NPOWER pre payment meter and now a bill....

emmaBZ

hi just recieved a bill from npower saying we owe them £139.from 9 sept to 1st nov ..im on a pre payment token meter and it says i used £215 worth of elec but only put in £76 ( i actually put in £115 when i add up the breakdown of what i put in ) i dont understand how i can use more than i put in as if i the tokens i put in are used up then my elec goes off.. i dont have gas and my heating is solid fuel so not elec

Terrylw1

Hi,

It could be that the meter has not been updated to a new price.

Is the bill based on an actual meter reading rather than an estimate?

Also seems that some of your payments are missing.

An estimate would cause a problem and an actual reading would help marry this up for you. Have they adjusted your prices at all and thy have billed oyu the extra in this bill?

Is it a balance bought forward from a previous bill?

Difficult to say without more information.

shogs

I have this issue too. Have a card meter & because NPower havent been to change the tarrifs I have run up a debt (of about £200). I have looked this up on the internet and read this article.

http://www.energywatch.org.uk/uploads/energywatch_and_Citizens_Advice_Briefing_on_the_Problems_with_Token_Prepayment_Meters.pdf

Apparently some comanies right off this debt completely but NPower will charge you a limit of £70. They told me they were investigating my case & would revert (was told this would be some time). In the meantime I have changed my meter so I am paying DD (which they did with no problem even with arrears).
Hope you can access this docuement.
Shogs

plattinum

I'v also just left npower and received a bill for £104, whilst using a prepayment meter. They are claiming that this is for an old bill of £83 in 2004, the reason I had the meter installed in the first place, I was fuming, they cant explain why they now want £104, and I am certain that I payed this back through the meter, but they said the signal was never picked up by the card whilst charging it up at the paypoint. The meter was changed a year or two ago, so I have no idea where I stand or what will happen, not a happy bunny either!

Terrylw1

Platinum, may be worth you complaining at Energywatch. They & CAB have been trying to get Ofgem to outlaw this practice.

I think it's very unreasonable to charge you 3 years later! Energywatch may be able to help put some pressure on them.

Terrylw1

shogs wrote: »

I have this issue too. Have a card meter & because NPower havent been to change the tarrifs I have run up a debt (of about £200). I have looked this up on the internet and read this article.

http://www.energywatch.org.uk/uploads/energywatch_and_Citizens_Advice_Briefing_on_the_Problems_with_Token_Prepayment_Meters.pdf

Apparently some comanies right off this debt completely but NPower will charge you a limit of £70. They told me they were investigating my case & would revert (was told this would be some time). In the meantime I have changed my meter so I am paying DD (which they did with no problem even with arrears).
Hope you can access this docuement.
Shogs

There are only 3 companies I know of that operate this policy now. Others have backed down, however these are the big 3 for PP customers so own the market share.

Where have you seen the £70 limit? Would be useful if that could be posted on here because there are people on this site being charged more which makes me believe there is no limit (there never has been to my knowledge)

Worth noting that the CAB/Energywatch doc is a case study doc sent to Ofgem. Ofgem have agreed that there is a problem but at this stage have not agreed to any forced changes.

plattinum

Thanks Terrylw1, I have sent in my complaint to energywatch today, so guess I will have to sit tight and see what happens. The thing that annoyed me most was the fact that I rang them about a year after I had the meter installed to ask if the debt had been paid back, and was told that it had,they said, send in your old card and we will issue you with a new one, why I dont know, because apparently the meter resets itself once the outstanding balance is repaid. So I dont have the original card either. Npower also charge you £95 a year to keep a prepayment meter installed in your property, so when you find you are still owing them money and being charged to do so they really ain't a good idea.

kay1a

Hi

I had the same problem, had my pre pay meter put in a year ago today. Got first bill in feb was £135, rang up to complain as I know I didnt owe it, tried fobbing me off saying it was from old meter they took out, but only owed £3 off that, so told them to look again.

Anyway 3 bills later and £350 owing cheeky gits, several phone calls letters and emails later still nothing. I managed to figure out whoever was reading the meter was entering the readings wrong, so I was being charged night for day and vise versa.

One last phone call, month past nothing, complained to energywatch online, they phoned me the next day and it was sorted in 3 weeks.

So give energywatch a go costs nothing and they are very good.

Hope you get yours sorted.

TheImportanceOfBeingIdle

I've just received a letter today saying I owe them money becuase of THEIR failure to calibrate the meter.
Last year British Gas wanted to get their money from 150,000 users because they failed to adjust the meters. After being told not to by the government, they wrote it off. It's a disgusting practice. The meters belong to them and as such THEY should make sure the meters are working correctly.

