Standard terms for supplying electricity and gas to domestic customers (Principle Terms in Bold)
About these terms These terms cover separate agreements.
- Part A contains the terms of your agreement with us - for supplying gas or electricity or both. The main terms are set out in bold.
- Part B is a standard agreement between you and the local network operator who distributes electricity for us to supply to you.
These agreements only apply if your home is connected to the mains (local network) supplying electricity or gas. If it is not, you must make separate arrangements with the local network operator for that connection.
Part A
Standard agreement with npower for supplying gas or electricity (or both)
These are the standard terms of our agreement with you. You may have agreed to extra terms depending on the tariff which applies.
Who supplies your gas or electricity (or both)
npower is the trading name of the company that supplies gas or electricity (or both) to you. The full name of the company that supplies you will be shown on the front of your contract or you will have been told about it. You may receive your gas or electricity bill from any npower group company. Any npower group company may ask for or collect payment from you for any other npower group company. If we supply both your gas and electricity, we do so under separate agreements.
When this agreement starts)
Each separate agreement for gas or electricity runs from the date that you:
- signed it;
- accepted it on the phone; or
- sent in an on-line application.
If none of these apply to you, the agreements start when you start taking the supply.
If we are taking over from another supplier, supply starts from the date we told you in writing that we had taken over as supplier.
Changing your mind
You can cancel this agreement within 14 days from the date you signed it, accepted it on the phone or sent in an on-line application. To do this, simply write, stating your contract number, to: npower, PO Box 9647, Oldbury B69 2PZ. You may end your agreement with us at any time as described below under ‘Ending this agreement and changing supplier’.
Estimated meter readings
We may ask you for payment based on an estimated meter reading. You agree to pay the estimated amount or give us your own reading so that we may send a new bill based on that reading. If your meter does not register any gas or electricity used, for any reason, you agree to pay the amount that we reasonably estimate you have used.
Prepayment meters
You may ask us for a prepayment meter. We will install one for you if we reasonably can.
We may ask you to pay for your gas or electricity through a prepayment meter on our prepayment terms. We may do this if:
- you failed our credit checks;
- a prepayment meter is already installed;
- we have reason to believe that someone has tampered with an existing meter; or
- you owe us money and by installing a prepayment meter we can avoid cutting off your gas or electricity.
Our charges)
You agree to pay our charges based on the tariff which applies. You can find details of our charges on your bill or by calling customer service.
We may change our prices, discounts or the way we charge for gas and electricity. If we increase our prices or reduce our discounts, we will tell you within 65 working days. If you do not accept the changes, you may end this agreement by changing supplier. The changes will not apply to you if within 10 Working Days of being told about the changes, you tell us that you are ending the agreement, and within the next 15 Working Days we receive notice through industry processes that another supplier will begin to supply your home within a reasonable period of time.
Other charges we may make
Costs to do with collecting payments:
- for recovering money you owe us which may include visiting your home (unless the reason for the visit is beyond your reasonable control), getting a warrant of entry and carrying it out, and any tracing costs.
We may also charge for:
- a cheque that we have to return to you, or a direct debit that is rejected because there is not enough money in your account;
- postdated cheques, and providing copies of cheques and bills; or
- a lost prepayment card and delivering a replacement to you.
Costs to do with your meter or the terms of this agreement
We will charge for:
- changing your meter if you ask us to, unless you are disabled and we are replacing it with a specially adapted one;
- moving your meter, unless you are a pensioner, disabled or chronically sick (see below - ‘About your meter’);
- damage to a meter if the damage is your fault;
- carrying out a meter accuracy test if you ask for this and we do not find a fault with the meter;
- warrants we might have to apply for and visits to your home relating to inspecting or changing your meter; or
- something you do that breaks the terms of your agreement.
Asking for a deposit
We may ask you to pay an amount upfront - a deposit - as security against payment for your gas or electricity. We may do this to protect us against likely loss if we think you may break the terms of your agreement. We will not ask for a deposit if you choose to pay for your gas or electricity through a prepayment meter and we are reasonably able to supply one. If we ask you for a deposit and you do not pay it, we may:
- refuse to supply gas or electricity to you; or
- cut off your gas or electricity until you pay the deposit plus any reasonable costs we have as a result of cutting off and reconnecting your supply.
When payment is due
Payment is due on the date shown on your bill. You must make prompt payment in full within 14 days of the bill date unless we have agreed a different payment arrangement with you. If any amount is in genuine dispute, you must pay the amount you do not dispute. When we have settled the matter, we may adjust the amount as a result. If you pay the bills jointly with other people, you are each responsible for paying all outstanding charges until they are paid in full.
Refunding money we owe you
We may keep any money we owe you and use any payments you make, to reduce any debt you owe us or any of our other group companies. We may do this if the debt is to do with supplying gas or electricity or the terms of your agreement, including any special terms you have agreed to. The amount we may keep will not be more than the amount you owe us.
