Scottish Power Large Bill

bernie47

Hi

Could anybody reccommend a good electric/gas provider for me please? Im 77 and scottish power have just landed a massive bill on me. We pay quarterly and Gas was £172.25 and Electric was £115.90

Its happened before this them sending a bill and it puts the frighteners up you so this time I think its time to change as they make far to many mistakes, we are suppose to have there pensioners discount but that doesent seem to make a differance so i would appreciate if anybody could reccommend another good supplier for old people, I dont want to doing the billing on internet though just over the phone kind of thing.

Thank you!

kjsmith7

For one, you might want to consider paying by direct debit. You'll get a direct debit discount off your bill, and if the amounts are set correctly you'll go into a little credit in Summer to cover the Winter's increased spend and won't get any frights. You can get a direct debit where you only pay what you owe, but you might not get any direct debit discount or not as much. DD discount can be around £100 for most suppliers, which is a nice amount off anyones bill.

By not viewing your bill online, you'll miss out on the cheapest tariffs (excluding social tariffs - see below). A lot of the online tariffs will only send you the bill online: you can still deal with your accounts over the phone in most instances as well, so you may want to consider it at the very least.

Otherwise, I'd add up your consumption over the last year for both gas and electricity (just add up the amounts in kWh from the last 4 bills/years worth of bills) and input them into a switching web site. Who knows, you may even get cash back. Always check the T&Cs of ANY tariff you're considering switching to, so you're fully aware of any lock ins, etc. Don't enter how much you pay into the switching web sites as the figures it gives out are only as good as the ones put in, so your kilowatt-hours will be much more accurate.

I must say that your bill seems quite low. If your heating is gas, to ONLY have a bill of £172.25 is very low. Same if your property is heated by elec, £115.90 is low.

Either way - check the meter readings aren't estimated: if they are, check against your meters and correct them. If previous readings have been estimated, you may have been underestimated in the past and are now catching up.

Make sure you're claiming your Winter Fuel Payment. That'll go a long way to helping towards the bills.

Scottish Power also have a social tariff. You say you are on their 'pensioners' discounted rate, which may be their social tariff. In which case you'll struggle to get much cheaper. General criteria: disabled or on pension credit with a low income. Each supplier has different criteria for eligibility, so I'd check what tariff you're actually on, as you'll need this for your comparison anyway. You'd have to approach each of the suppliers over the phone for a quote on their individual social offerings - have your kWh consumption to hand and they'll be able to give you a proper answer. Hope that helps

Lube

Dont you get the £250 annual fuel allowance. That bill isnt that high by any standards. regardless of age most of us are struggling too

I see you recently moved into your first new house

First Time Buyers..

and also had problems with Scottish power

Scottish Power are taking the P**@ Help Needed!!!

Scottish_Power

Hi bernie47

I would like to address a few issues here which will hopefully help you for the future. The first thing I would like to cover is the recent bill you have received and the period this is for. I'm not sure about Blackpool, but up here in Glasgow we had one of the worst winters for a long time. This meant a lot colder nights, heating on longer resulting in more gas being used than for any other winter period.

Also, check the meter readings that are being used to bill your account. If they are estimated, do the estimated readings match what is currently showing on your meters. If there is a large difference, you can contact us to confirm the accurate readings and we will amend your bill for you.

I would recommend you contact us to discuss your current tariff and to see if we can offer you better rates. Once you have information on our best tariff, you are then in a better position to compare these rates with the best tariffs that other suppliers can offer.

Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.

Kind Regards

Colin @ ScottishPower

bernie47

ok thankyou very much for the advice, lube, my son just bought a house around xmas time and he was inquiring about the electric and gas side you see in there house.

I was gonna refer him to scottish power but since that bill it may be a bad idea now?

I will look into setting up online as my son will have to help me do everything now, he helps me on here to get about!

Bernie