Help Required - Scottish Power

money2008

Hi
I would really like some advice as I am getting no where with Scottish Power
Our monthly payments since we moved to our new property last year have been £35 by DD which was very cheap, last month they tried to take £127 by DD now this bounced back because we were not expecting to have such a large amount to be taken without no notification(they told me they sent a letter but i never received it :mad: ).
I phoned and they advised me that this was my monthly payment from now and there is nothing we can do about it, I think its a ridiculous amount to pay each month and what with the current climate, I would be struggling to find it.
Now I have received a letter from them today requesting £518.30 is overdue
I have paid £40 last week which is what i could afford, i then phoned today to make another £50 payment but i was told either pay the bill in full, pay a quarter & then my payments will go upto £138 a month or go onto a payment meter? The person was very arrogant on the phone & i would really like to leave because of the service i have received.
I dont know what to do to resolve this and if It would be wise to change to a different supplier ???
Any help would be really appreciated.
Thanks

Sol00

You wouldn't be able to change supplier if you have a debt with them. The best thing would probably be to phone and ask to make a complaint to a supervisor. Explain what happened and that you're considering leaving. Might get you somewhere.

Voyager2002

Firstly, do you actually owe all that money? Check your meter readings.

If you do owe it, you will have to agree a realistic payment plan. If Scottish Power prove unhelpful, contact OFGEM. After all, your arrears result from the way they estimated your usage and failed to read your meter for so long.

notbritishgas

I think you must be realistic and accept that you do owe the money quoted by Scottish Power. The DD of £35 you have been paying seems way too low to cover your energy bill and that is why you have built up a debit.
You mention moving supplier, but in the same circumstances I do not think any other would have acted differently.
Now what can you do. Scottish Power will take any necessary steps to recover the debt, even to the point of forcibly (with a Court's permission) fitting a prepayment meter. You want to avoid this as you will incurr extra charges and the prepayment charges will be more expensive.
You could try negotiating a discount because they did not notice your DD was too low or try for a longer repayment period for the same reason. But you must try to repay the money somehow and then accept that your normal monthly DD will be much higher than £35.

eira

Had exactly this trouble.Complained to Energywatch-amount was reduced and came to an agreement to phase the amount over a longer period. I have now changed suppliers a)because the customer service was dreadful b)because they seem to assume that once they have the DD mandate it's open season on your bank account. Kep verything in writing because they are another shower who try and get you to ring up. In my experience the shiftier the arrangements the keener the organisations are on you ringing them.Also beware that they aren't making you buzz around people who can do nothing and care even less.