Utility Bills Help Needed

wordsfan

I tried posting this on the utilities board but mainly got criticism and judgment.

Hoping you guys will be able to help or at very least not be like those posters were.

I recently moved due to ill health. I have severe ocd, depression anxiety and agoraphobia.

I was very ill at the time of the move and could not attend the handover of the old flat as felt it was contaminated. Therefore my aunt was present and unfortunately mistakenly took incorrect final readings.

The electricity bill for my old flat is an estimate which is much higher than I ever had to pay before.

I'd like advice on how to negotiate affordable payments for this. Unfortunately it is now with a debt recovery company as scottish power and I were chasing each other around in circles.

I also now have my first bills for my new place where I have gas and electricity. They are not awful but by checking at uswitch I would be better off with other supplier/s. On the other board I was asking whether it is possible to switch by carrying over the bill from the companies I'm currently with. I'd still like to know if this is possible.

I'll be making phone calls today to try and sort this all out but would still appreciate any advice other money savers may have.

Thanks

Tixy

If you are in a position to pay up what you owe on the current property with the current suppliers then I think you should be able to switch that supply over to a cheaper provider.

In relation to the old property, when you say the incorrect readings were taken were they higher or lower than they should have been?
Do you now agree with the amount of the bill? Is it high because the readings were too high, or high because all your previous bills were under estimated?

Scottish_Power

Hi wordsfan

If your final electricity bill has been closed to estimated meter readings, then these readings will be based on the accurate meter readings we hold on your account. We will be able to check that the consumption matches your historical consumption if you have been with us for long enough, i.e. more than 12 months.

We normally look for any outstanding balances to be paid within 3 months on final accounts. If you were unwell at the time and could not set up a payment arrangement, I would suggest contacting us to discuss bringing the debt back to ScottishPower so that a suitable payment plan can be set up for you. I have added a link below to highlight how you can contact us. We now have a facility for you to request a call back from us so we will always be able to speak to you on the telephone.

http://www.scottishpower.co.uk/your-home/existing-customer/home.aspx

If you want me to look into this for you just send me your details and I will confirm what options are available to you.

Kind Regards

Colin @ ScottishPower

VanillaDelia

The only advice I can suggest would be to go onto a pre pay meter. The bills arent working for you, and at least with a pre pay meter you can be in control of your spend and monitor it a lot better. Get you debt put onto it so you pay a portion a week off the debt through topping up the meter. They are more expensive to run in the long run but you are in control and you will prevent any further debt.

wordsfan

I was able to reach a satisfactory agreement with the people dealing with the scotpower bill and have sorted my new direct debit with new suppliers. Can't afford to pay off new suppliers and switch yet but when scotpower debt paid off I can. Thank you for your time, understanding advice and lack of criticism/judgment. I've reported those from the other thread that were less than helpful but nothing seems to have been done.

wordsfan

The bill from my old property has now been paid off, unfortunately I've now had letters re new property based on estimates which are rather high and they are wanting to increase my direct debits considerably!! Fairly sure readings are wrong as I only heat one room and am an economical user of energy in this flat, I rarely use the oven mainly use slow cooker and microwave and don't even shower every day as with the ocd that would use a lot of hot water. The agoraphobia has improved significantly and I am now out at my sister's or a friends a lot of the time to maintain the progress there. The number I got from my meter in cupboard in hall (only one even though property has gas and electric) is significantly shorter than the one on the letter. Any ideas guys??

dancingfairy

I guess you need to find out what the meter reading you can see relates to - whether it's gas or electric. Did you get anything when you moved in with meter readings on that would allow you to work this out? can you phone the electric/gas company to find out where the meters are?
If they do relate to the bill you've had ie it's the correct meter then you can see whether they are going off estimates or what's happened.
Another thought may be to turn everything electric only and run out to the meter and see whether it is whizzing round at great speed- if not then it's probably the gas meter and further investigation is needed.
Do you know your neighbours at all? are you up to knocking on their door and asking them for help?
Hope you get it sorted -it does sound like they may be for different utilities.
df