NPower gas 'sculpting'

DirectDebacle

Simplest way to is to get all your gas bills from npower. Start with the latest (most recent) one and note how many units were charged at the higher rate. Work back through each bill until you have gone back a year. Add up all the units you have been charged at the high rate. If it is more than 4572 then you have been 'done'. Note this is for GAS only so don't include any electricity units. If more than the 4572 get a complaint logged with npower asap. Good luck.

RM5_2

Thanks to everyone who, like me, submitted their evidence to Ofgem. Unlike Energywatch, Ofgem have real teeth and are hopefully going to do something. It may take some time, so be patient. Read http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=426653
if you need some encouragement.

It took over a year for Ofwat's first report on Donnelly's accusations to appear. On March 7, 2006, the watchdog ordered Severn Trent to repay £42m to its customers. At the same time, it handed over a file to the Serious Fraud Office.

moneysavingwannabe

DirectDebacle wrote: »

Simplest way to is to get all your gas bills from npower. Start with the latest (most recent) one and note how many units were charged at the higher rate. Work back through each bill until you have gone back a year. Add up all the units you have been charged at the high rate. If it is more than 4572 then you have been 'done'. Note this is for GAS only so don't include any electricity units. If more than the 4572 get a complaint logged with npower asap. Good luck.

Hi,

Thanks for your advice .....off to find bills! :wave:

DirectDebacle

Apologies for the length of this post. I have written a lengthy letter to npower. Most but not all of it is reproduced below. There may be some points there that you may like to address to npower if you haven't already.


Thank you for your letter dated 30th April, 2008, explaining your seasonally weighted charging percentages for the first 4572 Kwh units in a year and also your notion of a year.
You seem to be confused as to when seasonally weighting commenced. You say in, paragraph 4, that you started to seasonally weight with effect from 4th December, 2006. In paragraph 5 you say, ‘The first time we introduced seasonal weighting, between April 2006 and April 2007, the percentage of the annual primary block billed each month was as follows:’ (list of percentages shown) This requires clarification. Exactly when did npower start ‘weighting’?
It is clear that npower has introduced such an elaborate billing system that they do not understand it themselves. I can only assume that npower have invented a new definition of a year purely as an attempt to justify the systematic overcharging caused by using a ‘weighted’ system. Your letter states and I quote,
‘When we publish gas charges we state that 4,572 higher-priced ‘Primary Block’ kWH will be applied each year. The year quoted is a ‘tariff year’ that begins from the introduction of any changed charges. When npower change the way customers are charged a new “tariff year” commences from the date it changed.’ End of quote.
It is unreasonable to use the word ‘year’ and expect anyone to interpret it to mean the obscure and ambiguous definition invented by npower. I have scoured your terms and conditions and your price table but cannot find any reference to a ‘tariff year’. In a leaflet enclosed with my March, 2008, gas bill there is a small section which refers to ‘seasonal weighting’. The word ‘year’ is used three times. In that section the phrase, ‘tariff year’ is not used, mentioned or in any way referred to. In the definitions section of your terms and conditions the word ‘Tariff’ is listed. This is how you define ‘tariff’ in your terms and conditions:
Tariff
The rate we have agreed with you for each unit (kilowatt-hour or kWh) of electricity or gas that you use under this agreement.
As a ‘tariff year’ is, according to npower, an integral part of the tariff it should be defined somewhere in your terms and conditions. As it isn’t, it need only be treated as a recent and irrelevant invention by npower. ‘Tariff Year’ does not form part of any contract I have entered into with npower. In regards to calculating the amount of primary block units over a year or part of a year it can be disregarded. There is no such thing as a ‘tariff year’. Under our agreement the term does not exist either in fact, print or implication.
I will be referring to a year with its’ plain English meaning. That is a period of 365 days or in the case of a leap year 366 days. Once npower have grasped that, the rest of it should be relatively simple to follow. I would draw your attention to the mark npower display at the very end of their terms and conditions. I note these terms and conditions are current and last revised in 09/07.
(In the letter I copied and pasted the 'Crystal Mark' from the Plain English Campaign npower proudly display at the very end of their terms and conditions)

