NPower gas 'sculpting'

janequeenie

DirectDebacle wrote: »

An npower spokesperson said,

"We are accountable to Ofgem who apply a much more rigourous regime than the S.F.O. Ofgem investigate us constantly and almost always find us to be mainly innocent",

adding,

"The mistakes are actually optional extras which come included at additional cost. Customers automatically buy them when they choose npower. They can opt out by choosing another supplier but will not receive the same standard of service that npower offer"

you can read alot into this "Ofgem investigate us constantly" why would they do this if they werent cause for concern !!

Ofgem who apply a much more rigourous regime than the S.F.O. -to make this statement it suggests they have been investigated by S.F.O if they can compare the two.

almost always find us to be mainly innocent", --the worry words are almost and mainly in this statement.

DirectDebacle

Sorry janequeenie it was a spoof quote but as you point out not far from the truth. AFAIK SFO have never investigated npower. The SFO refused my complaint against them on the grounds it wasn't within their remit.

jamin008

Is there a number I can call to check if I am due a refund? I have moved from the address in 07/08 when with NPower?

DirectDebacle

jamin008 wrote: »

is there a number i can call to check if i am due a refund? I have moved from the address in 07/08 when with npower?

0800 9757984

You will need your A/C no. and the full postal address in 07/08

janequeenie

DirectDebacle wrote: »

Sorry janequeenie it was a spoof quote but as you point out not far from the truth. AFAIK SFO have never investigated npower. The SFO refused my complaint against them on the grounds it wasn't within their remit.

lol, looked so much like some of the drivel they spout.

meggsy

As npower are contacting past and present customers during November and we don't want anyone to miss the news I'm bumping this thread back to where it belongs on the first page

There is also a very fast moving 'Grabbit' board where refund amounts are being posted ...

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=2784452&page=3

DirectDebacle

When I was conducting my claim back in 2008 it was for two separate overcharging periods. These were the 2007/2008 period which customers are now being re-paid and the other period was for 2004/5 because a change on 1/10/04 caused a similar overcharge.

At the time I assumed that all customers were moved to seasonal weighting on 1/10/2004. This assumption I have now found to be wrong.

Having recently seen npowers explanation of how a customers payment for the 2007/8 refund was calculated part of the payment is for excess units charged over the year Jan 06 - Jan 07.

This customers bills show that on 1/10/2006, in conjuction with a price increase, was was moved from the first 1143kWh per qtr charged at the higher rate to a seasonally weighted profile, which caused the excess to appear in npowers calculation.

When RWE took over npower in March 2002 and formed RWEnpower the original npower was made up of 7 smaller companies.

These companies were:

Calortex
Independent Energy
MEB
MEB Powerline
National Power Energy Direct
Yorkshire Electricity
Northern Electric & Gas

It would be interesting to know when customers, who were with any of the above companies, were moved from the Standing Charge single price for gas to the two tier pricing and 4572kWh Primary block method of charging. Also when they were moved from a flat rate (381kWh per month or 1143kWh per qtr) to a seasonally weighted profile.

I was with Calortex and 1/4/2003 was the date I was moved to the two price system. I was moved to seasonal weighting on 1/10/2004. That doesn't mean all ex Calortex customers were moved on those dates (although the likelihood is they were)

I found out that some ex Northern Electric & Gas customers were moved on 1/10/06.

It is possible npower have been creating this overcharging since 1/10/2003 or earlier but not before 1/4/2003. There are the customers of 5 other companies whose charging history we cannot be sure of. It is not confined to these 5 companies either. Anyone joining npower as a new customer after 1/4/2003 could also have been similarly affected.

It is known that when RWE took over these companies there were between them 1.8m gas customers. According to Ofgem by Oct. 2009 52% of gas customers had never switched. There must be 10's,000 of customers of these former companies who were still with npower at the time of the May/November 2007 changes.

It would be interesting if any could make themselves known in order to try to get the true picture of what has been going on.

Once is a mistake. Twice a coincidence and three times a pattern. At the moment we know of four changes that caused overcharging. So what is four? A modus operandi perhaps.

Sterling

The facts relating to Npower’s gas sculpting scandal are well known and contained in many posts in this thread (and its associated threads).

The other scandal in this affair relates as we know to the energy industry regulator, Ofgem, and is twofold.

First was the unbelievable negligence of Ofgem. It turned out that Ofgem had made an appallingly negligent blunder, which it subsequently made every effort to keep quiet. As we now know, Ofgem had stupidly delayed commencing its investigation of Npower by two months until the twelve month time limit ran out and it was too late to exercise its statutory powers.

The other part of this scandal was Ofgem’s efforts to hide this incredible blunder, which had left it powerless to impose any sanction on Npower at all. Somehow it had to fudge its investigation, which is exactly what it did, as part of a cover-up of Watergate proportions.

Part of Ofgem’s cover-up is the way it worded its report dated 7th April 2009 to Consumer Focus following its so-called investigation. It gave Consumer Focus the deliberately misleading impression that Ofgem had not received the complaint against Npower until after the time limit had expired. This was a blatant deception which Ofgem’s senior management appear to have endorsed.

On 28th April 2009, I made a formal complaint to Ofgem about the conduct of its investigation. Under Ofgem’s own internal complaints procedure my complaint should have been handled in an honest and open way. Instead, management closed ranks, and I was told that my complaint was dismissed. I appealed this decision, which should also have resulted in an unbiased appraisal of the facts at an even higher management level, but again I was told that Ofgem had done nothing wrong at all, and again my complaint was dismissed.

We now know of its horrendous blunder, and that Ofgem was at fault after all, and that the rejection of my complaint (at both complaint levels) was merely part of its disgraceful cover-up.

In the summer of 2010, the Department of Energy and Climate Change undertook a review of Ofgem, and invited companies and the public alike to contribute to the process, and all the contributions can be found here http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/consultations/ofgem_review/ofgem_review.aspx

I was one of only two independent contributors (“Independent 1”), all other contributors all being corporate bodies etc. The contributions covered a wide range of topics under Ofgem’s control, but a theme that cropped up more than once is “Who regulates the regulator?” Without doubt this is a question that needs serious consideration.

My own contribution contained recommendations that investigations of complaints against energy companies should in future be handled by another body such as the OFT and not Ofgem. I also recommended that complaints against Ofgem itself should in future be handled by another body such as ACAS. After all, if Ofgem cannot be trusted to handle these matters in an honest and proper fashion, then my suggestions are the inevitable result.

Ofgem has shown that it is primarily concerned with protecting its members, the energy companies, whose subscriptions pay virtually all of Ofgem’s running costs, including all wages and generous salaries. The trouble is that Ofgem is supposed to protect the public against the energy companies pulling stunts like Npower’s, instead here it ended up protecting Npower.

janequeenie

hi, does anybody have a copy of the 2007 terms and conditions they could mail me.

thanks

DirectDebacle

janequeenie wrote: »

hi, does anybody have a copy of the 2007 terms and conditions they could mail me.

thanks

I have the T & C dated Sept. 2007.

P.M your email and I'll send them to you.