your gas and electricity usage changes on a daily basis as it does monthly hence why direct debits do get reviewed too get an accurate bill you need to give regular meter readings yourself and you wont have any problems there is no such thing as a direct debit scam thats for sure ! all gas and electric companys operate the same way with regards to direct debit as it would be impossible for every customer too have there meters read every month hence why you get an estimated bill ! and remember estmated bills are never going to be correct hence why they are called estimated bills also how could over estimated bills be a profit may i ask meters cant lie and if you over pay then you give a meter reading this will then in affect bring your next bill down

There is no easy answer to this problem. I regard myself as reasonably competent on spreadsheets and have, in the past, constructed models to calculate current costs and potential alternatives from other suppliers but it requires a lot of research to obtain the correct unit prices etc. I also read my meters every 8 weeks or so, to adjust the averaged monthly usage !!

Even with this approach I got caught out by my former supplier SWALEC - They increased my DD for gas becos I was in arrears at the end of the charging year,fair enuf I thought at the time, but I didn't notice that my electricity account was in credit, by quite a lot, because I didn't actually look at the on line bill.

As a result when I recently changed supplier I found that they owed me £60 on the gas account and £120 on the electricity account - I'm still waiting to recover the electricity surplus 6 weeks after I switched supply!

I normally challenge any communication from the supplier which involves an increase of DD - I still don't know why I let the increase go thru' - I suppose I was expecting a rise because of the oil price hikes.

Its taught me a lesson for the new contract - check, check, check again ... and read the meter!

It's probably safer sitting in their coffers than in your bank's!

shiverkitten:It's probably safer sitting in their coffers than in your bank's!

ROFLMAO. Superb.

lol, nice one shiverkitten. :)

Following on from npowers, albeit slightly defensive post, he is more or less correct.

You'll find there is no scam and its really down to the automated systems every supplier must relay on to do the job. With 6 main players controling 99% of the market, they have so many customers this along with other basic tasks need to be done by computers.

The Energy Ombudsman has I believe quoted before there is a "dual responsibility on supplier and customer to ensure the accuracy of billing" This means you really do need to look at your bills and if it is based on an estimated reading, provide them with an actual from your meter. It really is in your best interests after all, as it WILL effect your monthly payments.

If you receive notice your payments are about to change and you feel its incorrect, make sure your bill is accurate first, then contact them. Mostly, they will be happy to adjust your payments if the account is accurate and the suggested amount is clearly incorrect.

Gabriel:

If you receive notice your payments are about to change and you feel its incorrect, make sure your bill is accurate first, then contact them. Mostly, they will be happy to adjust your payments if the account is accurate and the suggested amount is clearly incorrect.

So the computers are programmed incorrectly ? Why shouldn't they be entirely correct and accurate?

I have my own recent evidence that BG's systems come up with entirely spurious figures.When challenged they back down indicating that they knew it was wrong in the first place.

They should be correct and accurate, and bearing in mind with an average of well over 5 million customers per company, for the large percentage of the time, they are..

There are obvious things which could alter the calculations used or be factors in them, (ie estimated readings, historical usage, seasonal differences, balance of your account, price changes) but unfortunately it does just sometimes come down to the fact that the computers given the task can get it wrong or develop errors.

Its not great I know, and not the answer you were looking for, but mistakes happen in everything and nothing in life works perfectly 100% of the time. The main thing is you contacted them and they (I assume) corrected it.

It really doesn't make sense for a company to come up with "spurious" amounts deliberately, then write to tell you what the changes will be as this will invite complaints, which they will try to avoid at all costs. Complaints cost money, time, customers, and reputation. Despite poor publicity recently with rising energy costs, they really aren't out to get you.

OK how about this: Last May Npower made an incorrect reading, by about 6000 units or aout £800. This is now "sorted out". Bills recalculated back to 2005, they used an initial reading of 27623. Fortunately I had my bill from 2005 showing initial reading of 30150, They actually owed me £428.44. So if I had not kept four year old records they might have got £250 odd out of me? Who in Npower came up with the number of 27623? Why? Were they trying it on?

