@npowerhelp Hillards & npower - pre-payment & debt

[hillards]

Apologies in advance if this is a long post - but...

 

I work as a community project manager and in the last 4 years I've only been in paid employment for 18 months, the last was only 6 months part-time. This is because we have to get funding to support the post, and it's not that easy. SO, I've been technically unemployed for most of it. I don't qualify for benefits, all I get is a refund of travel expenses. My wife works and, because of my low income, we get working tax credits.

 

Almost 2 years ago I found that I couldn't pay my bills, I became ill and lost track of things. Next thing I know I'm getting demands from npower as I hadn't paid them. They wanted to cut me off, and eventually they fitted pre-payment meters in August 2007 for both electric and gas.

 

They claimed that I owed £1000 on electric and about £400 on gas, which they would claim back at £10 and £5 a week via the meters. I'm reasonably happy that the gas meter is being fair with me and tells me it's taken £5 when I put the card in after paying for credit. At least I know that what it shows as credit is credit for gas, it's not going to vanish any other way.

 

The meters have been in just over 15 months now and I am sure I'm being ripped off for electricity. When I was on monthly DD I was paying £39 a month for my electricity, and usually got a small rebate from overpaying over the year. I've finally found out what some of the numbers mean on my meter and in 15 months (65 weeks) I have paid over £2,000 on electric alone! It seems reading E is the amount put in.

 

It also shows a repayment of just over £650 against the debt, reading S, so I've paid them over £1,350 on top of that - and have little idea what that is for. Looking back to my previous billing, I paid around £470 a year on DD, and got a rebate at that. I can't see that my usage has trebled - so what on earth is going on?

 

There was £800-900 of that I could not really account for. Until I found out what reading F was - it shows £10.75, and I now know that is a weekly charge - WTF?

 

This all came to a head last week when my power went off whilst I was out. I had looked the previous day and it showed over £30 credit in the afternoon. In the evening it was just over £20, and I had noticed before that it took a lump sum of £10 once a week, reading T, to reduce the debt. So, that seemed normal.

 

But, the following day it had all gone - and npower were far from helpful. All told I spent over 2 hours on the phone to them, three different departments, with calls to Consumer Direct and the Energy Ombudsman's office inbetween.

 

npower insisted that I must have had some applicance on that was faulty, and it had used the power. Rubbish. I've nothing that would rattle 23 quid off in about 16 hours. Another department implied that i was trying it on, calling them for free credit. All I had said was that I had no more money available to get credit at that time. I didn't see how it had used so much, so quickly, hence my call.

 

Anyway, it opened my eyes a bit, to realise there was a problem. I've just been feeding the darned thing over and over, without really keeping track of how much had gone in. When it got low I'd buy more credit and was careful to stop it running out, to save having to reset all the electronic clocks in the house. We've 4, two radio alarm clocks, a timer on the microwave and one on the video.

 

I had also called my MP's office and they checked with npower. They were given some tale that I was a bad payer, npower said that I was always on emergency credit and was aware (I wasn't!) that this prevented any charges being taken or the debt being reduced. As I had finally put some money in that took it back into normal credit the meter had taken the charges to catch up...

 

Sorry, but that really made me blow my top and I am now determined to nail these swines who dared to even suggest such a thing! That is totally untrue. It's tripped to emergency about 3 times since it's been in, mainly because I wasn't keeping a close eye on it. Each time I've added credit within hours, I don't think it had ever gone over £1 of emergency credit before.

 

The community project has no money, so I've been forced to cut back on expenses, it no longer covers the cost of fuel being used to get there and back in the car. BUT, I don't want to drop the project as I think it will eventually work out AND I don't want to be a layabout, doing nothing. I'd rather be there than sat at home. The knock-on effect is that it's getting harder to survive each month and if the electric goes I'm stuffed.

 

I have usually tried to make sure I'm ahead and knew that the £20 I had in last week should have lasted over the weekend. The weekly debt had come off, I had seen that. npower were far from sympathetic and I was made to feel like I was a total liar. I've been a customer for over 30 years and do not deserve the kind of treatment they dished out.

 

I have written a very strong letter to their customer relations manager, sent recorded delivery at that. Copy to my MP as well. It works out that I've been putting in over £130 a month and had not realised, until I worked it out a couple of days ago.

