Hello all, I just wanted to gather some advice regarding this, as I am currently thinking of taking it down the route of small claims court. Around about 2 years ago (23 months to be exact) we had to have a new meter installed at our flat due to the monitor on the then existing one breaking. No worries, that is absolutely fine, crack on. Slowly but surely we started to see a dramatic increase of the price of our bills. From when we were paying on average £40/50ish (one bed flat), started to become £100, sometimes £200 plus. Obviously to any rational human being that would flag as something being rather wrong, you would think, but not to N-power, oooohhh no, that seemed around about what we should be paying. After around 6 months of arguing with N-power I got rather bored and went to the ombudsman, this wasn't being we now had a bill in excess of £1000 (If not more, can find that later if important but at work at moment). Now we sit and twiddle our thumbs expecting Ombudsman to come back with some fantastic news that it was all incorrect.... Na, not a chance! They ruled with N-power and stated that we were using the amount of electric they said. At this point me and my partner were rather deflated, but knew in our heart of hearts that this could not be right, it just couldn't be! We accepted a deal with them in which we were then paying £120 a month to clear the debt in order to take some of the strain off ourselves, and frankly get some breathing space as they started threatening legal action. Whilst still arguing and debating with N-power we were not getting anywhere (Why should we, we were in debt to them and the Ombudsman agreed with them), then one morning we got an email stating that our direct debit was going up and we would have to pay £350 a month Well, that was it, I ordered my partner to make a cup of tea whilst I sat in bed and started typing a review on N-power Facebook. I had the added advantage that I saw the head office (Or a N-power office) was based in Solihull, I thought this is brilliant, I'm going to be working near that for the next few months, I shall tell them I will pay them a visit. Surely enough they took notice of this, and arranged for someone to test our meter. This gentleman who came to test our meter was nice, one of a kind, told me at that even though he wouldn't have the results right away, the meter was fast. Two weeks passed and we got a call from N-power, yes they confirmed, your meter is clocking up too fast! HOW FAST?!?! I asked barely able to contain my excitment..... 58.8% fast!!!?! WOOOOOOW. Now the gentleman from N-power was nice and said don't worry, give him a few weeks as he has to adjust every bill we've had since installation of this meter. No problem, that is absolutely fine thinking this is the end. Took our meter reading for that month, that'll be £52 please, yes that seems about correct! Was it the end??? No. They only went and messed up the figures and we were still left with £1200 to pay. A little confused, I emailed back my figures based on 58.8% deduction, plus the excess we would have paid. Nothing. I have now gone back to Ombudsman but they are not sure they can take the case as it relates to a previously ruled on case. I asked them even with the knowledge that we were correct and N-power were wrong??? They said they would have to check with the powers that be. They are currently doing that (To be fair they said it would take a few weeks due to Xmas and New Year). Now, that is a very light hearted post I have written whilst killing some time at work. I really cannot stress how stressful the whole process has been. Me and the partner have argued, tears, stress, literally wanting to kill N-power, sitting in the freezing cold not wanting to waste any energy and a magnitued of other things. My question is, if ombudsman rule they can't look into it again, would be have a claim for small claims court? More out of curiosity than anything, because I am not going to let this go without a fight. Also, this is on another forum also, but I had never heard of this forum until around an hour ago and having looked through stuff you guys seem to know your stuff! Hoping to get all the information I need to absolutely hammer these clowns.

And yes the day gets weirder - The merger has been approved. Nothing more needs to be said... - Thanks To Credit Today For This

Hi all, I have a friend who is even more determined than me when it comes to disputes. He has been in dispute with npower for over four years and has been passed from pillar to post. Because he’s been promised refunds / compensation, etc during some of the phone calls he’s had with them, I’ve offered to help him issue a SAR to them but I was wondering if this can be done via email to save time? Also, once he’s got his evidence, do you think he should just skip the ‘customer service team’ and go straight to the top? Thank you in advance, B

Good afternoon all, I hope that the good posters in this forum will be able to advise me on how to resolve a problem that my neighbours and I are experiencing with the electricity meters for our flats. Please bear with me while I give you the background to this problem. In our apartment block (total of 9 flats, 3 on each floor) our meters are in a locked/coded room, with the management company's logo on the door. Residents are given full access to the room. On Monday 16th July 2018, I experienced several power outages. When I investigated further, I found an electrician working inside the locked room on behalf of one of my neighbours, who were having power issues of their own. He turned off the isolator fuse switch underneath the meter that was clearly labelled for flat 125 (my flat is 137). This cut the power to my flat completely. Their electrician explained that the meter that is labelled to my flat is actually supplying electricity to flat 149. The meter that is labelled for flat 141 is actually supplying electricity to flat 125. My neighbour in flat 149 is unsure which meter should be theirs. Chances are my neighbours and I have all been either dramatically overpaying for our electric or massively underpaying. In the case of my neighbour at 141, he had what he believed was a pre-paid meter. This meant that even though he was topping up the meter, he was actually paying for 125! From speaking with the neighbours about this they are all with different suppliers: 125 - British Gas 149 - Spark Energy 137 (myself) - nPower 141 - British Gas I first notified my management company (I am the lease holder of my flat) about this on 16/07. They were adamant that it was my energy provider's (nPower) responsibility and nothing to do with them. nPower then confirmed that the MPAN for the meter labelled as 137 was registered to my flat, completely ignoring what I told them about it being physically incorrect. Interestingly, speaking to my neighbour 149, Spark Energy are adament that my meter is registered to them but for 149. Since then I've had two nPower meter people out. The first one was a complete waste of my time. The second basically replicated the issue and said that there was nothing more that he could do. After a 3 hour phone call to nPower on Friday morning the manager I spoke to (who was dealing with my complaint) said that the only way to resolve this would be to get an electrician in myself. I do not have the money to pay for the no doubt large 3 figure sum involved to put this right. I've also been told by several people (including a Customer Service Agent at my DNO) that a private electrician wouldn't be "allowed" to change any of the cables. I've also confirmed with my neighbours that we are unwilling to pay for something that isn't our fault and has likely been the case since the apartments were built in 2006. What would you recommend to do next? Really don't know how to proceed. Thanks Jamie

Can anyone give me some advice on how to deal with a new contract I've been spoofed into by Select Energy with NPower. I recently moved into a new shop premises and unfortunately before the process was entirely complete, the agent died so I had no knowledge of who the energy supplier was. I was in the process of trying to find out when I received a phone call from someone who gave me the impression that they were from NPower and that they were my energy supplier. I was relieved initially because I'd been struggling to find out who the supplier was and he told me that until I'd registered my details I was being charged an emergency high rate which would be reduced once I'd given my details. For some reason I found this plausible ! At no point during the conversation was I told that he was setting up a new contract or that he was an agent, he gave me the impression entirely that he was the supplier and was just updating new tenant details. I asked to be billed quarterly and specifically said I didn't want to pay by direct debit. The alarm bells should have rung when he asked for the bank details I said I was uncomfortable giving the details but he assured me it was only to confirm I was who I was claiming to be and that there wouldn't be any payments taken from the bank. A couple of weeks later I received a letter from NPower telling me that I was now in a 36 month contract and they would be taking £195 a month by direct debit. The previous tenant from what I understand was paying less than £50 and the supplier was British Gas. I was utterly misled when I phoned to question NPower I discovered I was actually on the phone to Select Energy who I had never heard of. When I did eventually get through to NPower I was told I was in a binding 36month contract and there was nothing I can do. Surely this is fraudulent. Any advice would be incredibly welcome.

