One of the people that we are helping here on this forum wrote a letter to their member of Parliament about the problems they were having with npower. Understandably, the recent election caused a delay in the response. However, remarkably quickly after the member of Parliament was returned, an excellent response was received offering to make representations and asking for further information. We think that this could be a very good move forward. It is a very simple matter to write to your member of Parliament and if people were prepared to let us know that they have written and also to publish the responses here, we could take steps to flag up to each member of Parliament which of their colleagues were also concerned about npower's shenanigans. I think that it would only take a few members of Parliament to realise that they were not alone and they would publish set up some correspondence or even a meeting and then the matter of npower might be raised in the House. If you have a problem with npower then I would suggest that you write your member of Parliament and use this thread to tell us about it. I would suggest that you update your own thread with the letter that you have written and also with the response you get. I would also ask people to post the letter in this thread as well along with the response so that we have them all in one place. The Consumer Action Group will then be pleased to act on all of your behalf's flagging up the issue to all the various members of Parliament – and also maybe to the national media as well, who I am sure will be extremely interested. We do not believe that asking for help from a member of Parliament should be used as an alternative to legal action. If a member of Parliament makes representations, it will not obtain any compensation for you. You should begin your legal action as well and maintain it all the way through.

Hi guys. I'll try to make it as clear as I can. Over 2 weeks ago I received a threat from company called PDP Management Services that nPower requires my proof of occupancy and if they will not receive the above they will obtain a Warrant and will disconnect me. So I sent my details again to the nPower (by email this time). Still no answer from them and what I discovered they charged my both accounts (gas and electricity) with so called Agent Visit Fee.... (?) Now, today a guy from PDP Management Services visited us with the same threats. All letters are addressed to The Occupier. Tried to phone nPower with no luck. Tried Twitter, will se if that is gonna work. I also sent an email to the PDP explaining that I have provided all information required by nPower. My questions are: Am I allowed to change provider right now or they'll make a trouble with this? Are they allowed to do this? Do I have a right to call the police if I will be still unlucky with the nPower and they will arrive with the Warrant? I've no debts with them but I must say that feeling quite stressed right now. Thanks.

Hi All As the site team might know as they tweeted before, I have been in contact with Ryan about NPowers treatment and breaking in through a door to cap the services to the property. Well with his permission I am posting to update you on his progress and what he did to resolve it (Its still ongoing however, its now at a point where Npower have partially resolved the situation for this reason I have been requested to keep stum about any offers being made etc.) His story is as follows; Well Ryan got in contact with Npower paul.massara@rwenpower.com. Very quickly after that the Exec team got in contact with Ryan and they have attempted to put things right. Ryan has also been in contact with the Guardian Newspaper. It appears that this case maybe going to print and also we had a great input from @Spokesmansaid about direct complaining to the company. The company finally got their act together after speaking to the Guardian and I suspect it will be printed in their Consumer Champions in the near future. Overall Npower have recently said they will compensate Ryan and I can confirm that they will be looking after him going forward. Its a great result against Npower and Ryan has said once everything has been confirmed and he has received compensation, he will advise what exactly he received. I have asked him to check that he wont be under any Non-Disclosure Agreement and we can update this post. The point being to this whole experience is that using Social Media to complain has its benefits. Ryan still has yet to receive a public apology, however I believe it wont be long before he does.

Hi We closed our account with Npower in april this year. Before closing we were informed that we were £300 in credit. 2 weeks ago we received a final bill of £1577.24 When I spoke to the operator he informed us that we hadn't been billed for gas since sept 2013. I questioned this and suggested that even if this was the case we had been paying £100 per month and that this should have covered close to what we were using. When I was also surprised as our meter was read by a reader on christmas eve. I then enquired about the excessive electricity costs. The operator said that the meter was read at 12150 when in fact the final reading was 5958. We have now received another final bill for £873.81. I am also think this bill is a bit dubious as on the same page it states that our estimated duel fuel consumption this year would be £1150. We are at a bit of a loss as to where to start with all this. I have no way of checking their facts and charges and I'm also extremely unhappy that they (and for that matter I) haven't noticed that we haven't used any gas for 2 years. I just get the feeling I'm being shafted and would be really grateful for any help from someone with a bit of experience in this area.

We will no longer be able to give advice or to comment on the Npower Nightmare Facebook group because we have been blocked. If you are a member of one of the other groups – Npower Boycott, Nasty Npower, Consumers Against NPower, etc and you see comments which are posted on this forum or in one of those groups and which you feel might be useful to the people who are on the Npower Nightmare Facebook group, then you might think to relay those comments to those people because we will be unable to do so directly. Some of you might also feel inclined to let the members of the Npower Nightmare Facebook group know that the Consumer Action Group has been blocked because I expect that most of them don't realise it. The way that the Npower Nightmare group is being conducted would almost lead you to believe that it is a shill group of Npower – but of course that is just being fanciful, isn't it?

