Advice please - credit rating ruined by Scottish Power

Ellis_T

Would appreciate some advice - a couple of years ago
I switched dual fuel supplier from Scottish Power, and their final bill for about £400 included contract cancelation charges.

The account was well over 12 months old , and I was not within a minimum contract period, turns out they had 'renewed' my account by default at some point - without my knowledge.

I refused to settle the account until they credited the cancellation charges - I must have written to them about 10 times - all letters ignored, after a long dispute , turns out they had adjusted a final bill, reducing the total amount owed by the cancellation charges. It was not at all clear that they had done this - and I didnt receive any notification that the charges were being credited.

Following settlement of the account, I'm stuck with a default entry on my credit account - I cant switch mortgage, get credit cards - its cost me I calculate several thousand pounds so far (I'm trapped in my current mortgage on a very high reversionary interest rate) I have a 999 Experian credit score, have never had a missed payment or any credit problems.

It seems outrageous, SP started the problem, renewing a contract without my knowledge, then charging me for breaking it, and then some unnaccoutable individual in an office presses enter on a keyboard - and damages my credit rating.

They refused to remove the default entry . I complained to the ombudsman - they were useless , and seemed to be missing the point in my opinion.

I am prepared to spend money on a lawyers to get this entry removed - but any suggestions would be welcome

chanz4

so if the ombudsman didn't agree, only way is court

Pineapple88

What did the Ombudsman say about your case? What have SP said?

When your deal came to an end you would have been notified, usually by letter but by email/online account if you have an online energy deal. Some of the product maturities are an 'opt out' deal, ie you will be put onto x tariff unless you opt out by x date. Have SP said this is what happened in your case? This is the usual way you would be put onto a new deal without your consent. If this is the case you will have a difficult time proving in court that SP are wrong.

How much was the default for? Usually when you are in dispute with a bill it is suggested that you pay any amount that is not in dispute, ie pay for the gas and electricity but not the cancellation fee.

Before going to court have you downloaded the full copy of your credit file to make sure that there are not any other late payments/ defaults showing?

keiran

""They refused to remove the default entry . I complained to the ombudsman - they were useless , and seemed to be missing the point in my opinion. ""

People must realise that the Energy Ombudsknut is a useless, inept self-aggrandising body which is neither independent nor impartial.

the only reason a rational consumer should refer to the EO is so that the energy company has to pay a hefty fee to the EO. But keep the complaint short and don't spend too much time/effort on it.. it's a waste

DirectDebacle

the only reason a rational consumer should refer to the EO is so that the
energy company has to pay a hefty fee to the EO.

Not the only reason. The E.O. is an ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution service).

Their decision is not binding on the complainant and if the complainant refuses to accept the E.O. decision they can go to the County Court (Small Claims division) if they so wish.

One of the criteria of the court is that all effort must have been made to resolve the dispute prior to applying to the court. This includes using an appropriate ADR, in the case of an energy supplier it will be the E.O.

If the dispute has not been resolved with the company and the complainant then by-passes the E.O and applies to the court for a summons it will more than likely be refused on these grounds. It will be a waste of the complainants time and money. They will have to re-start the process by referring their complaint to the E.O.

I agree that the E.O. are not ideal.

Ellis_T

well, below is my summary to the Ombudsman. I dont have a copy any longer of their decision, but it was something along the lines of i should have telephoned them to resolve it etc.

I wonder if the Small claims court is now worth a try (based on the post below) - I really will pursue this for the next 20 years if i have to, and post on every internet forum I can find how this company has behaved. They disgust me .

During June and July of 2011 I switched my supplier from Scottish gas (for gas and electricity accounts)
Scottish gas charged me cancellation charges . I have not entered into any form of contract or agreement with Scottish gas that prevents me changing my supplier and they have no right to charge cancellation charges.
Between June 2011, and Janury 2012, I write to Scottish gas and their various representatives on a number of occasions, each time advising that the cancellation charges were not valid and that they must be credited before I woud settle the account. I also advised that if they did not address the issue I would charge for my administration time if it was necceasry for me to continualy write to them to them . I did not receive any reply or correspondence other a series of computer generated threatening letters from a number of different organizations, and a number of telephone calls, including one to my place of work where the receptionist was advised that debt collectors wished to speak to me. A letter from their solicitors on 3rd October referred to a ficticious conversation between myself and Scottish Power, advising that the charges had ben waived . No such conversation took place and the charges have not been waived.
They have registered my name with credit reference agencies, ignored my last letter and have still not credited the charges.

Ellis_T

I dont have any recollection of receiving any notification from them about renewing my contract . If I wrote to a customer of mine and said I'm renewing your contract after expiration unless you tell me otherwise, I would'nt expect to have a leg to stand on - what's special about them ?

Ellis_T

the default was for about 400.00. (now settled) I was trying to get the charges credited before paying the bill, they ignored every letter I sent to them

There is nothing else showing on my experian report

Ellis_T

so is the Small Claims worth a shot? - as Scottish Power ignored all my letters I started sending them invoices for my time (also ignored of course) - I dont care about the money - but can the Small Claims enforce removal of a credit default?

bob_bank_spanker

I'm confused as to whether it's Scottish Power or Scottish Gas with whom you're having the problem. Perhaps the Ombudsman is also?

Ellis_T

Excuse me , the company is Scottish Power (just a typo on the last post)
There's no confusion from the Ombudsman's perspective

so do you have some input on the issue?