Npower .... annoyed

mrsspendalot

I switched to dual fuel from Npower in March after not being very happy with edf. I signed up for monthly direct debit. However, no payments have been taken from my account. I therefore submitted my own meter readings online this week in the hopes that it would trigger something at their end. I have just received my online bill and they said that the whole £300+ bill will be 'charged to my bank account' later this month. I am not happy - so much for paying monthly! There is no way I can afford that all in one go. I have cancelled my direct debit mandate but am worried that they will still be able to take all that from my account. I would be in the cr*p with money if they do, bank charges the works.

What do you think? Will they still be able to take that amount out of the account? I am just so annoyed that they haven't acted on my monthly direct debit agreement!

cocoluvsmummy

i have had much the same problem and its only getting worse. swiched to npowewr last november, first they only took out the electricity payment, then they grossly underestimated the amound dispite us wanting to pay what we had payed with outr previous supplyer, finally got payments going out for both at what i thought was a reasonable amount, i have sent my own meter reading every time a bill has arrived to prevent underpayment. have just recieved a bill and revised payment schedule, they want my monthly payments to go up from £80 to £153. i find their bills really hard to understand, they detail what you owe in lots of ways..but dont seem to show what ibe paid..all as clear as mud, at the moment im thinking of paying them off out of my savings..all £650 that they think i owe and going back to british gas...AAAAGGGGHH

longforgotten

Mrsspendalot, I think you're ok that the bank will not allow the money to be taken from your account as you have cancelled you direct debit. Best to check with your bank by phoning or checking your details online .
If you do do internet banking what about making an online payment for what you can afford as a gesture.... in theory if they haven't taken the direct debit you had expected ,your bank balance should be looking better than you thought anyway, or have you spent it ?

mrsspendalot

Thanks - they never actually gave me a monthly amount that would be taken on direct debit, and this is the problem. So now I have been hit with a big bill. I think I will do as you suggest though and pay what I can this month. The gas was £129 and elect £222, and I can certainly afford to clear the gas amount - probably pay them £150 this month and the rest next,and then hopefully they can get my direct debits set up properly!

Thanks for the advice guys xx

anniecave

Once you have cancelled the direct debit mandate they can't take anything.
Once you are happy with everything then ask to be set up again. They will send you a letter confirming how much they will take per month and when.

Bear in mind though that if you take a couple of months to pay your current bill, you will be almost due for another bill by the time they start thinking about taking direct debits, so you will probably have to pay a bit more per month in order to catch up.

mrsspendalot

Thanks annie - yep I am going to try and settle to bill asap. Have had a look at my figures again and I may just be able to pay it this month afterall - if not very early next month, then I will set up the DD straight away. From the look of it they must have me set up for whole bill DD rather than monthly DD

BWZN93

Be careful though, im currently in a dispute with Npower after I cancelled a DD with them (im switching banks at present) and they passed over my gas account to a debt collector after sending me a bill one week ago! Make sure you speak to them and set up a payment plan to clear the arrears and the future balance! Im still fuming with them - one week for them to get nasty - and I am switching to Powergen as we speak....

Terrylw1

Hi,

You need to speak to them as they will have you down as having no payment method you will start getting the chaser letters even if you have part paid. You will very quickly reach a debt collector otherwise.

Bare in mind that your first bill will not be for a quarter but a pro rate amount that could be somewhere between a couple to five months or more. they will be understanding if you are paying something but by just cancelling you will look like you don't want to pay which is clearly not the case.