 

I have asked them what the charge of £10.75 a week is about. Nobody mentioned that when they said I was getting one of these gadgets installed. That's £700 in the time I've had this thing. Wow! AND, it's more than the repayment of debt, by 75p a week. I thought £10 a week was bad, on top of paying for the energy being used.

 

I'm also aware that I'm paying more per unit for energy than someone on a standard meter and that stinks. Not only that but a lot of customers get dual fuel rebate, which you lose out on with pre-payment meters - yes PRE payment, not a credit account...

 

To go back to the big row - I didn't have any money at the time, the wife had a little bit for shopping and we needed that for fresh stuff like milk and bread. No way were we going to starve over this. BUT, we realised it was not practical to sit in the dark.

 

So, her Mum has given her money for Christmas, instead of a present - isn't it a swine that we've had to use this on the ruddy meter! I have kept a very close eye on it since talking to npower and have regular readings over the last few days.

 

So - what else can I do? I can't change comapnies 'cos I owe them still. I do object to their poor customer relations to date, and have asked that this be looked into. Crikey, I'm a man of 51, and they almost had me in tears! I've dealt with kinder debt recovery agents!

 

Any hints and tips on pre-payment meters, short of tapping them with a sledgehammer?

[An Angry Villager]

Have you escalated it to a formal written complaint? I've just had to do this and I've given them the choice of sorting out my problem or I'm refering it to the Energy Ombudsman.

 

[**EDIT**]

Basically - 2 advisors from Npower ignored my complaint and refused to deal with it. One even went as far as saying it "wasn't a good idea for me to make this a formal complaint". Like you, I do not appreciate bad customer service and such arrogance on their part.

[**/END EDIT]

 

Anyway - hit them with a sledgehammer - I'm on the verge of doing that to NPower myself.

Edited November 26, 2008 by An Angry Villager

[hillards]

Have you escalated it to a forum written complaint?

Oh yes, letter sent yesterday, first class, recorded, to their Gateshead office. Copy to my MP.

 

My case is already logged with the Energy Ombudsman's office, as they were one of the contacts made on the day all this blew up. I've made sure that the reference number I was given is quoted in the letter to npower.

 

I've no idea what to expect, my letter was very detailed about events, who I spoke to, what they said. I'm also keeping a strict record of meter readings so I can see if anything untoward happens again.

[fedup74]

If you feel like your getting nowhere with Npower (lets face it everybody does!!) Energywatch merged on 1st October to become Consumer Direct. Tel no 08454 040506. Put a complaint in to these as you will continue to bang your head against the brick wall with Npower, their customer service is cr*p. Apparently they have a separate dept to deal with escalated complaints. Good luck:)

 

 

 

 

[An Angry Villager]

Wicked, it looks like it's just a waiting game until they reply then.

[hillards]

Yes, Consumer Direct have also been involved, they put me on to the Energy Ombudsman's office.

I think I've done all the right things so far, just wondering how long npower will take to respond...

Annoyed now, I've been keeping such a close eye on the Electric meter that I forgot about the gas, it just went...

[fedup74]

OOH get your cardigan on!!

[silverfox1961]

Pardon me for my ignorance but you say the weekly charge (screen F) is £10.75. Is that including the debt repayment or is that on another screen. I do know that some meters have a weekly charge built in that can't be zeroed if it's one of the older meters. I remember when I was with Powergen that the weekly charge was 87p per week and a high unit rate:mad:.

If you haven't done so, do a search on the net to find out what each screen means. I'm going to have a look at mine to see what it says. I take it that it's a key meter.

 

fox

[hillards]

Pardon me for my ignorance but you say the weekly charge (screen F) is £10.75.

OK - Screen F is showing £10.75 and screen T, the debt being collected per week, is £10.00. From what I can gather, both are being paid.

If I look at the fact that I have paid, on average, over £130 a month in the last 15 months, then allow perhaps £45 a month as energy (used to be £39 on monthly DD) and about £40 in debt repayment, I'm still £45 adrift, which I take to be this weekly 'charge'.

Yes, it is a key meter and they sent a reset code to it last week as they agreed that it was taking £10 a week as a lump sum, rather than gradually. I can see the debt reducing daily on the readings now, rather than a tenner going off at once.

...Some interesting reading at The Liverpool Times » Prepayment utility meters.

Thanks also to ATD for post 6 on http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/utilities-gas-electricity-water/152887-powergen-charge-me-130-a.html, although I have already contacted them about this and they want me to go to CAB to do an income/expenditure thing for them - I'm not well at present, on tablets, under the Doc and cannot do with trailing into town.

