Advice needed re debt on prepayment meters

Kelstar73

Hello there,

I have prepayments meters for gas and electric supplied by Scottish Power.

I contacted them today to find out about having the meters removed and normal credit meters put in.

They told me it was fine for the gas to be done (at a cost of 45quid) then she said I can't have the electric removed until the debt of just over 500quid is paid off.

I asked why this hadn't been updated on our meter and weekly payments would have therefore been taken to clear this off. She couldn't really give me an answer over than it maybe because a new key was sent out to us - which it wasn't.

This debt goes back to June 2007 when we let the house out and was originally over 800quid. We had the meters put in at the request of Scottish Power to pay it off.

I'm quite shocked and angry that this has been left and we weren't notified about it until I called today.

Is there anything we can do or are we just stuck with the debt now?

Many thanks,
Kelly

Scottish_Power

Hi Kelstar73

Sorry to hear about your situation.

The debt and debt recovery rate are shown on your meter so you are always able to check these settings yourself.

From what you have posted, it certainly appears that a debt setting was placed on your meter to begin reducing the £800 debt. When a debt and debt recovery rate are added to your meter, we send details of this in a letter to you. We will also have a record of this on our billing system therefore we will be able to tell you:

1. How much debt was added to the meter and when.
2. What debt recovery rate was added to the meter and when.

You mention in your post that the debt was back in 2007 when you let the house out. Do you have a legal tenancy agreement for the occupants during this period? If so, you should not be paying back another occupants debt. You will need to provide a copy of the tenancy agreement, if you have this, and our billing system will be amended accordingly so that accounts are created for you for the periods when you occupied the property.

If the debt was added to your meter and we sent a signal to add a debt recovery rate to begin reducing this debt, it is possible this signal was never picked up by you, possible due to you not using the paypoint outlet that the signal was sent to. Either way, we are able to answer all your queries so if you have questions you would like answered then contact us and do not accept not being given the answer. Our billing system has all the information you need.

Let me know if you would like me to look into this for you and I will give you the answers you need.

Kind Regards

Colin @ ScottishPower

Kelstar73

Thank you for your reply Colin.

Unfortunately, we do not have a copy of the tenancy agreement anymore. We moved back to the property in April 2008 and were basically lumbered with the debt.

I cannot understand if the debt was on the meter and being reduced from 800 to 500, why now has it disappeared from the meter? The last time I spoke to a Scottish Power employee about the 800 debt, it was agreed that it would be repaid at a rate of 15 per week.

I desperately want these meters removed and am waiting for a call from someone to confirm the appointment for the gas meter to be removed.

Also, can I ask why we have to pay to have the meters removed when it really wasn't our decision to have them put in in the first place.

Excuse my ignorance, but I do not quite understand this part of your reply "If the debt was added to your meter and we sent a signal to add a debt recovery rate to begin reducing this debt, it is possible this signal was never picked up by you, possible due to you not using the paypoint outlet that the signal was sent to."

Surely if the debt has been added to the meter, there is nothing I need to do? If I was meant to do something with my payment key/paypoint outlet, I wasn't told.

I look forward to hearing from you further Colin.

Thank you,
Kelly

Kelstar73

Kelstar73 wrote: »

Thank you for your reply Colin.

Unfortunately, we do not have a copy of the tenancy agreement anymore. We moved back to the property in April 2008 and were basically lumbered with the debt.

I cannot understand if the debt was on the meter and being reduced from 800 to 500, why now has it disappeared from the meter? The last time I spoke to a Scottish Power employee about the 800 debt, it was agreed that it would be repaid at a rate of 15 per week.

I desperately want these meters removed and am waiting for a call from someone to confirm the appointment for the gas meter to be removed.

Also, can I ask why we have to pay to have the meters removed when it really wasn't our decision to have them put in in the first place.

Excuse my ignorance, but I do not quite understand this part of your reply "If the debt was added to your meter and we sent a signal to add a debt recovery rate to begin reducing this debt, it is possible this signal was never picked up by you, possible due to you not using the paypoint outlet that the signal was sent to."

Surely if the debt has been added to the meter, there is nothing I need to do? If I was meant to do something with my payment key/paypoint outlet, I wasn't told.

I look forward to hearing from you further Colin.

Thank you,
Kelly

Just bumping this up so that I will hopefully get a reply from Colin.......:)

Scottish_Power

Hi Kelstar73

You can check the debt setting on your meter by looking at screens S and T. These screens will tell you how much debt is on your meter and what the debt recovery rate (DRR) per week is.

I am a little confused about your comment regarding the debt. What has disappeared from your meter? Do you still have £500 debt on your meter or is this now not showing, i.e. it has disappeared?

You say that the last time you spoke to SP we agreed to set the DRR to £15 per week. Does this fit in with the current debt balance on your meter?

If your not sure when the debt was added or when the DRR was also activated on the meter then give us a call and we will confirm this to you.

When we change settings on an electricity Key meter we send a signal to your local paypoint outlet which is then picked up on your key when you go to top up. If you use a large number of paypoint outlets to top up your Key, it is possible that a signal is sent to a paypoint outlet and is not picked up by you for a while. This situation could cause a delay in the DRR being set on your meter. This is why we ask customers to try and use the same paypoint outlet as much as possible.

The meters were installed due to debt accumulating on the account. As you were unable to provide a legal tenancy agreement, you are responsible for this debt. When Key meters are installed to recover a debt, you will be required to pay for the meter change (around £50.00 per meter) and normally asked to provide a security deposit per supply. If you have been with ScottishPower previously and you had a good payment history, it is possible the security deposit can be waived.

If you want me to check your account details to confirm when debt was applied and when the DRR was applied then send me your details and I will investigate for you.

Kind Regards

Colin @ ScottishPower

Kelstar73

scottishpower_company_representative wrote: »

Hi Kelstar73

You can check the debt setting on your meter by looking at screens S and T. These screens will tell you how much debt is on your meter and what the debt recovery rate (DRR) per week is.

I am a little confused about your comment regarding the debt. What has disappeared from your meter? Do you still have £500 debt on your meter or is this now not showing, i.e. it has disappeared?

You say that the last time you spoke to SP we agreed to set the DRR to £15 per week. Does this fit in with the current debt balance on your meter?

If your not sure when the debt was added or when the DRR was also activated on the meter then give us a call and we will confirm this to you.

When we change settings on an electricity Key meter we send a signal to your local paypoint outlet which is then picked up on your key when you go to top up. If you use a large number of paypoint outlets to top up your Key, it is possible that a signal is sent to a paypoint outlet and is not picked up by you for a while. This situation could cause a delay in the DRR being set on your meter. This is why we ask customers to try and use the same paypoint outlet as much as possible.

The meters were installed due to debt accumulating on the account. As you were unable to provide a legal tenancy agreement, you are responsible for this debt. When Key meters are installed to recover a debt, you will be required to pay for the meter change (around £50.00 per meter) and normally asked to provide a security deposit per supply. If you have been with ScottishPower previously and you had a good payment history, it is possible the security deposit can be waived.

If you want me to check your account details to confirm when debt was applied and when the DRR was applied then send me your details and I will investigate for you.

Kind Regards

Colin @ ScottishPower

Thank you again for your reply Colin.

There is no debt showing on the meter at all. SP told me on Tuesday that there is an outstanding balance of appx 500pounds. The lady I spoke to said I could either have it put onto the meter or pay it off using other methods. I cannot understand how this has disappeared off the meter considering that the debt was originally over 800pounds almost 3 years ago?!

I can't actually remember when we asked for the repayments to be taken at a rate of 15pound per week so I'm not able to work out whether this ties in with the remaining balance.

I use only 2 paypoint outlets which are at the top of the street where I live.

We have been with SP for almost 8 years I believe but I'm sure this can be checked by you.

I'm not sure how to send you my details without having them show on here? Do you have an email address I can send them to?

Thank you
Kelly

Kelstar73

Kelstar73 wrote: »

Thank you again for your reply Colin.

There is no debt showing on the meter at all. SP told me on Tuesday that there is an outstanding balance of appx 500pounds. The lady I spoke to said I could either have it put onto the meter or pay it off using other methods. I cannot understand how this has disappeared off the meter considering that the debt was originally over 800pounds almost 3 years ago?!

I can't actually remember when we asked for the repayments to be taken at a rate of 15pound per week so I'm not able to work out whether this ties in with the remaining balance.

I use only 2 paypoint outlets which are at the top of the street where I live.

We have been with SP for almost 8 years I believe but I'm sure this can be checked by you.

I'm not sure how to send you my details without having them show on here? Do you have an email address I can send them to?

Thank you
Kelly

Hi Colin,

Did you receive my private message giving you my account details?

Thanks,
Kelly

Kelstar73

Hi Colin/Paul (Scottish Power reps)

Any news for me yet regarding the issues I have raised re the debt on the electricity prepayment meter?

Kind regards,
Kelly

spiro

Since the debt was originally put on the meter have you been issued with a replacement key by SPOW? One possibility it that the key is used to communicate with the meter so there is a possibility that someone at SPOW wrongly adjusted the debt on your meter either by sending a message to the outlet to update your key or if they issued a new key.

I am slightly suprised that you hadn't notice the amount you needed to put on the meter each week had dropped because no debt was being collected.

Kelstar73

spiro wrote: »

Since the debt was originally put on the meter have you been issued with a replacement key by SPOW? One possibility it that the key is used to communicate with the meter so there is a possibility that someone at SPOW wrongly adjusted the debt on your meter either by sending a message to the outlet to update your key or if they issued a new key.

I am slightly suprised that you hadn't notice the amount you needed to put on the meter each week had dropped because no debt was being collected.

Thanks for your reply Spiro. The key hasn't been replaced by SP.

I always check the meter when the key has been topped up to see if any repayments of the debt come off but this doesn't happen. I did call SP regarding this and was told that the amount to repay the debt was taken off at a daily rate so therefore we wouldn't really notice it being taken.

I'm now waiting to hear from the SP representatives.

Kelly