Gas Supply Standard Licence and Scottish Power's avoidance of it...

Warrick

Before the winter we were pretty even with our gas/elec balance after paying £70 a month.

I entered my meter readings yesterday, as I realised it had been a while since we'd heard from Scottish Power and it had been a cold winter. I then phoned up to get a balance based on those new readings... £800 in debit.

I questioned why they weren't checking our usage against our DD payment (as they are obliged to do under section 27.15 of Ofgem's Gas Supply Standard Licence), and got the reply "Yeah... Sorry about that. So do you want to pay it off now or shall we get you onto a long term payment plan?"

I'm a bit concerned at their lack of interest in the industry guidelines, but more than this I'm concerned that they are deliberately letting customers get into debit so that they can't afford to pay off their balance and switch suppliers.

I ran a comparison yesterday and switched to EDF Energy's 2015 plan, and I'll call SP today and pay my balance off, but I'm fortunate that I'm in a position where I can afford to do so (just about).

So... Are there any options for recourse here? I can't take them to court as technically I do owe them the money from the usage. They've breached industry guidelines, which is an ombudsman issue at most. Ultimately it looks like they can just get away with this? :mad:

MillicentBystander

To be entirely fair it really is the householder's responsibility to make sure they are paying the correct amount conducive to their consumption. Your meter is, I suspect, quite a lot closer to you than it is to Scottish Power. I'm by no means a lover of this awful industry but these are the facts. For instance, if you were staying with SP and entered into a long-term repayment plan for this £800 debit that is effectively an interest free loan for your Winter (and probably before that depending on the last time you entered a reading) energy usage.

Did you not think to query the low DD when it was coming out of your bank account each month?

dude89

Warrick wrote: »

Before the winter we were pretty even with our gas/elec balance after paying £70 a month.

I entered my meter readings yesterday, as I realised it had been a while since we'd heard from Scottish Power and it had been a cold winter. I then phoned up to get a balance based on those new readings... £800 in debit.

I questioned why they weren't checking our usage against our DD payment (as they are obliged to do under section 27.15 of Ofgem's Gas Supply Standard Licence), and got the reply "Yeah... Sorry about that. So do you want to pay it off now or shall we get you onto a long term payment plan?"

I'm a bit concerned at their lack of interest in the industry guidelines, but more than this I'm concerned that they are deliberately letting customers get into debit so that they can't afford to pay off their balance and switch suppliers.

I ran a comparison yesterday and switched to EDF Energy's 2015 plan, and I'll call SP today and pay my balance off, but I'm fortunate that I'm in a position where I can afford to do so (just about).

So... Are there any options for recourse here? I can't take them to court as technically I do owe them the money from the usage. They've breached industry guidelines, which is an ombudsman issue at most. Ultimately it looks like they can just get away with this? :mad:

So before winter you didnt have a significant debit or credit balance?

Between that point and when you have recently submitted a meter reading, how many additional meter readings has SP received so that they could have done an accurate review?

How much is your yearly energy spend approximatley? If you spend £1800+ it could be reasonable to have an account debit of that much that would then reduce through the year until the autumn when you will break even, like you did last year?

Was the previous meter reading an estimate? if so this could be a catch up bill.

As you have said it has been a winter with a few cold spells, did you use quite a bit more.

Im not sure of SP's DD policy so am unsure of how often they say they will review your DD

ic

I thought the requirement was that that they took at least one reading every two years? Personally I have a reminder set to provide meter readings every three months. My direct debit bounces around a bit, but I can live with it, and certainly never fall behind to the scale you're talking about.

Wywth

Warrick wrote: »

Before the winter we were pretty even with our gas/elec balance after paying £70 a month.

I entered my meter readings yesterday, as I realised it had been a while since we'd heard from Scottish Power and it had been a cold winter. I then phoned up to get a balance based on those new readings... £800 in debit.

I questioned why they weren't checking our usage against our DD payment (as they are obliged to do under section 27.15 of Ofgem's Gas Supply Standard Licence), and got the reply "Yeah... Sorry about that. So do you want to pay it off now or shall we get you onto a long term payment plan?"

