scottish power help please

dollop

i joined up with scottish power,my first bills together were £180 paid them off no problem,then the next bill i got was for over £500,i have had the central heating on over winter because of baby,but surley it wouldnt have jumped that much?

anyway ive not been able to afford to pay it yet,next thing i know i had a doorstep caller on my door,told me if i diddnt pay him £140 there and then he would be back with a locksmith to put a meter in,so i paid the £140 and have just foned up to make a payment plan,and they are demanding £140 a month which is for the previous bill and what im using now,i cant possibly afford this,and i did tell her that on the fone,and they wont have it any other way,is there anything i can do?

i know i do have to pay it,just those payments are way to high for me to make each month,i havent got 2 pennys to rub together as it is.

Tixy

Is the £500 bill based on actual readings for your meter? Were the original bills also actual? If the latest was estimated then give them an actual reading as soon as possible.

If the bill is correct then I would suggest you send a letter explaining that you can't afford to pay the bill at £140 at the moment and suggesting a repayment plan you can afford for the arrears (maybe you could pay it over 6months at around £60 per month) Then on top of that you pay the current use direct debit at whatever they are estimating it to be.

In the meantime make sure you try to reduce your gas & elec usage as much as possible. Don't leave things on standby, turn off lights when not in the room, don't leave an immersion heater going all day, fit energy efficent bulbs, dry clothes outside rather than in a tumble drier etc. Turn heating low - baby does not need it hot, just not cold. In this weather you should not need to use the heating much at all.

magicgirl68

Are you really against getting a meter put in? I know it's a bit more expensive to use a prepay meter but at least you know that you're paying for the electricity as you use it and you know when to try and cut down. You could also pay your arrears off using this as they set an amount each week on the meter to recoup arrears.

churchrat

A friend once got a bill for £1500 for 1 quaters use from B Gas--they would not accept that it was wrong until she demanded the last set of statements and went thro them all very carefully. It turned out that someone in BG had turned around two numbers eg instead of 29units it read 92 units.

Make sure that you check all readings, try and find previuos bills from your last supplier for the same quater last yr and compare them.
If it is correct then you will have to pay, make sure you write and tell them your circumstances, don't rely on phone calls

goodluck

dollop

thanks you lot,i may put it in writing as they wouldnt accept any offer what so ever over the telephone,i had already cut down on my gas and electric usage,thats what i diddnt understand being a very frugal money saver,i started not putting my hot water on everday,i was only putting it on once 3 days a week,instead of once everyday,i cut down usage on my washer,started turning all the lights off all the time which are low energy,i know i used the heating in winter because of baby but dont understand why its jumped £300 i may enquire into the meter readings.