Are Npower allowed to do this?

soleserenity

I moved out of my previous property on 1st June 2014 and my final bill with actual readings stated I was in credit by £153.79. I am still with Npower so they did all the switch over at my current address (I pay direct debit and always have done). Now 20 months later I have received two bills totalling over £1900 for my previous address - hours on the phone to them have got me no closer to understanding how, when I was paying direct debit every month, I could of accumulated that amount. Surely if my final bill was based on actual readings then this is their mistake and not mine?

CashStrapped

Did you actually request a final bill and close your previous account. You cannot transfer an energy account. It stays with the address.

However, if you still have the final meter reading you gave them when you moved out, they should accept this as a closing reading and only bill you up to that amount .

What did they say to you on the phone? Do you have two DD debiting your bank account?

footyguy

soleserenity wrote: »

I moved out of my previous property on 1st June 2014 and my final bill with actual readings stated I was in credit by £153.79. I am still with Npower so they did all the switch over at my current address (I pay direct debit and always have done). Now 20 months later I have received two bills totalling over £1900 for my previous address - hours on the phone to them have got me no closer to understanding how, when I was paying direct debit every month, I could of accumulated that amount. Surely if my final bill was based on actual readings then this is their mistake and not mine?

If you have received a bill that you couldn't resolve in say just 5-10 mins on the phone, then why wouldn't you put it into formal dispute and raise an official complaint following their complaint procedure?

You've not said the basis of why they have re-billed you (perhaps you don't know?) and therefore no one here could advise you further on that.

If you were to post a legible image of the latest bill and the final bill you were given previously, then we may be able to offer some further guidannce on that.

Or take them along to the local CAB if you prefer

What I would stress is that paying monthly by DD is no reason to assume you have paid enough to cover the cost of consumption.

soleserenity

The letter I had after I moved out states it it is 'your final energy statement'. It was calculated on actual readings and I never thought any more of it, as I said I have always paid by direct debit and usually more than they suggested. The first I heard about the new bill was two letters dated 19th January 2016 (19 and a half months after I moved out). I rang them and was on the phone for nearly 3 hours, they didn't seem to know what had happened and said they would investigate and to give them 28 days. Yesterday I received the same two letters asking for money and so I rang again assuming that it was automated and that it was still under investigation. I was told that the investigation was complete and that I did indeed owe them the money! I am awaiting a breakdown from them now about how this could of happened. I just don't understand how it has taken so long for them to come up with the figures and how they can vary so greatly from my readings on my final bill.

soleserenity

I'm not able to add attachments so not sure how I could show the bills

footyguy

soleserenity wrote: »

I'm not able to add attachments so not sure how I could show the bills

You need to upload them to a 3rd party site

Then you need to give us the link. You won't be able to post the link completely, so try leaving off the http, www etc and then put some spaces in the rest of the URL ... we'll find it

footyguy

soleserenity wrote: »

The letter I had after I moved out states it it is 'your final energy statement'. It was calculated on actual readings and I never thought any more of it, as I said I have always paid by direct debit and usually more than they suggested. The first I heard about the new bill was two letters dated 19th January 2016 (19 and a half months after I moved out). I rang them and was on the phone for nearly 3 hours, they didn't seem to know what had happened and said they would investigate and to give them 28 days. Yesterday I received the same two letters asking for money and so I rang again assuming that it was automated and that it was still under investigation. I was told that the investigation was complete and that I did indeed owe them the money! I am awaiting a breakdown from them now about how this could of happened. I just don't understand how it has taken so long for them to come up with the figures and how they can vary so greatly from my readings on my final bill.

If the supplier has cause to re-bill you for money they believe is owed, of course they are allowed to do so.

I'm somewhat surprised they have not offered you an explanation as to how they reached their decision, especially as it took them some time to understand it themselves.

Anyway, once you get the explanation (or it is not forthcoming), if you still don't accept their decision, ask them for a deadlock letter so that you can take the matter to the ombudsman.

soleserenity

dropbox.com/s/g1s9o9rfj7b6kit/2016-02-13%2019.07.33.jpg?dl=0
dropbox.com/s/1flc7fm4gbc1u3o/2016-02-13%2019.08.29.jpg?dl=0
dropbox.com/s/ufikxs2p2jd8zz3/2016-02-13%2019.09.01.jpg?dl=0

footyguy

Thanks

The first 2 appear to be reminders that refer to previous reminders. Unfortunately there is no detail on reminders - you need to have the proper detailed bill.

The last one is the proper bill, the original final one I presume. Ideally I would like to see all the detail but that will do for now.

Please ensure the complete bills for the outstanding amounts are displayed. i.e. dates of readings, details of standing charges & unit prices, payments made (if any) etc.

(I would also say that some personal details are still visable i.e. your name, supply address etc are visable, so you might want to remove/amend the above.)

soleserenity

I have never received the proper bills, only the reminders. When I moved I set up a redirection from the post office for 6 months and that was from June 2014 so no bills came for me during that time - the reminders from January 2016 were the first I knew about any outstanding bills.

soleserenity

I edited the post with the links and hopefully my details are scribbled out now