Npower charge old couple over £1200 for 1 bed bungalow..?!?!

snadge

A friend of mine (old pensioner) has showed me his horrendeous bill from Npower for the year,
they live in a 1 bedroom bungelow and was told if they'd sign up paying the monthly estimated average rate at £58 month they would get £80 cashback...

so they paid £58 month as mentioned but didnt get thier £80 cashback THEN at the end of the year Npower said they wanted a further £580 toward thier fuel bill as thats what they used...??

about £1200... SURELY that cant be right for an old retired couple (whom one is disabled) living in a 1 bedroom bungelow....???

is there anything he can do...???


thanks

whatatwit

Is this for gas and electric or just electric?

Depending upon how long their appliances are on for each day, then I would think it's perfectly possible to use that amount of fuel.
Are the reading actual or estimated?

notbritishgas

snadge wrote: »

A friend of mine (old pensioner) has showed me his horrendeous bill from Npower for the year,
they live in a 1 bedroom bungelow and was told if they'd sign up paying the monthly estimated average rate at £58 month they would get £80 cashback...

so they paid £58 month as mentioned but didnt get thier £80 cashback THEN at the end of the year Npower said they wanted a further £580 toward thier fuel bill as thats what they used...??

about £1200... SURELY that cant be right for an old retired couple (whom one is disabled) living in a 1 bedroom bungelow....???

is there anything he can do...???


thanks

The average energy bill nowadays is more than £1000. A 1 bed property may be less, but being retired I guess the heating is on all day and that uses lots of energy.
You must give more information, ie how do they heat the property, did the £58 cover gas and electric.
The £80 cashback from npower is paid on the first electric bill after their anniversary date, so that would be more than one year after joining them.

UtilityMan_3

As always, copy invoices are a MUST as a starting point.

Daily, or weekly reads for the next few weeks, will give you some understanding as to whether the problem is usage.

There are lots of ways to stave off the debt, please just assure them not to worry.

You have started in the right place here. Good Luck!

angelavdavis

Have they had a meter reading or is this based on estimates? Might be worth checking their meter readings v billed usage.

snadge

thanks for replys...

Ive just been to see him but he wasnt in , his £58 covered both GAS & ELEC... he has 1 bedroom bungelow , we live in 1 bed flat and when we were with Npower our energy bill was only £60 month... so I fail to see how his can be £120 or near enough... yes £1000 may be the avg for a 3 bedroom house with family in it (my sisters 3bed 3kids energy bill is only about £750

I will try to contact them again later on

angelavdavis

Definitely check the meter reading against the bill's meter reading. My parents misread their meter reading and I discovered they had overpaid by nearly £600!!!

Premier_2

snadge wrote: »

thanks for replys...

Ive just been to see him but he wasnt in , his £58 covered both GAS & ELEC... he has 1 bedroom bungelow , we live in 1 bed flat and when we were with Npower our energy bill was only £60 month... so I fail to see how his can be £120 or near enough... yes £1000 may be the avg for a 3 bedroom house with family in it (my sisters 3bed 3kids energy bill is only about £750

I will try to contact them again later on

It's difficult to compare a flat with a bungalow.

A flat my well be surrounded by other flats on 5 sides that heat & insulate the flat in question.

A bungalow may well be detached, in which case it has no insulation/heat gain from neighbouring properties on any side.

... and remember it costs the same to watch tv in a room whether it is being watched by 2 elderly people or a large family. Similarly it costs the same to turn the oven on whether its for a single meal or a meal for more.

As others say, first check to ensure the meter readings on the bill are correct (not estimated). Then do a few weekly meter reads to see what consumptions levels are and how this compares with historical usage.

Did your friends move supplier to Npower for their £58 per month deal? If not, it seems strange that they got the estimate of monthly usage so wrong, even allowing for recent price rises. How does the current usage compare to historical usage?

If they did move supplier, check that Npower used the correct starting meter reading for billing too.

angelavdavis

I thought you might like to read the article that arrived from The Times Online today:

http://timesbusiness.typepad.com/money_weblog/2008/04/has-your-ener-1.html

Apparently, OfGem are investigating Npower following allegations of mis-selling, claiming sales agents have lied, etc to secure customers.

They are looking for people to tell their stories.