You state that you introduced seasonal weighting from April 2006 as regards the primary block of 4572 Kwh subject to the higher charge. You clearly state that these units are allocated over a year. It is logical that a year beginning on the 1st April, 2006 would end on 31st March 2007. The next year for the primary block of 4572 would start on 1st April 2007 and end on 31st March, 2008 and so on.
Having used information provided by your company I can tell you that for the year 1st April, 2007 to 31st March 2008 I have been charged 6516 Kwh at the high rate, 1944 more high rate units in a year than your tariff states. This includes the overcharging on my latest bill.
In your letter you admit you have breached your own terms and conditions. By altering the ‘weighting’ in May 2007 and altering the rate at which you charged for the low rate units, I paid more for my gas than I would if it had remained unchanged. Therefore that was a price increase. Under your terms and conditions you are required to give notification of price increases.
Similarly with effect from 1st November, 2007, you increased the amount of high rate units I was charged in a year from 4572 to 6516. Remember the year is 1st April, 2007-31st March, 2008. That is an alteration to your tariff and a price increase which you failed to notify me of. It is an increase from £313.60 to £432.59. It is 37.94% more than your published prices. Put another way, it is a 42.52% increase on your published tariff rate of 4572 KWh per year. No notification of this increase was made to me within 65 working days of this change.
Had I been aware of your true pricing structures and policies I would have switched supplier long ago. It is only since receiving your letter dated 30th April, 2008 that your true pricing has been revealed and has enabled a fair comparison with alternative suppliers to be made.
Your lack of openness has caused me to remain an npower customer for longer than I would have and to be a victim of your systematic and concealed overcharging.
Here is the wording of your terms and conditions:
More about this agreement
Changes to these agreement terms
We may change the terms under which we supply gas or electricity at any time. If the changes put you in a worse position, we will tell you about them within 65 Working Days. If you do not accept the changes, you may end this agreement by changing supplier. The changes will not apply to you if within 10 Working Days of being told about the changes, you tell us that you are ending the agreement, and within the next 15 Working Days we receive notice through industry processes that another supplier will begin to supply your home within a reasonable period of time.
Since the introduction of ‘weighting’ in April, 2006, npower have been in breach of their terms and conditions as follows:
The introduction of ‘weighting’ was a significant change to your published tariff and it put me in a worse position. By not informing me of how you were charging me for my gas I was unable to calculate my bill or check its’ accuracy from the information provided on it or budget for future bills.
It made it impossible for me to make a true comparison with other suppliers, or to make an informed decision whether it was worth my while to switch suppliers or not.
Prior to weighting being introduced I was able to: calculate my bill, check it for accuracy, budget my gas usage and make an informed decision as to how npower compared to its’ competition. ‘Weighting’ disadvantaged me in all these areas and unfairly benefitted npower.
Under the terms and conditions you were obliged to inform me of these changes within 65 working days. Your terms and conditions are ambiguous as to whether this period of 65 days is before or after the change takes place. In either case you failed to comply with it.
Providing false, misleading or inaccurate information to attract new customers or retain existing customers is a serious matter.
You have been in breach of your terms and conditions since April, 2006. As you are aware had you given the proper notice and given me the opportunity to object to these changes then, the changes would not have been applied and our contract would cease. The letter you sent informing me of these changes is dated 30th April, 2008. Therefore all gas charges applied to my account prior to this date and as far back as 1st, April, 2006 need to be recalculated at the tariff which applied immediately before the 1st April, 2006. To assist you I have listed the applicable tariff. Also all charges applied to my account from 30th April, 2008, will also be charged at the pre- 1st April, 2006 tariff. This is in accordance with your terms and conditions and will apply until such time as my account is switched to my new supplier.
Because you only informed me of these changes on 30th, April, 2008, in accordance with the terms and conditions I am now informing you within the ten working day deadline that I am ending our agreement, such as it is. I cannot be held responsible for industry processes and as such object to the condition in the terms and conditions which requires that you receive notice within 15 working days through industry processes of another supplier supplying my home. This is an unfair condition. Below is the regd. address for the company that will be supplying me with gas as soon as it can practicably be arranged. It is deemed that upon receipt of this document that npower have received full notice that a change of supplier will take place in a reasonable time. If you require confirmation from my new supplier of the change within 15 working days, then it is incumbent upon you to obtain the confirmation from the supplier.

From the information provided by you from 1st April, 2006 to 1st April, 2008, I have been charged a total of £xxxx incl. V.A.T.
The correct charge, using the pre April, 2006 tariff is £xxxx
You have overcharged me £xxxx (more than £300)
This overcharge occurred because under the requirements of your terms and conditions you failed to notify me of changes in the way you charge for gas from April, 2006.
I request an immediate refund of this overcharge.
To cover the cost of investigating this matter, phone calls to your customer services, letters, stamps and stationary in dealing with your overcharging I request payment of £75.00.
If the above sums are not paid within seven working days from the date of receipt of this letter (sent recorded delivery) then recovery proceedings will be started through the County Court.
Your sincerely,
Mr. A Ghast. ( Top prize of a lapdance from Anne Widdicumb for the best name to sign off)

DirectDebacle

Further to my last post try not to get too wrapped up with the 'sculpting' aspect. Essentially it is only a mechanism whereby the overcharging takes place. You don't even really need the percentages. As long as you have been charged for more than the 4572 units in a year you have cause to complain. npower are unlikely to dispute the figures as they are a matter of record and easily proved by simple mathematics.

