Owe Scottish Power 1 Year's Electricity

oligopoly

Hi there, i am about to move out of the flat i have lived in for 1 year. it turns out that while i thought the landlord was paying electricity (he pays gas and water...) my tenancy contract stipulates that i pay the electricity.

I get letters through the door addressed to a range of names all of the time, and upon opening one (illegal i know...) it says there was money owed to Scottish Power before i moved in.

My question is, when i call Scottish Power, will this be ok or will they want to take action as i have been receiving 'free' electricity for the last year? can i get any kind of sympathy discount(!)/pay in installments as it is going to be a large sum i will have to pay in one go. i presume my landlord can vouch for when i moved in, so i dont get lumbered with the charges that i did not incur?

any advice/suggestions would be greatly appreciated - starting to worry a bit...

Anniek1969

You should have got them out to read the meter before you moved in and got the landlord to do this too, that way you wouldn't be responsible for anything owed by previous tennents. They will probably allow you to pay by installments but going by my own experience it could be quite a large monthly payment as they want the arrears paid back within 12 months.

If there has been no readings from when you moved in you might find it hard to prove how much is your and how much is from before you moved in.

Give them a phone anyway as you would be better to sort it out sooner rather than later.

Good luck.

cdon

As you have already opened the letter, make a note of the meter readings and date of readings and then take a note of the current meter reading. This should help you work out the correct amount you have used.