Problems with Scottish Power electricity bill.... help!

jane22

Hi,

I was hoping that someone would be kind enough to give me some advice about my electricity bill.

We have lived in our current home since September and have no gas supply, only electricity. Our house is very small. It’s old, with thick walls, but the windows are also old so it’s not that well insulated over all really. We are out most of the day and in the evening we use the hob / oven, watch TV a bit, use the computer,etc etc. I wouldn’t say we use a lot of electricity. Our tv is very small, we always turn it off when we’re not watching (as opposed to standby), our heaters are storage heaters so only use electricity during offpeak hours, and we put on maybe 2 loads of washing a week - roughly.

Given all this I was fairly surprised to receive a bill yesterday saying that I owe Scottish Power slightly over £600. I queried it and they told me to take seven day meter readings. We have 2 separate - very very old -meters, one is apparently for offpeak and one for peak electricity.

So I took readings yesterday morning and have taken them again this morning.

I have discovered that since yesterday my meters are telling me that I have used £2 of peak electricity and no off-peak at all. I know that this is wrong - we put on our washing machine and tumble driers at around midnight, and our heating was on overnight as usual. We were out all day yesterday until the evening - all that was on during peak period was a couple of lights in the morning, and the same in the evening - plus the hob and TV. I know this does not cost £2! I am presuming that my meters are faulty. They are fairly mediaeval looking so this is not surprising, really.

What can I do about this? Will Scottish Power (my electricity supplier) send someone out to check and replace it if necessary? Will I have to pay for this?

How about the £600 bill - will they cancel this?

Finally - our property is rented. Does anyone know what responsibiltiy my landlady might have in this matter - with regard to the faulty meters, etc? We’re in Scotland, if that makes any difference.

Thanks so much

JasonW_2

I was in the same position, moved in and noticed within the first week that the off peak units werent clocking up at all. I wasnt overly-concerned as I wasnt using any. There were storage heaters but I got rid of them, so there wasnt really anything else to use the off-peak apart from the water heater, but I just put that on when I needed it.

After a while I noticed there was a time-clock that controlled the off-peak timing and it was stuck on 3.30pm so obviously the meter never switched to the lower rate. I know the person I bought the house off and let them know that the off peak wasnt working so they contacted scottish power and managed to get a refund of £150 which was more a gesture than an actual refund since they had moved out. They spit it 50:50 with me and I also got a £50 credit which was nice even though I hadnt really used any off-peak anyway!

So the short answer is, check for any time clocks, although some systems get a signal from the leccy company and switch over, but if you are definitely not using any off peak units according to your meter, then phone scottish power and they will replace any faulty equipment and will adjust your bill to what they think it should be, so if you can, try and get an idea of what you think it should be to see how it compares. If its close, then bite their hand off.

J

JasonW_2

Just noticed you are rented, you should mention it to the landlady, but if you are paying the bill directly, then its up to you to call them and deal with them, but otherwise she should do it. If she wants to organise anything, then make sure you get it in writing with dates and times, and keep a diary yourself