Ever since I moved to Northampton at the end of August I have had nothing but problems with NPower. I am the account holder and since mid-late October have called them about every 2 weeks, spending on average over 45 to 60 minutes on the phone with them. During these phone calls, I have either given them meter readings or discussed when they are coming to check our gas meter (as the landlord just had a non-card meter put in and they never collected the details when it was switched on). On numerous occasions, reps have told me there has been no record or notes of my previous phone calls or given meter readings. The times an engineer was booked to come in, no one had showed up. Then one day a rep told me they never book appointments on the Saturdays (which were the days originally given to me), hence why they never showed up. Just recently I felt we had the meter sorted out and was sent a reasonable gas bill for September to March of £133 based on the reading I gave NPower. We paid the electric near Christmas for £122, so this seemed about right. However, when I called in to pay the gas bill I was told by the company not to pay it as there was an outstanding complaint on the gas meter. Until that was resolved they told me not to pay anything until a new reading was given. Well the complaint was resolved miraculously on April 16 (in a letter stating they had tried to call me, which they didn't as my mobile log would have picked it up), and then, I noticed I received an estimated bill of over £500. When I called to enquire on April 22, the rep asked me to give her the meter readings, which I did and told me a bill would come in a couple days. Well I waited and no bill. I called this morning (two weeks post call again) and the rep told me that my previous conversation was not in the system, nor was the meter readings I gave (which is a common thing I have heard from NPower in our biweekly conversations - I even have my call logs to prove). I went into our basement read the meters and told them to the lady. When I asked her how much our bill would be, she told me it would be over £967-!!!! I told her that was absolutely ridiculous. She clearly stated to me is that a unit (yes she used that word) of gas is charge at 4.53p and we only used 1024 units (according to the meter) but when I told her based on that, there is no way the bill could be so high, she challenged me stating it was based on my current reading. Well I can do math and it cannot add to over £600, unless I am missing something?! £967- for both gas and electricity between September to beginning May is too steep!!! This obviously does not include the £122 I paid at Christmas. We only have a fridge, gas/stove, washer (which we use on ECO), a gas boiler (which only heats the house btw 530am-830am and 4pm-11pm Nov to April), and, some laptops we charge when we need. We don’t have any televisions or large electrical otherwise. We are also barely home throughout the day as we are students. Plus I have wasted over 8 hours of my precious life (and mobile money) on the phone with this company, have been late for work or school 3x because of them, trying to deal with their 'crap' since October, that is not including the over 15 hours I have wasted waiting for an engineer to show when they booked days engineers aren't available. I are returning to Canada soon, and, I have raised a formal complaint about this issue with the company but I have a feeling it will not be dealt with for another 6 months (like the last complaint). I have also written a report from the Telegraph who has written several reports on this company. Please I need advice on how to deal with this as they have been nothing but a nightmare to me!!!

Hi, I keep getting reminders for electricity bills that I never received in the first place from npower. I have paperless billing and can be sure that I have had no emails from them. I have spoken to them about this before but they say they have sent the bill. I'm going to change my supplier anyway, but wondered what the legal situation is. Do I have to pay a reminder for a bill I never received? Thanks

Hi I let my flat out for 12 months last year to a friend of a friend who towards the end of our tennancy agreement left to go 'travelling' without paying her electricity bill. Obviously I know now that I should have switched to a pre payment meter for the duration of her agreement. When she moved in she organised a switch of supplier to her name and I foolishly thought that any arears if any would be her responsibility and have absolutely nothing to do with me. Now that shes gone and im back home npower wont allow me to switch supplier unless i clear the debt in her name which im refusing to do but in the mean time they are supplying the electricity to a property that is mine to a tennant that no longer lives here? Please advise In gullible and naive frustration x

Consumers who cannot afford their energy bills are set to receive free vouchers for gas and electricity at so-called ‘fuel banks’. Energy giant Npower is planning to offer millions of pounds worth of free energy to claimants around the country in much the same way food banks give out emergency food parcels or supermarket vouchers. Npower has been working with food bank charity the Trussell Trust on its plans, which could see vouchers equivalent to two weeks’ worth of gas and electricity handed out a maximum of three times a year to those in need. The plans are due to be piloted this summer, Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3045322/After-food-banks-poor-fuel-banks-Labour-hails-Npower-plan-away-20m-gas-electricity-s-gimmick-cover-sky-high-bills-rest-us.html#ixzz3XsJhJIfp

hi, I have a case pending against Npower, basically there was a mess up on my billing. They promised call backs which they didnt do, so I made a moneyclaim for my time. thinking about it, I think I should have gone to ofgem. If I withdraw my claim ( which is only£250) can I be liable for their costs. also if we go to court and I loose, would costs against me be deemd a ccj and effect m,y credit file? thanks

Hi All, i was after some advice. I have an outstanding debt with NPOWER, and since the 8th March 2015, have had 3 different letters off 3 different debt collection agencies over this same debt. One of them has even called at my house. Is this legal, can 3 firms chase the debt at once? I am not sure which one I should be paying because in a 3 week period, 3 companies have chased me over this debt. The companies are:- 1)Wescot 2)Fidelite Credit Management 3)Moorcrofts Thanks for any help.

Ok a quick scan on his forum says I'm not alone but here's my story - just wondering what the best set of steps is, i.e. complain to NPOWER even though I'm not a current customer, raise it with the regulator, or other options. I was with NPOWER until December 2014. I paid my bills on a monthly direct debit budget scheme. When I switched suppliers I very kindly received a cheque from NPOWER for the balance on my account and thought that was that. Of course I then got bills, lots and lots of bills with lots and lots of amounts. It took them, in my opinion far to long to switch me as well. I contacted them and asked how I could owe them anything when they'd just sent me a refund, asked them to send me definitive bills with readings etc. In the end I gave up and heard nothing. in August I suddenly got a series of communications. At the beginning of August I got 2 bills, one for gas and one for electric, 16.19 and 4.37. Then on the 12th of August I got a reminder for the gas, at £293.98 and one for the electric at 129.97 (remember I haven't been using them for about 8 months now!). These were quickly followed by those very special telemessage things that are supposed to scare you on the 26th and 27th August. Now here's where they really excelled themselves because on the 28 August I got a threatogram from Collections Direct for the gas, 293.98 (at least the amounts were now consistent) but one day later, on the 29th August I got a letter from NPOWER advising me they'd made a mess of it all and were writing off any outstanding balance. And all went quiet. Now I'd have to be honest and say I could not have told anybody whether I did or didn't owe them any money. The number of bills I got showing different amounts - including a refund - had me completely lost. Now today I receive reminders again, pay in 7 days etc etc. So I want this gone once and for all. I've not been a customer for over 15 months. So do I complain to them in the first instance or should I just take this straight up the food chain?

