Extortionate Npower Bill

[Stressed35]

Hi All,


I have just registered on here in the hope that someone can help me out of a very stressful situation.


I moved into a lovely farmhouse in April 2012. We have a large log burner which heats the house and water, plus electric showers. My first three gas bills came in very small (approx £12, £24, and £118 (obviously the winter bill was higher))


This seemed about right as the heating is rarely on from spring and is turned back on in late October but only fired up here and there for speed. During the winter months we used the log burner as much as possible to avoid unnecessary bills. Noone was home during the day so there was no need to have the heating on anyway.


Npower sent numerous estimated bills which I compared at the time with the meter. They were never more than a few units out so I never thought much more about it and just paid the amount on the bill.


Now for the shock! A few months ago a bill for £2,500 turned up on my doorstep from Npower claiming that my estimated bills were wrong and i'd been undercharged. How can that be when the meters were always reasonably correct????


The Npower representative on the phone actually said to me that my house was far too cheap to run so the bill must be incorrect, then contradicted herself by saying she'd compared our usage to the previous owner who's bill were lower. We turned the boiler down when we moved in and the previous owner didn't work and sat at home all day so surely her bills would have been higher.


I opened a dispute and have monitored my meter but fail to see how such a bill could ever have accumulated. All we have working continuously throughout the year is my gas hob which barely makes the meter move.


A lovely bailifff came round and we explained the situation to him and he agreed with us. He even got onto Npower to try and resolve it for us giving them meter readings and arguing our case, pointing out that during their recent 'system changes' our reference numbers have changed. Even him and the guy on the phone couldn't make head nor tail of anything nor calculate a correct bill.


We thought that might move things along and it did in a fashion ... just backwards not forwards! Npower wrote to us apologising for their billing errors and explained that there have been some issues recently as they updated the systems and they are working to resolve everything as quickly as possible. "At last!" I thought and looked at the new 'amended bill'. ... £3000!!!!


This is where you're all going to think i'm a bit backwards but the next plan of action I had was to actually rely purely on the boiler to heat the house instead of the log burner to see how much gas it would actually use. I have checked the meter today and I have used 685 units since 23/07/13. On that reckoning there would be no way, even using the boiler during the colder days and not the burner since we moved in, that I could have run such a bill up. My house has lovely thick walls and holds its heat well. I only ever have my thermostat set at 15 degrees.


Does anyone else have any advice as to where I go now? A big bailiff van pulled up outside my house yesterday and started to get out. I rang my partner to come home (I'll explain quickly in a minute), at which point the bailiff looked at me on the phone in the window and sped off pulling up further down the road.


Unfortunately this caused a minor blackout due to my increased heart rate which is why I wanted my partner home from work. I haven't been 'well' since last February when I started collapsing for no reason. I am in the middle of a run of MRI scans, blood tests and EEG tests to find out why this is happening and staying calm is quite important right now. I'm not sure in their eyes whether i'm unwell enough to be classed as vulnerable. Nor really do I feel that I need to use that as an excuse to keep the wolves from the door when this isn't a situation of our making.


I have started paying £25 a week to at least show willing while this is being sorted out but I have to admit the stress is taking it's toll.


Any advice ... Please?


Stressed.

[Guest]

Re: Extortionate Npower Bill

Yes it is a nightmare. Npower are the worst for supplying reliable account information and statements, we went the best part of twelve months without a statement of account last year. Like you we have been underpaying for most of that time(or so they say) and have accumulated arrears.

Intrigued by the mention of the bailiff, does this mean that they gained a CCJ against you for the arrears ?

[Stressed35]

Re: Extortionate Npower Bill

I'm not sure. No official court details have been sent to us. I'm not sure they are official bailiffs. The original guy who turned up worked for a company called Meterplus who explained they were debt collectors of sorts but I have since been told that they are sent by Npower to take property if needs be. I've struggled with debt in the past and have never known anyone be able to take my things without me being able to have my day in court to fight it.

