Scottish Power, outstanding balance due to undercharging!

ehamilton

Hello, please help, I have been with scottish power for my gas+electricity and have been happy with them so far. ... just received an annual statement which shows I have £252 outstanding, after a phone call they informed me that I was undercharged for the year and this is the amount I must pay for the past 12 months - they claim to review my account every three months and only contact me if my payment needs to change. They did change my charges about Feb from £40 - £52. If they had given me the right amount at the time then at least I could have made a decision to switch or pay, I feel that waiting until now to tell me I have charges is unfair and unreasonable and I should not be punished for their error. Is there any way in which I can get this matter resolved without paying this amount? or at least have it reduced? My issue is that they should have told me back when I was using more than I was being charged for, instead of stringing me along then whacking me with this bill at the end of the year.
Regards Miss E Hamilton

undaunted

Personally I think you chose to use it & should therefore have to pay it at an affordable rate.

The fact they don't do a better job in billing accurately and will probably now stop you transferring elsewhere even if you want to as a result of their inaccurate billing is another matter & wrong in my opinion - but I wouldn't hold your breath for help in getting anything done about even that let alone the bill reduced I'm afraid.

KimYeovil

There are meters in your home. You know yourself whether or not you are underpaying. If you were not happy with an eventual larger increase in the instalment you were entirely free to contact them yourself earlier to arrange a new amount.

Most normal people do not want their debits to vary wildly every couple of months.

Premier_2

ehamilton wrote: »

Hello, please help, I have been with scottish power for my gas+electricity and have been happy with them so far. ... just received an annual statement which shows I have £252 outstanding, after a phone call they informed me that I was undercharged for the year and this is the amount I must pay for the past 12 months - they claim to review my account every three months and only contact me if my payment needs to change. They did change my charges about Feb from £40 - £52. If they had given me the right amount at the time then at least I could have made a decision to switch or pay, I feel that waiting until now to tell me I have charges is unfair and unreasonable and I should not be punished for their error. Is there any way in which I can get this matter resolved without paying this amount? or at least have it reduced? My issue is that they should have told me back when I was using more than I was being charged for, instead of stringing me along then whacking me with this bill at the end of the year.
Regards Miss E Hamilton

I take it you pay monthly by DD?

You should receive regular statements which will tell you the state of your account. Any shortfall will usually be adjusted by a change to the monthly DD amount (not a one off demand)

If the undercharging was as a result of estimated meter readings, maybe you should have considered supplying accuarte ones when you got the bills/statements?

In any event, they will usually agree to a repayment plan equal to the period the debt accrued.