Hi folks, Seriously dyslexic, I know this is an wrong place but I'm hoping somebody would be kind enough to move for me and my say thank you in advance to everyone for reading this. Microphone off I have an ongoing dispute with npower and I need a little information on whether this is acceptable for a freedom of information request. About five years ago I moved into a new property, rented took a dual fuels contract with them giving me a discount on both services. Shortly into the contract I started having problems with mental health issues (ADHD, bipolar disorder among others) and I missed a few payments. They split the bills up, I now have letters with three different account numbers for each service, as well as some of the letters and bills, addressed to the owner/occupier rather than in my name. In some of my clearer periods, I’ve attempted to clear this up with npower telephonically as well as through writing to no avail. Telephonically I would call up explain who I was what had happened, they would take details ask me for meter readings as well as a meter identification numbers which I would supply. Consistently the response would be the same. Npower: that doesn’t make sense, are you sure you have supplied the correct details. Me: yes I have indeed would you like me to send photos. Npower: yes please, if you could email them to me and then I will get back to you as soon I can. I’ve been through this process several times and no one ever gets back to me, except for the debtors team or collections team whatever. In one of my less clear moments, they managed to get an entry warrant because I wasn’t paying attention to my mail, when the bailiff served the warrant I showed him all my evidence. I also showed evidence of me trying to resolve the issue. He reported back to npower and went through the exact same procedures I had, the exact same results. He chose not to enforce the warrant telling me that if he had seen the evidence prior to going to court he would not have. He reported back to Npower that he was unable to fit the meter, he gave me great advice on how to block Npower from trying to enforce the warrant for the remaining six weeks of its validity. I have also tried to resolve the issue through writing, where unfortunately we cannot seem to manage clear concise communication that brings out an end result. They have accused me of tampering with the equipment which proved to be erroneous. Somewhere in between April and June 2014 a service agent made entry taking photographs of all the equipment, he admitted that they had mismatching information and were in the process of resolving the issue in our stairwell…. I sent in a letter of complaint which started dealing with the issue but that broke down rather rapidly I'm still not too sure who or why (having had an accident in October 2013 to which I am now just recently fully recovered) but still seeking medical attention for related problems. I do not believe this issue can be resolved without third party involvement. The electricity accounts that they are preparing to take me to court to recover arrears (dated 2 March 2015 your outstanding balance notice of intention to apply for a warrant of entry and notice of intention to file a default on your credit file) is the account that they have had continuity of my name. Ideally if we are going to court for something I want both fuels together, as the contract stated is dual fuel contract. And the serious breakdown in communication has always occurred when trying to resolve the identifiers with the gas account and equipment. They have rewired our entire stairwell and can only presume that it is my flat is holding up as all the rest of the stairwells seem to have been wired up. What I want from Npower to bring about final resolution: 1.) To return my fuels to a duel fuels contract with discounts applied for the preceding years. 2.) I believe that throughout this process I have also been put on higher fuel charges if this is so I want them returned to the contractually agreed prices. 3.) I want them to remove all the charges as well as interest charges that they have added to my account both manually as well as automatically(Call out charges, letter charges, the first warrant charges) 4.) And if we can agree on this then it’s a matter of compensation. What I want from in Npower by way of freedom of information act: 1.) A full statement of accounts (asked for several times never provided). 2.) A copy of all letters sent to me in paper format. (ADHD, dyslexia, eye distress it easier for me to have all of our communication in a paper format so I can identify specific areas that I would like to dig deeper.) I believe there were changes made to my account at some point in the last 12 months, but I'm not sure exactly where or how. I have a lot of communication here but due to mental health issues I cannot be sure I have all of it, and in order to go court I need to be clear and concise. 3.) A copy of all communications in digital format (including all metadata, manual changes to my account, all call recordings) 4.) Basically anything to do with me, I want to know who they sent my personal information to under what circumstances and for what purpose.

I originally posted these in another thread... mods please feel free to delete those posts now... HI all! I'm new to CAG, unfortunately i, like most others here i suppose, have an ongoing 'billing issue' with one of 'the big six' which i have been trying to resolve for the past few months.... This thread is absolutely fascinating and has certainly added to my knowledge which, again unfortunately, i have been put in the position of HAVING to acquire. I have had months of stress, guarantees, inaction, SERIOUSLY insulted by a call centre member of staff.. the list goes on!!!! I cannot post too many details presently as it is still ongoing and i am expecting contact from one of their staff next week some time to resolve the issue. I can say though that i have been given numerous assurances that this would be sorted out within 28 days and we're now about 4 months in...... the 28 day 'cutoff' period for complaints passed some time ago and when i informed a member of staff of this i was told 'oh we can have up to 56 days' to which i obviously responded 'well why do you state 28 then' and was met with a 'durrrh'???? I have overwhelming evidence to support my case in the form of VERY high quality recordings which make very interesting listening and when this is all dealt with i will look into some way of making these available, legal issues aside, to help others who may be in a similar situation. I would SERIOUSLY urge people to record ALL contact with these people as some of the responses i have had from the company in question have been quite hilarious and frankly delusional .... well they would be funny if it weren't such a HUGE amount of money involved... so i have been able to refer to those calls and am able to recall names, dates and the content of conversations verbatim... they have now realised this and the last contact i received from them was INCREDIBLY apologetic. Even IF the 'debt' is written off and i am 'compensated' i am not going to walk away from this....... i read a quote on another forum the other day from someone who has had/is still having the same issues with this company..... 'i've decided not to change companies, i'm going to be exactly the kind of customer XXXXX deserve'!!!!! I think the more of us that subscribe to that paradigm the better.... Time to bully the bullies don't you think?

