@npowerhelp Switching problems with Npower and Eon

[SuperVillain]

Hello,

 

Thought I'd post up here with a slight issue I'm having at the moment with Npower (and Eon).

 

When the price rises were announced Npower were offering fixed contracts to April 2015 for gas and electricity. The unit prices were cheaper than the what I was paying to Eon so I decided to switch through a comparison website.

 

No issues, received the contract from Npower a few weeks later and confirmed all the prices were correct as quoted. A few weeks down the line more letters to say the switch is almost complete.

 

They then send a letter saying the switch is nearly complete and ask for a meter read to be taken between 23rd Nov 2013 and 1st Dec 2013. The letter however only referred to electricity, no mention of gas. So on 25th Nov I take reads for gas and electricity and submit them online. I ring up Npower about the letter and they say its a computer error and that they have definitely captured my gas and electricity supply. I told them I'd submitted the reads online and they said they would update the account.

 

Fast forward to New Years Day I get an email asking for meter reads so Npower can produce my first bill (I chose not to go with direct debit). On 8th Jan I take reads and log on but my online account is still asking for opening meter reads. So I ring Npower and the girl tried to put the reads on whilst I was on the phone but couldn't and gave me another number to ring - The Plausibility Department.

 

Spoke with them the next day, nice guy who effectively told me both accounts were in a mess. They had not received my opening meter reads which were some way off what they had agreed with Eon. My gas account wasn't so bad so the guy said this wouldn't be too much of an issue, but the electricity was way off so needed to be sorted.

 

According to Npower, Eon's closing read on 23/11/13 was 1811.1. I'm not sure where they got the .1 from because there is no decimal point on the meter display. My read on 25/11/13 was 03393. So whether that's supposed to be 0339.3 or just 3393 who knows. So he booked me in for a meter read to verify what was correct.

 

Eon still haven't sent out a closing bill but in the meantime also received a credit of over £400 from Eon - keeping this on ice and not spending this until the mess is sorted out. [by the way this is why I'm not going direct debit anymore - I have a bank account I don't need an energy company to hold on to my money...]

 

Npower came round on Friday and read the electricity meter (2 hrs earlier than the agreed time slot so lucky I was in!). Next step - call them up when I get 5 mins and find out what's going on and what happens next.

 

I'm confident I can get this sorted, just thought I'd post up here and keep it updated in case it might help anyone.

[nottslad]

Hi Super

 

E.ON would receive the closing meter reads from NPower, they wouldn't give the opening reads to NPower - it's up to the new supplier to send the reads through to the old supplier - hope this sheds a bit of clarity on matters.

 

NPower have recently had a new billing system; this could be causing your issue perhaps?

[SuperVillain]

Thanks nottslad,

 

Couldn't remember which way round it was regarding who provides the reads but the guy in the nPower plausibility dept definitely said eon supplied the read... He must be mistaken.

 

And they have mentioned a new computer system so I suspect this would be the new billing system you speak of.

 

I will post up here once I've spoken to them again.

[E.ON Company Rep: Malc]

Hi SuperVillain

 

Just to confirm what nottslad has already said. When supplies switch, it's the responsibility of the gaining supplier to let the losing supplier have the meter readings they intend to use to open the new account. The losing supplier uses the same readings to close their account. This is to make sure customers are only charged once for the same energy.

 

Where there's a dispute between the two suppliers over the readings, there's an industry wide process to resolve this. Provided the difference is above certain thresholds, either supplier can start what's known as an Agreed Reads Dispute (ARD). This usually sorts a meter reading problem within approx 30 days.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Malc

[SuperVillain]

Thanks for your reply Malc

[SuperVillain]

Brief update:

 

Had a look at my online account a couple of weeks ago. Appears the electricity read from the meter reader has been updated to the account. However the opening read is still completely wrong.

 

Npower apparently raised a bill on 11th February but I only saw this when I logged on. It's a bill for about £1000 however they didn't send a copy.

 

So today I spoke with Npower's plausibility department again. Appears the query they placed on the account back in January is still open and just hasn't been actioned. They want me to take another read so they can estimate my usage. Which is fine that's not a problem.

 

About the bill they cannot explain why this hasn't been sent out. The account is set for paper bills to be sent.

 

Handily I can still log onto my Eon account despite it being closed. They've not sent a final bill but I've checked and the large credit is due to the very low estimated read.

 

Now I have another concern -

 

My electricity reads are as follows:

 

25.11.13 - 3393

08.01.14 - 4182

31.01.14 - 4575

26.03.14 - 5507

 

2100 units in 4 months? Is that too high? 3 bed semi with no one around during the day so only really consuming at night and weekends. This is a new electronic digital meter installed on 9th April 2013 and started at 0... So 5500 units in just under a year...

 

By comparison the reads I've got for the old digital mechanical meter:

 

19.03.12 - 10960

07.09.12 - 12741

11.03.13 - 14603

 

That's 3643 in 12 months...

 

Nothing has changed in the house, all the appliances are the same. Do electronic digital meters measure differently to the old mechanical digital meters?