Npower complex metering tariffs

MYMETERISCOMPLEX

Hi, I'm new to the forum. Basically at my wits end with NPower


We have 2 meters (Complex apparently). One is 9 hour off peak and the other is standard
Our annual forecast bill is ca £2,500, based on ca 20,000 kwh pa


That is much more expensive than it used to be. We've only just started getting bills from NPower again (another story) and the off peak rate has gone up significantly


Anyway within the bill it says that there are other tariffs that could save me £470 pa


When I phoned NPower they told me that because it's a complex meter they would have to reduce the tariff manually. We agreed reduced figures for both off peak and standard and off we went (based on an e-10 like arrangement) ....... except when the confirmation email arrived 4 days later they had only changed the standard rate, and not by what was agreed


When I spoke to them again they had no record of the manual change agreement rates but offered something else (again reducing both rates). This time giving me an e-7 rate. I know however that I don't have e-7 but they told me (spoke to supervisor) that I do because there are only 2 readings and e-10s have 3. Not even sure that's true! Same thing happened. Put on a different tariff for standard only - not what was agreed - and now another email to say monthly DD is going up to £270. That's £3240 pa. Why would I want that??


I'm sure it's to do with the complex meter, but why can't NPower sort this out? Why do I have to find out from Meter Plus what my meters are (as NPower seem to think they're e-10 or e-7 or none of the above, depending on what day it is)


All I want to do is get a better tariff. If I have to switch meters to e-7 then so be it, to get a tariff that they are actually capable of correctly setting up, but does anyone have similar experience ....... whereby they should be able to manually adjust tariffs on complex meters?


Any advice / experiences welcome, thanks.

Wolf3

The same situation applies as i've posted on another thread, to gain access to the cheaper tariffs. with your current meter setup you should only have access to a single tariff and switching to some of other suppliers ends in tears as they cannot support this setup.

Changing to a single E7 meter will open up the market for you, however as advised an independent electrician could be required to rewire the circuit for you. I don't know the cost of getting an electrician to check it for you and they may not even be required in some cases. the only reason you are being advised by the energy suppliers is the simple fact if they change your meter and the heating is not connected to the correct circuit, it wont work and you will not be able to have the old meters installed again.
I'm presuming your property is heated by storage heaters for you to have the off peak meter, your current off peak meter will supply 7 or more hours of charge during a 24 hr period dependent on its setup. As a caution the E7 will only give 7 hours in total charge for the same 24 hour period, reduced from what the previous off peak meter provided, some older storage heaters don't receive a full capacity and will not provide the heat required.
If the property is not heated by storage heaters then get your off peak meter removed asap, the off peak meter is not required and you will be paying an extra standing charge for a meter that is not used

MYMETERISCOMPLEX

Thanks. my current mix of off peak v std is about 75:25. We do indeed have storage heaters using electric for 5 hrs during the night and 2 x 2 hr boosts at around 1pm and 8pm I think.

So I suppose if we move to e7 we'll get 2 hrs more built up heat in the morning, diffusing through the day, but no boosts. That will save us 2 hrs off peak electric per day, but I guess will also mean that any appliances we use during the old boost hrs would be subject to standard rate.

If that's true I'm guessing that the mix would move more to 65:35 or maybe even 60:40. With the e7 deal we were offered last week (when we didn't have e7) and based on 20,000 kWh pa, I reckon we might save £300 pa against our current tariff (current that is before npower changed it to something we never asked for)

That means if it costs £100 for a meter switch and the same for an electrician, it would still pay back in 2/3 of a year

I think that part of my logic stands up, but what I'm less sure of is when npower put us on standard rate of 13.65p last week, would that refer to my standard meter or both? In other words are they now charging me that rate 24 hrs a day or just the std hrs? There's no reference to the off peak part on the email

If the 13.65p is just std hrs and my off peak rate still also applies, then that could still be cheaper.

Confusing, and very difficult to talk to the right people at npower. I'm currently in a 7 working day queue!

Wolf3

my memory is sketchy, so i'm not sure if I'm right, the complex metering needs a legacy tariff only available in certain areas. Not sure what distribution region your in, hopefully Yorkshire or the North East as your supplier is NPower, they should be billing you on this legacy tariff only.
I agree with your logic to a certain extent about your energy usage, and i think you should find your annual energy consumption would reduce. The complex meters would be replaced eventually as not many of them are manufactured anymore.

molerat

OP, are you sure that your non heating circuits are on reduced rate during the boost periods, normally the boost relates to the heating only - unless you have managed to hook a few sockets up to the circuit.

