Scottish Power

Bigsofftie

Hi,looking for any feedback on my situation? I lived in a small cottage with 2 bedrooms,kitchen,living room and very small bathroom. It was all electric with no central heating. The only heating being a small oil radiator that was rarely on due to my work commitments. I work 10 hours a day,so often away for 12 hours 6 days a week. Appliances that i had were a small tv,fridge freezer,cooker,PC,and shower. My quarterly bill from Scottish Power for these services averaged between 400-500 pounds! My last one being 418.03 from 13/1/09 to 7/4/09,a daily charge of 4.98 or monthly 154.38! I cant believe i have used this amount,and really angry as i am being pursued to pay this bill. Any feedback would be appreciated. Many thanks

caveat_emptor

Do you have your own meter readings to compare with SPs? If not your going to find it difficult to make a case.

KimYeovil

Nearly everyone is out of the house ten or twelve hours per day so your consumption is not going to be particularly small. £154 is expensive but cooking and heating can easily eat up the juice. Best idea is to read the meter carefully and check how much you are consuming now - as your heating is off you can tell what the background use is and how much a session cooking will be, etc.

If you are paying quarterly electricity only bills can easily be one-third and more more than the cheapest direct debit tariff.

Scottish_Power

Hi Bigsofftie

The best advise I can give you is to contact us or myself so that you can be provided with detailed information on the amount of electricity that you are using. Like Kim has said, if you can read your own meter safely, record your meter reads at the same time each day for a week and see what you are using each day. With electricity only properties, the consumption increases greatly over the colder months because of the increased use of the heating appliances.

We had a very cold winter this year and I am sure that your oil filled radiator was in use quite a bit to keep you warm. If it wasn't, did you use any other form of heating appliance, i.e. plug in electric heaters etc?

If you are paying quarterly and using this amount of electricity you could save a lot of money over the year by changing onto a cheaper monthly Direct Debit tariff. If you have internet access in the house and you are able to read your meter, then you could even set up an online account with us. This is a great service which will allow you to manage and monitor your consumption more closely. Have a look at the link below for more details on our online services.

http://www.scottishpower.co.uk/your-home/new-customer/online-energy.aspx

Let me know if you want me to investigate your account for you. Alternatively, see the link below on how to contact us and we will be happy to help.

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

Kind Regards

Colin @ ScottishPower