I have recently moved house after 2 years and 3 months I have always paid for my Npower Gas monthy I gave me last reading once I moved.

I have now been sent a letter saying I owe £6400.00 for gas used! I have contacted them and I got the response that I have not given any meter readings in 2 years which I have last given one in March 2008

How can a 2 bedroom town house which is only occupied after 6pm weekdays and half days on a weekend! that would be as least £237.00 per month on Gas!

Has anyone else had this problem with this company, its now under investiagtion

I am really trying to get an idea of what a typical months gas costs for 2 bed town house.

Can anyone give me an idea?

Thanks :-)

Hi,

I'm new to this forum, however I do work within the complaints department of one of the "big six" energy suppliers. (the actual one shall remain nameless)

I don't really have any advice on a standard price for your property. The main reason being all properties and appliances are different, number of radiators etc, so making a comparison between properties is very difficult, a boiler that's past its best for example could play havoc with your bill. However, £237 per month is quite alot and far more than I would expect.

In reference to the bill you have, I would suggest a few simple checks that you can perform yourself.

Firstly.. Check the meter serial number on your bill is the same as that on your actual meter. Also look on the meter for a sticker or label indicating the meter has at some point been changed.

The reasons for this are mainly down to 2 things...

1 there are 2 main types of gas meter. a "4 dial" and "5 dial". As the name suggest a 4 dial meter will have four numbers in white which are your reading (also 2 in red but these are not relevant). This meter measures gas per hundred cubic feet. A 5 dial meter has 5 numbers in white (and 3 in red, again not important) and measures in cubic meters. Therefore, each unit recorded on your meter will be worth a different amount dependent on the type you have (or the type they think you have) 1 unit recorded on a 4 dial meter will cost you much more as that represents 100 cubic feet of gas, rather than the 1 cubic meter a 5 dial would record. If you have a 5 dial meter and the company takes these readings and calculates your bills based on a 4 dial calculation, your bill will be huge.

2 Meters, like all things need replaced from time to time and have a lifespan before they need to be replaced or "recertified". This is not a task carried out by your supplier but rather the shipper of gas to your property. (95% of the time this will be transco) They carry out the change and inform the supplier after it has been carried out, but occasionally these details do not get thru and the suppliers records are not updated. (this is more common than you might think) going back to my first point, 4 dials are older meters (identified with a 6 number serial number) and are most often replaced with a newer 5 dial meter (these have a longer serial no of about 13 numbers, usually starting G4....) If these details are not picked up, you get the above scenario.

Secondly,

How much have your payments been and have they sent a bill in that time? have they read the meter themselves? I ask these as for such a large amount, your meter may have "overcycled"

This means... when your meter records usage (starting at zero for easy counting, and using a 4 dial) it goes

0001, 0002, 0003 and so on till it gets to 9999.. at this point it goes back around to 0000 and keeps counting. Depending on your readings, they may think, or their records might indicate, you meter has overcycled. (for info once round a 4 dial dial meter is easily 8k and over on new prices) If they have overestimated your bills previously, their system may be so far ahead it thinks you have gone past the 0000 point, when in reality, you haven't.

Thirdly,

Make sure the MPRN (meter point reference number) on your bill actually relates to the property in which you lived. This should be shown on your bill and by phoning transco you can confirm if this is correct. Although, this last option is unlikely to be the case and would pose more questions than answers at this point.

That should be enough to get you started, let me know how you get on.

HI

Thanks for the info I will use it .

The bill is now in dispute! I have been on estimated and paying monthly amounts based on estimaited bills,

In February it was estimiated at 5149 (4 Dial Read) and my final read when I left was 5440! so where the amount has come from is really strange.

I contacted the new occupiers and they read it as 5457 they have been in there since 29 August and are at home more of the time than we were!

So I dont know whats gone wrong, the thing is the meter is in the kitchen cupboard so when people call to read no one was ever in, I have also given reads in the 27 Months we were there.

We did at first pay £25.00 per month and then based on a read I provided it went upto 30.00 per month.

New boiler 3 years old 6 radiators - which I never had on during day as we were at work.

Any how I suppose I will have to wait and see what happens they have said 28 Days they will ley us know.

Thanks Again :-)

hmm,

At least they are looking into it now...

£6400 is your outstanding balance then? If you have made payments all thru the time you were there, say at £30 per month for 27 months, this would mean your total charges are more like £7200.

(assuming they hold the correct meter details and haven't had any incorrect readings meant for another meter) they must believe your meter has overcycled, I cant see how you would accumulate these charges any other way.

The low payments are a bit of an issue with that tho, for it to have overcycled on their system, but not actually on your meter, they would have had to be using very high estimates to get so far ahead. Your direct debit payments should have been reviewed at some point in the 2 years if the balance on your account was getting to that size..

If you have any old statements, have a look and see if this balance has just appeared suddenly, or been growing for some time. (I know this probably seems like a silly thing to say, but you'd be surprised at some of the situations I see on a daily basis caused by, or partly down to, people who dont read their bills carefully)

If the balance hasn't been growing on your statements and has "suddenly appeared" Its like something has been changed. Clearly the last estimated amount of 5149 to your 5440 isn't 6k worth. If the balance hasn't been growing and your final reading hasn't changed, then its something that was ok before but, for whatever reason, now isn't.

Good luck with it tho

:-)