Moving home
You should give us at least two Working Days’ notice before you move home. Your agreement with us will end once you have given this notice. If you do not give notice before you move, your agreement will end:
- two Working Days after you tell us; or
- when someone takes over the supply; whichever is first. You must pay for all gas or electricity used up until the agreement ends.
Legal liability
You must pay any reasonable costs that arise if we have to take action because you break the terms of this agreement.
Nothing in this agreement affects our legal liability for causing death or personal injury by our negligence. This agreement does not affect your legal rights, including your rights under the Consumer Protection Act 1987.
Gas or electricity used for business purposes)
In these circumstances we are not legally liable under this agreement for:
- claims by someone else;
- any losses that are not our fault, or that we could not reasonably expect when we entered into this agreement; or
- any economic or financial loss (including loss of profit, income, opportunity, business contract or goodwill, or wasted expenses - this is not a full list).
Quality and continuity of your gas or electricity supplies (or both)
Local network operators distribute the electricity or transport the gas that we supply to you (or both). They are responsible for the quality of the supply and its continuity. These things are not our responsibility as they are outside our reasonable control.
You have a separate connection agreement with the local electricity network operator, as described in part B below.
About your meter
Placing your meter
Our meter readers must have easy access to read your meter. The meter must also be in a safe, secure and weatherproof position. If it is not, or is not easy to get at, you must provide a suitable position and allow us to move the meter. You agree to pay our reasonable costs for moving the meter unless the unsuitable position was our fault or you are a pensioner, disabled, or chronically sick.
Access to your meter
You must allow us, and anyone we authorise, safe access to the meter at any time in an emergency. We must also have access at all reasonable times if we need to:
- install, repair, remove or replace the meter;
- read, test or inspect the meter; or
- cut off or reconnect your supply.
Who owns your meter?
Your meter is owned by a service provider. If they transfer your meter to another service provider, you agree that both you and the new owner will continue to have the same rights and obligations as before.
Cutting off your gas or electricity
When we may cut off your gas or electricity We have the right to cut off your gas or electricity in certain situations only.
We may do this if:
- you do not pay the charges for gas or electricity within 28 days of the bill date and we have given you seven Working Days’ notice in writing that we plan to cut off your supply;
- you cannot pay your debts or have broken the terms of this agreement;
- you do not pay the deposit (we have the right to ask for a deposit as described above under ‘Asking for a deposit’); or
- it is not reasonable, in all the circumstances, for us to have to supply you.
Restricting or cutting off your supply in an emergency
We may cut off your supply if we have to do so by law or in an emergency.
We and the gas transporter who operates the network through which the gas is supplied to you, also have the right to tell you to restrict or stop your use of gas for the same reasons and you will follow our instructions.
Costs
You must pay any costs we may reasonably ask for if we have to cut off and reconnect your supply for any of the reasons described above. Costs may include (but are not limited to) the cost of visits to your home. We will reconnect the supply only when you have paid the amount you owe for gas or electricity (or both) plus any costs we may charge under the terms of this agreement.
Fitting a prepayment meter
We may fit a prepayment meter instead of cutting off your gas or electricity. You must pay for gas or electricity at our prepayment rates. We may also set the meter to recover any money you owe us and will tell you if we do this. You must pay any costs we may reasonably ask for if we have to change or reset your meter.
Ending this agreement and changing supplier
Your right to end this agreement
Your agreement with us will end if and when:
- you change supplier and the new supplier starts to supply your home; or
- we start to supply you under a new contract; or
- the supply is cut off because it is no longer needed.
Until then this agreement will continue to have effect and you must pay for all gas and electricity used up until it ends.
You must give us 28 days’ notice to end your agreement with us. It will end only if and when, within six weeks of your notice, another supplier starts to supply your home or when the supply is cut off because it is no longer needed. We may prevent your transferring to another supplier if you owe us money. You may end this agreement immediately if we lose our licence to supply gas or electricity.
Our right to end this agreement
We may end this agreement by giving you 28 days’ notice in writing. We may end the agreement immediately if you break any of its terms or cannot pay your debts, or if we lose our license to supply gas or electricity.
Transferring your details to a new supplier
We may give your new supplier any relevant details to help with the transfer. If you owe us money, we may object to your transfer, or transfer the debt to your new supplier for them to collect, giving them full details of the amount you owe.
Ofgem can withdraw our supply licence in certain circumstances, and to make sure you do not lose supply Ofgem may give a ‘last resort supply direction’ to another supplier, to take over the supply from us. If this happened, your agreement with us would end on the date the Ofgem direction took effect.
More about this agreement
Changes to these agreement terms
We may change the terms under which we supply gas or electricity at any time. If the changes put you in a worse position, we will tell you about them within 65 Working Days. If you do not accept the changes, you may end this agreement by changing supplier. The changes will not apply to you if within 10 Working Days of being told about the changes, you tell us that you are ending the agreement, and within the next 15 Working Days we receive notice through industry processes that another supplier will begin to supply your home within a reasonable period of time.
