nPower - Legacy Tariffs, Metering and Complex Billing

marsden_rock

Anyone who has entered into discussions with nPower involving complex billing will know just how frustrating this exercise becomes. I seem to have ended up with more questions than answers and would appreciate any advice on the following:
Tariff - thought I had started (over 20 years ago) on Economy 10 but that it had been discontinued and moved to (according to bill) Standard SC Electricity DD Super Tariff. Now discover that Economy 10 still exists as a legacy tariff and don't know why I was changed to Super Tariff (also a legacy tariff).
Meter - started out by enquiring about changing to Economy 7 to compare costs. Initially told that they would have to take out my dual meters (day / night / heat) but I would have to also remove my storage heaters as they would not work with Economy 7 meter??? Then told that existing meters would be left and Heat reading on meter simply added to Night reading for a combined off-peak consumption. Have read elsewhere that they have refused to do this for other customers. Existing meters appear to come off multiple phases - what are the problems of connecting all outputs to a single Economy 7 meter?
Billing - was told by advisor in Efficiency Dept that I would save £600 p.a. on Economy 7 but this was after half a dozen recalculations (some indicating an increase in cost). Later discovered comparison was being made with Economy 10!
Eventually referred to an advisor for a home visit who had no knowledge of supply, meters, tariffs or billing but who could tell me how to operate my night storage heaters!. He has now passed me on to a colleague who has, so far, failed to meet the self imposed timescale to call back.

My usage (average over last 3 years) is (kWh) Day 5330, Night 1650, Heat 10400. Since replacing water heating element (max temp now reduced by 10 degrees) we don't always have enough water for evening bath, even with afternoon boost, so not sure if Economy 7 would be right for us. Finally, can't seem to get any sense about smart metering in conjunction with dual meters.

Thanks in advance for any pointers / advice / suggestions.

nPower

marsden_rock wrote: »

Anyone who has entered into discussions with nPower involving complex billing will know just how frustrating this exercise becomes. I seem to have ended up with more questions than answers and would appreciate any advice on the following:
Tariff - thought I had started (over 20 years ago) on Economy 10 but that it had been discontinued and moved to (according to bill) Standard SC Electricity DD Super Tariff. Now discover that Economy 10 still exists as a legacy tariff and don't know why I was changed to Super Tariff (also a legacy tariff).
Meter - started out by enquiring about changing to Economy 7 to compare costs. Initially told that they would have to take out my dual meters (day / night / heat) but I would have to also remove my storage heaters as they would not work with Economy 7 meter??? Then told that existing meters would be left and Heat reading on meter simply added to Night reading for a combined off-peak consumption. Have read elsewhere that they have refused to do this for other customers. Existing meters appear to come off multiple phases - what are the problems of connecting all outputs to a single Economy 7 meter?
Billing - was told by advisor in Efficiency Dept that I would save £600 p.a. on Economy 7 but this was after half a dozen recalculations (some indicating an increase in cost). Later discovered comparison was being made with Economy 10!
Eventually referred to an advisor for a home visit who had no knowledge of supply, meters, tariffs or billing but who could tell me how to operate my night storage heaters!. He has now passed me on to a colleague who has, so far, failed to meet the self imposed timescale to call back.

My usage (average over last 3 years) is (kWh) Day 5330, Night 1650, Heat 10400. Since replacing water heating element (max temp now reduced by 10 degrees) we don't always have enough water for evening bath, even with afternoon boost, so not sure if Economy 7 would be right for us. Finally, can't seem to get any sense about smart metering in conjunction with dual meters.

Thanks in advance for any pointers / advice / suggestions.

Hi marsden_rock

Thank you for posting and I am sorry to hear of your experience.

Please send me your account details via email (using the email address on our profile) and I will be happy to take a look at your account.

Vicky

stevegrass777

I would leave npower as they are a waste of time in my opinion,they always got my farthers economy 7 readings the wrong way round,and there billing system isn't fit for purpose.
On top of that when the billing inevitably goes wrong,they bully you and harass you even when it was there fault.
Shouldn't be operating in my opinion.
Ring someone else,or use the comparison websites with different tarif information to get the information you need,you will never get a correct answer off npower in my opinion.

