Problems with Scottish Power

unfitfinlay

Hello. I'm looking for some advice here.

I've been having financial problems for a while and a big part of the problem is my monthly payments to Scottish Power which at one point were up to £125 a month (although there are apparently some arrears in there.)

The problem is I seem to be getting conflicting information on what my actual energy usage is. I really don't think I use that much and comparing my current electric meter reading to one in July shows that I've only used 1115 of electricity since then which at 13.076p a unit would mean that I've only used a £144! Gas is the same with the one in July being 5752 and the one today being 9069 which (at 4p per unit) means I've only used £132 in Gas since July right? Obviously there's a standing charge to take into account as well but it doesn't seem like it would account for such a massive difference.

I phoned up this morning about my financial problems and talked to a woman who, originally, gave me a number that was close to these figures and said my payment should be near forty pound a month but then later backtracked and said my usuage was still at £80 for both, even with my up to date meter readings, and that including my arrears the most they can take my payment down to is a £106 a month.

Assuming I haven't worked out these readings wrong, does anyone have any advice about getting them to acknowledge them and reduce my payments? £106 a month is almost half the money I've got to live on, and I'd really rather not spend it on energy that I'm not using.

Thanks for any help you can give.

notbritishgas

unfitfinlay wrote: »

Hello. I'm looking for some advice here.

I've been having financial problems for a while and a big part of the problem is my monthly payments to Scottish Power which at one point were up to £125 a month (although there are apparently some arrears in there.)

The problem is I seem to be getting conflicting information on what my actual energy usage is. I really don't think I use that much and comparing my current electric meter reading to one in July shows that I've only used 1115 of electricity since then which at 13.076p a unit would mean that I've only used a £144! Gas is the same with the one in July being 5752 and the one today being 9069 which (at 4p per unit) means I've only used £132 in Gas since July right? Obviously there's a standing charge to take into account as well but it doesn't seem like it would account for such a massive difference.

I phoned up this morning about my financial problems and talked to a woman who, originally, gave me a number that was close to these figures and said my payment should be near forty pound a month but then later backtracked and said my usuage was still at £80 for both, even with my up to date meter readings, and that including my arrears the most they can take my payment down to is a £106 a month.

Assuming I haven't worked out these readings wrong, does anyone have any advice about getting them to acknowledge them and reduce my payments? £106 a month is almost half the money I've got to live on, and I'd really rather not spend it on energy that I'm not using.

Thanks for any help you can give.

Are the gas figures you quote meter readings, if they are then you must convert them to kwh.
However having said that if they are meter readings then you have used a huge amount of gas this summer.

The electric usage seems to be about average.

dogshome

The gas - Your post talks of meter readings, but the figures of July 5752 - Nov 9069 = 3317 Meter units, don't make sense as these readings would produce a bill of roughly £1,486 if you have a Metric meter, or £4,179 if it is an Imperial model - If in fact the numbers you have given are meter readings, come back to the board quickly

That aside and assuming you are quoting Kwh, 3317 Kwh over a period of 5 months is high, particularly as most of it was a Summer period - The general rule of thumb is that 80% of your annual gas bill is accrued during the Winter, so rough estimate of your use in a year would be 16,585 Kwh - To get an opinion as to if this is reasonable, post details of your home - Terraced? Semi? Flat? Insulation? size of family?

unfitfinlay

notbritishgas wrote: »

Are the gas figures you quote meter readings, if they are then you must convert them to kwh.
However having said that if they are meter readings then you have used a huge amount of gas this summer.

The electric usage seems to be about average.

Hi. Thanks for that. I must've misread the meter or at least noted it down wrong. I rechecked it and its 5876(767.) I've got a feeling that's reading I gave them but I'll phone them on Monday and double check. I can't seem to figure out how to convert it to khw but I'll keep trying.

I really don't use much gas at all. I live myself in a two bedroom house and the radiators have been broken downstairs for the past six months so I only really use the one in my bedroom. I just don't see how I can possibly be using £80 a month.

notbritishgas

unfitfinlay wrote: »

Hi. Thanks for that. I must've misread the meter or at least noted it down wrong. I rechecked it and its 5876(767.) I've got a feeling that's reading I gave them but I'll phone them on Monday and double check. I can't seem to figure out how to convert it to khw but I'll keep trying.

I really don't use much gas at all. I live myself in a two bedroom house and the radiators have been broken downstairs for the past six months so I only really use the one in my bedroom. I just don't see how I can possibly be using £80 a month.

Ah OK, thats more like it, so July 5752 and today 5876, that is 124 gas units.
Now if your meter is metric (m3 on it) you have used about 1388 kwh which would cost about £55.
If your meter is imperial (cu ft on it) you have used about 3906 kwh at a cost of about £156.

If you look at your 4 most recent bills then add up the total kwh, not the meter readings, that will be your annual usage. From that you can get an approximate annual cost so divide that by 12 and you should get your monthly figure. If you have any debt or credit on your last bill then that should be taken into account when working out the amount.

Scottish_Power

hi unfitfinlay If you need any specific help with your account please e-mail details to [EMAIL="onlinecomplaints@scottishpower.com"]onlinecomplaints@scottishpower.com[/EMAIL] thanks David

macman

Is it a metric or imperial meter?

unfitfinlay

Thanks everybody. It's a Metric Meter.

NotBritishGas: £55 makes sense since, according to the bill I can find, I only used £7.17 between May and July, and that was before the radiator in my living room packed in and I wasn't just living in one room. There is a 34p a day standing charge on there as well but that still shouldn't account for such high payments.

I've emailed the ScottishPowerRep so hopefully I can get this sorted out.