I'm a bit concerned at their lack of interest in the industry guidelines, but more than this I'm concerned that they are deliberately letting customers get into debit so that they can't afford to pay off their balance and switch suppliers.

I ran a comparison yesterday and switched to EDF Energy's 2015 plan, and I'll call SP today and pay my balance off, but I'm fortunate that I'm in a position where I can afford to do so (just about).

So... Are there any options for recourse here? I can't take them to court as technically I do owe them the money from the usage. They've breached industry guidelines, which is an ombudsman issue at most. Ultimately it looks like they can just get away with this? :mad:

You can either pay off the £800 you owe and keep the monthly payment increase to a minimum, or you can usually repay the debt accrued over a number of months by allowing SP to set a higher monthly payment (to cover your actual usage and the debt on the account) from their next review point.

I'm not sure why you consider this to be a breach of a standard licence condition? :huh:
Perhaps you could explain further, with links and references to the standard licence conditions you believe the supplier may not be adhering to.

Warrick

Wywth wrote: »

You can either pay off the £800 you owe and keep the monthly payment increase to a minimum, or you can usually repay the debt accrued over a number of months by allowing SP to set a higher monthly payment (to cover your actual usage and the debt on the account) from their next review point.

I'm not sure why you consider this to be a breach of a standard licence condition? :huh:
Perhaps you could explain further, with links and references to the standard licence conditions you believe the supplier may not be adhering to.

Certainly. See page 104 (paragraph 27.15) of this document. http://epr.ofgem.gov.uk/EPRFiles/Gas%20supply%20standard%20licence%20condition%20consolidated%20-%20Current%20Version.pdf

In October we were even. They came to read the meter during the winter. I didn't see a bill. In fact, the only reason this has been flagged is because I realised it had been about six months since I'd seen anything from them in the post.

I fail to see how it's my responsibility to understand their ridiculously complex pricing structure and try and balance that against my monthly DD. They set the monthly Direct Debit figure, so it's down to them to ensure it's right.

They came to read the meter, and as such should have flagged that we were underpaying back in February; not leave us to end up like this.

They've now emailed back to say the account was flagged for review in November regarding the DD amount, "but this was never done."

Wywth

Warrick wrote: »

Certainly. See page 104 (paragraph 27.15) of this document. http://epr.ofgem.gov.uk/EPRFiles/Gas%20supply%20standard%20licence%20condition%20consolidated%20-%20Current%20Version.pdf

In October we were even. They came to read the meter during the winter. I didn't see a bill. In fact, the only reason this has been flagged is because I realised it had been about six months since I'd seen anything from them in the post.

I fail to see how it's my responsibility to understand their ridiculously complex pricing structure and try and balance that against my monthly DD. They set the monthly Direct Debit figure, so it's down to them to ensure it's right.

They came to read the meter, and as such should have flagged that we were underpaying back in February; not leave us to end up like this.

They've now emailed back to say the account was flagged for review in November regarding the DD amount, "but this was never done."

That says:

27.15 Save where a clear and express Principal Term of the relevant Domestic Supply Contract provides otherwise, the licensee must take all reasonable steps to ensure that the fixed amount of the regular direct debit payment is based on the best and most current information available (or which reasonably ought to be available) to the licensee, including information as to the quantity of gas which the licensee reasonably estimates has been or will be supplied under the relevant Domestic Supply Contract.

This page explains how Scottish Power say they will set and review your monthly payment
http://www.scottishpower.co.uk/support-centre/payments/direct-debit-explained/

If you feel you have a reason for complaint, then I suggest you do so following the suppliers own complaint procedure:

http://www.scottishpower.co.uk/pdf/HandlingEnquiryComplaint

The fact you say you have an admission in writing from the supplier of their failing would suggest you have good grounds for making such a complaint.

chanz4

A supplier has only got to read the meter every 2 years, isnt your spower bill set to every 6 months