NPower gas 'sculpting'

DirectDebacle

How much have people been compensated under the order to do so. I have not had anything apart from the £20 I had back in March 08 time when I complained.

I assume you are referring to the Ofgem decision re the May-Oct. 2007 period. This only applies to a very few customers who are low users of gas. To determine if you are one of these then you will need your bills for that period. If your total gas usage over this period exceeded 1262Kwh but was less than 2286kWh then you will fall into this category. The precise amount can be worked out from your bills but it would be easier in the first instance to contact npower and ask why you have not yet been compensated.

Thanks for the reply. I did deal with the 2007/2008 overcharge they gave me compensation of £20.00 not a lot I know. I just wondered if there were other dates involved. I dont have my bills back in 2004/2005 to check them, was it quite a small amount out.

It seems you accepted the initial 'goodwill' payment that npower were offering at that time. A shame because the full implications of what they had done hadn't been explored by then. As a result of all the hard work of valuable contributors to this thread, past and present, healthy 3 figure sums are now regularly offered by npower.

All is not lost. It is possible you could still make a claim. The claim would be based on the 2004/2005 overcharge (898kWh charged at the wrong price in my case) but you will need to request the bills covering that period from npower.

That is the first part of your claim and may not be much in terms of actual cash. However it opens the door to and greatly enhances the likelihood of npower offering a substantial amount under a breach of contract claim. Many have now found this to be a rewarding process.

Like switching suppliers, it requires time, effort and a willingness to do it. Therefore if you think this is for you please be prepared to commit. The contributors to this thread will give you all the support and advice they can and sacrifice many of their spare time hours to ensure you have the best possible case.

There have been many successes, not all are reported on here. If you are prepared to press on then it is likely that a worthwhile 3 figure sum will be achieved ( no guarantees though) as long as you have a claim.

sharonann

Looks like i did jump the gun by excepting the £20 refund at the time. It nearly covered my overcharge which if i remember rightly was about £28. My usage is to high for the compensation amount they are paying have just had a look at my bills.

As regards the 2004/05 overcharge. I transfered to Npower in Apr 05 so I am not sure if I would be effected by it. I have tried to request my bills from then, they have said I will have to write in to request them. Does it sound like its worth it, if it relates more to 2004 I will not be effected.

DirectDebacle

sharonann wrote: »

Looks like i did jump the gun by excepting the £20 refund at the time. It nearly covered my overcharge which if i remember rightly was about £28. My usage is to high for the compensation amount they are paying have just had a look at my bills.

As regards the 2004/05 overcharge. I transfered to Npower in Apr 05 so I am not sure if I would be effected by it. I have tried to request my bills from then, they have said I will have to write in to request them. Does it sound like its worth it, if it relates more to 2004 I will not be effected.

I doubt you have been affected as the actual period where the overcharge occurred was 1/10/04-31/3/05.

The only other option is to sue for breach of contract. In short when you joined npower in 2005 'seasonal weighting and the 'tariff year' were never explained to you. If they had been you would not have entered into a contract with them, therefore you were mis-sold the contract. Not an ideal option but a possibility.

sharonann

Thanks for all your help Direct Debacle that answered all my queries very well that was very kind of you. As regards the mis selling I think because I have had the £20 compensation I dont think I will be on very strong ground.

meggsy

meggsy wrote: »

Also noticed that Ed Mayo of Consumer Focus made a visit to MSE towers

http://edmayo.wordpress.com/

and now he has resigned, hope there's no connection with meeting up with Martin

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2009/jul/14/ed-mayo-resigns

hvaghela

hvaghela wrote: »

Hi everyone (DirectDebacle, Sterling, Meggsy)

Another update on my claim and previous post (#1151, p58).
I received a letter from npower this week from Paul Williamson - Head of Retail Pricing & Controls. Its a long winded letter essentially apologising for the delay in replying (initail claim sent in march) and describing the pricing structure.

I claimed £321.02 (stage 2 - 59.43, stage 4 - 211.59, costs 50). They have offered a goodwill gesture of £150. Do I take it or battle on? I know the final decision is mine, but your exeperience would be valuble in deciding which way to go.

I'm happy to PM you the letter (i've saved it as a PDF). Can I attach a PDF file to a PM? If not I could email it.

