only sent me a bill in 2014 despite providing my gas since 2011, no? They claim that due to a 'technical issue on our account', they weren't able to bill us until May 2014. Bizarre.

Anyway, i've pointed out to them that i've been paying Scottish Power and should they be seeking money, then they are who they should talk to (they haven't specifically stated they'll be chasing me up for the money but thought i'd make sure they know).

Also contacted Scottish Power to ask a) how this changeover has happened and b) why they have been billing us for gas and electricity they haven't been providing.

So, has anyone else had a similar experience? Just hoping that it gets sorted between them and they leave me out of it. I do think its quite ridiculous though. It's not just me, right?

Any thoughts on this very welcome!

Ta

David

dKeith0904

In a new and interesting twist, Scottish Power have emailed back claiming they checked the national database and they have been providing our power since 2010 (which doesn't make much sense given we moved in in 2009 and the previous occupants were with Scottish Power too)

Hmmm....

Pagett

You believe you are supplied by Scottish Power, and you pay Scottish Power ... and presumably you receive regular bills/statements from Scottish Power.

Presumably this other bill from nPower covers the same period?
Does it have the same meter references?

If the answers to the above 2 questions are yes, then write (not an email, not a phone call) a letter of complaint (recorded delivery would be best) to nPower in line with their complaints procedure.

lvf

It all matters about which meter the companies are billing for. First, check your meter serial number from the actual meter itself.

Then, check the meter serial number on the bills. This should tell you which company is correct. It is very, very unlikely that they both have the same meter serial number, and I'm going to wager a guess at saying SPOW is in the wrong since they say they only took the supply a year after you moved in...

I'm also going to wager another guess and say that this property was part of a development and only constructed in or after 1996. Reason is the national database may house some incorrect details regarding your address when it was initially migrated from the plots. This instance happens all too often. Generally what you find is the details for your property remain as a plot on national database, but another plot is set up as your address. This causes massive problems but they don't actually come to light until one switches supplier.

Again, it's just a guess but it is what I used to find when a customer was "double-billed".

dKeith0904

Thanks for the responses

I'll hopefully give a better response later when I get back from work but our bills with Scottish Power certainly match up the meter serial number. Will need to check the NPower bill.

Ivf - you think Scottish Power in the wrong but NPower claiming they took it on a year after Scottish Power + home report when we were buying the place in September 09 said gas and electricity provided by Scottish Power - i'm confused as to who was providing us power from Sept 09 - 2010 then!

Property is a pretty old one, so definitely not post-96. It is a strange building mind you, with East and West sides. Potential confusion with us (3 East) and 3 West, i suppose?

lvf

dKeith0904 wrote: »

In a new and interesting twist, Scottish Power have emailed back claiming they checked the national database and they have been providing our power since 2010 (which doesn't make much sense given we moved in in 2009 and the previous occupants were with Scottish Power too

dKeith0904 wrote: »

Ivf - you think Scottish Power in the wrong but NPower claiming they took it on a year after Scottish Power

Sorry I was just guessing based on these quotes, obviously I don't know for sure if the companies themselves don't know! :rotfl:

dKeith0904 wrote: »

Property is a pretty old one, so definitely not post-96. It is a strange building mind you, with East and West sides. Potential confusion with us (3 East) and 3 West, i suppose?

Possibly. Just check the nPower bill first. If it shows the same meter serial number as well, contact one of the two companies and ask them to check Ecoes (the national database). Only one supplier can be linked to a supply number at any one time.

Whichever company you are not with, raise a formal complaint and follow through their complaints handling procedure to have the bill nullified. It could potentially have been a bad system error on their part to not switch the account from live to closed.

The flip side is if the serial numbers are different. Unlike the above I mentioned, two supply numbers CAN be linked to the same address, this allows for complex metering systems such as E10, or properties that have separate supplies for main buildings and garages/barns etc. If the incorrect supply is linked to your address, it would be down as a "crossed meter", another possibility as you have stated the slight confusion in the site layout.

I hope some of the information I've given is somewhat useful, but whatever the outcome, let us know what has happened!