I am desperately trying to sort out my life. One of my biggest hurdles is my gas. I moved in here in 2006. When I moved in both gas and electric meters were damaged and unreadable. The house had been empty for app 6 months and the council were using it to store stuff for the workers. I kept receiving bills and disputing the amount. It was ridiculously high for the time accrued. Eventually it went to bailiffs who once shown the meters referred it back to Npower. I had a ferocious amount going on and when they went for prepayment meters I was kind of relieved. They promised they would look into it further once the meters were installed. The electric was sorted out by the way. Paid what I owed and that was it. They obviously never looked any further. I have sent letters asking how they got the figure I allegedly owe? I have paid well over two thousand pounds already on the meter on these arrears. There’s still another £700 to pay. I have begged them to look into this and each and everytime they reply with it’s to long ago. We don’t know and we can’t help you. They don’t keep any records. They can’t tell me how much I’ve even paid them back. My annual gas usage now is £8-900 according to npower and yet I will have paid nearly three thousand pounds for a years gas from 12 years ago. Please can anyone help me get out of this loop? Currently using £50 a week in this cold and it’s crippling us. I just don’t know what else to do. Thank you.

Last year I entered into one of N'power's 'deals' to save me money. It was actually the best deal around at the time - monthly direct Debit £46.00. This was around June time - a couple of months later, they 'suggested' that I would need to increase my DD because they estimated from my usage that it would cost a lot more over the winter period. They wanted about £65 + - I said no, bearing in mind that the previous review had netted me a refund of over £100.00, I couldn't see that I would be that much behind and I would be happy to just pay any underpayment. Not happy with that, they umm'ed and ah'ed and I compromised at an extra £10.00 per month. So I have been paying them £56.00. Just received my online summary and already I am £97.00 in credit - however, look at this message they left on screen for me.... !! Well tough, I want my money.. . Message from Npower.pdf

Well done Eversir, I see Bankfodders input was pivotal. I am going through a similar problem at present with the same company, who feel they can intimidate me. By issuing a reminder 1year later for £6,000 for both electric and gas, after being given a final bill of £1400, which was paid. Reviewing similar cases and cross referencing my information, suffices to say I will be preparing particulars of claim to compensate me for loss of earnings trying to comprehend their billing structures. reversal after reversal write off after write off. My case is with the energy ombudsmen which quite frankly has been a waste of time and I am letting them sweat. Look out for my thread coming soon.

Hello I am posted this enquiry on several forums to hopefully find people further along the line than me or legal representatives who have dealt with Npower. My story is briefly that I acted as executor for a friend of, mine when she died. I contacted Npower to advise of the death of the account holder. The Npower call centre rep said that she would make the account deceased that the service address would remain until the property sold when any final amounts would be due. It was noted to be addressed to my name as they advised they cannot write to a deceased person but the address remained the service address of my deceased friend (ie not my home address) (Npower complaints department advise they have confirmed the date and time of the call, details of which I supplied, but have however lost the recorded contents of the call. Npower claiming that account was put in my name but no letter has been received to confirm this and they are unable to supply any notification of this.and have lost the call content where the call centre rep discussed it. Npower & probate advisory service (I believe instructed by Npower) issued different invoice amounts and the solicitor queried by letter (April 15) before settling the pre death account with a cheque from probate funds and instructing Npower to close the account. Npower acknowledge receipt (July 15) Npower accepted payments of the final Pre death bill from the solicitor dealing with probate and deceased’s estate and noted the account on deceased status. (Npower have retrospectively in March 16, after they had taken the final payment in early March, updated my credit file to show that I am account holder at this time and that the account is in default – see below) They wrote to the service address to advise estimated meter readings and that there were amounts outstanding. Called Npower and they advised the bills were in error. The property sold in March 16 and they advised there was an outstanding amount due which was originally £419 – I advised the property was shut down on death so there could be very little usage. The call operator was very helpful and said she could see that there was an error and took of all the charges showing and came to a remaining bill of £180. (I have the letter showing the charges removed – addressed to the service address - )I paid this to zero the account and finalise my involvement. They took this payment of £180 in early March 16 and asked for a correspondence address for the confirmation to be sent to. As the property was due to sell imminently I gave them my home address specifically for the purposes of this one letter. Up until March they were writing to the property address that the electricity & gas were supplied to The did not close the account and have continued to charge to current time even though the property was sold in March. In April 16 a month after the final account had been paid they updated my credit file to show me as the accountholder at my home address from the previous year and update 14 months of account information showing the account in default. They are also still billing to my home address and I have received letters from Pastdue credit solutions. I have written to them to advise the property has been sold and that the billing is the new owners responsibility. Interestingly no default notices were issued to the service address at any time. I have spoken to the complaints team and made a complaint via Experian and they are forwarding my case this week for review to retract the entries on the credit file but the complaint case manager does not seem confident that they will retract it. They have apparently found the date and time of the phone conversation where I was advised that no further charges would be applied and that the account would remain at the service address ( I do have letters with all requests going to the service address not my home address) but however the content of the call is missing, So are unable to prove that the call operator advised that the no charges will be made, although along the way the call centre rep agreed that is how it was set up and removed the charges, I still have the letter showing the charges removed. The complaint manager said, he can see notes on file showing that the address was to remain the service address and not my home address and that there seemed to be a mix up on the account status. But Npower having lost the call content apparently does not help me as it is up to me to prove! The complaints case handler just mentions that I can go to the ombudsman – he seems quite keen to push this. I note that a couple of post say to avoid this route and wonder if there is some trap I am falling into, or if this in turn rules out any legal action (any suggestions on this route appreciated) I have read on a couple of posts that the cases referred to OFGEM are logged as dealt with on Npower’s listings and it prevents revisiting the complaint with Npower itself. I now think I need to engage a solicitor and was considering one that has previous experience with dealing with npower. Has anyone engaged or consulted with a solicitor had any previous experience with them? Reading the forums and post where people have had so many problems with npower is anyone aware of any collective action being taken against them. I did read the telegraphs journalist report on it and it seems that the major papers have run reports on their customer service skills and fines. Ok it would be great to see where people are up to with this frustrating company. My business relies heavily on my credit rating and I am also in the process of re mortgaging and now it looks like I will have to put it on hold as I do not want a refusal based on a £21 current default (updated on my credit file yesterday and it’s the June bill of the new occupants) Any pointers or experience gratefully received. Particularly interested in any details of legal representatives dealing with Npower cases Thanks for reading such a long rant

