Scottish Power want £190 pm for Gas and Electric HELP!

gorillathebino

I have just had an email from Scottish Power saying that my next Direct Debit will be £190 due on the 28th and this will continue for the foreseeable future.

I can no way on earth afford this due to my circumstances, I have 3 kids (2 under 2 years (the youngest is just 3 weeks) with the eldest at school. Both myself and my partner are unemployed. We live in a privately rented 3 bed property. We are in receipt of Jobseekers Allowance income based, Child Benefit and Tax Credits, Housing and Council Tax benefit.

I contacted Scottish Power yesterday about this and they could only reduce payments to £168pm.

I am currently on the Scottish Power Unifi capped, no standing charge, online 2013 tariff.

What can I do to get this whole situation sorted out. I am an electrical engineer so I have looked at what is costing us the most and I am doing the best I can to reduce the bills by getting all our lights to energy savers, unplugging everything that is not in use, trying to only use lights when needed, only turning the heating on when needed. So hopefully this won't happen again but what can I do just now to get this paid off as still at £168pm things will be very tight for us.

Is there any grants or assistance schemes available? is there any loan schemes that would provide the extra cash to help pay things off and we only need to pay a minimal amount each month?

sprint1050

Change supplier as soon as you can. I had the same thing - £170 per month Scottish Power. Changed to EDF £51 per month!. Speak to them about assistance in paying your bill and get out ASAP

meg72

Is this because you are in arrears with a bill, if so I would seriously suggest that you ask for prepayment meters,they only take a 2 or3 pounds a week off people on benefits towards arrears.

If not in arrears I would still suggest asking for prepayment meters.

jalexa

gorillathebino wrote: »

I am an electrical engineer so I have looked at what is costing us the most

How much were you paying before the £190 was calculated? Did you miss any payments? What was the debit balance if any at the last statement? How long have you been on supply with Scottish Power and what is your "anniversary date" for billing calculations? What does Scottish Power think is your annual consumption? What do you think is your annual consumption? When did you last and how often have you submitted customer readings?

All these questions are relevant to the accuracy of the calculation. And without the answers its impossible to say whether £190 (or £168) is right. Or not.

Only space and water heating makes a bill as large of you have. What temperature do you like to keep the house at?

How much is the gas costing you?

gorillathebino

jalexa wrote: »

How much were you paying before the £190 was calculated?

We were paying £80pm.

jalexa wrote: »

Did you miss any payments?

No

jalexa wrote: »

What was the debit balance if any at the last statement?

We were in credit

jalexa wrote: »

How long have you been on supply with Scottish Power and what is your "anniversary date" for billing calculations?

On supply since around May 2011 with 3 monthly DD reviews.

jalexa wrote: »

What does Scottish Power think is your annual consumption?

They have it in the region for both gas and electric to be £1700

jalexa wrote: »

What do you think is your annual consumption?

I was expecting around £1200 to £1500

jalexa wrote: »

When did you last and how often have you submitted customer readings?

I submitted readings around 24/01 and again yesterday as requested by SP

jalexa wrote: »

All these questions are relevant to the accuracy of the calculation. And without the answers its impossible to say whether £190 (or £168) is right. Or not.

Only space and water heating makes a bill as large of you have. What temperature do you like to keep the house at?

The gas is around what I expected but I know I can get this cut down as well by boxing in and insulating the HW cylinder also through more efficient heating of the house. The electric though is higher than I expected.

As for going to pre-payment meters I will never have them! I know people who have them and are paying around £160pm for both gas and electric.

cottonhead

First of all I would check that they have the correct meter number ( hasnt been muddled with another house) and that the meter reading is correct ( no digits transposed or anything) to make sure you do actually owe that amount. I was sent a bill for £1540 for a 1 bed flat ! It was their error.
If you do owe that sum then explain the situation and offer to make small payments ontop of the useage to clear the outstanding - they shoudl be able to spread it over a fairly lenthly period. The usage however if that is correct will have to be brought down. There isnt much other choice. Meters will stop you from using what you cant afford but we all know the charge for the electric you use is more expensive that way. Do you have adequate insulation ? Warmfront might be able to help with that.

jalexa

gorillathebino wrote: »

We were paying £80pm.

No

We were in credit

On supply since around May 2011 with 3 monthly DD reviews.

They have it in the region for both gas and electric to be £1700

I was expecting around £1200 to £1500

I submitted readings around 24/01 and again yesterday as requested by SP

The gas is around what I expected but I know I can get this cut down as well by boxing in and insulating the HW cylinder also through more efficient heating of the house. The electric though is higher than I expected.

Something doesn't seem right. "Average" annual consumption is 16,500 kWhrs gas and 3,300 kWhrs electric or about £90/month. To gain an understanding of your consumption you should start thinking in kWhrs not ££££s. Get a handle on your consumption by taking daily readings for a week.

To go from £80/month and in credit to £190 (or £168) is quite difficult to explain (even due to winter heating) unless either due to massive "catchup" due to no readings since May or a billing or reading error. Are you confident you read the meter correctly? Is it an imperial or metric meter? Is the bill calculation correct for the type of meter?

gorillathebino

Thanks guys, to be fair I haven't thought about checking the meter numbers, will do that first thing tomorrow. I will also get working on daily readings of the meters and get working out the kWh values, which I may need some help with even though I may be qualified as a Electrical Engineer it didn't cover converting meter readings into kWh readings.

I just moved in to this house in August and for the first month we had prepayment meters in and we got them removed for standard meters as we managed them better. so I assume they are both metric meters, the gas meter is definitely metric as it was brand new when installed, the electric meter was a reconditioned one so not sure about it.

jalexa

gorillathebino wrote: »

I just moved in to this house in August

This is not a trick question, but its relavent to the period that Scottish Power calculates over, but earlier you said May...

j2011

the electric meter was a reconditioned one so not sure about it.

there is no such thing as a metric or imperial electricity meter.

They read in units which are kWhs.

macman

gorillathebino wrote: »

Thanks guys, to be fair I haven't thought about checking the meter numbers, will do that first thing tomorrow. I will also get working on daily readings of the meters and get working out the kWh values, which I may need some help with even though I may be qualified as a Electrical Engineer it didn't cover converting meter readings into kWh readings.

I just moved in to this house in August and for the first month we had prepayment meters in and we got them removed for standard meters as we managed them better. so I assume they are both metric meters, the gas meter is definitely metric as it was brand new when installed, the electric meter was a reconditioned one so not sure about it.

PPM's cost exactly the same as the supplier's Standard tariff-so about 6% more than the best online discount tariff.
An electricity meter measures in kWh, no conversion is required.
Your gas meter is either metric or imperial, it's stamped on the front with either cu m or (100's) cu ft respectively. You then convert that reading to kWh's.
Your consumption on either is not in £'s but kWh's, until you know your annual consumption you cannot begin to analyse your usage or get to grips with your billing. The figure will be given on your annual statement, or by phoning your supplier, or simply by cross checking the current reading with one from a year ago ( an actual, not an estimate).
Forget how much it costs, it's what you use that matters.
You need to work out why your consumption appears to have risen so steeply (as far as SP are concerned).