Standing Charges Rip Off - 150% gas increase Scottish Power

gemspan1

I am with SP with a PPM. When I first got the PPMs installed the standing charge for electricity was £1.16pw and 98pw for gas - both of which I was not informed of prior to the installation.

Apparently in November 2010 SP increased the standing charges to £1.57pw for electricity and £2.10pw for gas (:eek:). Again I was not informed and, actually, SP sent me my annual statement which showed they had me on the wrong tariff for gas and refunded me onto my electricity.

Those increased are bad enough but then I discovered last Friday that there had been a further increase..... Electricity to £1.75 and gas to.....wait for it...... £2.61 PER WEEK FOR EACH.... Again, I have received nothing in the post to advise me about this.

There is nothing on the SP website about these rises in standing charges and, quite frankly, I think they are trying to hide them.... I can't believe that no newspaper has found this information..... Well, I can, because it's not there!!!

Scottish Power have a history of withholding information from me (1) that there were standing charges on the PPMs before I had them installed (2) that it would cost me £150 as a deposit to have them taken out (3) the first standing charges increase and (4) the second standing charges increase. (5) failure to advise me that I could have a tariff without standing charges as advertised on their website!!!

In total Scottish Power have increased their standing charges in six months by over 150% for gas and over 50% for electricity..... This is criminal when you discover that people paying for gas and electricity by DD are paying £2.22 for gas and £1.75 for electricty. Gas standing charge is 40p per week cheaper.....

I asked to have these rip off meters removed from my property and they agreed to waive the £150 because they hadn't informed me. I gave them a 2 week window for this to happen and they didn't have any appts in that 2 week windows. I now have to wait an additional 6 weeks until I can have them removed and will be required to pay these ridiculous standing charges until then because I don't want to change supplier with a PPM.

I cannot understand how these energy companies can get away with ripping people off in this way and how they can actually justify these 2 price increases in 6 months!!!!

I have always paid my bills by DD in the past and, bearing in mind that a lot of people using these meters are the poorest people, they are deepening their misery and making life even more difficult for them.

What can be done to stop these disgusting tactics by the energy companies? This really needs to be brought out into the open.... Where they are saying that SP is the cheapest for electricity and gas - they're compensating for that by these extortionate rises in standing charges. It's just not right and they shouldnt be able to get away with it - none of them should be able to get away with it.

It's all very well saying the cost of transportation etc., is causing it and these businesses being sold to other companies...... but its just not ethical that the most vulnerable in society are always the ones that pay the highest price.

Rant over!!!!

Disgusted!

nic_santorini

I was with Scottish Power and they did send a load of gumpf in the post which included the standing charge rise, which had doubled!!, this is why I switched because it does not matter what type of energy savings ou make, a standing charge is a standing charge!! Annoying I agree

Premier_2

gemspan1 wrote: »

I am with SP with a PPM. When I first got the PPMs installed the standing charge for electricity was £1.16pw and 98pw for gas - both of which I was not informed of prior to the installation.

Apparently in November 2010 SP increased the standing charges to £1.57pw for electricity and £2.10pw for gas (:eek:). Again I was not informed and, actually, SP sent me my annual statement which showed they had me on the wrong tariff for gas and refunded me onto my electricity.

Those increased are bad enough but then I discovered last Friday that there had been a further increase..... Electricity to £1.75 and gas to.....wait for it...... £2.61 PER WEEK FOR EACH.... Again, I have received nothing in the post to advise me about this.

There is nothing on the SP website about these rises in standing charges and, quite frankly, I think they are trying to hide them.... I can't believe that no newspaper has found this information..... Well, I can, because it's not there!!!

Scottish Power have a history of withholding information from me (1) that there were standing charges on the PPMs before I had them installed (2) that it would cost me £150 as a deposit to have them taken out (3) the first standing charges increase and (4) the second standing charges increase. (5) failure to advise me that I could have a tariff without standing charges as advertised on their website!!!

In total Scottish Power have increased their standing charges in six months by over 150% for gas and over 50% for electricity..... This is criminal when you discover that people paying for gas and electricity by DD are paying £2.22 for gas and £1.75 for electricty. Gas standing charge is 40p per week cheaper.....

I asked to have these rip off meters removed from my property and they agreed to waive the £150 because they hadn't informed me. I gave them a 2 week window for this to happen and they didn't have any appts in that 2 week windows. I now have to wait an additional 6 weeks until I can have them removed and will be required to pay these ridiculous standing charges until then because I don't want to change supplier with a PPM.

I cannot understand how these energy companies can get away with ripping people off in this way and how they can actually justify these 2 price increases in 6 months!!!!

I have always paid my bills by DD in the past and, bearing in mind that a lot of people using these meters are the poorest people, they are deepening their misery and making life even more difficult for them.

What can be done to stop these disgusting tactics by the energy companies? This really needs to be brought out into the open.... Where they are saying that SP is the cheapest for electricity and gas - they're compensating for that by these extortionate rises in standing charges. It's just not right and they shouldnt be able to get away with it - none of them should be able to get away with it.

It's all very well saying the cost of transportation etc., is causing it and these businesses being sold to other companies...... but its just not ethical that the most vulnerable in society are always the ones that pay the highest price.

Rant over!!!!

Disgusted!

The latest SP tariff for PPMs is available on their website here:

http://www.scottishpower.co.uk/PDF/DomesticStandardPricesv1.pdf

Standing charges apply in all areas except the former ScottishPower and Manweb regions.

Remember, it doesn't matter how the annual cost is arrived at, what is important is what works out cheapest for you; use a comparison site to find out and switch if necessary.