Sorry new to forums so hope I have posted in the right place. I am banging my head off a wall with npower and no longer know what to do to get things resolved. No one in exec complaints seems to know how to fix it. A really long story so think best to post email I sent to ceo and exec complaints. Apologies in advance as its really long but you couldn't make it up! Any advice anyone could provide would be much appreciated. Thanks. Dear Mr Massara, I am begging you to help me, in fact just now I am pleading with you to help me resolve the 2 YEAR complaint that currently have ongoing with your company. I am sure that once you have read my e-mail you will be just as shocked, disgusted and overall disappointed with the level of service that your company has provided me with on trying to get my account rectified. It is an extremely long and I feel sad story about the way the company has treated me. I hope you have the patience to read my e-mail thoroughly and come to a resolve for us. I apologise if I get some of the timing wrong, as you would hopefully understand it has been going on for a long, long time. Let me begin....... July/August 2010. My young family and I moved into our new private rent accommodation. A small three bedroom ex council mid terrace house. The rent would be more expensive for us coming in at £450 a month but we needed the extra room as we have 3 young children. Having been customers of Scottish power previously, we thought them to be a little on the expensive side, and as we were trying to save money we decided to phone around the major energy suppliers and see who could provide us with our electricity the cheapest. We phoned up npower who told us over the phone that they could provide us with electricity for £40 per month. "Are you sure?" said we. "Yes absolutely." advised your sales agent. We even called back and spoke to another agent to make sure that this was correct. "Yes, this is correct!" Was the answer. We were delighted and signed up there and then. Very happy customers. But then.......... Appox 6 months later. We get a bill out for approx. £400. We were concerned and contacted your customer service team immediately. My husband spoke to a lovely young gentleman who advised him there was no need to worry. It was obviously wrong. He asked for our meter readings and told us everything was fine, the £40 direct debit would continue as normal. Brilliant, we thought. June/July 2013. I apologise that so much time has passed here, but you must understand we did not think there was any issue. My wife and I were both working hard full time to support our family. One day my wife was home and there was a knock on the door. It was an agent from Scottish power out to read our meter. He did so and left. But after that my wife got thinking. When was the last time anyone came out to read the meter. So, that evening she asked me when the last time I had seen one of these agents was. I told her probably about a year prior. That's a bit strange don't you think she replied. Come to think of it, when was the last time we received a bill from npower? Again, we immediately contacted npower to ask why we have not been receiving bills. Again we spoke to another lovely gentleman who advised us he would look into it and put us on hold. He came back to us and advised us that there was a major issue on the account. He did not know why, but for some reason there was a massive debt building up on the account but could see that the direct debit was in place for £40. He could also see that no bills were being sent to us. He then hit us with the bombshell that £560 was pending to come out of my bank account and advised us to cancel the direct debit immediately. There was a debt on the account that ran into thousands! My wife checked her account and noticed the payment had actually let the account. She was frantic. We don't have a lot of money and to us this was a huge amount. It left our family in hardship. We made an indemnity claim with the bank to get the money bank. It took a few days. We have a young family. I'm sure you could imagine how that felt. The gentleman advised us that he would raise this with the executive complaints team as a matter of urgency. August 2013. After we chased it up a few times, a member of the executive complaints team eventually got back in contact. I think her name was Kayleigh, but cannot be sure as I have spoken to so many agents. She advised us that she had been assigned our case. Not to worry as she would look into it and get things back to normal again. Brilliant, we thought. She told us that she would go away and look at it and she would be back in contact with us. She gave us a date and time she would contact us because as I have explained my wife and I are extremely busy people. And she contacted us exactly when she had said! In this conversation she explained that there had been issues with some accounts when npower moved to their new billing system and it looked as if we were affected. She had sent off for it to rectified. I told her I was extremely alarmed about this debt on the account as there was simply no way we could afford it, and as we were paying £40 per month direct debit without ever missing a payment that this was not our fault. She agreed. She advised that we were not to worry she would sort out the issue and the debt on the account would be wiped. The account would be reset and we would start afresh. She warned us that the direct debit might be higher going forward once the issue was resolved. We were delighted. It felt like a weight off our shoulders and the result we were looking for. We left it in what felt like her safe and capable hands. How wrong were we? After this period Kayleigh would be sporadically in contact over the phone or via email. But she offered no other information other than apologising that it was taking so long to rectify but it would be eventually resolved. We voiced our concerns over the length of time it was taking but we were assured that eventually the account would be reset for us. We would also get the occasional letter advising that the company was sorry it was taking so long to resolve and that they had passed their 8 week deadline. Then nothing. March 2014. We called up looking to speak to Kayleigh. She told us that they had activated the back billing process on the account so we would not get charged any further than 12 months prior. But we protested that she had been advising us that we debt would be wiped? She said she would look into this and that for now we should cancel the direct debit until the issue was rectified. But then we realised that the amount that was owed would mean our electricity bills would be almost £300 per month. So there was another issue. Kayleigh never did get back in contact. We contacted npower again. We couldn't get Kayleigh and explained our concerns to the new agent. She was not willing to listen to reason We asked that the issue be escalated to a manager in the executive complaints team. It was, and we were told we would receive a phone call within 2 weeks. Instead we got a letter 2 weeks later from Elizabeth Gibson, head of customer relations. A very unhelpful one that told us that the issue had been resolved and that this was a deadlock letter. The company was no longer willing to help out with the problem and viewed it as resolved. Compensation of £640 would be applied against the debt. We beyond belief! We called up your customer services and pleaded with the agent not to pass us to the executive complaints team just yet. We asked her not to look at the debt on the account for now but to focus on the new issue. As mentioned before, we live in a small 3 bedroom terraced house. We were now being told that electricity should cost us almost £300. We are hardly in during the day. We are in bed most evenings by 11. We explained that we do have white meter heaters and knew that they could be expensive, but surely not £300 a month expensive? She agreed to look over the account. It took her over an hour but we were happy to wait as finally someone agreed with us that there could issue. Not just one, but a few. She advised us that she wasn't 100% sure but when the original agent way back in 2010 took our meter readings and entered them in to the new system that he put them in the wrong way round. She also said she felt there could be an issue with the meter as we were using lower than average during the day but more than 3 times the national average at night time. Plus there was also the issue with the system not generating bills. She advised that she would speak to the executive complaints team and raise her concerns. She said she would arrange for a test meter to be put in place to monitor ours. Finally, someone has cracked it. Or so we thought. Our case was assigned to another agent on the executive complaints team. They confirmed that someone would be out to fit a test meter. It took forever but eventually we got an appointment. But they failed to mention that they would need access to our neighbours house. Engineer came out. I took time off my work to be there. Couldn't get access to my neighbour's property. Wasted day. Back on the phone to the executive complaints team. We were advised that they would request another date. They also advised that this time a letter would be sent to my neighbour. Approx a month passed. I took time off work. Engineer came. No letter had been sent to my neighbour and she denied access. Another wasted day. Phoned executive complaints team again. They said that they would guarantee a letter would be sent for the next time, which thankfully turned out it was. It took months to get an appointment again, and the engineer felt like an old friend, and again I took more time off my work.Test meter was installed. We also decided to contact a local charity called I-heat. He said it was worst case he had ever seen. Sheer and utter negligence were his words. He looked at our meter and noticed that the time was wrong. It was showing it was 6 in the morning when in actual fact it was 2 in the afternoon. He contacted npower on our behalf and raised his concerns. He spoke to Michael in the executive complaints team and asked him to take note of what he was telling him. Michael advised that he would look into the account and take over it. You guessed it, Michael was never to be heard from again. Time passed and the test meter was taken out. Another day off of work. Engineer advised us that he had updated his system with the results and this would be passed on to npower. He also changed the time on the clock as we had pointed it out to him. We sat back and waited for contact. And waited, and waited. Yes, you guessed it! No one contacted us. We contacted executive complaints for an update but were told that npower never had the results. Unknown to us npower had been e-mailing us. But we hadn't been checking our e-mails. A bill is then sent out to us for thousands again. We are at the end of our tether. We contact npower executive complaints again. This time we get a call back from Simone. Simone advised us that they didn't have the meter readings back and that they would chase it up. She told us that she would see that it gets resolved and would make sure that contact going forward would be in the form of a phone call or a letter. She also advised us that she would contact us every two weeks with an update. Then we receive a bill today for £3,243.76 for the last 12 months usage. Correct me if I'm wrong but this works out a £270.31 per month for electricity in a small three bedroom mid terraced house. I invite you to come and see if you need proof? During the winter we have only been running two heaters as we are frightened that we are going to be charged a fortune for it. That bill is covering the period 13th June 2012 - 7th January 2015. It has been reduced from £6,646.18. At this point I would also like to highlight we were paying £40 direct debit without fail right up until March 2014 when we were told to cancel it until the issue is rectified by your agent. We contacted you again this evening but the executive complaints team is closed and we are now facing a bleak and anxious weekend until we can speak to them. Our personal projection for the next 12 months is £4009.79. That works out as £334.17 per month for our humble home plus we are being asked to pay back £3243.76. My wife has now left work and is a student and we struggle by on my call centre wage bringing up three children. We would struggle to pay £334.17 a month, our monthly rent isn't much more, never mind paying back such a large debt that we were not to blame for on top of it. So now I hope you can understand, why I am pleading with you to please get this sorted out. We are at the end of our tether. We have been patient but can take no more. I'm sure that you would agree on reading this that npower has failed us as a company and has not carried out it duty of care that it has towards us. I feel this is my last resort before highlighting our plight with the media and warning other potential customers not to fall for you like we did. I certainly can understand why you have been voted the worst energy provider. I hope that you can change my mind and bring an end to our absolute misery. Yours desperately,