I've contacted energywatch and they said there was nothing they could do. However if enough people complain about these sly, underhand tactics then they'll look into it. So please do complain. It's bad enough that users of pre-payment meters pay above the odds for their supply as it is.

It is a fact that energywatch and the energy companies have sat down and agreed that anything over £70 will be wiped off and the MAXIMUM the customer will pay is just £70. In my opinion, this is wrong. If the company can't get it right then the customer shouldn't have to suffer.

Terrylw1

TheImportanceOfBeingIdle wrote: »

I've just received a letter today saying I owe them money becuase of THEIR failure to calibrate the meter.
Last year British Gas wanted to get their money from 150,000 users because they failed to adjust the meters. After being told not to by the government, they wrote it off. It's a disgusting practice. The meters belong to them and as such THEY should make sure the meters are working correctly.

I've contacted energywatch and they said there was nothing they could do. However if enough people complain about these sly, underhand tactics then they'll look into it. So please do complain. It's bad enough that users of pre-payment meters pay above the odds for their supply as it is.

It is a fact that energywatch and the energy companies have sat down and agreed that anything over £70 will be wiped off and the MAXIMUM the customer will pay is just £70. In my opinion, this is wrong. If the company can't get it right then the customer shouldn't have to suffer.

The government have not told Suppliers to wipe off debts and remove this practice.

Ofgem at this stage have not ruled against Suppliers doing it. Energywatch & CAB are trying to get Ofge to do this now. Ofgem have ackowledged how unfortunate it is, but they have not made a change to the industry to outlaw this practice.

All but 3 Suppliers have backed out of this (inc BGas) out of good faith. They have not been instructed to do so. The 3 remaining ones also make up the lions share of the PP market.

Ofgem meerly changed the backbilling policy from it's existing 2 years in 2005 to 1 year in 2007.

Incidentely, meters do not belong to Suppliers. Where Suppliers belong to the same energy group as a Meter Operator (MAP/MAM), they are treated completely seperately in terms of compliance and auditing.

Now, if the government & Ofgem had outlawed this practice - how come Energywath would not help you? If it has been deemed an illegal practice by the Ombudsman, then EW would have no trouble getting the Supplier to write it off.

This is why I am also asking about the £70 limit. Why would Suppliers who have rmeoved this practice place a limit on it. Also, why do we have people on these threads who have EW helping them but they owe more than £70?

Another question - hat if the £70 was accumulated in 1 year? Ofgem's backbilling policy would allow them to make this charge anyway.

In my opinion, this practice should be banned where the debt is over 1 year - however only Ofgem can do that.

TheImportanceOfBeingIdle

Terrylw1 wrote: »

The government have not told Suppliers to wipe off debts and remove this practice.

Last year BG wanted to claim back money from some 150'000 customers. They were pressured by OFGEM and MP's. I can't find the newspaper article but there is a bit of info here http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-knowledge/50450-fuel-bills-victory.html
Nowhere did I say the government have told suppliers to wipe off debts and remove this practice. It was one case.

Ofgem at this stage have not ruled against Suppliers doing it. Energywatch & CAB are trying to get Ofge to do this now. Ofgem have ackowledged how unfortunate it is, but they have not made a change to the industry to outlaw this practice.

All but 3 Suppliers have backed out of this (inc BGas) out of good faith. They have not been instructed to do so. The 3 remaining ones also make up the lions share of the PP market.

Ofgem meerly changed the backbilling policy from it's existing 2 years in 2005 to 1 year in 2007.

Incidentely, meters do not belong to Suppliers. Where Suppliers belong to the same energy group as a Meter Operator (MAP/MAM), they are treated completely seperately in terms of compliance and auditing.
Irrelevant of who they belong to, it is the suppliers responsibility to make sure they are calibrated correctly.

Now, if the government & Ofgem had outlawed this practice - how come Energywath would not help you? If it has been deemed an illegal practice by the Ombudsman, then EW would have no trouble getting the Supplier to write it off.

I didn't say the government and/or OFGEM had outlawed this practice.

This is why I am also asking about the £70 limit. Why would Suppliers who have rmeoved this practice place a limit on it. Also, why do we have people on these threads who have EW helping them but they owe more than £70?

Again, where have I said suppliers have removed this practice????!!!!????
The £70 is what suppliers and OFGEM agreed. Ring energywatch if you want it clarifying.

Another question - hat if the £70 was accumulated in 1 year? Ofgem's backbilling policy would allow them to make this charge anyway.

In my opinion, this practice should be banned where the debt is over 1 year - however only Ofgem can do that.

This practice should be banned full stop.