Our supply licence and the general law
This agreement depends on general law, and we can enforce all our rights under our supply licence or at law.
Transferring our rights or subcontracting to another supplier
We may transfer any of our rights under this agreement to any other organisation and any of our obligations to any other licensed supplier of gas or electricity. We will tell you as soon as we reasonably can if we transfer any rights or obligations to another organisation. We may also subcontract anything we have agreed to do under this agreement but we will still be responsible for anything carried out by our subcontractors. None of this affects your right to end the agreement as described above under ‘Ending this agreement’.
Law
In any dispute, English law applies to this agreement.
Data protection notice
How we use the information you give us
We will use the information you give us to set up and manage your gas or electricity account with us. We may share it with all relevant industry organisations based on agreed industry processes. We may share it with any npower group company:
- to supply you with gas or electricity or both;
- to manage your account, including collecting debts; and
- to assess risk, carry out marketing (unless you have opted out) or market research, test systems, and analyse your account history.
We may pass information about you to our agents and service providers for these purposes. We may search the files of credit reference agencies who will record the search. We may share information about how you deal with your account with other financial institutions, and with credit reference agencies.
We will release your account details to any organisation to whom we may transfer our rights or obligations under this agreement. You agree to your old supplier:
- giving us all your relevant details to help with your transfer; and
- transferring to us the right to collect any debt you owe to that supplier and passing over all relevant account information. If we object to your transfer to a new supplier because you owe us money, we may tell the supplier about the debt.
Part B
Electricity only About this part of the agreement
By signing this agreement for electricity supplies, you are entering into two contracts. They are with:
- us at npower, referred to as ‘your supplier’ in the paragraph below, to supply electricity to your home; and
- your local network operator, to distribute electricity across a network so that we can supply electricity to you.
National terms of connection
Your supplier is acting on behalf of your network operator to make an agreement with you. The agreement is that you and your network operator both accept the national terms of connection (NTC) and agree to keep to its conditions. This will happen from the time that you enter into this contract and it affects your legal rights. The NTC is a legal agreement. It sets out rights and duties in relation to the connection at which your network operator delivers electricity to, or accepts electricity from, your home or business.
If you want a copy of the NTC or have any questions about it, please write to: Energy Networks Association, 18 Stanhope Place, London, W2 2HH. Phone: 020 7706 5137, or see the website at www.connectionterms.co.uk
About the electricity supply
The local network operator is responsible for the characteristics of your electricity supply. The electricity delivered to your home through the network will normally be at one of the voltages shown below. It will have the following frequency, number of phases and margins of variation associated with it.
- connection voltage and permitted variations: at 400/230, 460/230 and 230 volts, plus 10% or minus 6%
- number of phases of supply: at 400/230 volts, three; at 460/230 volts and 230 volts, one
- frequency of supply and permitted variations: at all voltage levels, 50 hertz, plus or minus 1%.
If you need more explanation about these figures, please call your local electricity network operator who may be listed in your phone book under electricity distributors.
Where our electricity comes from
Between April 2006 and March 2007 the electricity we supplied was from the following fuel sources.
- Coal 44%
- Natural gas 37%
- Nuclear 13%
- Renewable* (wind, hydro and solar power) 3%
- Other 3%
* npower juice is 100% clean, renewable energy mainly from North Hoyle, the UK’s first major offshore wind farm. For more information visit www.npower.com
Definitions
Agents and service providers
Agents provide services on our behalf. Service providers provide services to us.
Domestic customer
Someone taking gas or electricity totally or mainly for home use - not commercial premises.
Liability
What you and we are responsible for in law under this agreement.
Local network operator
The operator of the local distribution network through which your electricity or gas is supplied.
Meter
The meter and any associated equipment.
npower
The company that supplies electricity or gas (or both) to your home - see ‘Who supplies your gas or electricity (or both)’.
npower group company
Companies in the same group as Npower Limited. The current group includes:
RWE AG;
RWE Npower plc;
Npower Limited;
Npower Gas Limited;
Npower Northern Limited;
Npower Northern Supply Limited;
Npower Yorkshire Limited; and
Npower Yorkshire Supply Limited.
Registered office of Npower Limited: Windmill Hill Business Park, Whitehill Way, Swindon SN5 6PB.
Registered number of Npower Limited: 3653277
Ofgem
The Office of the Gas and Electricity Markets - they regulate Britain’s gas and electricity industries.
Subcontractor
A person or company who carries out work for us.
Tariff
The rate we have agreed with you for each unit (kilowatt-hour or kWh) of electricity or gas that you use under this agreement.
Another organisation
A company that is not you or npower.
Working Day
Any day other than a Saturday, a Sunday, Christmas Day, Good Friday or a bank holiday
We, us, our
npower.
You
The person taking the supply of gas or electricity.
Revised 09.07