I have been reading through the Npower section and see that there is interest in anyone who has been in litigation with them. I would like to share my 3 year battle with you. In Feb 2007 Npower were my provider and continued to be until Jan 2013. Silly I know but all my readings had been estimated until March 2012 when I submitted a reading. I then received a letter in December stating that the bill was £3502.22 and that my monthly DD would go from £110 per month to £318.00. I called them to query the bill that there must be a mistake with the bill or a fault with the meter, they said there was no problem with the bill but said I should carry out a loadtest. They told me to take a reading, boil the kettle, take another reading then phone them back with the readings and they would be processed for analysis. I have done this 3 times and am still waiting for the results of the analysis! The house is a small 2 bedroom, end terrace, with 3 storage heaters, well insulated, 2 adults at work all day, no change in usage and no hot tub or any other energy sapping device. I had been paying between £50 and £110 per month, over the years I had paid total £4664, which gives an annual payment of £799 even based on todays rates (and I checked on U-Switch) this is adequate to cover the supply. We moved out of the house with a view to letting it (I own the property) but didn’t feel able due to the situation with Npower and if I am honest let things slip with chasing Npower, head and sand, ostrich syndrome. They were still billing me, until July 2013, £318 per month based on estimated readings even though I told them the house was empty. In March 2013 I received a threat from a well known DCA, knowing that I would be told to ‘just pay’, I went back to Npower to ask why they had sent the account to a DCA when they know it is in dispute. They said it isn’t in dispute and you will need to talk to the DCA! But they continued to bill me until July 2013!! The bill was £3462.14 In Dec 2013 I received a letter from Npower’s solicitor telling me that unless I paid £3768.57 within 14 days they would take me to court, which they did. The letter had several typos and one of the dates was incorrect In May 2014 the solicitor sent me a letter requesting £3392.22 but would accept £1,188.06 as payment, There were additional errors within the letter relating to dates and also stated there had been no dispute with the bill. We were scheduled to have a mediation session and to be honest I had had enough and wanted it to go away so would use the £1,188.06 as a figure to work with at the mediation. I would concur that over 7 years supply I could have underpaid by £100 per year and so offered £700 as a settlement fee. The mediator then confirmed that the solicitor conceded that there had been an error, no settlement figure should have been offered and they would be seeking the full amount of £4128.51. Further to the mediation I received a letter to confirm ‘due to an error the amount stated on the second page of the said letter is incorrect and for the avoidance of doubt the total balance outstanding is £4128.51.’ Yet another error!! The directions date was set for October at which the Judge ordered that a joint single expert be appointed to test the meter to determine if there was a fault. The letter of instruction to be sent by 3rd November 2014, inspection by 24thNovember and a report filed with the court 28th December 2014. The solicitor called me around 20th October to say they had an expert who could perform the test, but I wasn’t convinced that this expert would be totally unbiased! I asked them to call back in a week, when I had chance to look into this and they did not get back to me. They submitted an ‘extremely urgent’ request to the court on 27th October to state that as Npower no longer supplied the property they would not be able to inspect the meter and ask that this direction be amended. I then received a statement of issues from the solicitor, and wrongly assumed that this was the bundle, it contained bills dating back to2007, a witness statement and an account statement , stating that this had also been filed with the court. On closer inspection of this pack there were even more mistakes; electric meter ending in 8567, mine ends in 7927; shows a meter for gas, there is no supply or meter for gas at the property; the statement dated 2012 shows an opening reading of 24239 for day units and 33979 for night units, the bill dated 2007 showed 6722 and 4878 respectively; stated the last payment received was Jan 2012 but in fact it was Jan 2013; shows a manual adjustment of £5,100 but nothing to substantiate this figure. Using all of these mistakes I started to build my case around the fact that there were a catalogue of errors and how could we consider that any of these figures / values were correct. As the court date loomed I was terrified, didn’t really know if I had a case just an awful time. Then I received another bundle from Npower's solicitor, also filed with the court, the witness was now a senior advisor to litigation and along with additional mistakes, there were 9 contradictions to the first litigation advisors statement; an account statement so badly printed that it missed the credit and balance column. I was absolutely staggered that there could be so many errors (not surpised though!). Feeling more confident as I now had more mistakes to use I practiced my questions for the witness and prepared as much as I could for court. The day before the court I received a letter from the solicitor outlining a statement of costs and very fortunately for me they sent it to my old address (another mistake!), had I received it as intended I probably would have crumbled. It was for an astonishing £2,028.00, namely 42 letters @£8 or £10, 15 phone calls @£8, £10 and 1 at £80, rates of pay for the litigation advisors as £80 and £100 / hour. 4th February 2015, I arrive at court, they have a solicitor, the senior litigation advisor as a witness and someone who was an expert – I was terrified. Later when the expert did speak he was told to be quiet or be in contempt of court, this did help to relax me a bit. The Judge started the questioning by asking the witness what qualification she had as alitigation advisor and she said it was just the experience she had during her employment with Npower. So I started to question the witness about the meter numbers, she said it was a mistake; I asked about the conflict in meter readings between the statement and the bill and she said that they adjust the reading to help lower the bill; I asked about the manual entry of £5,100 and she said if she had a calculator she could work it out, the Judge gave her a calculator and she couldn’t! My head was spinning so much that I cant remember a lot more detail the solicitor asked me if I thought Npower had just plucked a figure from thin air……………..! two hours later, the Judge tore into the Npower witness saying she had presented her case badly, she didn’t know what she was talking about, she couldn’t give a straight answer or give accurate figures, her statement was just her opinion and as she was not an expert could not be considered and that he was appalled by the way she had carried out her work. He then dismissed the case and awarded me the full £90 costs to be paid in 14 days! These people are utter jokers, they have no procedures in place, they are sloppy, their billing methods are seriously flawed – looking at the countless errors in my one case I am sure that if anyone looks into their own dealings with Npower they will find just as many. Good luck

