AVOID SCOTTISH POWER ... (Final Bill Woe)

DuWolf

Did a comparison after Scottish (Ripoff) Power bumped my Gas/Elec to £150 a month. (2 Adults/2 Kids)
I pay by DD and havent bothered looking around untill recently, My last years usage was estimated @ 15,955kWh. Today my apparent usage is @ 18,455kWh.

As im swapping suppliers as I finally had enough of this £150 a month no matter my usage I recieve a final bill from them and apparently I owe them an additional £219 as they have been undercharging me.

Im absolutely disgusted. Is there any way of disputing this as I cant remember the last time a meter reading was taken.

daveyjp

"Is there any way of disputing this as I cant remember the last time a meter reading was taken."

Don't you know where your meter is? You can always tell them a reading.

spiro

When you changed supplier, you will have given your new supplier a Change of Supplier meter reading. This will have been used to finalise you old account and open your new account. As long as the reading you supplied has been used there is nothing you can do.

As to "I cant remember the last time a meter reading was taken", every time you receive a bill you should check the reading and call your supplier if it is an estimate and the reading does not match whats on the bill.

Suspect your final bill was a 'catch up' bill which unfortunately is nobodys fault but your own. Suppliers only have to read the meter every 2 years (gas) or every 2 years from supply start date (elec).

johnnyroper

daveyjp wrote: »

"Is there any way of disputing this as I cant remember the last time a meter reading was taken."

Don't you know where your meter is? You can always tell them a reading.

not so much can tell them a reading,it is a case of should give them the reading everytime you get an estimated bill.

DuWolf

Yeah when I swapped I gave my new supplier a meter reading. Its strange that since I been with scottish power that I have never had a 'underpayment' and ive been with them several years. This year the price had been raised by £50 a month and yet still only half way thro the year they find I am still underpaying what the think ive used.
My circumstance havent changed and my usage should be the same. Yet i go to swap an suddenly I havent been paying enough.

KimYeovil

If your circumstances have not changed then your useage will clearly have increased - on account of it being colder.

Your complaint really does not seem to be making any sense. You have meters in your home so will have been able to estimate how your payments were comparing with the cost of the useage.

I really can not understand why you are disgusted or what it is you want to dispute.

Scottish_Power

Hi Duwolf

The only way to know if your payments have been covering what you are using, is to check what your balance is when the account has been billed up to date using an accurate meter reading. You cannot judge whether you have been underpaying if your account has been billed to estimated meter readings and you do not know how these readings compare with the actually reading on your meter.

Under our current licence agreement, we are required to read your meter at least once every 2 years, we do however try to obtain meter readings more regularly than this. We also provide our customers with a variety of options to update their own meter readings - telephone, online, post etc.

If you want to know exactly what you are using, try to obtain 2 accurate meter readings as close to 12 months apart. You could also contact us or myself, and we can confirm what accurate meter readings we hold on your account and if there has been an increase in your consumption.

The consumption figures that you have posted seem normal for your gas. What annual consumption figures have you been given for your electricity?

You made the following statement - "As im swapping suppliers as I finally had enough of this £150 a month no matter my usage". I would recommend finding out your exact gas and elec consumption so that you can work out yourself what you should be paying. If you are actually using more than £150 per month then your supplier will expect you to pay more. I am not aware of any supplier offering a fixed monthly payment no matter your usage. Your monthly payments are reviewed based on what you use.

If you want me to look into your account and provide you with the answers you are looking for just send me your details. I will be more than happy to provide this for you.

Kind Regards

Colin @ ScottishPower

AndysDad

I really can not understand why you are disgusted or what it is you want to dispute.[/QUOTE] Same here....We are with Scottish Power and submit our reading every month and haven't had any complaints with their service so far.

markdavey

+1, never had an issue with SP, I gave monthly meter readings and generated a bill every month. When I moved away, my credit balance was in my bank account in 3 days.

Plushchris

Unfortunately this appears to be another "its not my fault, its the suppliers that are ripping me off" type posts when in actual fact if the OP actually took responsability of their bills they wouldnt be in the mess in the first place.

People are always quick to blame suppliers when things arent going their way but not so quick to provide readings etc to keep things going their way in the first place..

nic_santorini

I have Scottish Power online and I think the service is fantastic. You can control it yourself and put in weekly or monthly readings or wait until they ask every quarter. They compute immediately how much your bill is and adjust the direct debit there and then. I have been very impressed, so that does not help. Go for an online account next, with your new supplier and you can then take better control of it.