Last year our Dual Fuel monthly DirectDebit to NPOWER was £87. In January NPOWER increased this to £232 without any warning. This is for a four bedroom detached house.

Time to read my meters and give them an update!!!!

Hi I am with npower aswell and I got a huge bill in the other day for £357. I noticed that I had hnot had a bill since last August so I called up to complain and got £57 knocked off straight away. I then got another bill for more money and I called again and none of the people I spoke to have a clue what is going on. To cover this bill they have increased my direct debit to £107 a month from £50! So I have asked them to reduce it to £78.

Ros

ros684:

Hi I am with npower aswell and I got a huge bill in the other day for £357.

The most important thing you can do is to make sure you have a bill based on an accurate meter reading. Is this electricity or dual fuel? £357 must be the bill debit balance. The fact that it was reduced by £57 indicates the readings must have been estimated so make sure accurate readings are provided.

Even if it is reduced to £300 that is still big debit balance. Hardly surprising that nPower want to see it reduced and £107 doesn't seen unreasonable.

npower advice:

there is no such thing as a direct debit scam thats for sure !

ROFL - I have duel fuel and was paying £59 last year, my account is £11 in credit and I have just had a new direct debit of £156 - no scam - you are joking!!!! The woman on the phone even had the nerve to say it was because winter was coming, but don't we have one every year and was that not covered by my £59 payments before - npower are a joke - ex npower customer.

zefram:[

- ex npower customer.

I'm not going to defend NPower or the way that some suppliers spring and re-calculate DD payments but I hope I can prevent you cutting off your nose to spite your face.

What do you think the new payment should be and why?

If you do a price comparison, in most areas Npower offer a tariff which is consistently cheapest. This is predicated on a sizeable discount paid annually in arrears. So if you still want to switch, it may be best to delay until just after receiving your annual discount.

Switching is the best way of getting an accurate DD payment as long as you know fairly accurately your annual consumption. Would have been interesting if you had posted that information.

In the absence of sufficient information I can only speculate why they have imposed such a large increase when you are in credit. Possible reasons, not excluding feathering their nest as you suspect, are you have been using up a previous credit balance, energy prices have increased and/or you have just finished a fixed price term or you have not yet earned your annual discount.

That is why I suggest if you really want to scr*w Npower, don't do it until you have earned your discount.

My payment should not change, the previous year I was £80 in credit and got a cheque or bank credit for that amount. So the account was zero at the start of the year. I know what my annual consumption is and £59 covers it, I also gave them a meter reading every few months to try and make it all more accurate, the new direct debit debit amounts are always so heavily weighted in their favour that it is a 'scam', no other word can describe it, a lot of people just accept the new payments and that is why they do it.

zefram:.

I know what my annual consumption is and £59 covers it, I also gave them a meter reading every few months to try and make it all more accurate

.

I'm fully in favour of customers exercising their right to switch, preferably for financial reasons but also to penalise customer service reasons if they choose.

The NPower FAQ here http://www.npower.com/web/At_home/customer_service/yourquestionsanswered/faq_dd_5

explains their "policy" (which may not be what they have applied for reasons unknown). While your concerns about being "scammed" are perfectly reasonable there is such a mismatch between a payment which you think covers your annual consumption and the payment being demanded there must be another reason.

Why not ask them to explain the calculation, and then test the calculation against the FAQ. The mid-term review explicitly says the aim is to achieve "zero-balance at the annual review" (though I note the annual review makes no similar explicit claim).

Their calculation is either right or wrong tested against their own FAQ. If you think it's wrong and they won't explain, rough them up through their complaints procedure. Then switch.

Later edit:

If NPower have done an "mid-term" review then their demanded payment could easily be right and fully in accordance with the objective to achieve "zero balance" in 6 months time after the winter period. I also wonder if you are still on a NPower tariff featuring "seasonal weighting" a particularly nasty NPower "gotcha" which loads cost onto the already heavy winter season.

The NPower "mid-term review" makes a nonsense of annual fixed monthly direct debit. Most other suppliers have a genuine annual review. A good enough reason to switch.