More than a quarter of all Npower domestic customers complained to the company last year, according to figures from the energy regulator Ofgem. The company received 1.48 million complaints in 2014, amounting to 28,000 for every 100,000 accounts - 28%. That was the highest proportion of any of the "big six" energy suppliers in the UK. An Npower spokesman said: "We have been working hard to improve our overall customer service." Even so, the complaint rate was up from 2013 when it stood at 25,100 per 100,000 customers. British Gas, the UK's largest energy supplier, received most customer complaints in total at 1.7 million. But that represented 11.5% of its customer base, a lower proportion than Npower. Npower has been the most complained-about energy company in the UK for several years. However, when it came to resolving complaints the company performed much better. It sorted out 29,000 complaints per 100,000 customers last year, more than the number it received as it dealt with some of the backlog from the previous year. That clear-up rate was the best among the big six suppliers. "A recent survey by the complaints resolution body Ombudsman Services stated that energy complaints only make up 11% of all grievances they receive," said Npower. Poor service Npower customers have suffered from poor service for several years. In 2011, the firm was fined £2m by Ofgem for mishandling customer complaints, while British Gas was fined £2.5m for the same problem. The next year Ofgem issued a general warning to all energy suppliers telling them that the information their customers needed to make a complaint should not be buried on their websites. In 2013, a new computer billing system started causing problems at Npower. At one point nearly 300,000 bills were being sent out late every month. By mid-2014 the regulator threatened to ban Npower from taking on new customers via its telephone sales force until it could prove it was sending out bills on time. The company avoided having its business curtailed when it finally improved its billing procedures. But it was still forced to concede that anyone who received a bill that was more than 12 months late would not have to pay it, if the fault lay with the company.