Hi, I'm looking for advice on the least painful way to deal with this. We received a letter from npower addressed to a company at our residential address. The letter is a threat to apply for a warrant to disconnect the electricity supply at this address. The letter is addressed to "XXX trading as YYY" at our address. We've lived here for two years and have not been an npower customer at any point. Checking our "Meter Point Administration Number" shows we're a customer of another supplier. About 100 metres away is the location of the company the letter should have been addressed to. They opened about a year ago. We started receiving letters addresses to them at our address about 6 months ago. All returned to sender until we got the one addressed to them or the occupier. Clearly the new company made a mistake opening their account or npower messed up not doing due diligence. Either way, nothing to do with us. Is it worth talking to npower customer services to explain this? I will make one attempt to resolve it but don't plan on wasting more time. My experience of utility customer service is not good for anything that deviates from their script Can our address be taken to court for a warrant without any other attempts to clarify they're chasing the correct person? Should I just turn up at the court on the date given with documentation to show this is nonsense? The court is at the other end of the road and I work from home, so not a lot of hassle to do. Any advice appreciated

Apologies that this is a long post. This is my first time on any kind of forum. I have tried to summarise but my 2 1/2 year dispute with Npower over inncorrect bills been a complicated and very distressing process. I will be very grateful indeed for any advice on how to proceed legally through the Small Claims Court... We moved into a flat in Sept 2013 and when I called to give Npower the opening meter readings I asked to confirm what meter and tariff we were on. I was told it was an Economy 10 meter and noted down from the conversation that there were 3 cables which would give a Day rate, a Night rate and a Heating rate for the 3 night storage heaters with timings for when these rates would operate. You had to press a button on the meter several times to get the readings and I gave the 3 readings as they appeared on the screens. Npower took Actual readings for these 3 rates in Nov 13 and I gave more readings in May 14 at which point I started the complaints process because we had still not had a bill. I received letters with an account number from the complaints department and finally a letter in July 2014 saying because they could not resolve my complaint about not receiving a bill I could go to the Ombudsman. At the end of July I receive a letter with the same account number but this time addressed to the occupier saying that because of problems closing the account the balance would be written off. Followed a week later by the First bill for £366, in my name but with a different account number. In Sept 14 I call to try and figure out what is going on and am told that the first account number I’d received on complaint letters was actually the previous tennant’s but because of the confusion the balance (now £457) would be written off as per the write off letter. I give meter readings – this time 4 readings show on the meter instead of 3. That same day a bill is generated for the heat rate for £868. It is based on an estimated opening meter reading for heat. I am told again a week later on the telephone that my account would be credited to zero - clearing balance of £868 as per write off letter and to disregard any more bills/reminders and to wait during process. In Nov 14 I call again and am given apologies for distressing letters & assured case is with correct back office team. Promised that a correct bill should arrive soon showing the cleared balance of £868.72 and they had correct meter readings so a new bill would generated. I then receive a bill for £1,433, followed by ‘Our right to enter your home’ letter – with an outstanding balance £976. In December 2014 after numerous complaint calls I am given a new complaint reference number and assured collections will stop. In Jan 15 I receive a complaint deadlock letter refusing to remove the balance as promised and referring me to Ombudsman and I begin the Enquiry process. In Feb 15 I give new meter readings and receive a bill for £1481 - Tariff: Standard SC ROB Heatwise 1. I pay £505 for accurate energy usage calculated using my correct meter readings between Nov 14 and Feb 15 (leaving the disputed £976). At the end of Feb the Ombudsman says Npower incorrectly offered to write off the Sept 14 bill for £868 and that I should be given a £25 goodwill payment for the misinformation but that the outstanding balance remained. I did not agree with the Ombudsman proposal and it was reviewed in March 15. I complain that the meter reading Npower used to calculate the opening heat rate was an estimate because it had not been showing on the meter. As this was not part of the original complaint to the Ombudsman they advise me to contact Npower directly. I contacted Npower who agree to work out an accurate opening meter reading but I did not accept the Ombudsman proposal as I still hadn’t had an accurate bill and felt they had not helped resolve my issue with Npower. In April 15 we move out of the property and I give final meter readings and new address. On 1st May 15 they send: An amended bill to our old address for £1318. A letter saying because I’d rejected Ombudsman remedy my complaint has been closed thus exhausting the complaints process and balance is £1362. And a Final Bill for £1452 (the Tariff has now changed to Standard SC ROB 7 Hour Weekend Off-Peak) I call to complain about tariff changing and am told they've re-opened case though they believe bill is correct. Throughout May and June they send another Amended bill, numerous complaint reference letters, and Final demand and Act now to avoid court letters – all to the old address. I email the CEO disputing the Historic debt and Amended Bill and request again that our address be updated and debt recovery stopped. The complaint is logged and I’m given a new reference number. In July I start to get calls from Debt Managers Services attempting to recover a debt of £1,612. In August I receive 5 more amended bills each for a different amount. Throughout Sept and Oct I receive letters from Debt Managers saying my account is on hold while they await instruction from Npower. In January 16 I receive a letter from Npower with a ‘Notice of intention to file a default on your credit file’. Outstanding balance £1452. In February I email complaining that my complaints have not been handled properly and ask about the compensation arrangements Npower agreed with Ofgem. Executive Complaints reply to say I have exhausted thier complaints process and they will not look to raise a new complaint in relation to this query and refer me to their Legal Team. I point out that the Ombudsman instructed me to re-contact Npower to recalculate opening meter reading to which they had agreed. In March 16 Executive Complaints then reply with an incorrect opening meter recalculation (they use accurate winter heat readings to calculate an average daily usage and apply it to 497 days i.e saying we’d use the same heat in summer as in winter!) and advise me again to proceed legally. Moorcroft Debt Recovery begin pursuing the debt and in desperation to resolve this I contact the Citizens Advice Extra Help Unit, who help vulnerable consumers, and they agree to mediate with Npower on my behalf. They challenge Npower throughout March and April but are told Npower's final position was that they would not be opening the case and referred me back to Ombudsman or to take legal action. The amended bills – Falsifying meter readings and placing us on the wrong tariff Having now examined the 5 amended bills of Aug 15 I can see that they have previously tried to ‘re-estimate the bill’ by falsifying meter readings - changing accurate readings into estimates to justify their original estimated opening reading. All these estimates are entirely inaccurate suggesting that I have used thousands of heat units in summer periods when the night storage heaters were switched off. I am suspicious that NPower have chosen to amend the bills with estimates from May 2014 (instead of the 2013-14 winter prior to that when the disputed energy was apparently used) in order to avoid the back billing regulations. I have also asked repeatedly why the Bill that I paid in Feb 15 was cancelled, amended and then re-calculated at a higher unit rate for heat (7p per unit became 12p). No one has addressed this concern. Our tariff appears to have changed from what I understood to be the Economy 10 tariff: Standard SC ROB Heatwise 1 to Standard SC ROB 7 Hour Weekend Off-Peak. At no point did we ever ask to switch tariff or were we offered any explanation as to why the unit price and tariff had been changed, despite me asking on numerous occasions for clarification. Harassment and marking my credit file I have been threatened with court proceedings multiple times, they refuse to put a hold on their collections process so I am still having to deal with debt collections agencies, NPower may have shared data which will impact my credit record and they say this cannot be amended because they claim the outstanding balance is correct and remains payable. They now say I need to proceed legally. My time, stress and worry I have spent innumerable hours dealing with all of this, trying to decipher what has gone on, examining 15 bills, complaining by telephone and email, going through an Ombudsman enquiry that did not help to reach a resolution, and working with Citizens Advice, all of which equates to weeks worth of my time. I have had countless sleepless nights and shed many a tear worrying about everything and feeling bullied by this huge corporation who seem to operate so recklessly with no regard for how peoples lives are affected by this level of stress that they cause. And throughout this period we have a chronically sick child with a rare blood disorder who has been in and out of hospital and Great Ormond St Hospital. Our now 3 year old daughter was first admitted to hospital in a life threatening condition in Oct 14 and has since been admitted 10 times, which Npower have been aware of. I have had to take my energy away from caring for my child to dedicate to unraveling all of this mess and that is extraordinarily painful for me. I am now fully prepared to take legal action, although I have no idea how to do this and do not have any access to financial support or legal advice. I feel completely daunted by the task and almost cannot bear the stress and time of pursuing it further but it seems to be my only route forward. I want to seek damages to be remunerated for this utter failure to handle my complaints and to bill me accurately. NPower’s conduct is far from fair or transparent and does not meet their standards of conduct by a long way. I refuse to be victimized. I realize that this has been a long read and I really appreciate any advice that others can give for me to take this forward legally. Very best wishes D

