Should i ask for my credit back?

Scottish_Power

Haha. Very good JimmyTheWig.

I am sure the system can be flexible on when you balance out. I don't see there being a problem with you reviewing the account mid January.

In relation to the £100-odd interest free - we do not receive interest for holding onto customer payments, however we do offer customers interest for having credit on their accounts come their annual review. Have a look at the link below for more details on what happens if you are in credit:

http://www.scottishpower.co.uk/support-centre/payments/direct-debit-explained.aspx

Let me know what you think.

Kind Regards

Colin @ ScottishPower

JimmyTheWig

Nice one, Colin, thanks for that. Nice policy.

Don't understand why you wouldn't earn interest on the money you hold, but I guess that's a business decision for you guys.

Presumably, from what you have said earlier, the annual review happens in March/April? [So it's not really based on the average credit balance, but still it's a token concession which is better than nothing.]

Incidentally, do customers get to know when their annual review is going to be in advance?
And if a customer phones asking to increase their direct debit amount, will you allow that - even if your records show the request is over the top?

Hooloovoo

scottishpower_company_representative wrote: »

In relation to the £100-odd interest free - we do not receive interest for holding onto customer payments, however we do offer customers interest for having credit on their accounts come their annual review. Have a look at the link below for more details on what happens if you are in credit:

http://www.scottishpower.co.uk/support-centre/payments/direct-debit-explained.aspx

Let me know what you think.

Thanks for that Colin -I never knew about it!

How will I know when I have received a payment from this? I switched to Energy Saver 11 on 26 October. At this point I was £193.33 in credit, just over three months worth of payments. As I said my direct debit was then reduced to £47 which is just right to bring my balance to zero this time next year assuming my usage stays the same. Shouldn't I have had some payment due to this credit?

Thanks!

Hooloovoo

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

Presumably, from what you have said earlier, the annual review happens in March/April? [So it's not really based on the average credit balance, but still it's a token concession which is better than nothing.]

Incidentally, do customers get to know when their annual review is going to be in advance?

I've always understood that the date of the annual review is dependent on when you joined Scottish Power. So it would be 12 months from whenever you switched to them. Or 12 months from your last tariff change since the payment is always recalculated then. In this way you can practically set yourself whenever you want your annual review to take place.

Since I changed tariff at the end of October, I'm expecting my annual review to be October 2011 - is that right Colin?

Scottish_Power

Hi

Thanks for the questions.

JimmyTheWig - The annual review will be different for each customer as there are a number of different billing cycles. If you transfer to ScottishPower in March 2010, your annual review may not necessarily be March 2011. You can contact us to confirm when your annual review date is. I would recommend to every customer to make sure an accurate meter reading is recorded 12-months after you transfer to a new supplier. This way you will have an exact annual consumption to use to help calculate what you are using and what your monthly payments should be. If a customer wanted to pay more than we were requesting, I do not imagine that this would be refused. If you have any other questions let me know.

Hooloovoo - The credit on the account is reviewed at your annual reassessment date. If you were in credit by this amount at your annual reassessment, then the credit is applied to your account and will show on your next invoice under the heading of Other Charges. If you have received a statement following your annual review and there is no payment on this then either give us a call or send me an email to [EMAIL="onlinecomplaints@scottishpower.com"]onlinecomplaints@scottishpower.com[/EMAIL] and I'll check it out for you. In relation to the annual review, your account will be on a certain billing cycle therefore a tariff change will not alter this and you will remain on the same annual review date as before.

Any other questions let me know and I'll be happy to help.

Kind Regards

Colin @ ScottishPower

JimmyTheWig

scottishpower_company_representative wrote: »

You can contact us to confirm when your annual review date is... If a customer wanted to pay more than we were requesting, I do not imagine that this would be refused.

If your account has a credit balance at the time of your next annual review, we’ll actually give you money back... right up to the maximum payout of £12 for a credit balance of £496

Anyone else spot a loophole for a free £12?

:money:

Thanks Colin.


Jim

macman

have looked on you switch and i could get it £100 a year cheaper else where, which isn't a 'great' saving so I'm not sure if i will bother with the hassle

I can never understand this approach.Bearing in mind that switching online via a comp site takes about 15 minutes (what hassle?), if it saves you £100, you're earning at a rate of £400 per hour. How many jobs (legal ones at least) give you that kind of reward for 15 minutes work? And it's tax free.

taplady

we too are in credit by over £100 and have just had a letter to say our DD is being doubled from £38 to £76 a month:eek: to cover winter usage.
I find this hard to understand. We paid a similar amount last year(over £&0)and got into a lot of credit which they refunded(without us asking) and then they lowered the DD but we have built up credit again so why they feel the need to raise the DD again I just dont get!

I wish they could just sort it out so we get a regular payment that covers the whole year which is why we do it likt this in the first place!:mad:

macman

Unless you are an exceptionally low user, £100 credit will be nothing like enough to take you through the winter without getting into debt. You don't say who you're with, but unless it's EDF, then your rate has either already gone up steeply or will do so very shortly.

taplady

macman wrote: »

Unless you are an exceptionally low user, £100 credit will be nothing like enough to take you through the winter without getting into debt. You don't say who you're with, but unless it's EDF, then your rate has either already gone up steeply or will do so very shortly.

I know it wouldn't be enough to see me through winter but I'm still paying nearly £40 month so surely that should even out over a year? why not just pick an amount in the middle somewhere that we can pay for the whole year instead of altering it every 6 months and mucking up my budget.
I'm with E-on btw.