Electric bill excessive . where do i go for help

suethedriver

I deal with my sons account for electric/gas .He lived " alone" in his rental for 1 year ( moved out in June) N power supplied the gas and elec to the detatched 2 bed smallish farmbuilding conversion . He was never asked for reading etc or any payments for the year he was there and now they have sent a bill for £3600 !!!!! just for electric . I have queried this and they have done an inquiry on it and still come back and said the bill is correct according to the meter readings. I have gone back to them again and said .how can a single man on his own ( working away for a few days per month) use £300 of electricity . looking up averages online it seems that a family in a big house dont use anything like that amount and my friend with a b & b doesnt either.
I have paid them some money last month and they suggested setting up a payment plan to start paying it off to stop any further action/ court etc. I am not sure this is a good idea as wonder if i am then accepting the bill ? I am of course willing to pay a bit as the electric does need paying in the end but not that amount surely. I have been very calm on the phone to them & asked them if they have a complaints procedure and they just said go to citizens advice ! I am asking here if anyone can suggest what i do next please as i really dont believe the amount and dont want him to get bad credit history. Thanks

Robin9

Have you got the Actual meter readings that he gave nPower on the day he moved in and on the day he moved out ?

nPower

suethedriver wrote: »

I deal with my sons account for electric/gas .He lived " alone" in his rental for 1 year ( moved out in June) N power supplied the gas and elec to the detatched 2 bed smallish farmbuilding conversion . He was never asked for reading etc or any payments for the year he was there and now they have sent a bill for £3600 !!!!! just for electric . I have queried this and they have done an inquiry on it and still come back and said the bill is correct according to the meter readings. I have gone back to them again and said .how can a single man on his own ( working away for a few days per month) use £300 of electricity . looking up averages online it seems that a family in a big house dont use anything like that amount and my friend with a b & b doesnt either.
I have paid them some money last month and they suggested setting up a payment plan to start paying it off to stop any further action/ court etc. I am not sure this is a good idea as wonder if i am then accepting the bill ? I am of course willing to pay a bit as the electric does need paying in the end but not that amount surely. I have been very calm on the phone to them & asked them if they have a complaints procedure and they just said go to citizens advice ! I am asking here if anyone can suggest what i do next please as i really dont believe the amount and dont want him to get bad credit history. Thanks

Hi suethedriver

Thanks for your post.

Energy usage can vary depending on property type, heating setup, usage etc. It's best practice to notify the energy company when moving in or out of a property with accompanying meter readings, to avoid any billing issues. If we don't have any actual meter readings, we'll estimate these based on engineer readings, historic data or national averages.

If a customer doesn't contact us to change tariff or payment type, then the account would automatically be set on the Standard tariff on Quarterly Receipt of Bill, as other tariffs and payment types require consent or have specific criteria a customer may not be happy with.

If you or your son has any meter readings then please get in touch to have the account updated. If not then, unfortunately, the balance would stand. However, paying for a bill or setting up a payment plan doesn't automatically mean you accept liability, as if the bill is amended later then we'll take this into consideration. Setting up a plan will prevent any collections processes from continuing and potentially affecting your son's credit rating.

Our details are on our profile if you have any additional questions

Regards

Jess

suethedriver

yes we have meter readings ,they have been given and assessed .

footyguy

suethedriver wrote: »

I deal with my sons account for electric/gas .He lived " alone" in his rental for 1 year ( moved out in June) N power supplied the gas and elec to the detatched 2 bed smallish farmbuilding conversion . He was never asked for reading etc or any payments for the year he was there and now they have sent a bill for £3600 !!!!! just for electric . I have queried this and they have done an inquiry on it and still come back and said the bill is correct according to the meter readings. I have gone back to them again and said .how can a single man on his own ( working away for a few days per month) use £300 of electricity . looking up averages online it seems that a family in a big house dont use anything like that amount and my friend with a b & b doesnt either.
I have paid them some money last month and they suggested setting up a payment plan to start paying it off to stop any further action/ court etc. I am not sure this is a good idea as wonder if i am then accepting the bill ? I am of course willing to pay a bit as the electric does need paying in the end but not that amount surely. I have been very calm on the phone to them & asked them if they have a complaints procedure and they just said go to citizens advice ! I am asking here if anyone can suggest what i do next please as i really dont believe the amount and dont want him to get bad credit history. Thanks

Your son should receive a detailed bill from nPower that will detail exactly how the latest cost has been arrived at. If you son does not have this, he should request it. Only with the bill in front of you can you decide if it is correct or not. (if not, your son will need to advise the supplier as to why it is being disputed)

(In fact, your son should have been sent a bill every quarter he he didn't make any other arrangements, so it would be worth investigating what happened to those earlier bills too)

Edit: npowers complaint procedure is here:
https://www.npower.com/home/help-and-support/contact-us/complaints/complaints-handling-policy/

The advice for you to go to the CAB was presumably because you are not clear as to on what basis you wish to complain - simply saying it is too much is not a valid cause for complaint, you need to say why you think it is incorrect.

footyguy

suethedriver wrote: »

yes we have meter readings ,they have been given and assessed .

Then if you have the start readings, and you can take current meter readings, you can work out what the cost of that consumption should be based on the applicable nPower tariff - presumably their expensive variable rate one, paid quarterly by cash or cheque, if you son has not made any arrangements otherwise.

suethedriver

the calculations are correct as we have the breakdown bill ( but no quarterly ones ) but still seems excessive for the occupant type etc.
thanks for the advice anyway .

footyguy

suethedriver wrote: »

the calculations are correct as we have the breakdown bill ( but no quarterly ones ) but still seems excessive for the occupant type etc.
thanks for the advice anyway .

A suppliers variable tariff, paid for quarterly by cash/cheque, often is the most expensive way to pay for energy.

Consult a comparison site to find the best deal for your son. As your son appears to be using 2-3 times the average amount, then he certainly is a heavy user, especially for "a single man on his own ( working away for a few days per month)". If he continues to wish to use this amount, then he could probably save a good £500+ a year he if were to switch to the best provider/tariff for his usage.

Or better still, have a word with him and get him to reduce consumption and save a whole lot more too

Robin9

Can you post the bill - deleting the name and address - please.

I am wondering if there is a meter reading error.

Lorian

If you shared the tariff name, unit costs and standing costs, plus the opening and closing readings it would help.

Sure the meter hasn't been changed?

matelodave

You could get him to read the meter regularly (ideally weekly) and record it so he knows how much he's using and when. He'll then have a better idea of how to minimise his consumption.

If you don't know how much you are using then you cannot say whether the bill is right or wrong or know why it's so high.