Apologies that this is a long post. This is my first time on any kind of forum. I have tried to summarise but its been a complicated and very stressful process. I will be very grateful indeed for any advice... We moved into a flat in Sept 2013 when I called to give Npower the opening meter readings I asked to confirm what meter and tariff we were on. I was told it was an Economy 10 meter and noted down from the conversation that there were 3 cables which would give a Day rate, a Night rate and a Heating rate for the 3 night storage heaters with timings for when these rates would operate. You had to press a button on the meter several times to get the readings I gave the 3 readings as they appeared on the screens. Npower took Actual readings for these 3 rates in Nov 13 I gave more readings in May 14 at which point I started the complaints process because we had still not had a bill. I received letters with an account number from the complaints department finally a letter in July 2014 saying because they could not resolve my complaint about not receiving a bill I could go to the Ombudsman. At the end of July I receive a letter with the same account number but this time addressed to the occupier saying that because of problems closing the account the balance would be written off. Followed a week later by the First bill for £366, in my name but with a different account number. In Sept 14 I call to try and figure out what is going on am told that the first account number I’d received on complaint letters was actually the previous tennant’s but because of the confusion the balance (now £457) would be written off as per the write off letter. I give meter readings – this time 4 readings show on the meter instead of 3. That same day a bill is generated for the heat rate for £868. It is based on an estimated opening meter reading for heat. I am told again a week later on the telephone that my account would be credited to zero - clearing balance of £868 as per write off letter and to disregard any more bills/reminders and to wait during process. In Nov 14 I call again and am given apologies for distressing letters & assured case is with correct back office team. Promised that a correct bill should arrive soon showing the cleared balance of £868.72 and they had correct meter readings so a new bill would generated. I then receive a bill for £1,433, followed by ‘Our right to enter your home’ letter – with an outstanding balance £976. In December 2014 after numerous complaint calls I am given a new complaint reference number and assured collections will stop. In Jan 15 I receive a complaint deadlock letter refusing to remove the balance as promised and referring me to Ombudsman and I begin the Enquiry process. In Feb 15 I give new meter readings and receive a bill for £1481 - Tariff: Standard SC ROB Heatwise 1. I pay £505 for accurate energy usage calculated using my correct meter readings between Nov 14 and Feb 15 (leaving the disputed £976). At the end of Feb the Ombudsman says Npower incorrectly offered to write off the Sept 14 bill for £868 and that I should be given a £25 goodwill payment for the misinformation but that the outstanding balance remained. I did not agree with the Ombudsman proposal and it was reviewed in March 15. I complain that the meter reading Npower used to calculate the opening heat rate was an estimate because it had not been showing on the meter. As this was not part of the original complaint to the Ombudsman they advise me to contact Npower directly. I contacted Npower who agree to work out an accurate opening meter reading but I did not accept the Ombudsman proposal as I still hadn’t had an accurate bill and felt they had not helped resolve my issue with Npower. In April 15 we move out of the property and I give final meter readings and new address. On 1st May 15 they send: An amended bill to our old address for £1318. A letter saying because I’d rejected Ombudsman remedy my complaint has been closed thus exhausting the complaints process and balance is £1362. And a Final Bill for £1452 (the Tariff has now changed to Standard SC ROB 7 Hour Weekend Off-Peak) I call to complain about tariff changing and am told they've re-opened case though they believe bill is correct. Throughout May and June they send another Amended bill, numerous complaint reference letters, and Final demand and Act now to avoid court letters – all to the old address. I email the CEO disputing the Historic debt and Amended Bill and request again that our address be updated and debt recovery stopped. The complaint is logged and I’m given a new reference number. In July I start to get calls from Debt Managers Services attempting to recover a debt of £1,612. In August I receive 5 more amended bills each for a different amount. Throughout Sept and Oct I receive letters from Debt Managers saying my account is on hold while they await instruction from Npower. In January 16 I receive a letter from Npower with a ‘Notice of intention to file a default on your credit file’. Outstanding balance £1452. In February I email complaining that my complaints have not been handled properly and ask about the compensation arrangements Npower agreed with Ofgem. Executive Complaints reply to say I have exhausted thier complaints process and they will not look to raise a new complaint in relation to this query and refer me to their Legal Team. I point out that the Ombudsman instructed me to re-contact Npower to recalculate opening meter reading to which they had agreed. In March 16 Executive Complaints then reply with an incorrect opening meter recalculation (they use accurate winter heat readings to calculate an average daily usage and apply it to 497 days i.e saying we’d use the same heat in summer as in winter!) and advise me again to proceed legally. Moorcroft Debt Recovery begin pursuing the debt and in desperation to resolve this I contact the Citizens Advice Extra Help Unit, who help vulnerable consumers, they agree to mediate with Npower on my behalf. They challenge Npower throughout March and April but are told Npower's final position was that they would not be opening the case and referred me back to Ombudsman or to take legal action. The amended bills – Falsifying meter readings and placing us on the wrong tariff Having now examined the 5 amended bills of Aug 15 I can see that they have previously tried to ‘re-estimate the bill’ by falsifying meter readings - changing accurate readings into estimates to justify their original estimated opening reading. All these estimates are entirely inaccurate suggesting that I have used thousands of heat units in summer periods when the night storage heaters were switched off. I am suspicious that NPower have chosen to amend the bills with estimates from May 2014 (instead of the 2013-14 winter prior to that when the disputed energy was apparently used) in order to avoid the back billing regulations. I have also asked repeatedly why the Bill that I paid in Feb 15 was cancelled, amended and then re-calculated at a higher unit rate for heat (7p per unit became 12p). No one has addressed this concern. Our tariff appears to have changed from what I understood to be the Economy 10 tariff: Standard SC ROB Heatwise 1 to Standard SC ROB 7 Hour Weekend Off-Peak. At no point did we ever ask to switch tariff or were we offered any explanation as to why the unit price and tariff had been changed, despite me asking on numerous occasions for clarification. Harassment and marking my credit file I have been threatened with court proceedings multiple times, they refuse to put a hold on their collections process so I am still having to deal with debt collections agencies, NPower may have shared data which will impact my credit record and they say this cannot be amended because they claim the outstanding balance is correct and remains payable. They now say I need to proceed legally. My time, stress and worry I have spent innumerable hours dealing with all of this, trying to decipher what has gone on, examining 15 bills, complaining by telephone and email, going through an Ombudsman enquiry that did not help to reach a resolution, and working with Citizens Advice, all of which equates to weeks worth of my time. I have had countless sleepless nights and shed many a tear worrying about everything and feeling bullied by this huge corporation who seem to operate so recklessly with no regard for how peoples lives are affected by this level of stress that they cause. And throughout this period we have a chronically sick child with a rare blood disorder who has been in and out of hospital and Great Ormond St Hospital. Our now 3 year old daughter was first admitted to hospital in a life threatening condition in Oct 14 and has since been admitted 10 times, which Npower have been aware of. I have had to take my energy away from caring for my child to dedicate to unraveling all of this mess and that is extraordinarily painful for me. I am now fully prepared to take legal action, although I have no idea how to do this and do not have any access to financial support or legal advice. I feel completely daunted by the task and almost cannot bear the stress and time of pursuing it further but it seems to be my only route forward. I want to seek damages to be remunerated for this utter failure to handle my complaints and to bill me accurately. NPower’s conduct is far from fair or transparent and does not meet their standards of conduct by a long way. I refuse to be victimized. I realize that this has been a long read and I really appreciate any advice that others can give for me to take this forward legally. Thank you D

