Only just moved to Scottish Power and they are now raising my DD - Help

jgallcash

I recently moved to Scottish Power (about 1 week before the first rate rises were announced) and took a fixed tarriff until 2013.

I thought that I was lucky as I had managed to get the details of the switch in before the rises would kick in.

I gave them my readings and usage (I always submit meter readings and monitor them monthly) and they told me that I would be paying £60 per month for duel fuel on my 1 bed flat. This was an increase on my previous bills with Southern of £58 per month but I always knew there would be a slight rise as I was getting a fixed tarriff.

Roll onto today and they send me an email telling me that my monthly DD will be increasing to £72 per month. 22% increase per f**king month.

I'm only just with them and they are changing the goal posts.

I have emailed them and told them that that this is ridiculous and asked for them to call me to explain.

Any advice on what I should do next? Am I being Naive and this is about right for a 3 year old 1 bedroom flat (very well insulated)

DirectDebacle

So far you have done the right thing. All suppliers are required by Ofgem not only to inform consumers of changes to DD but also to explain in plain terms the basis for making the changes. When you have that information from SP you will be in a position to judge if the changes are justified or not.

I woudn't hold my breath for a phone call, but you never know.

jgallcash

Thank you for that.

I have requested a call back though my account, which in fairness is much more user friendly than previous accounts.

Are there any particular questions I should be asking in addition to the obvious how are you justifying an increase of £144 per year within weeks of me signing up.

pineapple

It does sound as if they are taking the mick - you are due an explanation. That said - Scot Power have always been fair with me. They just raised my monthly online account to £70 (dual fuel). I think this is quite reasonable for a pretty cold, stone, 2 bed cottage. There is only me but I'm home all day.

jalexa

jgallcash wrote: »

Are there any particular questions I should be asking in addition to the obvious how are you justifying an increase of £144 per year within weeks of me signing up.

Well I would say "set a trap" by just asking the supplier to explain, then assess the quality and accuracy of the calculation. There is no need for you (at this stage) to provide any further information - they have made a calculation. The Regulations require the calculation to have been be made on "...the best and current information...". Either they did or they didn't, up to you to determine whether that is he case.

A few years ago, and companies change, I asked Scottish Power (by email) to explain and I received a full (and as it happened acceptable, explanation). Email is a good channel, because IIRC you get an acknowledgment and then a "hard copy" response. I recall the Scottish Power email response target is 2 to 3 days??? Something else to judge then on. IMO it is too easy to be "duped" by a "possibly recordless" phonecall.

While you are waiting, there are a few key factors to consider, firstly your "typical" annual consumption, and BTW the last 12 months should not be considered "typical" because of the exceptional severity of the winter, the "annual review" date (as a matter of fact, not reasonableness, which is a different issue), and the annual cost for your tariff calculated for your "typical" annual consumption by a Consumer Focus accredited comparison website - not by Scottish Power.

Get all these "facts" gathered, ready for the Scottish Power response to your query.

dogshome

OK - You need to talk to Scot Power from a position of strength - You know your annual Gas & Elec. Kwh consumptions in kwh from the bills you've had from SE.

Apply this use to the Fixed Tariff prices you have with Scot Power and work out the annual cost yourself, then when the phone call comes, quote the figures.

However, you wouldn't the 1st customer who signed up for a particular tariff, and then found the supplier had put you on something different - So be prepared to stand your ground

jgallcash

Thanks so much. Just venting this on here makes me feel a lot less stressed out about it!

I'm not too sure what this part of the last comment means, could you please explain?:

the "annual review" date (as a matter of fact, not reasonableness, which is a different issue, and the annual cost for your tariff calculated for your "typical" annual consumption by a Consumer Focus accredited comparison website - not Scottish Power."



here are my meter readings since I moved in. There is a gap in me getting the readings as often as I should as I was working between two countries at the time. Red shows the initial readings I gave to Scottish Power to start supplying and the green is the meter reading I submitted to them on 4th October, which I presume initiated this change to DD.


upload tif

I have taken the data from 14th May 2009 - 18th May 2011 to calculate my yearly average usage.

Example Electricity

8919 minus (-) 2819 = usage for 2 years. Divide this by 2 = typical usage of 3050 kwh of Electricity

Gas

1771 - 648 = 1123 (divide this by 2 years) = 561.5 units

561.5 units calculated into KWH is which then = 6380 kwh

Electricity = 3050 kwh per annum
Gas = 6380 kwh per annum

jalexa

jgallcash wrote: »

I'm not too sure what this part of the last comment means, could you please explain?:

the "annual review" date ...

Have a look at this and "test" Scottish Power's conduct against their own procedure.

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

Basically the "annual review" date is the date that your account balance is calculated to have a "zero balance". I see that with Scottish Power the "annual review" is at the end of the "payment year". However I am not *certain* what Scottish Power defines as "payment year". Ask them if you are not certain.

HTH

jgallcash

Electricity = 3050 kwh per annum
Gas = 6380 kwh per annum

When I enter my annual usage into something like moneysupermarket comparison site along with the details of my current plan with scottish power; they say that my annual cost of energy is approx £450.

£72 per month equates to £864. I appreciate that the calculations from the comparison sites are not concrete but nearly double sounds stupid; surely there is a mistake here.

Tigsteroonie

SP put ours up after the first quarterly "bill" ... because it had almost three months of dual fuel usage but only two direct debit payments applied!! I thought of phoning up to dispute their decisions ... and then decided that we could afford it and I'd rather be in credit over the winter months. I'll look at it again early next year and if I'm hugely in credit then the DD will get stopped.

jalexa

jgallcash wrote: »

surely there is a mistake here.

Possibly but I haven't checked. It's not what you think your annual consumption is which is important (for the calculation) it's the "assumption" Scottish Power are using. You need to smoke them out on the figure they are using and dispute that if you are not satisfied with the "assumption". Otherwise the calculation cannot be correct.

Regarding the comparison website price, it is a good idea to check 2 or 3. I find uSwitch and TheEnergyShop are usually reliable.