Not having much luck getting into on what the various displays mean - first port of call was npower's website, tried lal sorts of FAQ's anbd entered 'key meter' as a search - no results!

Here's what I know already

A - current credit, will shows E after total if on emergency credit

B - min amount required to come off emergency credit

E - total credit recorded to date (mine started at zero when installed)

F - charge per week ?

G - units used

H - same as G ?

I - cost per unit

R - amount of emergency credit available

S - debt remaining

T - weekly debt reduction amount

[silverfox1961]

Screen F is wrong!

get on to them and get them to update your key. At the moment you are paying them £20.75 a week in debt and meter charges. the meter charge is less than a quid per week.

It will need investigating as to when the weekly charge was put on so that you can get that offset against your debt. Once that is done and if it reduces your debt to zero, change suppliers!

 

fox

[hillards]

OK - I phoned them, here's what they say.

Screens R S and T are only visible when the key is inserted as they relate the debt which only the key holder should see. ('R' is EC so they got that wrong anyway!)

Screen T shows the debt being collected per week. This is included in screen F with a weekly charge of 75p for the meter.

They insist that it can only take a total of £10.75 a week.

 

Sorry, I can't get my head around this at all. They now tell me that I am paying 14.52p a unit, it is this which is making the required payment so high. I've no idea what it should be, if that's good or bad, as I've nothing to compare it to. The implication is that I am using a lot more electricty now than I was two years ago, twice as much? Read on to see how I arrive at that conclusion.

 

I have been keeping a very careful eye on the readings since last Friday, when the $#17 hit the fan. It says I have used 110 units in that time. The credit has dropped by £23.50 and the debt has been reduced by £6.60. My calculation therefore is that £18.40 has been used on energy? If I take the 14.52p a unit cost and multiply that by 110 I get £15.97, so there's a difference of 93p not accounted for. 75p of that is the weekly charge, if they are right, so it's a little bit 'out', but not as much as first thought.

 

Until I spoke with them I had no idea how to work this out. No information given at the time iof installation, the engineer just moaned on about how awkward it was to get at! Rubbish...

 

So - I'm using a lot more energy than I used to do? Is that the answer?

[verycatchy7939]

ring npower and ask them for there engery efficentcy deptartment, they have one i used to work in it.YOu will be amazed at how much electric faulty house hold applincies used.

[indebtstudent]

Yes energy efficiency is a good idea if only to eliminate that possibility. The number is 0800022220, also I am not trained on prepayment so I am not sure how it works in terms of bills but I do know they CAN send bills on a prepayment meter. It happens when you get the meter taken out for example, not sure if there is a regular billing process.

 

Anyhow I would also recommend looking at other suppliers, if the the debt has been cleared, since I believe some of the smaller companies offer the same rate to all customers.

 

Prepayment meters are such a rip off - yes you can spread the balance over a long period BUT you pay more per unit and, as if that wasn't bad enough, you CAN build up a debit balance on some PREPAYMENT meters. Yes you did read that right.

 

Can we now admit privatised utilites has been a terrible failure?

[hillards]

I've asked for full bills from when this thing was put in. They are supposed to be sending those out so I can pass them to my MP's office.

 

I have kept a close eye on things over the past few days, the biggest usage is when I have the immersion heater on but I need that for hot water. I've tried various things in isolation and cannot see that anything else is running the meter at an alarming rate. The washing machine is a heavy user, but I know that was not plugged in when the original problem of £23 being wiped off the meter happened. Neither was the immersion heater on.

 

I did some work with our local council's energy efficiency team so was aware unplugging devices not in use, using low energy lightbulbs and many other things. I know there are gadgets out there that you can plug in and see what power a given device uses, but can't afford one.

 

I can't change suppliers, the only reason I have this stupid meter is because I got behind through unemployment. There is still an amount owing, which shows on the meter as screen S. This had been going down at £10 a week, taken as a lump sum, usually on a Thursday tea-time. They've sent a code through the key to sort that out and it now trickles down instead. That is making it look like I'm going through more a day as the cash amount goes down quicker, even if I'm using nothing!

 

I've had the pence per unit figure checked by npower, they say it is correct at 14.52p per unit. I've no idea how that relates to what others are paying, trying to get that sort of info from their website is impossible. All the price comparison sites do is look at the money you spend and suggest an alternative. As far as I can tell, there would be no hidden defecit in what I pay against the actual usage.

