nPower - how can I prove there is a problem?

[give_me_it_back]

Hi

We have lived in our house for 7 years, and have been paying direct debit every month for electricity (ONLY) of £165 per month. Eventually, someone pointed out to me that this was unbelievably high. It is only a 3 bedroom house, and I am not growing marijuana in the loft, nor a large hot tub in the garden!

I contacted NPower, and spoke to their Energy Efficiency team, who were very helpful and took me through every appliance in the house, checking off as we went just how much they SHOULD be using. My kilowatts came out nothing like what they should be - ie - should be about 22 per day... Actually about 66! The guy I spoke to said he had actually never heard such high readings and "something MUST be wrong".

I contacted them again and arranged for someone to come and check the meter. They said that they could find nothing wring with it, but he did fiddle with the external wires. Well, since he has been, I have been sing an average of 22 units per day... for the last 3 weeks... I have done NOTHING differently, so something he did MUST have made a difference.

I am in the process of writing to nPower now, but I just know that they will say "you paid for what you used"... The readings were correct, but there was clearly SOMETHING wrong with the meter... But I know they will say they found no fault.

Just getting ready for the next stage really.. Where do you suggest I go from here? How can I PROVE there has been a problem for SEVEN years!

That would be a healthy rebate!!!

Thanks all

[raj01527]

Did you know that Npower has a dedicated team to look into this type of thing and issue refunds where appropriate? the Lady I dealt with is Teresa Walsh [EDIT] and her mobile is [EDIT] or [EDIT] she credited me with £450. Nice lady.
Hope that helps.

[give_me_it_back]

This helpful post was edited and I don't have Teresa Walsh's number.... Can anyone help?

Thanks!

[ATD]

The person who came to inspect the meter would not have been from your supplier, but from your Meter Operator (usually the host PES for the region).

Anything he found should have been reported back to the supplier, but there is no g/tee of this happening. It may be worth you checking with your meter operator to see what records they have from the site visit - it's a long shot, but worth a try.

[HuRaKaN]

You say that you have been paying this amount for 7yrs....can you remember who your supplier was before this?

Some thing that my mother recently came across after changing suppliers was that her DD payments were not covering what she was using.It was all down to the fact that the charges were based on the wrong type of meter ie she had a metric meter but they based their charges on an imperial meter or the other way round i cant remember - and the difference was hundreds of pounds over just a few months.

If you havent already sorted it out it could be something to consider...