Thanks for the help.

Hvaghela

Hi All

Following on from post#1230 (page 62). I have decided to accept the £150 and will not be persuing the matter any further. I am content with the outcome:T. Thank you to everyone on this thread (especially DD and Sterling). Good luck to eveyone who is or is thinking of claiming.

Hvaghela

DirectDebacle

hvaghela wrote: »

Hi All

Following on from post#1230 (page 62). I have decided to accept the £150 and will not be persuing the matter any further. I am content with the outcome:T. Thank you to everyone on this thread (especially DD and Sterling). Good luck to eveyone who is or is thinking of claiming.

Hvaghela

Thank you for the update and the good news. I do hope others will follow your example. Goes to show what a little perserverance can do. npower consistently claim they have done nothing wrong and that their bills are correct, therefore there is no claim. After sending them a couple or so carefully worded letters, they decide to pay you almost three times the original amount, which they say wasn't even overcharged in the first place. I never knew there could be so much 'goodwill' in these recessionary times.

Well done.

Upwind

Following on from the success of hvaghela, I also have some more good news..


After quite a convoluted process, I am happy to report that npower have finally conceded to my demands and have sent me a cheque for £500.00 as a ‘goodwill gesture’ and settlement of my claim against them. I consider this to be a major success as initially my claim was to be for only £75.00, which represented the amount that I had estimated they had overcharged me by exceeding the primary units level within a calendar year between 1/4/2007 - 31/3/2008. I used Sterling’s excellent table:

See #1006 on page 51

And also the equally excellent ‘how to’ guide provided by DirectDebacle

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=19842623#post19842623

My initial letter of complaint was submitted in early May 09 and set out my claim for a refund of the overcharged units as indicated above. However, following the encouragement and prompts of DirectDebacle, I also decided to take the Stage 2 route (outlined by DirectDebacle in his ‘how to’ guide) and contest that during the period of my contract price rises had not been notified in to me in accordance with the requirements of the contract. The amount that I claimed was (if I am honest) a ‘best guess’ and I also added an amount for my own costs incurred (for time and money etc).

Anyway, to cut a long story short, after several lines of communication between myself and representatives from npower, matters were escalated to npower’s legal representatives and I was offered a ‘goodwill gesture’ to settle. I refused this and was subsequently offered an increased amount. Yet again I rejected this and eventually I was offered a ‘final goodwill offer’ of £500.00, which I have decided to accept.

I think that this represents a good return on my initial claim and also shows that npower are running scared. I honestly believe that if I had had enough time to continue the process, I would have eventually been paid off in full. As it was, I decided that I should take the offer on the table and move on.

If nothing else, it should hopefully demonstrate to others that it is possible to get justice (and some monetary refund) from npower and that they are particularly vulnerable if you are persistent enough.

Throughout this process I have to admit to receiving enormous encouragement, support and advice from both DirectDebacle and Sterling and I have to admit that without their collective efforts I may not have reached this point. I would therefore like to publicly thank them both wholeheartedly for all their efforts.

I hope in posting this that others are encouraged to pursue their claims and I would be glad to join both DirectDebacle and Sterling in volunteering my assistance to any prospective claimants.

1carminestocky

Can anyone tell me (a response from Martin would be most welcome) why MSE hasn't taken this grotesque bull by the horns? This would appear to be a scandal of potentially epic proportions but, unless I've missed it, not a peep from the consumer's champion. Why?

DirectDebacle

1carminestocky wrote: »

Can anyone tell me (a response from Martin would be most welcome) why MSE hasn't taken this grotesque bull by the horns? This would appear to be a scandal of potentially epic proportions but, unless I've missed it, not a peep from the consumer's champion. Why?

I suspect because of the apparent complexity of the issue. Over 1200 posts are testament to this. In an age of instant news, hotfixes and soundbites anything that can't be explained and resolved within 60 seconds doesn't get a look in.

It isn't just MSE, the press have virtually ignored the subject too. The exception is The Times who have been unstinting in their support but even this will have its limits.

I agree MSE have been more or less disinterested in the matter. I would have thought campaigning to recover £100m or so for consumers from one energy company would have been a real 'goer', but obviously not as interesting as 'Make 76p on Marg'.

Ofgem are now my focus of attention and they will be of even less interest to MSE.