 

My biggest argument has to be that I PRE-pay for energy, so they get my money before I use anything. I don't get any incentives. Someone taking dual fuel with them can pay in arrears, on a plan that smooths the effect of winter AND they get an annual discount.

 

They add a charge for the meter itself, but it's not much different to a normal meter, except this one does some additional calculations and has a key slot. Everything is done electronically to update my account, so they can't make out it costs them a fortune to do this. Why then do they rip me off like this?

 

I note that the question has been asked in parliament, as detailed at House of Commons Hansard Debates for 08 Oct 2007 (pt 0022)

 

I've also asked for the amount taken for arrears to be reduced as I'm not working, they want me to go to CAB and do a income/outgoings form but I've not been well enough. It's a heck of a trek to get there and you can't get appointments for things like this, you have to wait, perhaps hours. I tried phoning to ask.

 

Looks like I'm going to be sat in the dark this Christmas, npower seem to think my usage is 'normal' and there's nothing wrong. I'm very tempted to take a sledgehammer to the meter, there they would have to admit there was something wrong with it!

[hillards]

Just to update this one.

 

I've heard back from my MP, she's asked npower for copies of correspondence. Not that's I've had any yet.

 

I've been keeping a record of what's been going into the meter, it works out at about £50 a week, yes, WEEK. Of that, £10 a week is to repay the debt and 75p is for the meter, meaning we are using £39.25 a week in energy.

 

They've shown comparisson to last year's usage on the bill that arrived the other day and we do seem to be using the same amount of units. Then again, the bill also shows that we paid so much onto the key that we went into CREDIT this time, until the latest bill for almost £300 was added in that is.

 

So, the issues now are that the bill shows one rate of pence per unit and the meter shows a higher one, which has the knock on effect that the amount shown on the meter as 'arrears' is significantly higher than what the bill claimed. I'd much rather have that in credit on the meter at this time of year!

 

The thing that started this off is that the meter swallowed a chunk of credit with no explanation, and I'm no wiser about that. Obviously there was a problem there, and the continued poor quality of customer service is annoying me.

 

The readings I took were sent in almost 2 weeks ago, but I've not had any communication from them to say if they look right or not. Not even an acknowledgement of the first letter in November. I know they've had them.

 

Anyway, I've now added a bit of firepower to the argument, by including the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change in my communications list on this topic. I have dealt with Ed Milliband several times in the past and believe I was one of the first people to interview him on the radio when he took the Doncaster North seat in 2005...

 

Sometimes, it's not what you know...

 

Then again, has anyone an email address for Julia Lynch-Williams, Director of Energy Services at npower ?

[hillards]

Over a year later and this matter is still not resolved! So, time for an update.

 

I had regular correspondence with npower but didn't get very far. Every time I contacted them I was promised a reply within 10 days, and it was always a month between their letters or emails.

 

Finally, it went to the Energy Ombudsman's office in July 2009, as I was getting nowhere dealing directly with npower. The bloke who was dealing with it was very mixed up in what he was telling me, very rare he was on the same subject.

 

I had various offers of 'goodwill gesture' payments, the only time I actually got a credit was just after the original incident, where they put £30 (I think) on the key for me, to replace what had been wiped out. At the time of the meter change in March a £40 credit was on the new meter as installed, but that was then added to the 'debt' on the next bill!

 

In September I got a provision conclusion letter from the EO's office. but this included a section that said npower had no record of any contact with my MP's office, and this was a very sore point with me as I had been accused of being a meter fiddler who was never in credit to get out of paying the debt. Total rubbish, as shown by the many bills I have on file here.

 

I got copies of the file records form my MP's office and sent those, with a covering letter, to the EO's office in October. I am still waiting for them to finalise the case. I had to re-send the letter and information in November 09 as it seems the original did not arrive there.

 

Since the incident in November 2008 I have kept a strict record of every penny credited to the meter, including a full meter change in March. In 13 months I have put a whopping total of £1,470 of credit on the meter(s)! I used to pay £39 a month on Direct Debit, OK so that was 3 years ago now, and prices have gone up, but it's a heck of a difference from the £468 a year (12 x £39) I was paying back then.

