Debt what to do BC + Wells

pokerjk

Ah I see I meant ring consumer direct

I didn't read it but the meter reading wont by a lye, the only unfair thing is estimating the bill then at the end telling me I have over used by a hell of a lot and lump me with this bill.

I will send them one of them letters also whilst I am trying to sort this out, thanks for that.

DarkConvict

It is recommended to send them meter reading regularly, if not every month then perhaps every 3-6 months to reduce this happening or so monthly payments match up, you may well have even glanced over letters they sent you stating you give them a meter reading for this very issue.

There are two sides to it, the simple fact is the energy has been used and unpaid for and they don't know your usage unless they have a meter reading, they can't possibly do readings all the time so you usually only get 1 a year. The estimated usage figures would have been based on previous tenants. In my case the previous tenant didn't know how to use the heater and used it for 22 hours a day, not 2 hours a day (but in all honestly the instructions were vague so i rang the manufacturer). So i was over estimated. Even if you didn't submit the readings you could have taken them yourself and calculated the usage fairly easily.

In your favour though, you do have a heck of a bill to pay and no cash to pay it with. This is not an all too uncommon issue simply because meters cannot be officially checked so do reply on customer readings for accuracy. So there should be some means of repaying the bill over time. Generally this is done over 12 months on the following bills (£40 paid, £80 usage, next year is £120 a month bills), but when you have moved house there are no following months to be billed over. I am sure you should be able to come to an arrangement to repay it over 12 months without any interest charges been added as im sure they will not be in the account terms.

let us know what consumer direct, OFT and OFGEM have to say about it.

Scottish_Power

Hi pokerjk

Sorry to hear about your situation. It is said a lot on this forum and DarkConvict has explained it well to you also, the importance of checking invoices that are sent to you to make sure the meter readings match what is currently showing on your meter. Under our current licence conditions, we are required to read your meter at least once every 2 years. We will of course try to read your meter more regularly than this. If you can read your meter, you can send this information to us via telephone, email, post etc or you can arrange for us to come and read it for you at a suitable time.

The legal position regarding the additional costs imposed by the debt collectors is covered in our Term & Conditions (see section 13.12 in the link below).

http://www.scottishpower.co.uk/pdf/tandc.pdf

I appreciate that all this advise about checking your statements is really only beneficial for you going forward. I also appreciate the position you were in at the time of receiving this large bill, and I am sure that we will be able to agree on a payment plan that is suitable to both parties. I will be able to help you here, as I have done for forum users before. Send me your details and I will investigate the account for you and see what I can do.

If you have any other questions regarding your account, or anyone else has regarding this situation, please ask and I will be happy to answer.

Kind Regards

Colin @ ScottishPower

pokerjk

I guess as a first time renter managing the bills I have learnt a valuable lesson to keep up to date meter readings.

OK Colin I will send you the details, I do want to sort this out but people I have spoken do not understand I have very little at income at this moment in time and paying 50% of a bill even is impossible. I can't print money sadly but people do no understand.

Thanks for all your help folks will update accordingly