N power rip off is this legal

Cardew

furball wrote: »

When my husband spoke to them they tried to say I should have rung in with the correct reading if i didn't want the estimated bill and they have not had a meter reading since 2006, surely it is not upto the customer to have to check in each time. If thats the case what is the point of having a meter man? If i am mistaken here please tell me as they are trying to say the full bill stands as i didn't correct it.

I hope the advice to write to NPower and the regulator brings results as obviously NPower have been at fault for ignoring actual meter readings and substituting estimated readings.

However I wouldn't build up your hopes too much as I believe 'stimpo' in post #5 may have a valid point, in that bills based on estimated readings, in these circumstances, may be valid.

The weakness in your case is as highlighted above - it is up to the customer to check bills.

I would certainly write and complain as stated above, as you have nothing to lose and you will probably get something off your bill even if they don't admit liability.

Terrylw1

furball wrote: »

I received a letter from N Power yesterday saying that all my bills had been estimated for the last 3 years and after reviewing the bills i owe £533.89. I have nearly always been in when the meter man has been and have rung in with the reading on the occasions i have been out . NP are saying that even though the meter was read it was out of sequence or not near enough the bill send out date to use the reading so they have estimated it :mad: I have never refused entry to the meter man and assumed that having my meter read regularly meant that this is the bill i would get, surely it is wrong to suddenly go back over 3 years and expect me to pay this is their error not mine. Help please. P.S this is on top of a £254 bill and they are demanding both payments together or over £200 a month payment plan Thankyou.

This does happen I'm afraid. When you change Supplier they receive a data flow with your reading cycle on from the meter readers. They then have the option to get it changed. A lot of the time, thye never get it despite chasing for it and set you up regardless so you don't get delayed bills. However, they are supposed to change your billing cycle inline with your reading schedule or get the DC to change their cycle to fall inline with theirs.

It's a very easy thing to resolve. They have had an opportunity to get this sorted everytime they had a reading from the meter readers.

Also, remember that they don't always get the readings from the readers - they go missing at their end as well and never reach a Supplier.

I would suggest you take it to their Customer Relations dept per the back of the bill and copy in Energywatch which will put a clock on the resolution and make them more open to negogiation.

They could agree to wipe it over 1 year of it or bill it all out at the lowest rate they have charged you through the period to help you out for consumption newer than a year.

Sadly, its going to come down to you making a complaint out of it.

Good luck

mum2one

furball wrote: »

An actual NP electrician read the meter in Sept this year as for the 4th time since 1999 NP insist i have a token meter still. This was taken out when i moved in in 1999. The electrician took a reading. The meter was last read 23/08/07 by a meter man but the bill estimate date is 19/10/07

Its a total long shot, but id they insist you have a token meter, are they trying to bill you twice, one for the token meter and 1 for the actual meter?

Terrylw1

olly300 wrote: »

By law your supplier has to check your meters every 2 years for safety as well as other reasons.

If they can't check then if they were a reasonable supplier they would send you a letter telling you that they need to check your meter then send you a letter normally 30 days letter threatening court action if you don't agree a time for access. Then send you more letters to this effect. (I lived in a rented house and got these letters. ) So N Powers reasonings are !!!!!!!!.

From the energywatch website-
"where suppliers were at fault for not billing a consumer, they will not backdate (or backbill) more than two years. This drops to a one year timeframe with effect from July 2007."

I suggest you write letter of complaint to N Power and send it to them by recorded delivery. In the letter state that:
1. You never prevented the meter man from reading your meter, and in fact he read the meter in the last 3 years. If you have your old bills go through them and you will see which bills are customer readings, estimates and meter man readings.* Then state which ones are meter man readings in your letter.
3. State that you will not be paying for more than one years under payment of electricity or gas as per the ERA code of practise, and that you do will not allow them to deduct £200 a month from your current account.
4. Ask for a new bill within 28 days for the one year you have under paid and a new figure for your monthly payments which is more reasonable as the payments suggested will put you in financial difficulties and they don't reflect the amount you use.
5. State you will refer them to energywatch if you don't hear from them within 28 days with a reasonable reply to your query.