 

In the provisional conclusion the EO suggested that npower send a letter of apology and credit my account for an amazing £150 in recognition of the poor service received. Needless to say, I was not happy with that, mainly because of the things they told my MP's office, which npower tried to ignore by saying they had no record.

 

I was disappointed with the EO in accepting that as though it were a statement of fact by npower, hence making sure the EO received positive proof that the exchange did take place.

 

So - why do we have an ombudsman's office if they are not going to do any more than a timid slap ion the wrist and a suggestion of compensation that I actually find quite insulting. Maybe I should submit a bill for all the time I spent on writing to npower, then the EO, as well as all the hassle I had in the original incident.

 

It's a joke that it's taken this long. My meter suggests I still owe them almost £200, and that's slowly trickling off as I add more credit of course. They took my original meter out to check it, but all I know is that they said their tests were inconclusive.

 

Bad customer service in the first place, even worse in following up, and now the EO's office is taking months to come up with anything even half reasonable by way of compensation.

 

Had I known it was going to take this long, and result in such a poor offer, I would have gone the legal route a year ago. I have no confidence in my energy supplier or the Ombudsman's office either.

 

It feels a bit like being bullied at school and asking the bully's dad to come up with a fair solution - usually they can't be bothered and if they do get round to anything it's often too little too late.

 

I wonder if I'll still be waiting by this time next year?

[ozzywizard]

I had various offers of 'goodwill gesture' payments, the only time I actually got a credit was just after the original incident, where they put £30 (I think) on the key for me, to replace what had been wiped out. At the time of the meter change in March a £40 credit was on the new meter as installed, but that was then added to the 'debt' on the next bill!

Okies quick comment here, they have failed you yet again unfortunatly. This is an absolute conn. Seriously a deceitfull way of deceiving a customer into believing they have been credited when they clearly have not.

so you had 30 and 40 added to your meter as a gesture of goodwill total of 70 pounds . . . this is called "fake money". .

 

Hard to explain expecially when i am tired, lol . . .

 

you pay your meter that gives you credit, this monies then is transfered onto your actual account as a monetry payment off your billed unit useage... If a credit is given onto your meter but not money onto your account you gain nothing as your useage is still billed and if not enough funds credited through meter than the account shows a debit so it is then added as a debt on your meter causing a higher collection rate.

 

Hope I made sense if not I will explain better tomorrow lol.

[hillards]

Hope I made sense if not I will explain better tomorrow lol.

 

They've only ever given one credit, which was by way of an 8 digit number I had to give to the shop. They then updated my key and it did give a credit when I put the key into the meter, which covered the amount the meter had 'lost'.

 

I can see what you mean, that this was not actually shown on my bill as a 'payment' on the account, so the actual total was not affected by that credit. I will take that up in my next bit of correspondence with my MP as I am really annoyed at the sheer length of time this has taken without that bit of info.

 

If you are sold dodgy goods, you go back to the shop and get a refund. If you then get bad customer service you take it up with the manager, then the head office. If there's still no satisfaction then you can take legal action. However, dealing with an energy company means you have to go via the Ombudsman to lodge a complaint that isn't solved at source.

 

There comes a point where you have to say 'enough is enough', and I'm ready to go to the papers, Watchdog and whoever else I can think of.

 

Thanks for highlighting the way they con people, helpful!

[hillards]

Oh go on, lets have an update to this thread...

 

npower have washed their hands of any further dealing with me as I've had their 'final letter'. I notified the Ombudsman's office of this and they sent a provision conclusion, which I disagreed with, so wrote back. They took that into account and told me I would hear from them 'within 8 weeks' - that was in mid November.

 

I telephoned them in late January, to find out if I should have had some communication from them that may have got lost in the post or something. Their reply was to say they were very busy and they would get to me as soon as possible !

 

Very strange then that a letter I had from them in early November said that if I did not contact them within 7 days, they would issue the final decision. I wonder what's changed so much since then that they are now unsure of when I will receive any further correspondence.

 

I have updated my MP with this news, and expressed my disappointment that very little seems to be happening on a case that is now 14 months old. I wonder who I should address my complaint to about poor customer service at the Energy Ombudsman's office ?

 

Perhaps that would be the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change?

Hmmm, his constituency office is only a few miles away... I have dropped a line to BBC's Watchdog, no reply as yet, and my local paper (yawn...). Nobody cares.

[hillards]

At long last - a letter from the Ombudsman's office!

