Cattery made my power bills rise

Ms A.G. writes: We have been with Npower as our electricity supplier since May, 2019. When bills shot up, I realised I was being charged for a business contract and not on a residential t ariff. Npower wanted proof that I live in a twobedroom home, and I supplied this, but the bills keep arriving and I now owe £ 4,038 for 14 months of electricity. It is not that I am unwilling to pay, but why is it so hard to get a correct bill?

I ASKED officials at Npower to look into what you wrote, and I think they were as confused as you. They listened to recordings of phone conversations with you, checked your contract, and confirmed that you really did enter into a one-year fixed term business agreement. On the other hand, your electricity consumption was way above that of a typical two-bedroom house.

The root of the problem is that your house comes with some land attached, and in 2019 you applied to the local council for planning permission to build and run a cattery.

Permission was granted, and the council’s public register then listed your property as ‘mixed use’, subject to business rates. In at least one conversation with Npower, you confirmed this and were placed on a business tariff.

What Npower did not know was that the cattery had not actually been built. Work on it was completed just a few months ago.

On top of this, the cattery is on a separate electricity supply provided by Eon, not Npower.

The outcome is that Npower has switched your house on to its lowest possible residential tariff, knocking more than £500 off your bill. It is also arranging for your meter to be tested, after which it will agree figures with you for an affordable payment plan.