MYMETERISCOMPLEX

Thanks both for the responses

I'm in the Yorkshire region. I think as this saga goes on it's becoming clear to me that whenever npower offer to reduce my tariff they don't piece together that it's a legacy arrangement, despite me explaining the circumstances on multi occasions. Consequently when the new "deal" comes through it's affecting the standard meter only. I'm guessing therefore that if I could negotiate the standard rate down, then my current bill will still reduce, just not as much. It will still be high therefore and if a meter switch is either free or not too expensive, then e7 still feels like the way to go

I had assumed that all electric would be off peak during the boost hours, but if that's not the case then that also leans me towards e7, as I won't be losing out at those times, except on the heat boost itself

The real worry for me with switching is that I know it will be a painful process with npower. They are totally consistent in their ability to be inconsistent with their advice, billing, referring to the correct people etc. I asked on their chat facility for the direct line for their complex metering team, as I see them as my only hope to take all this forwards. They wouldn't give it out, referring me instead to customer services. A call to them leads to a 35 minute queue, mitigated by their call back facility ...... Who don't call back

We'll get there I suppose!

Wolf3

you've hit the nail on the head, whoever is offering the cheaper tariffs doesn't understand your meter setup. they will be thinking it is just a standard 2 rate setup and its no wonder their billing system will go on the fritz. Depending on the meter, and how your circuits are wired up, your standard single rate meter will be for your general electric usage and possibly including your immersion heater, whilst your off peak meter should be for your storage heaters only, some automatically give you a boost phase others require you to manually activate. This is why suppliers ask you to get an electrcian to check if any changes to be made if they change your meter. If you are able to check your past bills you might be able to tell if NPower charge you more for any boost period. Don't think it would be possible as there should be 2 or more registers on your off peak meter to accurately record your boost usage.

As for switching suppliers, it is not recommended with the current meter setup, most suppliers won't support your meter and the 1 or 2 who can will probably only tariffs that will generally be more expensive. It would be more prudent to retain your Legacy provider, in this case NPower, find an electrician who will be able to offer you advice on any potential cost and get NPower to change the meter to a standard Economy 7 (Economy 10's are getting rarer and don't have access to the same number of tariffs as E7)

nPower

MYMETERISCOMPLEX wrote: »

Hi, I'm new to the forum. Basically at my wits end with NPower


We have 2 meters (Complex apparently). One is 9 hour off peak and the other is standard
Our annual forecast bill is ca £2,500, based on ca 20,000 kwh pa


That is much more expensive than it used to be. We've only just started getting bills from NPower again (another story) and the off peak rate has gone up significantly


Anyway within the bill it says that there are other tariffs that could save me £470 pa


When I phoned NPower they told me that because it's a complex meter they would have to reduce the tariff manually. We agreed reduced figures for both off peak and standard and off we went (based on an e-10 like arrangement) ....... except when the confirmation email arrived 4 days later they had only changed the standard rate, and not by what was agreed


When I spoke to them again they had no record of the manual change agreement rates but offered something else (again reducing both rates). This time giving me an e-7 rate. I know however that I don't have e-7 but they told me (spoke to supervisor) that I do because there are only 2 readings and e-10s have 3. Not even sure that's true! Same thing happened. Put on a different tariff for standard only - not what was agreed - and now another email to say monthly DD is going up to £270. That's £3240 pa. Why would I want that??


I'm sure it's to do with the complex meter, but why can't NPower sort this out? Why do I have to find out from Meter Plus what my meters are (as NPower seem to think they're e-10 or e-7 or none of the above, depending on what day it is)


All I want to do is get a better tariff. If I have to switch meters to e-7 then so be it, to get a tariff that they are actually capable of correctly setting up, but does anyone have similar experience ....... whereby they should be able to manually adjust tariffs on complex meters?


Any advice / experiences welcome, thanks.

Hi MYMETERISCOMPLEX,

Thanks for your post.

If you can send me an email using the address shown on our profile page I'm happy to look into tariff options for you and try and work out the best solution to your metering issues. Please mark the subject of the email "MSE - FAO Jamie" so that I know it's for me.

Thanks!

Jamie

MYMETERISCOMPLEX

Thanks Jamie. I'm new to this and when I click on the npower name I don't see any email address. Probably doing something wrong?

MYMETERISCOMPLEX

Just to update on this. Either Jamie or my original email to the npower helpline, have now seen my query referred to executive complaints and an individual assigned to me. We'll see how we go but positive so far

Wolf3

Glad your getting it sorted :money: