Scottish Power PP Meter- in credit- HELP

MichelleM

Hi all,

I am looking for some advice. Basically I have been using a prepayment meter with SP for the past 8 years. After lots of compensation, broken promises and general rubbish customer service I was given the new Meters- the ones that dont take tokens but a top up type of card instead.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, since having this meter I have felt that my weekly input of £10-15 has been excessive. I live in a BEDSIT, work all day and bed by nine! Before this meter was fitted I was able to live off £5 or less per week.

So I recieved my first yearly statement since having this meter from 21/03/09-12/02/10. It is broken down like this:

Balance on your account before this new statement: £-1,002.86
Your electricity charges: £370.85
VAT: £18.55

You are in credit by: £613.46

Does this mean that I have been overcharged and that I am entitled to this credit? The amount is based on a yearly use of 4568 kWh.

I am also moving very soon- about 3/4 weeks and would like to change to a new supplier when I move as Scottish Power are rubbish to be honest.

Please help me! Any advice would be brilliant as I have never been very good at reading the electric bill and meters!

M X

simongregson

They should be able to send you the credit either as a cheque or into your bank account if you ring them...

MichelleM

Oooooohh... really?! :j:j:j

MichelleM

Just an update...

Having decided to work out how much energy I use, I went onto the http://smartmeter.ukpower.co.uk/smart_meter website that calculates usage per day. I know it's approximate but it pretty much matches the figures on my bill.

I noticed this:

Date of consumption
KWh (ave per day)
Price(ave per day)
19/06/09- 23/09/09
8.4
84p
18/12/09- 31/12/09
23.7
£1.74
01/01/10- 12/02/10
9.3
78p


The thing is, during the dec period I was barely at home as my cousin was dying from cancer so I stayed at my relatives for pretty much most of that period!

I live in a flat that doesnt have central heating- just a 2 bar electric fire and storage heaters that ive never used. I dont have a washing machine/dryer and the boiler is put on once at night to heat my water for the day!

Can anyone help me? Does this sound right or is it possible someone else may be hooked up to my meter????

I rang SP regarding credit issue but wasnt at home to give meter readings, will be ringing again tonight.

markharding557

turn everything off and then watch your meter it shoild not move or flash

sweetstudent

The credit could be there for a number of reasons, the two main that i can think of its that you may have transposed reads,where you night reads are being billed for your day reads and so forth. Another reason is that your mpan may be receiving payments from another pp meter and if this is the case then another supplier will put in a claim for the money. When you ring up SP ask them to check if you are receving payments from two meters. It can take years for a supplier to put a claim in though

Hope this helps

clayre6173

Seems odd cos a pay as you go meter cannot build up a credit or a debit. It is Pay as you go. While on the token meter the tariffs were not updated for years so yes you could spend 5.00 a week. the new meters have correct tariff so if any thing you should owe money. Did you put in 1002 over the year i.e 20 per week?

markharding557

clayre6173 wrote: »

Seems odd cos a pay as you go meter cannot build up a credit or a debit. It is Pay as you go. While on the token meter the tariffs were not updated for years so yes you could spend 5.00 a week. the new meters have correct tariff so if any thing you should owe money. Did you put in 1002 over the year i.e 20 per week?

Yes they can build up credit or debt if they are set at the wrong rates,this is why it is important to check that the meters settings match the suppliers tariff

Scottish_Power

Hi MichelleM

If you have been paying for your electricity by prepayment meter and we have sent you a statement confirming your annual charge as £389.40 (£32.45 per month) then I would doubt that we have any billing errors for the last year as this seems about right for the size of your property.

There are a few areas that would need investigated, one of which being the payments that we are receiving on your account. Like sweetstudent says, one possibility is that another persons payments are being credited onto your account creating this credit balance.

I would contact us as soon as you can and we will investigate the credit for you and see where this has come from. If you want me to look into this for you then just send me your details.

Kind Regards

Colin @ ScottishPower

clayre6173

markharding557 wrote: »

Yes they can build up credit or debt if they are set at the wrong rates,this is why it is important to check that the meters settings match the suppliers tariff

If this were the case than thats is the suppliers responsibility as you cannot change the tariff. The point I was making was the meter topped up by 1002 as stated on the annual statement. The OP states they do not top up by 20per week which would equate to the 1002 topped up over the year meaning there is something wrong with the billing.

MichelleM

clayre6173 wrote: »

the new meters have correct tariff so if any thing you should owe money. Did you put in 1002 over the year i.e 20 per week?

As I mentioned before, I use very little electricity- forgot to mention that I dont have central heating too! I dont owe anything from the old token meter as this was checked when it was changed over. I probably have been putting in that amount over the year when I look at my figures.