In my opinion the real issue is over a 'tariff year' and how it works. This invention of a tariff year is the only way npower can attempt to justify what they are doing and is the very foundation of their defence. Without it the whole 'sculpting' issue comes crashing down around their ears and opens them up to be severely criticised on many aspects of their domestic gas supply business. So don't be drawn into an argument with them over what a tariff year is. Just refuse to accept that it even exists. Read their terms and conditions carefully so that you fully understand them. Examine every piece of literature that you have that came from them through the post and see if a 'tariff year' is mentioned anywhere. Don't throw their leaflets away. I even checked the dictionary (a good one). You will find Financial Year, Gap Year, Solar Year and all manner of definitions of a year. You won't find tariff year. It doen't exist except within the small world of npower and it is a well guarded secret unless you complain about your gas bill. Keep asking them where a tariff year is defined anywhere in their terms and conditions. I think in a previous post Taffyscot had just joined npower and they were telling him 4572 units were charged evenly either quarterly, monthly or daily, or in whatever he liked really. Bet he hasn't got that in writing. So keep pressing them. Preferably get something in writing from them. One or two of us have and npower tie themselves up in knots with what they say.

Cardew

The key issue is, as you say, being charged more than 4,572 primary units in a 12 month period.

Surely even if Npower restart their 'tariff year' every few weeks it cannot then make you pay for more primary units than the 4,572. I wonder if you are playing into NPower's hands by getting drawn into discussions about that term(Tariff year)

To explain:

Say their sculpting means you pay x% in Jan, y% in Feb, z% in Mar etc etc for the 12 months.

No matter at what date in the year Npower reset the 'tariff year' you will still pay exactly the same.

Take the example where Npower reset the tariff year in June and again in February - it makes no difference - you still pay for 4572 in a 12 month period.

The overpayment was simply caused by them suspending Sculpting last summer.(to change their computer system) So at a time when you should have been paying for low amounts of primary units, (to compensate for the high amounts in winter) you paid for extra units.

DirectDebacle

Thank you for the comments..." Surely even if Npower restart their 'tariff year' every few weeks it cannot then make you pay for more primary units than the 4,572. I wonder if you are playing into NPower's hands by getting drawn into discussions about that term(Tariff year)"

Without the concept of a tariff year this thread would probably not exist. People would notice the overcharge and complain, npower would give some excuse, say they are sorry for the mistake and re-fund everybody. Sometime after March 31st 2008 we would add up the high units charged from 1st April, 2007-31/3/08 and they would come to 4572. No harm done, everybody happy and great customer service from npower.

Ask yourself why this has not happened and the reason given for it not happening.

I have specifically stated that I will not accept a 'tariff year' and after receiving their definition neither should anybody else. Other than rejecting the concept of a 'tariff year' I have nothing else to say on it. End of story.
If you haven't read the extract of my recent letter to npower then you should. Then you will understand what I am saying.

I don't find giving examples of where 'sculpting' might work very helpful.

Some people may think that 'sculpting' is a great idea and that this definition of a 'tariff year' dreamed up by npower is the best thing since sliced bread. They might think that npowers terms and conditions are great too and after they have agreed a direct debit so their bank account can be plundered whenever npower need a bit of cash and they look at the terms and conditions which almost say npower can charge whatever they like, whenever they like and however they like they may think of recommending all their friends and family to sign up with them too. That is a thought I don't share.

Unless npower dramatically shift their position then I expect to be taking them to the county court. I am also looking forward to receiving my switching date.

Cardew

If you look back on my posts in this thread you will see I have been vociferous in my condemnations of NPower and their scam; I suggested taking them to court etc.

Therefore I can hardly be accused of defending NPower.

Sculpting is not a great idea, there are zero advantages for the customer. However sculpting as such does not disadvantage anyone as it will not lead to more than 4562 primary units being charged, regardless of when they reset the 'tariff year'.

I have read your letter and there is nothing in it that I disagree with about your definitions.

My point, to put it bluntly, is that IMO your concentration on the resetting of a tariff year is not the cause of you being charged for more than 4572 primary units. The cause of that overcharging was the suspension of sculpting last year. so at a time when you should have been paying for few primary units you ended up paying for 380 each month(1/12th of 4562)

I am certainly not trying to be critical of your input as everyone would surely like to see Npower hammered for their fraud.

However so we don't get at cross-purposes(or in case I have missed something) perhaps you would give your reasoning(with examples if possible) how re-setting the 'tariff year' (not suspending it) can entail a customer paying more than 4572 units.