4th December 2014 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5HlJ1z5lDtYHqVRTRqxx4XL/npower-billing-chaos

My eldest daughter has just sent me a message:- "Had ANOTHER bill from Npower dated Aug- Nov 2013 saying we still owe £35!!! This is despite them already giving us a final bill which showed us £90 in credit - which they sent us a cheque for!! Is there a rule about them asking for a bill to be paid that's over a year old?" Any advice greatly appreciated!!

Hi, I know that you can't change supplier if there is an outstanding balance of over £50.00 and it is more than 28 days old. But I am in a huge dispute with Npower and I have been asking them to let me change suppliers and let the ongoing court action decide on how much is outstanding. They have missold their contract to me on two occasions. The first time, when it came to renewing the contract I told them I'll let it go as long as this sort of thing doesn't happen again. But within two months they increased my direct debit again and during the process of complaining about the issue I found out that I was not on a fixed tariff as I had negotiated with their representative. Fortunately I had a recording of that telephone conversation and sent it to the Ombudsman who claimed that it was different to the transcript NPower had given them. I asked for an SAR which matched my recording. But the Ombudsman still ruled in their favour, if that is even believable. They tried to install pre-paid meters by applying for a Warrant of Entry but I argued that this was a contractual dispute and should be dealt with in the County court. The Magistrate agreed with me and threw out their application and the other three applications they made. On the fourth occasion, I gave up and filed my own County court claim against them for mis-selling, harassment and abuse of legal process. This case has now been dragged for nine months without a hearing and all along I keep getting these invoices and added charges that I don't agree with specially that they moved me to their "standard tariff" so I have had no choice to choose a tariff. So I stopped paying them. I have been asking to be allowed to change supplier and let the court decide how much is outstanding to whom. But they won't answer, neither does their legal representative. In fact except for notifications of invoices and meter reading requests, I get nothing from Npower, no matter how many times I write to them and about any subject, not even the legal proceedings. Their Barrister is apparently famous for not writing things down. I am worried that they may cut me off and then I have to settle their ridiculous invoice and chase them for money for the rest of my life. Can some one help. I just want to get away from Npower and their dirty games. Thanks

Hi All, Npower haven't billed me since Jan 2014. I had set up a new contract and direct debit with them. But nothing was billed. I didn't realise till August. They have admitted the error and are willing to talk compensation as I now have a sizeable 9 month back bill to settle. My question is where can I go with this. Is it just goodwill compensation they're offering or do i have a stronger legal stance for more of the bill to be written off? Cheers for any help in advance.

This all sounds like a disaster and I'm about to head down a similiar route with npower. Received a bill for over £2400 with no breakdown or itemisation! Demanding immediate payment! To summarise, we switched to npower in Dec 2012 and initially all was well until they stopped taking Direct Debit payments, then they said our account was cancelled, and then they bombarded us with 'you are a valued customer' letters and requested that we bear with them until they sorted their 'new' billing system. No satisfaction with telephone calls to them. No one seemed to know what our bill might be or any amount outstanding! We switched Bank Account after 6 months of this as we worried that at some point they would simply take money from our account. I'm not sure where to start with this. Npower letters are increasingly threatening and they appear to bear no responsibility or acknowledgement for their own incompetence. Even at this stage the bill they sent with money owing was an estimate. I'm not sure they know what we owe and are guessing. Please advise if you can. We are willing to pay what we owe but not something that cannot be substantiated.