At one point Npower thought we'd clocked the meter in some way but it'd gone full circle at some point in the last few years as the current meter reading was less than a few years ago. It took all our efforts to get through to them that the meter only had 4 digits on it must have reset after 9999.

I feel like banging my head against a brick wall.

They have to send me court documents to me for me to fill in for a ccj don't they? I'm not refusing to pay, i'm refusing to pay that much. I'll even meet them in the middle for the sake of the peace and so that I can move to another company but £3k, no chance!

[Stressed35]

Re: Extortionate Npower Bill

....

[Guest]

Re: Extortionate Npower Bill

I'm not sure. No official court details have been sent to us. I'm not sure they are official bailiffs. The original guy who turned up worked for a company called Meterplus who explained they were debt collectors of sorts but I have since been told that they are sent by Npower to take property if needs be. I've struggled with debt in the past and have never known anyone be able to take my things without me being able to have my day in court to fight it.

At one point Npower thought we'd clocked the meter in some way but it'd gone full circle at some point on the last few years. It took all our efforts to get through to them that the meter only had 4 digits on it must have reset after 9999.

I feel like banging my head against a brick wall.

Nobody can take anything form you without an order from a court, and without a judgment against you.
Just because you may or may not owe them money does not entitle them to come into your home or to harass you into paying money you cannot afford.

If they do not have a court order and are not certified bailiffs you can just tell them to go away or you will call the police.

[Nibbler]

Re: Extortionate Npower Bill

If I remember correctly, energy companies can in extreme circumstances obtain a warrant of entry from the magistrates court to inspect or replace meters/supply I think? So perhaps something along those lines is what is going on?

The claim that they can take goods is nonsense though.

[ostell]

Re: Extortionate Npower Bill

You have (I hope!) the meter reading when you moved in. Take the current reading and then send both to nPower and ask them to calculate what the bill should be. Also do the calculations yourself. Have you told them that you have a log burner which meets most of your heating needs?

[Guest]

Re: Extortionate Npower Bill

If I remember correctly, energy companies can in extreme circumstances obtain a warrant of entry from the magistrates court to inspect or replace meters/supply I think? So perhaps something along those lines is what is going on?

The claim that they can take goods is nonsense though.

Yes I think you are right , but that would be an engineer or official from the company requiring entry to make adjustments to the supply, not a bailiff.

Also before they applied for a warrant they would have to give notice and a reason, they would not be involved in the recovery of arrears.

There is no bailiff going to call, so do not worry about that.

What is the current situation with your supply, are you managing to pay for the amount you are using without having to cut down on heating, are they aware that you are ill.

[Stressed35]

Re: Extortionate Npower Bill

Sorry Andy

That was really rude of me not to acknowledge what you'd told me about your own experience. Did you get sorted?

The thing that gets me about Npower is that they seem to be twisting things to suit themselves. For example my first bill came in at £12 and the meter reading was about 20 units out. No issue. The second was maybe about 10 units out etc. They're arguement for the huge bill is the constant 'estimated' bills allowing the arrears to accumulate but they were never that far out. I've only been in here 21 months. They have apparently gone back to our original meter reading from when we moved in and deducted it from the current reading to come to the current figure. I don't use the gas enough for this figure to be possible and when i've been watching my meter since this started it's hardly been excessively turning. The only way that would be possible is if my meter suddenly spun for no reason. Hardly believable!

Now i'm sitting upstairs all day freaking out everytime I hear a van outside. Unusual behaviour for me as i'm normally very calm and collected but this paired with being unwell (and narked with the NHS) is probably just proving to be a bad combination.

[Stressed35]

Re: Extortionate Npower Bill

I am paying them £25 a week just to stop further arrears stacking up. Obviously going from being on a very good income to not being able to stay on my feet for more than a couple of hours at a time is not helping. That's all I can afford for now as i'm paying a few people off too. Nothing serious just bits we'd fallen a bit behind on over christmas. I've told them about the log burner and electric showers but that seems to have fallen on deaf ears. My meters are outside too so no need to enter the property. Have I no grounds to dispute this? It doesn't make any sense. How can I have run up a gas bill when I was barely using it??