This quote from colonelhall gives the daily primary units charged when sculpting is in force.

January - 28.46 kwh
February- 31.51 kwh
March - 8.76 kwh
April - 9.04 kwh
May - 1.47 kwh
June - 1.58 kwh
July - 1.47 kwh
August - 1.47 kwh
September-1.52 kwh
October - 8.75 kwh
November- 29.41 kwh
December -28.41 kwh

For instance if they reset it on 01 May 2008, and again on, say, 01 July and again on 01 April 2009; how would this cause a customer to pay for more than 4,572 units in a 12 month period?

colonelhall

My contract started in October 2007. After a year, I would expect to be able to look at the higher rate units and expect to be charged 4572. If I have been charged 6300 units, then I have been overcharged. Simple.

The question is, why haven't the newspapers and t.v. consumer programmes been on to this?

DirectDebacle

Cardew wrote: »

If you look back on my posts in this thread you will see I have been vociferous in my condemnations of NPower and their scam; I suggested taking them to court etc.


Firstly let me say if I have caused you offence, that was not my intention. I am fully aware of the valuable contributions you have made to this thread and I wholeheartedly applaud your condemnation of npower. I agree with your argument that if the 'sculpting' is adjusted as you say then 4572 units will be charged.

Perhaps I was not as precise as I thought I was. I do not contend that the re-setting of a 'tariff year' ( I am becoming to loathe that term) was the cause of the overcharging. My argument is that the invention of the term and its' definition is the reason npower give for justifying the overcharge and therefore refusing to accept there has been any overcharging. I repeat their definition:

When we publish gas charges we state that 4,572 higher-priced ‘Primary Block’ kWH will be applied each year. The year quoted is a ‘tariff year’ that begins from the introduction of any changed charges. When npower change the way customers are charged a new “tariff year” commences from the date it changed.’

Now without that little gem, where do they stand. They are left with what you and I regard as a year which would mean that in the 12 month period from 1st April 07 - 31st March 08 they will have overcharged customers £x amount and have to cough up.

Many on here have spoken of the period of 'suspending sculpting' last summer. I do not think it was suspended. It was applied as per your figures in April 07 and then they raised it in May through to October and then raised it again in November. According to their definition above they can raise or lower it whenever they want. In a previous post of mine I pointed out that from 11th March this year to 1st April this year they had billed me for 281 high rate units. The monthly units for March 08 on their figures is 271. So they billed me for over 31 days units in a 20 day period. The way npower have behaved so far there is no way of knowing if this is an error or if they have altered the rates again. They have never made these rates public and for good reason. The same reasoning applies to 'tariff year'.

npower will not dispute the amount of units you say you have been charged over a year unless your calculations are way off base. What they do is tell you you haven't been overcharged because of the 'tariff year'. That is why I am banging on about it and trying to find any way I can to negate it. I think any reasonable person would find their 'tariff year' ridiculous. However I am not a court and neither am I a lawyer. You can be rest assured that npower will fight this to the bitter end as the stakes are so high (for them). Not only will they argue that a 'tariff year' is perfectly legitimate but they will try to use their terms and conditions to support their argument.

I am trying to move this thread on. We all agree that for the customer 'sculpting' is a raw deal and the mathematics of whether more than 4572 have been charged is relatively simple. npower have never disputed the maths and admit there was an overcharge which they say they offset by altering their gas prices in May. But they go on to say that everything is ok and no-one was really overcharged because of the 'tariff year'. I am convinced it all comes down to what a year is. This in turn is going to involve interpreting their terms and conditions and pricing applications. Unfortunately it is a lot more complex than a simple 'I should have been charged 4572 and you charged me 6572' or whatever. In my letter I have tried to make points revolving around their terms and conditions and what they mean. I have steered away from the mathematics and percentage side of it as much as was possible.. I am sure this is the way to go but as I said I am no legal eagle and was hoping someone else would take a look at the T & C and see what they could find. Bottom line is I think this a case of unfair and broken contract. I am unsure of my ground, but will continue the battle with them. This isn't about money for me. It is about principle, getting justice for the victims and preventing it happening to others, most of all the vulnerable who will suffer the most under 'sculpting' if it is allowed to continue. At the moment there is almost a stand-off. It needs to be decided so we can all move on, to alternative suppliers preferably, and I think the way forward is the way I am going. Attack the T & Cs and 'tariff year' and go to 'small claims' if necessary. This will put many off but I hope there willl be others willing to pick up this baton. I will continue along this road and hope that other will join me. If anyone can think of an alternative route to take then i would love to hear it. Jeez just looked at the time. G'night.