Hello any advice given will be gladly appreciated.....Moved from a flat in August sen NPower meter readings for both gas and electric. They replied telling me i was 748 in credit as I paid my bills at a set amount each month by direct debit. Rang them in September asking where the money they owed me was and they told me the meter was faulty although this is the first I had heard of it. Gave them two weeks and rang again and they said it was now under investigation and I could pass on a complaint to their relevant department which I did. They told me on October 11th they will investigate further and I will hear within 56 days....this is up on the 5th of December. It seems after reading a few comments on the NPower Facebook page that this is a common thing for the company and they like to give people the run around. So my question is after the 56 days are up and if I still haven't heard anything whats can i do is there a process they have to follow legally? Is there a template letter to send ? thank you in advance

The fun never stops eh? Although this is on behalf of a relative, not me this time. As succinct as I can keep it: 1) Relative joins nPower January 2013 shortly after moving to a new property 2) Meter readings provided - nPower setup a monthly direct debit for £65 (dual fuel) 3) Relative became aware in June '13 that account had been setup incorrectly. Relative was only being billed for electric. 4) Took a couple of days to sort and more than one phone call, but a new direct debit of £90 was setup. This included the arrears as a result of nPower's mistake. 5) In September '13, relative had some maintenance work carried out on electricity supply. Discovered during this that they were still only being billed for electricity (although direct debit of £90.00 was being sent every month). 6) Relative was eventually told by nPower that there was a serious error with their account and the issue would be escalated. Was promised a return call - this did not happen. 7) Relative called nPower in December '13 as had still not heard anything. Was advised account issue still remained unresolved, and also that the account itself was showing as circa £300 in credit, plus a direct debit/dual fuel discount on top of this. 8) No return call from nPower. Relative phoned again - was advised complaints team were handling it and would get in touch the same day. This never happened. 9) Towards the end of December '13, relative phoned nPower to inform they would be switching to another provided because she was unhappy with their poor service. 10) Relative switched to another provider in January 2014, more or less 12 months after joining nPower. 11) Relative heard nothing more from nPower until April '14; they received two reminder letters from nPower for a combined total of circa £800. One letter was for gas, one for electric. 12) Relative spoke to nPower; disputed the sum and was advised that a full breakdown of charges, payments and usage would be sent in post (they initially refused to send this unless a letter was sent in, although they eventually changed their tune). 13) Relative contacted nPower again (need to check date but think June '14). Was advised this issue would be escalated to the executive complaints team. Was also advised more reminders would be generated automatically and that they could safely be ignored until the complaint was resolved. 14) Relative began to receive (what they presumed to be) nuisance calls that were essentially just prerecorded messages. As it turned out, these two companies (Westcot and Pastdue) were actually two separate debt collection agencies instructed by nPower; each sent a letter in September '14. Interestingly, some of the information printed on one of the letters was also incorrect (e.g. account number) 15) Realising now the earlier advice of nPower to ignore payment reminders was false/incorrect, a letter was sent to each of these DCA's stating the account was in dispute. A statement was also made regarding OFT debt collection guidance (unfair to pursue when in dispute). For good measure, Westcot had their implied right of access to the property withdrawn (as they had stated they would visit the property to collect payment). Relative also filed a complaint with the ombudsman around this time. 16) Pastdue wrote back to relative confirming they had received letter. Stated that account had been placed on hold and they would try and obtain invoice showing full breakdown of balance. No further correspondence received from these guys. 17) Westcot also wrote back. Merely stated the balance, that it related to the electricity supply and provided a billing period (which was seriously incorrect!). Stated they looked forward to receiving payment within 14 days. They have started phoning relative daily once again. 18) Ombudsman rejected complaint, stating that the date from the original issue was too far back for them to investigate. However, did advise that if relative obtained a deadlock letter from nPower they can then investigate. 19) Relative wrote to nPower towards the end of October '14. This outlined the dispute, a summary of the (in)action so far and a request for a deadlock letter. Sent recorded delivery, confirmed delivered, no response so far. 20) Relative wrote another letter to nPower last week (similar to above). Sent recorded, not showing as delivered yet. Considering resending later today if not arrived. --- Other misc. information: - Relative has log burning stoves and only uses anywhere from £6-10 a month in gas for hot water. No heating of any kind (excluding hot water of course) is necessary from ~March to ~September due to property being extremely well-insulated. - Current electricity consumption averages about £45.00 a month. - nPower is instructing two separate debt collection agencies to collect a portion of the "debt" even though the account was dual fuel. As per Citizen's Advice regarding harassment from creditors: "Using more than one debt collector at a time to chase you for payment" - so does this count? - Relative has been diagnosed with depression and anxiety. Self representation is unlikely to go down well. - Relative has sadly not recorded all phone calls. They have however, kept detailed notes, dates and times of each phone call with nPower - including the person they spoke to. --- Next steps: Should relative: a) Just keep sending letters to nPower at £1.72 a pop until they hopefully provide the information? b) Send a final LBA to nPower detailing the harassment (if applicable), filing a small claim if ignored? c) Wait for nPower to take relative to court (if ever) and potentially claim on legal cover provided by house insurance for representation? d) Something else? Personally, given the chain of events, problems with the account and overall billing issues nPower has had recently, it would sound like they are physically unable to account for the money they are demanding. Who knows.

I moved into my house several months ago and I changed gas supplier from NPower to First Utility as soon as I arrived. The bills from First Utility showed a different meter point reference number (and a different meter serial number) than the previous bills from NPower. After the first few meter readings I gave online to First Utility, they started refusing the readings. I phoned them and they said they did not supply me. I called the Xoserve helpline who told me I have two meter point reference numbers listed for the property and one of them is likely obsolete. When First Utility took over, they recorded the wrong MPRN (I know because NPower's MPRN does indeed correlate to the meter serial number written on my meter). My question is - what is the chain of events. How can First Utility start billing me and then stop (they've refunded the money now). How does their system allow them to accept an obsolete MPRN and then what triggers their systems to belatedly recognise that and stop billing me? NPower continued to bill me because "their" MPRN had not been officially taken over. A question for someone in the industry, I guess.