Scottish Power

lifeiswar

I only moved out into the world 6 months ago so still haven't managed to wrap my head around the utility word, so here I am, hoping someone can clear this up for me.

We joined Scottish Power on a fixed term contract when we moved in 5 months ago. The bills come monthly and have always been £59 then suddenly our bill arrives today at £85; bewildered by the £26 increase I rang up and ask what's happening. They tell me that there's debt on the account due to underestimating the gas and meter readings. However, they said it'll be okay in the summer because I'll use less.

My question is.. in the summer if I'm using less will the cost drop below £59? I'm so baffled. I thought fixed term meant that my bills would always be £59. Regardless of over usage? And then when usage is low in the summer they make it back.

Side note: We gave a meter reading when we joined and about 2 months ago a chap came round to take a meter reading.

Help would be greatly appreciated.

macman

Oh dear, major misunderstanding here. A 'fixed rate tarrif' means a fixed unit rate. The unit price is fixed during the contract term. It doesn't mean that however many units you use, you only pay £59! Its not like an 'all you can eat for £10' restaurant deal!
What's happened is that your usage has been under-estimated and now (following the 'actual' reading) you have received a catch up bill to recover the arrears and cover your ongoing usage. To avoid this in future, take and submit meter readings at least every 3 months-your supplier is only obliged to read the meter once every two years.
The idea of a fixed DD is that it evens out your payments regardless of seasonal fluctuations. So, if your estimated usage is £600 pa, your DD would be set at £50pm.

lifeiswar

Thanks for replying.

I forgot to mention in the first post (now updated) but meter readings have been taken.

I understand the concept now. Just want to clarify tho, that if I use less in the summer my bill will drop below £59? There isn't any kind of minimum fee of any kind that I'm unaware of?

macman

Probably not, because your original DD of £59 will already have been set based on it being a twelfth of your annual total billing.
Your monthly DD will now be £85, that should drop once the arrears have been recovered over the next few months. What it will drop to (more or less than £59) will depend how much you are using-which is why it is important to submit your own regular readings, in order to match the DD amount to your actual consumption.
What you are calling a monthly bill is a monthly DD, and the 'bill' is a quarterly statement.
There is no 'minimum charge', apart from the standing charges (unless you are on an NSC tariff).