3 Years on and NPower STILL owe me money HELP PLEASE

mikul182

Hi,
I'm looking for some advice/feedback from anyone who has or is in a similar situation to myself.
In 2013 I moved into a property with my partner, we took out a mortgage on a house that had previously been rented out.
The electricity and gas were both on pre payment key meters.
The electricity provider was Eon and the gas provider was Npower. We decided before me moved in that we would swap both over to British gas and also have both pre payment meters removed and new meters installed so we could pay by direct debit.
In the mean time we had to top up both meters until the change over, the electric meter provided by eon was easy to top up but the gas meter provided by Npower would deduct credit from the top up everytime. We found out that everytime we topped it up it was taking 90% of every top up off for a 'debt'.
After countless phone calls to Npower we found out that there was an unpaid debt on the meter from a previous tenant. Yet again, after many phone calls and hours on hold to Npower, we still didn't get a solution or more importantly any of the money back that we had been paying towards this unpaid debt.
After paying well over £100 of someone else's debt we finally switched over to British Gas and had both meters removed and new ones installed. Yet still staying in contact with Npower regarding the money that I am owed by them, they finally said that an 'investigation case' would be opened to decide an outcome and they would contact me after deciding an outcome but this could take up to 12 weeks.
Over 3 years have now passed since I was told about the case that was opened and I have heard absolutely nothing regarding this. I have recently started to chase this up after waiting so long but have gotten nowhere.
Has anyone else had this problem with Npower? If so did u get a result? Any feedback or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Mike

CashStrapped

You need to start a formal complaint. Write to them and if they do not respond within the timescales required you can go to the ombudsman.

However, this is a common mistake that people make. When moving into a property you should immediately ring the existing supplier and set up your own account. If on a prepayment meter new key cards, free of any debt, would then be sent out.

Because you just started using the existing keycards you were technically using another persons account with debit still left on it.

Because you did not set-up your own account and wait for new key cards you may not have nuch of a case.

Maybe a case of leasson leant?

If you still want to push it, raise a formal complaint asking for information as to what happened to the initial investigation and if they do not resolve it, contact the ombudsman.

nPower

mikul182 wrote: »

Hi,
I'm looking for some advice/feedback from anyone who has or is in a similar situation to myself.
In 2013 I moved into a property with my partner, we took out a mortgage on a house that had previously been rented out.
The electricity and gas were both on pre payment key meters.
The electricity provider was Eon and the gas provider was Npower. We decided before me moved in that we would swap both over to British gas and also have both pre payment meters removed and new meters installed so we could pay by direct debit.
In the mean time we had to top up both meters until the change over, the electric meter provided by eon was easy to top up but the gas meter provided by Npower would deduct credit from the top up everytime. We found out that everytime we topped it up it was taking 90% of every top up off for a 'debt'.
After countless phone calls to Npower we found out that there was an unpaid debt on the meter from a previous tenant. Yet again, after many phone calls and hours on hold to Npower, we still didn't get a solution or more importantly any of the money back that we had been paying towards this unpaid debt.
After paying well over £100 of someone else's debt we finally switched over to British Gas and had both meters removed and new ones installed. Yet still staying in contact with Npower regarding the money that I am owed by them, they finally said that an 'investigation case' would be opened to decide an outcome and they would contact me after deciding an outcome but this could take up to 12 weeks.
Over 3 years have now passed since I was told about the case that was opened and I have heard absolutely nothing regarding this. I have recently started to chase this up after waiting so long but have gotten nowhere.
Has anyone else had this problem with Npower? If so did u get a result? Any feedback or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Mike

Hello Mikul182

Thanks for your post.

I'm sad to see that you've topped up the gas prepayment meter when you moved into the property and a debt was collected. When you move into the property a home move should be completed and the meter should be reset.

If you can send us an email we can investigate the top ups further. You can find our contact details on our profile page

Thanks

footyguy

Duplicate from September 2014
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5072448

:cool:

mikul182

nPower_company_representative wrote: »

Hello Mikul182

Thanks for your post.

I'm sad to see that you've topped up the gas prepayment meter when you moved into the property and a debt was collected. When you move into the property a home move should be completed and the meter should be reset.

If you can send us an email we can investigate the top ups further. You can find our contact details on our profile page

Thanks

I have had two npower representitives look into it and both give me the same reply 'there is no outstanding money owed to you' but twice I have had, and not cashed either of them, a £20 cheque sent to me in the post.

CashStrapped

Read my post above. It was because you were paying off someone elses account. You needed to set-up your own account and get new key cards and not use the previous occupents.

The £20 was probably a good will gesture. It is not their fault you did not cash it. Especially when you had two chances.

Unfortunatly, as I said, it seems to be a case of lesson learnt.

When moving into a new property always:

1) Take a meter reading (photograph)
2) Find out the existing supplier and set-up yoru own account.

undaunted

mikul182 wrote: »

I have had two npower representitives look into it and both give me the same reply 'there is no outstanding money owed to you' but twice I have had, and not cashed either of them, a £20 cheque sent to me in the post.

You're complaining they owe you money but don't cash the £20 cheques...... why? How much do you think they owe you and have you tried anyone else than Npower, eg complaint to the Energy Ombudsman, asking your MP to invetsigate with their Parliamentary liaison people etc?