Scottish Power - Requesting £600 for Incorrect Billing

Premier_2

Dru-2010 wrote: »

Thanks Colin. I've been trying to resolve the issue with SP for a few days now but the rep dealing with my complaint isn't returning calls. I understand the points you've raised but what I would say is that our flat was rented out for over the past year (we've only moved back in a couple of months ago) and the energy bills were under his name, why can we be liable for his part of the bill when we've only just transferred the energy bills back to our name?

When you let your property, did you not contact the supplier at the time to say the property was being let and provide the tenant's name?
When you moved back in, did you not contact the supplier and advise them of this likewise?
How about getting the meter readings included and aggreed on the ingoing and outgoing inventory/statement of condition?
It was these readings that you should have also supplied to the supplier at the appropriate calls to them.
(I'm sure if you did, between you and the tenant, it would have clarified how to actually read an electric meter!)

Anyway, back to the original issue. Any further with getting that photo (or photos if the meter doesn't show all registries simultaneously) and confirmation of the latest readings on the bill as supplied by your fiancee?

Dru-2010

Premier wrote: »

When you let your property, did you not contact the supplier at the time to say the property was being let and provide the tenant's name?
When you moved back in, did you not contact the supplier and advise them of this likewise?
How about getting the meter readings included and aggreed on the ingoing and outgoing inventory/statement of condition?
It was these readings that you should have also supplied to the supplier at the appropriate calls to them.
(I'm sure if you did, between you and the tenant, it would have clarified how to actually read an electric meter!)

Anyway, back to the original issue. Any further with getting that photo (or photos if the meter doesn't show all registries simultaneously) and confirmation of the latest readings on the bill as supplied by your fiancee?

Hi Premier,
Yeah, when we let the flat out we informed the energy providers of the name change. We again changed back to our names once we moved back in 2 months ago (went travelling for a year). It was a private let and meter readings etc weren't carried out as a requirement. Apologies, I forgot to photograph the meter last night, I shall do this tonight and try post tomorrow.

Dru-2010

t0rt0ise wrote: »

Bit of a change of story there.. LOL. Good luck to all those who tried to help!

I wanted to know where I stood legally before trying to get a hold of the tenant who previously occupied the property if/when monies are due to SP.

Premier_2

Dru-2010 wrote: »

Hi Premier,
Yeah, when we let the flat out we informed the energy providers of the name change. We again changed back to our names once we moved back in 2 months ago (went travelling for a year).....

If you had done this, you would only be billed for the period(s) you had an account.
How can they re-calculate a bill for a period you didn't even have an acccount with them? :huh:

Dru-2010 wrote: »

...Couple of weeks ago, we received a letter from SP saying we have been incorrectly billed for our electricity for the past 3 years (since we moved in) ...

Dru-2010 wrote: »

...I would say is that our flat was rented out for over the past year (we've only moved back in a couple of months ago) and the energy bills were under his name,...

You see, your story (and I use that word deliberately) has inconsistencies in it :cool:

Dru-2010

Premier wrote: »

If you had done this, you would only be billed for the period(s) you had an account.
How can they re-calculate a bill for a period you didn't even have an acccount with them? :huh:





You see, your story (and I use that word deliberately) has inconsistencies in it :cool:

Your query on why they can bill us for the period we never stayed there is the question I'm on here asking! You can speculate that I'm telling tales here but I've always seen the flat as ours, hence the moved in 3years ago comment. We travelled for just over a year through 2009-2010. Where do I stand legally here? Do I or SP have to contact the previous tenant (Who's name was transferred on SP's bills)?

macman

So why didn't you mention this at the outset?
It's irrelevant who owns the flat, if the account was in the tenant's name for a year then they're liable for the bills in that period. But if you didn't record the opening and closing readings for the tenant then that complicates the scenario even more.
You'll need the billing recalculated for the two separate periods for which you are liable.

Dru-2010

macman wrote: »

So why didn't you mention this at the outset?
It's irrelevant who owns the flat, if the account was in the tenant's name for a year then they're liable for the bills in that period. But if you didn't record the opening and closing readings for the tenant then that complicates the scenario even more.
You'll need the billing recalculated for the two separate periods for which you are liable.

As I said in an above post Macman I wanted to find out from the outset if I/we were liable to pay anything before having to go through the hassle of contacting previous tenants for payments and dividing sums etc. In hinsight I should have stated this at the start but I was hoping to find out I wasn't liable for any pament so having a tenant would have been irrelevant.

Terrylw1

Dru-2010 wrote: »

As I said in an above post Macman I wanted to find out from the outset if I/we were liable to pay anything before having to go through the hassle of contacting previous tenants for payments and dividing sums etc. In hinsight I should have stated this at the start but I was hoping to find out I wasn't liable for any pament so having a tenant would have been irrelevant.

If you had a tenant, they are liable for their usage as long as your tenancy agreement states this.

You don't need to chase them for money or what they should pay. If you don't have readings when you moved out & back in, your Supplier will be estimating it all. They will decide who owes what by the dates and then make sure they have accounts for this.

Then new bills will go out.

Send them a copy of the agreement and the forwarding address. This will resolve at least that part.

You or the tenant may end up paying more than you should though. Always take readings in these situations to avoid paying for others.

t0rt0ise

When you changed the account over the tenant did the supplier not ask for a meter reading? When I just moved out, I had to call them on the day I moved to give them a reading.

Or did you actually have a tenancy agreement for your tenant or was it just a "you can stay here while we are away" sort of arrangement. If that then I can see why you'd be worried and probably liable for the whole bill.