Carrot007

Super tarrif is a legacy metering setup i nthe north east which has 2 mpans and can have 1 or 2 meters (in the case of one meter is is on both mpans).

No one except npower is liekly to sort it but if you try to change they might just take over the e7 mpan and cause chaos.

Do not attempt to change suppliers unless you get a stadard e7 meter fitted first. This will require changing od the circuits on your side as the heating circuit was generally switched by the meter.

marsden_rock

Hi Vicky
I have received a call back from Lee Maughan at Houghton-le-Spring so I'll await the outcome of those discussions, thanks.

stevegrass777

Another way is to book a smart meter fitting as these are free,and would get rid of your old defunct set up,but how they work as regards economy 7 I don't know,I would imagine if they are supposed to be smart they should be able to do any tarif on them,but I don't know you would have to ask.

marsden_rock

For Vicky at nPower
I haven't received any call back from Houghton-le-Spring. Can you please re-open file at your end and I will forward account details for examination, thanks.

Wolf3

The same situation applies as i've posted on another thread, to gain access to the cheaper tariffs, or a reduction in costs. with your current meter setup you should only have access to the Supertariff deal and not have been placed on an E10 deal. If memory serves me right you get 11 hrs combined of heating at night and afternoon boost plus switching to some of other suppliers ends in tears as they cannot support this setup.

The Super Tariff meters are unique to the North East, however all distribution areas all have their versions of the legacy meters

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

marsden_rock

We are not on E10 as we are billed Standard Rate Supertariff and only receive 5 hours overnight heat with a 2 hour afternoon boost. As we are now both retired, the proportion of night usage is declining and NPower's premium for day usage is increasing, hence the search for options. We are aware of the ramifications of changing to E7 but our main concern is the wiring we will be left with if we go to a single meter. Northern Electric installed a 440 volt DB with our storage system running from a 3 phase supply. Our electrician needs to know what he would be dealing with on installation of a new meter but Meter Plus are non customer facing (we have to go through NPower) but NPower are incapable of discussing the situation. I won't allow them to carry out any work without understanding the downside, hence the current stand-off. Staying on our current tariff with NPower, although expensive, is protected by Ofgem but who knows what crazy agreements they will come to with Energy Suppliers in future to promote the roll out of smart meters as there doesn't seem to be a dual MPAN variant. After all, they require all suppliers to have the capability to fit dual MPANS but did not enforce the need to offer supporting tariffs so as to pursue their goal of tariff simplification.
Unfortunately, this situation is all too common these days. "Modern" management works on the basis that satisfying all customer needs is expensive so staff training in non-core areas tends to be minimal at best. Organisations only need to be better than the rest to be the best and if the rest are crap then....!!!! There are some good people at NPower - it's just a case of plugging away until you find someone who actually gives a damn.

marsden_rock

Finally making some progress after continually chasing NPower. Received a home visit today from a Specialist Manager who not only apologised for previous mis-information and lack of response but seemed genuinely interested in resolving things. Meter Plus have still failed to provide any response to the metering query but the Specialist Manager has knowledge of the meters in use and has undertaken to discuss available options with Meter Plus at a sit-down meeting next week. Should then be able to make an informed decision. One immediate positive was the acceptance that the imposition of a standing charge on each meter is excessive as I have no control over the way in which NPower choose to collect the data. It will be interesting to see whether we can get 30+ years credit on that one!
In the meantime, have been checking out switching alternatives. SSE offer Superdeal which, like NPower Supertariff, only has a standard variable rate but offers a small reduction in cost. Other providers seem happy enough to offer E7 on dual MPANs by combining Heat and Night readings but postings elsewhere on the blog seem to suggest potential billing issues. Anyone have experience of this with OVO or EDF?

LeeW_2

Npower - I have just recently left Npower gas and electric having used pre pay meters for over 3 years and am receiving bills from collection agency for nearly £500 . Can anyone explain why I am getting bills when I pre pay. I have rung Npower and talked on line but they tie me up with goggly gook HELP!!!