 

The gist of it is that they have noted my comments and require npower to issue a letter of apology addressing the customer service issues raised and including an apology for any embarrassment caused. They should also investigate the information they gave to my MP's office - which was more of an embarrassment than their poor customer service really.

 

They are to issue a goodwill credit, but I consider it a rather insulting amount as it's cost me a fortune in phone calls and letters to try and get this far! So much for having an Ombudsman service to rectify such issues. npower are also to confirm that all promised credits have been applied to my account and are not just an amount put on the key and then not reflected on the actual bill.

 

So, what other action could I take to drag npower through hot coals and make them howl? Not a lot I guess, so I'll have to accept the Ombudsman's decision and let them get away with it. NO letter of apology is going to meaningful, they just get some junior to type one up and expect me to be pacified.

 

Very dissapointed by it all...

[indebtstudent]

Well since you've come this far and you are still unhappy with NPower and now the Ombudsmen I'd ask that question of the Ombudsmen - who do I compalin to if I'm unhappy with your service and decision? I know re the FOS there is a provision where it can be looked at by a more senior person, though I genuinly do now know if this will make any difference.

 

Given that so have expended so much ink on this already what's one more letter...

[hillards]

Thanks for that. The final paragraph of the letter reads: "If you do not accept my final decision, or fail to respond, you will still be free to follow other routes to try and sort out the problems in a way that suits you better, but you will lose the right to the solution I have set out."

 

In other words - like it or lump it! The only other course of action would be to take a private action through the courts, but on what grounds?

 

There is no higher person than the Ombudsman it seems. I do feel badly let down by 'the system', whatever that is supposed to be, and will be quite vocal about this to the press, once the settlement is made to my satisfaction - expect that in a year or so's time, as npower are not known for their cracking customer service are they...

 

It may be a 'full and final' agreement, but I would not be stopped from saying my bit if I wish. Needless to say, I am already talking with another energy company.

[pelham9]

on a plan that smooths the effect of winter AND they get an annual discount

.

 

I suspect you are considering that the direct debit system is better than the prepaid system.

 

The direct debit system is a payment in advance system very like the prepaid system.

 

a) Payments each month are taken a varying period in advance. These payments are loans to the company.

 

b) The winter highs are paid for by higher than needed payments in the spring summer and autumn, It is not a coincidence tnat the monthly payments are set in April/May. Payments in advamce are loans to the company

 

The monthly payments are almost always set higher than thay need to be so an account is always in credit (just like a prepaid meter). That credit is a loan to the conpany.

 

The utilities love this because they are getting free finance at the cost of a discount.

 

 

 

Because they give a discount they have kidded customers that it is a good deal. Most people if they were to take into account the cost of borrowing the money they then lend to the utilities are out of pocket.

 

I agree with you that the utilities should not be allowed to charge a fee for a prepaid meter and that the prepaid tariffs should not be higher than they charge other customers. People on prepaid meters are often the least able to meet these extra charges. I feel that absorbing these costs - they will make aa smaller profit on these accounts - should be part of the service.

[verycatchy7939]

well it seems we got an expert(NOT) here on how utlities work a budget scheme.

So u set up you direct debit payments in advance and start using you intrest free credit facility straight off after 6 months a mid term reassemrnt takes place to make sure u dont fall in to debt.

A utilty budget plan is a 9 month comsumptive review, summer months are discounted.

Payments are not set higher usually ther y not high enough as you tell your supplier what to set it at.

Hate this needless power company bashing when the author knows nothing about the industry.

[hillards]

Two opposing views on how it works...?

 

I have looked back on my own account, as I keep all bills and readings. I had NEVER paid in advance, bar a few quid here and there in the late summer, for energy. It was always in arrears, after a bill. So, I would get a bill for perhaps £100 and pay £33 a month for the next 3 months, another bill would come, another £100, carry over £1 debit, pay £33 for 3 months and so on. In the summer it may only be £85 a quarter, hence the slight overpayment. If that ever got above a tenner in credit I would call them and insist on having that paid back.

 

I would get an annual review letter, asking me to pay £x. I would call them and say 'no', the debit will be £y, as their 'estimate' was always too high!

 

If had been paying in advance for energy then I would consider looking at stopping payments until the account catches up.

 

Once this stupid key meter was installed I had no choice but to pay in advance, or I wouldn't have had any power.

 

I've been a customer of the same company since 1977, and I'm talking to another supplier. I will be leaving as soon as I get my account sorted with npower.