Scottish Power Changing Readings Of Previous Bills.

lightcream

This is just a warning to check your previous bills against the latest you receive. Twice now, Scottish Power have altered estimated readings on a previous bill. The first time I complained because the bills were made higher. Their response was that it shouldn’t have happened but I was given no explanation to why it did(mainly because I was fighting another complaint with them at the time).

This can catch people out because it’s not the sort of thing most people check. Ok, so you may check the bill when you first get it but how many people cross reference their latest bill to bills going back 1 year? The first time it happened to me, the amount was only a couple of pounds but they were my couple of pounds and not Scottish Power’s!

Luckily, this second time that it’s happened, my bills are actually lower so I’ll keep my trap shut.

I’m on a Scottish Power tariff where I give customer readings online. Once the readings are in, then I receive my online bill. The problem seems to occur when there are price changes. Although I have given regular customer readings when they request them, gas & electricity is estimated if there has been a price change in the time between those customer readings.

Fair enough, when I get the bill I check the readings which have been estimated for the price change between my customer readings and I may accept them without much complaint. However, 6 months or this time 1 year down the line, Scottish Power decide that those estimated figures where a price or tariff change has occurred, need to be changed. By this time, most people would have probably thrown away their old bills (if they aren’t on online billing) and those that haven’t wouldn’t really sit and compare the readings anyway. You assume there would be no difference and why should there be because you know they are bracketed by your unchanged customer readings. You’ve provided no extra information and nobody has queried your usage with you.

Now I’m guessing that they are reassessing estimated usage based on a longer time period. This can be the only extra information that they have gained. I suppose it’s probably written somewhere in that long winded terms & conditions but I’m not going through it. I’m just leaving Scottish Power, which is much easier.

Do all the utility companies do this or is it just Scottish Power?

Premier_2

All companies may revise previously estimated readings where they later believe them to be incorrect.

This isn't normally necessay unless there has been a price change.

You can avoid this by providing an actual reading whenever they have used estimates.

dogshome

Hi lightcream - So far as I can gleen from your post, the estimated billings occur when there is a tariff change midway thro' a billing period. So you get an actual start read on the bill, and estimated reading of the day of change with those units charged at the old rate, then from the estimate read to the actual final read, the tariff is charged at the new rate

OK - The way to check this is to work out how many units were used a day over the entire period, and see that the number of unit/days were fairly allocated over the two tariff periods.

What I find very worrying is that SP should revisit these calculations a year later - Are they issueing a new bill with credits for the old bill listed at the top, followed by a new set of calculations? If this is the case look carefully at the credits - They should be listed as a credit for gas, a credit for Elec and yet another for VAT.
What should happen is that these credits should be applied to the specific item on the bill, but what usually happens is that they are all lumped together and subtracted as a single sum off the new bills total - This inflates the VAT to be paid and is cause for a complaint letter

lightcream

Thanks for both of you replying.

If Scottish Power had used the daily allocation calculation you suggested, then either the original bill or the amended bill has been calculated incorrectly.

I’ve just re-checked one of the bills and this latest amended estimated reading is actually less than my customer reading on the original bill. Not only that, it’s dated just over 20 days after the date of my customer reading. Crazy but I like it! As the prices dropped nearly a year ago, it means they have given me cheaper energy.

It is worrying though that there can be so much error in their billing system.

Yes dogshome, the estimated readings do occur when there’s a price change. I’ve given an example below (not actual readings):

15th March – Customer Reading =0
15th April – Customer Reading =25

Price Increase on 1st April so Scottish Power estimate the readings as;
15th March to 31st March – Estimated Reading = 11
1st April to 15th April – Estimated Reading = 14

Nearly 1 Year later those estimates are amended to;
15th March to 31st March – Estimated Reading = 15
1st April to 15th April – Estimated Reading = 10

I’m just interested to know what extra information have they gained to (as you say) revisit these calculations nearly a year later? What was wrong with their original estimate?

I did complain the first time and the original estimated figures were reinstated but this time the amended estimates are in my favour, so I’ve not got anything to complain about. I’ve given regular customer readings & I can’t see why they would alter the estimated part. It gives the “impression” that it’s for less than honest means. Ok, it was in my favour this time but then they do know I’m leaving. Maybe it’s a little enticement? In reality, the amendments were only a few units and not too noticeable but they were worth a couple of pounds. Multiply this over their customer base and it’s a nice little earner!

This latest bill is written as “Your amended electricity statement”.
The bill looks pretty much like most others with calculations on the back page and the date periods that they relate to. It’s those calculations that differ from the original bills, due to the alterations Scottish Power have made to the estimated figures. Nothing about credits except for the normal you are in credit by £.... It’s just another bill.

Note: I edited the word "before" to the word "after" in the new text above shown as; "Not only that, it’s dated just over 20 days after the date of my customer reading"