After 28 days immediately contact energywatch on 08459 06 07 08

BTW N Power are unlikely to respond properly to your query but you need to give the utility company a reasonable timeframe to respond before complaining to the regulator. After you have sorted everything out switch suppliers to a company who is not known to screw up in this fashion.

*The codes used are explained on the back of the bills lots of suppliers use E for estimate, C for customer reading and no code for meter man readings.

Olly - I think you misunderstand the issue here.

The LDNO is legally obliged to check a supply is safe within 28 months. A reading is also seen as good practice but there is no obligation to obtain it on them, the Meter Operator or the Data Collector in a safety check. The Supplier is not legally responsible for the safety check issue in court at all as it's nothing to do with a Suppliers ability to bill or manage their Agents as they have not contract with the LDNO to do this as it's enforced directly.

There is also a rule that the Data Collector is supposed to take a reading by month 14. This becomes the responsibility of the Supplier as it relates to settlements. However, the industry is in poor shape so it's not enforced properly at this stage. It's also not related to the 28 month safety check issue. This is enforced by Elexon, not Ofgem.

Worth noting that Npower also operate further firm reading checks above what Ofgem & Elexon believe to be best practice. They do also go for the reading far before month 28, but then opertate a new pre-28 month process when it is approaching that time.

On the letter issue where no access, yes they do that. However, in the case of a non complying consumer it becomes a need for a warrant and some Suppliers have never reached that stage as Ofgem won't even advise them on it!

Now, the OP has had numerous visits through this period so everything has been done from a compliance point of view.

The issue is that the readings just have not been used. This is very different to the enforced policy on safety & MBR.

By the way, here is the actual text from Ofgem:

suppliers must stop ‘back-billing’ customers beyond two years, if no bill is issued and
the supplier is at fault. This will reduce to one year in 2007
energy suppliers must set up an independent body, with the power to award
compensation, to resolve disputes quickly, and
they must review their domestic customers’ contract terms to ensure compliance with

consumer rights legislation.

Whilst the Supplier may believe that the meaning is where they have not billed at all, it's not...it applies to billing of energy itself. So, they should be willing to backdown a bit. I have seen this debated on other threads and you are right on this. I know of Suppliers that support that, however Ofgem's statement uses the term 'bill' rather than energy in the statement. So, there is wriggling space in there.

Terrylw1

furball wrote: »

An actual NP electrician read the meter in Sept this year as for the 4th time since 1999 NP insist i have a token meter still. This was taken out when i moved in in 1999. The electrician took a reading. The meter was last read 23/08/07 by a meter man but the bill estimate date is 19/10/07

They all operate a billing window policy for when a reading is due. If the reading is not received within tis timeframe, you get an auto estimate.

So, they could not possible bill you to a reading on 23/08 if you bill was due in Oct. Ofgem would not agree with them doing it either.

If they believe you have a token meter there could be more issues involved here that we cannot see on the thread.

Check your bills. Can you see if your bills state you are on a token meter tariff or a credit standard one? The £200 could have been created due to an incorrect bill generated from a meter change. Can you see any big jumps in the readings?

Terrylw1

furball wrote: »

The meter was read again for the next bill 2 weeks ago I am going to give them another meter reading and tell them not to estimate any more bills. If i pay the ordinary quarterly bill but keep the rest of the amount back till the dispute is settled can i still move suppliers. Thankyou for all your help

Your reading cycle is not aligned with your billing cycle. So, this is going to happen with them forever. They can simply amend your billing cycle to fall inline with your reading cycle.

I'll bet the call centre won't be able to do it. However, per Olly's advice, if you are writing in - incorporate this.

It's very simple for them to do.

The main issue to address from there is:
- where has the catch up come from, an incorrect meter change or smply catching up due to under estimation.
- what will they write off.

Good luck