Homeowner finds he is £20,000 in credit after being overcharged by Npower
David Redfern’s bill has shrunk from £478.89 to £48 since the firm agreed to change the meter at his three-bedroom home after a 2½-year battle
A HOMEOWNER has been overcharged so much for energy that he is now £20,000 in credit.
David Redfern’s bill has shrunk from £478.89 to £48 since Npower agreed to change the meter at his three-bedroom home after a 2½-year battle.
David has now spoken out about how it changed his and his partner’s living habits and to try and warn others who have been wrongly charged.
He said: “We have been paying them a lot of money for a long time now for a three-bedroom house.
David said before the mistake, he was paying £60-a-month. But somehow, the charge rocketed to £500, and he has been locked in a dispute with the company for the past two-and-a-half years.
A tweet David shared on his seo77 twitter account, expressing his anger at the over-charge, has been retweeted more than 4,000 times.
“I assumed it was because we had a hot tub, or maybe that just electricity prices are rising.
“I even went to the trouble of replacing every single lightbulb and light with LED.
David said once he successfully got npower to change his meter over, he saw his bills drop to £60.
He said the stress of paying the massive bills had taken its toll, and he had to throw himself into his business to ensure he could keep up the payments.
According to ukpower.co.uk, the website recommended by gas and electricity regulator Ofgem, the average monthly bill for a medium-sized house is £89, based on gas usage of 12,500kWh and an electricity usage of 3,100kWh.
An Npower spokeswoman could not comment on how the charge had come about, but said David's account was on hold while the matter was looked into.
The company is also planning on sending a home energy expert to David's home to check his energy use and meter.
The spokeswoman said: "We're sorry to hear about this confusion. We know that the online account details are incorrect and these are now being amended.
HOW TO GET A REFUND FROM YOUR SUPPLIER
YOU can check if you're due a refund by asking by your supplier or logging into your online account.
Most of the big six firms, including Npower, should refund customers automatically every 12 months - as long as they owe you over a certain amount.
In general, customers overpay for energy in the summer to make up for higher bills in the winter. The only way to make sure you're paying the right amount is to give monthly meter readings to your supplier.
The amount you'll get depends on how much you've overpaid by. Comparison website uSwitch.com estimates that households are owed by an average of £86 each.
If you are due a refund then you can ask your supplier to pay you back. If an energy firm refuses then you can raise it with the Energy Ombudsman.
"We're keen to find out why Mr Redfern's energy use is so high so we're popping round to see what we can do to try to help him reduce this."
Earlier this month, Npower announced it is putting up prices for millions of customer March.
On average customers will see their bills rise by 9.8 per cent - adding £109 a year to gas and electricity costs.
Scottish Power and EDF Energy have also confirmed bills will rise for their customers, while British Gas confirmed it will extend its price freeze until August.