I've recently purchased a two bedroom flat in greater manchester which has economy 7 and storage heaters/immersion heater. I only use it occasionally (maybe one week 5/6 times per year) to visit my grandchildren and I was wondering whether economy 7 was best for me. When I'm up there I would mainly be in the flat in the morning until 10:00 and in the evening from around 9:00 but I notice that economy hours in the NW are 00:30 - 7:30. Does this mean I would have to wait up until 12:30 in the evening to do before I can cook, wash clothes, etc if I wanted to take advantage of the economy hours? During the day before 12:30 I may use the flat to chill out, watch tv and maybe cook lunch/dinner and I would only maybe wash clothes once a week. In other words, apart from the storage heaters and the occasional clothes wash, most of my energy is used before 12:30 as I don't stay up as late as 12:30. My questions: what is the difference in cost between economy and normal? Is it worth staying on economy 7 just for the storage heaters and immersion? (the flat is top floor and even in winter the heating is not used very often Is it possible to change the economy 7 hours or is this set regionally and non-negotiable? If I do switch and it seems better to have stayed with ecomony 7 can I switch back? Thanks in advance. Never used economy 7 before so would welcome views of forum members who can help me.

Hi All NPower have failed to install credit meters at my property on three separate occasions in the past month. On each occasion, I have been told to be at the address and have lost a day's income. Furthermore, my new tenant has just quit the property on the grounds of a breach of utility clause in the tenancy agreement. Can NPower be pursued for negligence?

Hi, I am having a problem with my npower electricity account, which I first noticed in May last year. After receiving an unusually high bill with an apparent high energy usage, I did some tests and found out that the meter registered to my address is not actually my meter. I live in a block of appartments where all meters are in a communal cupboard under the stairs. Known as a "crossed meter", it appears that I have been billed incorrectly ever since living here, but only just noticed because of the excessively high recent bill. After reporting the problem to npower last May they said they would send someone round to check. An electrician did visit and agreed with my conclusion after performing a similar test. Npower told me they would put my account on hold until the matter was resolved, which would be around September 2015. I've been taking regular readings of both meters since making the discovery. I heard nothing for the rest of the year so contacted them again in February this year for an update. They told me that despite my observations being registered, nothing had actually been done. There were notes on their system saying "Account investigated and found to be genuine", and "Back bill processed" but the agent I spoke to was unable to explain these notes and said that the issue would have to be escalated to a complaint. Around a week later I was contacted by npower's complaints department acknowledging the complaint and advising they would be in touch again shortly. On 23rd Feb they called me again and arranged to send an engineer on 8th March to investigate. I waited in and nobody turned up. I've heard nothing from them since. It's now approaching a year since the initial complaint and I'm totally exasperated by their incompetence and failure to act. I really don't want to call them again. Could anyone offer any advice - what are my options? My account is still on hold and I've not paid a bill since last May. Thanks

If you are looking for an energy supplier, you would be a fool to choose Npower. If you are with Npower, you would be a fool to stay with them.

Npower, one of Britain's biggest energy suppliers, will outline plans this week to axe thousands of jobs ‎as its German owner attempts to revive the company's weak financial performance. Sky News has learned that Npower will tell staff in the coming days that approximately 2,500 roles at the company and its‎ partners are to be axed. Sources said the proposals were still being finalised, with some of Npower's directly employed workforce of 7,500 at risk and the remainder of the cuts taking place at internal suppliers elsewhere in the RWE group and at outsourcing partners. Including indirect employment, Npower's operations support about 11,500 jobs in the UK - meaning that its workforce is braced for a reduction of over 20%. The grim news will be delivered just days before competition regulators announce a series of measures aimed at making the UK's energy market more transparent. Npower, which is part of the German utility RWE, and rivals such as British Gas and SSE have announced a round of price cuts ‎in recent months, but have been criticised by ministers and consumer groups for failing to go further. The rapid decline in oil prices during the last year has prompted calls for much bigger cuts. Npower said last month that it would reduce gas prices for residential customers by just over 5% on 28 March, equating to a £32 annual bill cut for households using a standard domestic ‎tariff. Npower's plans to cut so many jobs will ignite concerns about its ability to improve a customer service record which is already judged to be among the worst in a tarnished industry. Insiders pointed, however, to the beginnings of a turnaround in its performance, with the number of complaints halving in 2015. Last year, RWE ousted Paul Massara, Npower's former boss, and installed‎ Paul Coffey, the British company's chief operating officer, in his place. The management changes followed a decline in Npower's customer base following a string of billing problems. In December, the company was ordered to pay a £26m settlement by the energy regulator, Ofgem, for "failing to treat customers fairly" - the second such fine it has had imposed on it. Npower now has roughly five million customers, making it the smallest of the "Big Six" suppliers. The company lost £48m in the nine months to the end of October, largely as a consequence of the billing system problems. The job cuts will be the latest piece of bad news affecting RWE in the UK, following last month's accident at the power station it owns in Didcot, Oxfordshire, which is thought to have left several people dead. The redundancies at Npower are unrelated to the Didcot tragedy. It is not only in Britain that RWE, Npower's German owner, has been experiencing challenges. It announced last month that it was scrapping its full-year dividend, blaming sliding earnings from its electricity generation business and the changing political sentiment towards nuclear power in its home market. The dividend move will save around €600m (£464m). RWE will announce annual results on Tuesday, and is expected to set out further details of its plans for Npower alongside them. Two days later, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will unveil its final proposals arising from a two-year inquiry into the energy sector. Npower declined to comment on Sunday. SKY

