Scottish Power Direct Debits

slam2k5

Hi all,

I've got a slight problem...

I wanted to reduce my direct decit from £68.50 to £35 so I e-mailed Scottish Power and they said they'd reduce it to £62.50. I replied and said that was unacceptable, my circumstances had changed and I only wanted to pay £35 per month full stop. They've since replied and they say that they can't do that because they've looked at my average over the last 12 months and they reckon I would be underpaying.

For 10 of those months I was living with my sister so there was two people in the household using two TV's, putting on the heating at different times etc etc. My last quarterly bill came to £87.50 so I really don't want to be shelling out £70 each month where that money could be put to better use.

What are my rights in regards to this matter?

Thanks

Cardew

It isn't a question of rights as such.

With the Direct Debit scheme the supplier can fix the DD at the sum they think will cover the annual bill.

You really have 3 choices, accept it, come off the DD scheme and get quarterly bills/pre-payment meter or try to negotiate a lower monthly payment.

To be fair to SP your last quarterly bill of £87.50 would not indicate a £35 DD would cover your annual costs as consumption rises a great deal in the winter.

Also whilst 1 person living in a house will reduce consumption, it will come nowhere near reducing it by nearly 50%.

Why not pay the £62 for another quarter and see where you stand regarding overpayment - its not as if you will lose the money, and the loss of interest will only amount to £1 or so even if £35 were enough(which I doubt)



At the end of the day the DD scheme is an agreement between to parties - and if you cant agree, you come off the scheme.

iceicebaby

Well Scottish Power only have the information they have about your past useage to base your payments on. I would give it another quarter and ask them to revier it then, or do as Cardew said and come off the scheme if you are not happy.

slam2k5

I can understand whats being said, but like I said my circumstances have completely changed, my previous quarterly was £147 and that was two people. So I'll either have to negotiate or basically drop the direct debits completely and pay quarterly by the looks of it?

thanks again

kat21

Pay quaterly, that means your getting your fuel in advance of payment which will alow you time to save up enough money. or pay off your direct debit debt and switch to a cheaper supplier altogether
kat21

iceicebaby

Paying quartely is all well and good if you need to save for your fuel, but dont forget you nearly always get your fuel at a cheaper rate if you pay for it by monthly direct debit.

Horses for courses really you have to do whatever is best for you. personally I would rather pay for it by monthly dd and get the cheaper rate:money:j

JohalaReewi

If you make monthly meter readings and record them on your SP account, they should notice your consumption dropping after a couple of months so you would be in a better position to renegotiate the DD then.