[Guest]

Re: Extortionate Npower Bill

Sorry Andy

That was really rude of me not to acknowledge what you'd told me about your own experience. Did you get sorted?

The thing that gets me about Npower is that they seem to be twisting things to suit themselves. For example my first bill came in at £12 and the meter reading was about 20 units out. No issue. The second was maybe about 10 units out etc. They're arguement for the huge bill is the constant 'estimated' bills allowing the arrears to accumulate but they were never that far out. I've only been in here 21 months. They have apparently gone back to our original meter reading from when we moved in and deducted it from the current reading to come to the current figure. I don't use the gas enough for this figure to be possible and when i've been watching my meter since this started it's hardly been excessively turning. The only way that would be possible is if my meter suddenly spun for no reason. Hardly believable!

Now i'm sitting upstairs all day freaking out everytime I hear a van outside. Unusual behaviour for me as i'm normally very calm and collected but this paired with being unwell (and narked with the NHS) is probably just proving to be a bad combination.

Fist of all relax , there is not going to be any bailiffs calling, they cannot do that until there is a judgment and you would receive all sots of letters and warnings before that happened.

I am still at the stage where I have written to Npower and informed them of the complaint, I will give them a few weeks to get back to me then I will contact the regulator. I have changed companies now anyway. Npower are useless.

Do you know how much your usage should be on a normal month ? Have they given you a figure for a monthly payment plan or have they suggested a pre payment meter ?

[Stressed35]

Re: Extortionate Npower Bill

I am pleased to hear they can't take my goods though. I don't have much anyway and what I do have has all been hand me downs. As I recall from being in debt years ago there are only certain things they can take anyway aren't there? I've only used 685 units since july. The Meterplus/debt collector guy said that looking at our meter reading the most we could possibly owe is £1200 anyway. Looking at the usage from july (since using the boiler instead of the log burner) how can I have run up such a bill? Even if the heating was on every day for the full 21 months I've been in here it still wouldn't amount to £3k.

[Guest]

Re: Extortionate Npower Bill

I am paying them £25 a week just to stop further arrears stacking up. Obviously going from being on a very good income to not being able to stay on my feet for more than a couple of hours at a time is not helping. That's all I can afford for now as i'm paying a few people off too. Nothing serious just bits we'd fallen a bit behind on over christmas. I've told them about the log burner and electric showers but that seems to have fallen on deaf ears. My meters are outside too so no need to enter the property. Have I no grounds to dispute this? It doesn't make any sense. How can I have run up a gas bill when I was barely using it??

Certainly you can dispute it, do you have an online account ? Send them an email to .complaintsteam@npower.com, quote your account number and tell them that there is no way that the bill is correct and that you disput the amount claimed

[Stressed35]

Re: Extortionate Npower Bill

Fist of all relax , there is not going to be any bailiffs calling, they cannot do that until there is a judgment and you would receive all sots of letters and warnings before that happened.

I am still at the stage where I have written to Npower and informed them of the complaint, I will give them a few weeks to get back to me then I will contact the regulator. I have changed companies now anyway. Npower are useless.

Do you know how much your usage should be on a normal month ? Have they given you a figure for a monthly payment plan or have they suggested a meter ?

I'm stuck with them until i've paid it. They have said they'll spread the debt out over two years to help me but if i'm not using it how can I stop them running up another ridiculous bill? My usage would be almost non-existant usually. I've only used the gas heating recently to prove a point. My meter took nearly two weeks to go from 1164.5 to 1164.9 when all I was purely using was my gas hob.

[Stressed35]

Re: Extortionate Npower Bill

I've lodged a complaint with Npower but they're basically sticking to their guns and saying their figures are correct. They did ask me if I had checked for gas leaks. I think i'd have noticed a gas leak. Plus i've been watching my meter and it seems to be behaving.