Hi, I'm looking for general advice and a heads up on what the outcome might be of my issues with nPower, based on the experience of people who know better! I've lived in my current (rented) property for almost 4 years in that time I've lived with 5 different flatmates; flatmate A from August 2013 to March 2014; flatmate B from March 2014 to September 2014; flatmate C from September 2014 to March 2015; flatmate D from March 2015 to February 2016 and flatmate E has been with me since February (2016). The gas/electric bills have always been in my flatmate's name and we'd been with nPower for both gas and electricity up 'til March 2015 when we tried to switch. The electricity switch went fine, but we were told that nPower were objecting to the gas account move. I phoned nPower and asked what was going on, knowing that flatmate D had submitted a final meter reading before moving out. nPower told me that they did not supply gas to the property and could not find any gas account linked to my address. They recommended I phoned the National Grid to find out who was supplying me, which I did and they too said it seemed that nobody was supplying me (which was odd because I was getting gas). I checked again with nPower who insisted it was not them and was unable to make any progress. We received no gas bills up until October 2015, when I received 13 months' worth of estimated gas bills from nPower, totalling more than £500, along with a letter 'welcoming' me to nPower. This was all in my name, for the first time, when I logged into the account online, there was a new account for me, as well as the old account which would have been in flatmate D's name both attributed to me. I made an initial payment of £155.32, knowing that we were liable for some of the money and set about speaking to nPower to clarify what was going on and to get accurate bills. Within a month of this, nPower has passed my details on Richburns debt collection agency who sent me a letter stating their intention to seek a warrant to enter my property. At this stage, I'd logged an official complaint to nPower and understood that my account was on hold and as such, the collections process should have been paused. I sent Richburns a letter stating this and highlighting the customer service and billing issues it was well publicised that nPower were guilty of, they replied to tell me that they'd passed the matter back to nPower. Following this, I received a letter from nPower again threatening to seek a warrant and also to place a default on my credit record. At this point (25/01/16) I phoned the customer service team who assured me there was a hold on the account and no further bills would be issued until we understood what was going on and that the threats would not be carried out as there was a complaint logged. After this I received a bill and I made a second phone call, seeking an update (01/02/16), where I was told that there was indeed a hold (until 31/05/16) and the bill shouldn't have been issued, as the matter had been passed to the 'specialist' billing team who could generate an accurate bill. I was told that everything would be investigated and I'd receive an email to confirm everything, and to disregard the bill. No such email materialised and the bill wasn't reversed, as promised. I heard nothing and chased with another phone call on 05/02/16 when I was told that the complaint had been closed on 25/01/16. At this point I discovered nPower had raised 3 different complaint numbers and muddled everything up - the one complaint was closed , that all issues were all consolidated into one. After being given the correct complaint number, I was asked why I was disputing the bill. Prior to this call I'd done some reading and come across the backbilling policy that nPower were signed up to and knew that some of the bill should not have been chased I raised this, and explained that I was seeking an accurate bill as opposed to ridiculous estimates (we had given a meter reading to bring everything up to date 02/02/16). The guy on the phone said as far as he could see, I'd been contacted to say everything had been investigated. This had not happened; no letter, no emails, no missed calls. He went on to say there was an accurate bill which had been recently generated, which I logged into my online account and saw, but I'd had no email to alert me to it before this phone call. At this point the bill had ballooned to £625 with costs from debt collection visits and calls. I again raised the fact that it was not accurate as they needed to remove the 'backbilled' amount and he said they'd investigate to write off that one month. I told him that I wanted to go away and check that this latest bill was indeed accurate, given that I'd only just seen it and that I wanted the charges removed because they should never have passed the account to collections, which he did actually do after the call; crediting that £57.50 to the account. He said he'd get the backbilling team to investigate the outstanding amount and come back to me with an up-to-date bill. During this phone call I said I'd be seeking compensation given their failing to bill me for over a yea r and then seeking 13 months' of bills in one go, as well as their abysmal customer service given that Id had to do so much chasing and been kept so misinformed. The guy said he'd note that I was seeking compensation but warned that I couldn't claim for phone calls/time; just the backbilling and the customer service. He asked if I had an amount in mind and I said I'd wait to see what they offered. I heard nothing from nPower for the next two weeks and having given the compensation some real thought, I sent an email to nPower informing them that I was seeking £400 compensation. The email was as follows: To whom it may concern, On Friday 5th February, having spent 40 minutes on hold, I spent 20 minutes speaking to Sam, one of you customer service advisors, seeking an update on billing issues with my gas account (ref. XYZ). Sam assured me that he'd add a 'miscellaneous credit' to my account to reimburse me for fees relating to debt collection agencies - who should never have been approached. This has now happened. He also said he'd pass my account onto the back-billing team to remove a bill from September 2014, which was only actually billed in October 2015, and that I'd receive a new bill taking this into account. I am still awaiting any update on this, some 15 days later. I also made Sam aware that I would be seeking compensation for the total lack of customer service I'd received and for the fact that I'd been billed 13 months' worth of bills in October 2015, having received nothing for over a year and despite me trying to make payments. Sam asked if I had a figure in mind and I said I would wait to hear from you. Having heard nothing, and having spent time over the past two weeks reflecting on the impact of this saga on me, I am now writing to inform you that I seek £400 total in compensation, for the reasons outlined below. I expect a prompt response outlining what is going on with my account and when and how I should expect to receive compensation from you. Yours faithfully, MY NAME 1. Billing delays Your website states: We will provide compensation to any