Can I get a refund

Libara

I have just had a bill from scottish power and my account if £193.00 in credit. I have been in credit all all year last billing period I was in credit by £93.00. It says on line they may give you a refund at the end of your annual review!! Am I within my rights to have it refunded to me after all it is my money and I am as naff as the rate may be loosing interest on it. I just think its a lot of money and if others are in the same boat they must be laughing

Premier_2

If you don't want to pay for energy you haven't used, ask to go on a pay on receipt of bill tariff.

Monthly DD tariffs are good as it allows good cash flow for the supplier as well as evening out the bills a customer receives typically every quarter when paying on receipt of bill. Winter is a heavier consumption period, so most accounts (where payments are made monthly) would be in credit this time of year.

kikboy

I was in the same boat 2 years ago with my supplier and I asked for a refund (circa £200) and got it.

Currently I am again in credit by £588.84 for my gas. I may have to ask for a refund again. I don't know why they keep doing this.

I know I will use more gas in winter but not sure it will be this much

withabix

Scottish Power are quite good at refunding credit balances....



....and then sending you a letter the next month to increase your monthly payment :rotfl:

I've switched to OVO. They were the cheapest for me AND pay competitive interest on credit balances each month. :beer:

maxmycardagain

we owe Bgas £145, they are taking £175 PCM by DDM (next one due Nov 2nd ish) so in a few weeks they will (technically) owe me £30, We are using leccy at a rate of £3 per 24hrs maximum (heating on - it was zero here 2 nights ago) or £60 PCM up from £35 before the heating went on, I have no intention of lending Bgas my money once I can prove our consumption is £60 PCM less than they are wanting, id rather cancel the DDM and go on payment per bill

undaunted

Yes you can ask for a refund if you wish but bear in mind winter consumption / bills will also probably be higher

withabix

maxmycardagain wrote: »

I have no intention of lending Bgas my money.....id rather cancel the DDM and go on payment per bill

...and of course you will be switched to the higher standard rate the moment you do this.

Scottish_Power

Libara

I would not recommend refunding a credit balance at this time of year. The credit on your account now is used to cover the higher winter consumption over the colder months. The best time to review your account is around April. If you have a credit balance after the winter months then great, get that refunded to you. Your payments can be reviewed and set at an amount that should cover you for the next 12-month period. This will again result in a credit balance being built up over the summer months which again gets put towards the higher winter use. Doing it like this helps to keep your monthly payments consistent. If you were given all your credit back now (before winter), it is likely that our billing system will want to increase your payments to cover the higher use so that arrears do not build up on your account.

I know that customers can receive a bill throughout the year and when they see a large credit balance they think that they have been overpaying and this is not always the case. It is best to review your account at the same time each year (my recommendation is April). This is simply because of the way gas and electricity is used over the year and when your payments are set they are set to cover you for a 12-month period, not 6 months or 9 months. For example, if you transfer to ScottishPower in March and your payments are set to £100 per month, to confirm how accurate this initial payment is, we need to review your account again in March of the next year with your payments being kept at £100. If you were to review your account after 6 months (all summer months) you will have a credit on your account and you may think that you have been overpaying. This will not be the case as you will use far more during the next 6 months.

Our billing system does review payments on a quarterly basis and tries to keep payments in line with what you are using.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any further questions.

Kind Regards

Colin @ ScottishPower

dogshome

Hi Libara - Your post isn't quite clear, but is it the case that you have been in credit throughout a whole year, including last winter?

As Colin has advised at this time of year you should be showing a Credit to offset the high winter bills, but the bottom line is that your 12 monthly D/D payments should be high enough to pay for your annual use, and should show a debt in late winter & a credit late summer - You should not be in credit the throughhout the entire year.

If this is the case phone Scot Power and negotiate with them what your D/D payments should be to pay for your annual use, and how much money of the present credit is to be returned to you

t0rt0ise

scottishpower_company_representative wrote: »

Our billing system does review payments on a quarterly basis and tries to keep payments in line with what you are using.

If you review every quarter there is no need to have a huge credit on the account at the beginning of the winter. So the OP would be better off having the overspend refunded and adjusting the DD to take what is needed over the winter.

Libara

Well update. I spoke to Scottish power and they have reviewed by account and have agreed that I would be refunded and the amount that I pay now will not be reduced as it stands on last yrs usage it will be sufficient to cover me over the winter. A nice cheque has arrived for me to go christmas shopping with
Thankyou