Switch to nPower

willij5

I've decided to switch my Gas & Electricity to nPower after using the comparision site recommended by MSE as it came out top.

Having received the initial 'thank you for switching to nPower', a phone call from a nice person in India, I've now had a letter through today saying that my unit rate will be higher than expected.

Apparently my gas is delievered via a pipe network partly owned by an Independan Gas Transportation Company. This means according to nPower I have to pay a slightly higher cost than when supplied gas by Transco.

Costs are to be:

up to and including 4572 kWh per year - 3.547p
over 4572 kWh per year - 1.463p

I'm currently with PowerGen (Online) and decided to switch as soon as I received an email from them saying their prices where going up.

This is the first I've heard about being supplied with different pipes (!) and have never been informed by PowerGen about this.

How do I verify this information? Is it worth me simply giving PowerGen a bell to check?

Also does anybody know how I go about comparing the costs? Is it still worth me switching to nPower as according to the letter I received today they have extended the cooling off period by 14 days.

Thanks in advance.

James.

NigeWick

willij5 wrote:

up to and including 4572 kWh per year - 3.547p
over 4572 kWh per year - 1.463p

That seems a lot, are you sure it's not 1.547p per kWh?

Nigel.

willij5

I've just double checked the letter and I've certainly got it correct. It does say per year tho.

I checked my last statement on the powergen website and I've used 3868 kWh so far this year gas wise. The statement was dated the 18th July so its fairly recent.

willij5

I've dug out the original letter that I received and it states the costs are:

2.943p up to 4572Kwh
1.514p over 4572Kwh

I also had a word with my neighbour and it turns out he's changing to nPower as well. He tells me he has changed suppliers many times and has never been told this.

Its all a bit confusing.

afk25

I would avoid n power like the plague, they are quite frankly one the worst companies I have had the misfortune of dealing with, I wouldn't trust a word they say. Its a very long story but they cannot estimate an account to save their lives and when I complained to them about this and a few other matters their staff were rude and unhelpful

Thankfully I'll be leaving them shortly

Woby_Tide

NigeWick wrote:

That seems a lot, are you sure it's not 1.547p per kWh?

Nigel.

The no standing charge tariffs generally are around that cost, it's a bit misleading but in reality each quarter your first 1143 units are at the higher rate, the remainder at the lower, it's just a different way of getting the standing charge

NigeWick

willij5 wrote:

I checked my last statement on the powergen website and I've used 3868 kWh so far this year gas wise

At the prices I pay, if that was for a complete year, it would be £103.18, against npower's £137.20 at your new (3.547p) price per kWh.

Nigel.

Hunnymonster

afk25 wrote:

I would avoid n power like the plague, they are quite frankly one the worst companies I have had the misfortune of dealing with, I wouldn't trust a word they say.

I can only agree with that - having been party to their questionable doorstep selling techniques (on the receiving end) for about 2 years - and their blatant lies "I can save you hundreds of pounds on your gas bill" (when the bill is only £220 per annum) - "yes please, save me two hundred pounds - what do you mean a figure of speech?"

Customer service as bad as the selling staff... and frankly I'd rather live in the dark with candles than use an nPower service. They were bad as North Eastern Electricity Board, got worse as Northern Electric and unbelievably got worse again as nPower.

willij5

Well I've still got time to cancel the contract with them. Is there a company people recommend? I wonder if its worth keeping it simple and sticking with British Gas?

Xbigman

If you have no problems with powergen then you should stick with them. Npowers prices will catch up with powergens by the end of the current price increasing cycle and you will get nothing but grief from them.
Regards




X

bunking_off

How old is your house?

If it's a new build, then there's a strong probability that it's on a private gas pipeline/meter (e.g. British Gas Connections). A few years ago, you'd have struggled to get any low cost energy deals as suppliers wouldn't touch them. Nowadays, you can get them, but for a surcharge. It could be that Powergen haven't caught up.

If, on the other hand, you live in an older property, might be worth clarifying with nPower whether they're mistaken about the status of your meter. I can't remember what the logic is, but it's pretty obvious from your MPR number.

BTW, how far down the process did they let you know this? I'm on a private meter, I got my Energy Supply Contract through this week from them and it reflects the "non private" rate...just wondering when they'll follow up with the hiked price. To be honest, can't say I'm too concerned...from the figures you say it means £30/yr surcharge, which from experience is the going rate.