customer who we incorrectly back billed from July 2010 to 31st December 2015, to a value not less than £100 per customer We will provide compensation to any customer currently affected by late invoice for 12 months or more as at 31st December 2015, to a value not less than £100 per customer I received 13 months' of bills (from September 2014 to October 2015) and an immediate demand for payment in October 2015 having received no bills, and even being told Npower didn't supply my gas, throughout that period. Given that I meet both your criteria for redress, I am seeking compensation from Npower for billing delays. TOTAL SOUGHT FOR BILLING DELAYS: £100 2. General customer service My issue was not resolved within 10 working days as per your complaints policy [here I included a link to their complaints policy page] to-date it has actually taken more than 90 days since first contact and I have not been informed of progress throughout; rather I’ve sent 2 letters, countless emails and made 3 phone calls (spending more than an hour on hold) to chase updates and unfulfilled promises Such chaos has there been around my account, that even when I've tried to make payments in the past year, I was told I was not on your system and had no gas account with you; I was not receiving bills and it was impossible to make any payment given there being no account according to your team You state [here I included a link to their page which details what they're doing as of the latest December 2015 issue] We will identify and repay any customer who we incorrectly back billed from July 2010 to 31st December 2015 and yet I had to point this issue out to you; you did not identify any issues with my account until I raised the back-bill in my phone call with Sam on 05/02/2016 - in fact you were still seeking payment for the out-of-date bill at that point, contravening the Energy UK guidelines which you signed up to You raised multiple complaints (X, Y and Z) and made no contact to let me know anything had been resolved (even if it your ‘resolution’ was just consolidating two complaints into one), leading to total confusion and delaying communication with customer services about my issues A pitiful level of care and attention has been given to my communications as is evident in your reply dated 20/01/2016 , when the copying and pasting of my email was blatant (you failed to replace ‘my’ with ‘your’) and you mis-spelled basic information such as the address [i copied and highlighted the errors here] All of the above suggests my issues have been handled with nowhere near the level of care and importance they should have been, especially given your repeated promises to the Ombudsman that you will handle and resolve complaints more effectively. TOTAL SOUGHT FOR ABYSMAL CUSTOMER SERVICE: £150 3. Inconvenience and stress Such was the stress of this episode, and particularly the threat of entry to my property from Richburns (acting on Npower’s behalf) to seek a disputed debt, I spent several months taking high value items including a MacBook computer and family heirlooms including jewellery to work everyday to avoid them being taken away in my absence I have experienced serious anxiety, triggering asthma which I have not suffered from since childhood, which has massively impacted by wellbeing and quality of day-to-day life TOTAL SOUGHT FOR INCONVENIENCE AND STRESS: £50 4. Failure to uphold the Data Protection Act and unnecessarily passing my details into Richburns Debt Collection agency The Data Protection Act of 1998 states that: Personal data shall be accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date In passing inaccurate data on me on to Richburns and wrongly seeking payment for a disputed debt, I believe you contravened this act and risked damage to my reputation I am aware that following intervention by The Guardian's Consumer Champions, [here I inserted a link to a Guardian Consumer Champion's article] you previously awarded £100 in compensation to a customer who wrongfully received a visit from a debt collection agency acting on your instruction and I expect the same in this instance TOTAL SOUGHT FOR MISHANDLING OF DATA: £100 TOTAL SOUGHT FOR ALL OF THE ABOVE: £400.​ The week after this, I logged into my online account and saw lots of 'transfers' and 'reversed bills' applied, making my balance £0. I submitted a meter reading and it became approx. £19. As expected, nPower failed to reply to my email within the 7 working days they state they will. I received a voicemail from a different customer service team member on 01/03/16 asking me to call back, which I did today, speaking to someone who had no idea what was going on. He informed me that the backbilling team had sent the query back to them because they weren't sure which account the questions were around; but I only have one (gas) account with nPower! He agreed this was odd but explained that they wanted to just credit the account with £60 to save the backbilling team investigating, but hadn't done so yet because of the 'goodwill gesture' of £400 that I was seeking. He explained he could do the £60 reversal for the backbilling and give me a goodwill gesture of £30, to which my response was 'Are you joking?!'. He claimed it was a reasonable amount. I told him that the nPower website states that in response to the latest (December 2015) issues with the Ombudsman, any customer still affected by backbilling would receive no less than £100 in compensation, and he told me he wasn't aware of it but could offer £40 to make it £100. I told him this would not do, because the backbilling is seperate to the compensation; as I understand it they CANNOT charge me for that month that they billed me for some 13 months later. Any compensation I seek should be seperate to this. I also highlighted the issues I'd experienced (he hadn't read the LONG email i sent) and explained why I was seeking £400; it not being some random amount I'd plucked out of thin air. He said he'd log that I wouldn't accept the £40 and that now the matter would be passed on to Stage 2 for the complaint to be reviewed and I stressed that they need to look at my email again. As I understand it, the bill is going back to the backilling team to figure out what needs to be written off and I have to wait to hear regarding my complaint. I also asked him why my account went back to £0 and he said it was because they'd credited payments from old accounts to the new account so it was up to date. I presume he refers to payments flatmate C and/or D made before they stopped billing us. Is it not ridiculous that they've just figured out we might not even owe them anything!? I'm still not clear whether we do or don't, because billing is still on hold given the lock from the complaint. I'm utterly exhausted with all this. All I want is some fair compensation, and the mess to be resolved so that I can switch suppliers. As I understand it, there's every chance that Stage 2 will involve another laughable offer and then it'll likely go to deadlock and I'll need to complain to the Ombudsman. I guess I'm looking for advice - have I done everything I need to? What else can I do at this point? Also should I expect to have to go to the Ombudsman? Any help very much appreciated. Thank you!

Has anyone else received a call from a Survey company - on behalf of Npower. It would have been nice to have chatted with them for the 20 minutes they reckoned the survey would take - they just always seem to telephone at the most inconvenient of times..!1

Over the last few years, Npower always seemed to increase my DD around October time (the bill would likely show that my usage had left an underpayment of around £50.00). Npower would then have to refund me almost £100.00 around June of the following year. This because the increase in the DD was quite substantial between £20-30 increase. This year it would appear I am £29.60 in CREDIT - yet they have still increased the Direct Debit although for a much smaller sum of £6.00 per month ?

Surprise surprise http://www.bbc.com/news/business-35129788 But will it make any difference? No sign of it so far. I wonder what Kenneth Radley Davies Smadley Bradley Madley Mavies - their alleged in-house legal assistant and Npower's tame solicitors Wilkins Chapman will make of this. I wonder how many of Npower's victims have they frightened and bullied over the year simply in order to keep Npower's shameful dishonesty and incompetence from being revealed to the public. Of course, £26million is a drop in the ocean and no doubt their execs are all enjoying their bonuses and Christmas parties. Spare a thought for Npower victims? Not likely

Having major issues with the children at NPower. I thought I would share it for some advice and so that others can see how they treat customers. Basically we ran into some arrears a few months back. This was due mainly to them not billing us, to which we had a letter stating this and many DD not being registered that we tried to set up during this time. After each failed DD we kept contacting them regarding the DD but were ignored until we made a formal complaint to which we then had the debt spread over a longer period and some money added to the account as a goodwill gesture. This goodwill gesture they keep throwing back at us as though this new period of incompetence should be accepted by us. Anyway, fast forward to more recent times and we fell behind with the arrangement to which I apologised and wanted to set up another payment plan now our situation was better. That is when the nightmare began resulting in NPower well and truly throwing their toys out of the pram. This is the story so far: My wife called the call centre on 11 July 2015, hoping to clear the matter up and after waiting around 2 and a half hours after once being cut off got transfered to some sort of specialist department for payment plans. At around 5.10 she got through to someone and explained our situation and asked if there was any posibilty of having the debt spread over a longer period than 36 months and was told no, not at all. Fearing that they would enter our house as per the letter she agreed to the higher repayment with the view to appealing it. That and there was no other option. So when my wife was ready to set up a direct debit, guess what happened next? The person refused to set up the DD telling my wife she had to go away and think about it. Given that we were only given one option what was there to think about? No amount of asking made her change her mind. Still worried my wife called the department again hoping for someone else. This time she went through on a number she was given by the previous person, so no waiting. This time the guy refused to do the DD because his computer had broken. However, he had told my wife that he was the only person there meaning 2 things -1) that there were plenty of computers for him to log onto and 2) that the previous person who my wife had spoken to had finished her shift and this would explain why she was reluctant to do any more work that evening. Eventually after much persuation he set up a DD on his manager's computer - only he did not. I then sent a letter of complaint to them and learnt later in the week that the last person my wife spoke to had not set up a DD debit. It seems that when my wife called that Saturday that he was also due to finish his shift due to the department closing some 20 minutes later and had no intention like his team mate of setting up a DD. A 3rd call was made yet still no DD was set up. I received a reply to my complaint via post where we were simply directed back to the same department if we wanted the debt spread over a longer period and no attempt at all was made to address issues such as were there any fees added to the account as the letter stated would be if we did not get in touch. Our fear is that if they have not done their job right would it look like we had not contacted them. This is has been asked 3 times now and ignored by 3 departments meaning the quesion has been ignored 9 times in total. I then asked for the complaint to be escalated and after waiting for a few weeks decided to chase this up as well as the other issue. This is when I was informed that instead of escalating the complaint it was closed down and they would reopen the complaint. I explained at this point I was well within my rights to take the comaplaint to the ombudsman. He also made reference to the 'accounts' and as we only have the one to our knowledge I asked him to clarify what he meant by accounts and by default I asked the following departments to clarify this situation. To this date no one has clarified this and we are unaware of whether there is one account still or whether another one post my complaint had been opened as well. At this point I decided to contact the online team. From the conversations on there it seems that it is regular for them to not set up direct debits and to cancel complaints half way through as well as many more serious complaints. I repeated my request for the debt to be spread over a longer period as it had been before and was advised to send in an Income and Expenditure form. I was hoping that in regards to all the rubbish I had endured they would push it through with out but they would not. I also found them to be very evasive. I asked them to confirm their compaints procedure as I was a bit concerned by my previous complaint being closed down. Initially they refused and it was not until Monday I was sent a link. I think she realised she was in the wrong and sent it. Last Monday I sent in the I&E form but I also reveived a dead lock letter from Elizebath Gibson which did not give me the time to send in the I&E anyway. Everyone concerned has given me the opinion that unless I send in an I&E form the best that they can do is spread the debt over 36. Now that it is sent in they are claiming I can no longer spread the payment over longer. There was some issues regarding them receiving it and despite being told I had the correct email address I have had to send it 3 times. 2 times to the wrong address that I was told was the correct one and then not the correct one and once today to a working one. I was also told over the phone yesterday that once received it will go to the same departement that I complained about to be considered for the longer repayment period and when I called today as instructed to see if the email had gotten through I was given the different email address. So many different stories. With some hope I contacted the online team as advised by todays call and explained the confusion. The confusion being when they decided I could no longer have the debt over a longer period I was unaware that the form had not gone through. I told them it had been resent and can we look at it all afresh. They are still standing by their decision to no longer offer me this. This being the 36 months, metre or sending in the I&E form. However, it appears now that they are even refusing to take a look at the I&E form. Somethind I also noted in Gibson's deadlock letter. She is claiming that I declined to have a meter installed. This is a lie. It was mentioned a couple of times by the online team however I did not reply to it as I chose, if you like, the option of sending in the I&E form. Sorry about the long post guys.

Hi Guys I desperately need your help. I'm in a massive battle with Npower over inflated bills and they are being useless as ever. The problems started 2 years ago when they decided to change our meters. I was told this was a legal requirement (very rudely I might add) by npower. Once the new meters were installed, we started seeing problems straight away. I've been with npower for nearly 5 years and have always paid a direct debit to make sure that we didnt have a huge bill every 6 months to pay. However, once the new meters were installed, we didnt get a bill for a year down to issues with their new billing system. I was then sent a bill which made no sense saying that I owed them £400. So, I set up my direct debit to increase payments to £100. I then get a bill in Feb 2015 saying that they were increasing my direct debits to £125 per month even though I had called them with the correct meter readings. They asked me to do a load test which I did, however, they were saying the numbers were correct. I suuplied them with these load test readings in March - I got a call from them in July saying they had only just processed them. I then complained to Npower which turns out, is pointless and then I received 4 bills over a space of one week with various different amounts. All of which were completely inflated and were back dated to 2012. (when we had old meters). I then recieve a 'final' bill in August (at this point, we have changed provider as npower were becoming impossible to deal with) of £643 - again, a completely inflated number and totally different to the last bill I had recieved. In between all this, I have submitted a complaint to Ofgem who have turned out to be just as useless to which they then spotted that Npower had submitted the incorrect meter readings and that i was to expect an even higher bill. I then recieved a bill for £747 (now inflated from their 'final' bill) saying I had to have this paid by the 2nd October (i recieved the bill on the 1st Oct). Again, this bill is dated from sept 2012 - May 2015. Why am I being back billed? This isnt allowed right? In a nutshell, I've been paying a direct debt of £75 a month for over a year. The are now demanding a further £737 on top of that. I have a tiny 2 bed flat and we are only using them for electricity. My consumption has not changed AT ALL and my bills have just gone through the roof with no explantion and numbers I just cant make sense of. I dont believe that in one year my bill can be £1,637 when it used to be approx £750 a year. I really dont know what to do - I dont want to waste money on legal fees but I do believe that npower have completely messed up my bills and therefor over charging me. I'm completely stressed out and suffering major anxiety over this. I've been told to send a DSAR form - what form of payment am I able to send? Can anyone advise me? Thanks Ange

Lots of other companies come here to help their customers but Npower won't. This is the company which has been investigated by the regulator and which is being regulated again, which has been criticised in court, which has been criticised in the House of Commons, which has been fined by the regulator - which has had its competence to hold a licence questioned in the House of Commons, which has sacked its CEO, which is faced with fallen profits, which is the most criticised Utility company in the UK - whihc has promised to address its problems and its attitude to customers - and they refuse to come to a forum and dela with their customers directly. What a rotten company Npower is. What a crappy shambles.

Hi, i wonder if anybody can give me some advice.. I have just gone through a credit reference check to rent a house, i have done this before without any issue and even had a mortgage approved so my finances are good (988 score on experian!) . I work full time and have always paid my bills, i have no overdraft or credit cards. The letting agent flagged up a CCJ on my account from 07/06/2013 which was filed by Npower for £2,185. I moved out of this property on 01/03/2012 after only living there for 12 months. I worked 12 hours a day, 6 days a week and for the last 3 months i barely spent anytime there as i met my current partner. During the first 6 months i was sent a bill for almost a £1000 from Npower for my electricity. I immediately rang Npower as this 1 bedroom under dwelling which i was barely in could not realistically cost that much for electricity. My mum paid less for a 4 bedroom house over a year. They agreed this seemed high and agreed to send out an engineer to look at the meter. It was agreed that the meter did have a problem and the engineer agreed also that the house could never use that much electricity with the amount of electrical items i had and that i was one person there with a very busy job. The outcome was that they were going to remove the meter and put in a pre-paid meter. a few days later they changed the meter, i recieved a pre-pay card. I rang Npower and as far as they were concerned the problem had been sorted i paid a more realistic bill of a couple of hundred pounds and I continued using the pre-paid meter which cost me £10-15 per week for the amount i was there and i continued with this for the remaining 9 months without any correspondence from npower. In 2012 i moved in with my partner and have done since. Now I have found out that Npower actually filed a CCJ for the amount of £2,185 for this address. I have no paperwork as i cleared out old paperwork after relocating to the south. I have never recieved a letter about a CCJ or any arrears. Can anyone give me advice? I am not prepared to pay this extortionate amount. Thanks