£2,500 Scottish Power Bill :/

amorv

Hi all,

I have just gotten a bill from Scottish Power for £2,500. Apparently they haven't billed me for anything since I changed to them in July 2011.

As I hadn't heard anything I just assumed a direct debit was set up and forgot all about it. So this has come out of the blue. Obviously I can't afford to pay it either.

I called them late on Friday and they said to call back today to talk about a payment plan to pay off that balance + my normal usage. My question is, should I have to pay all that money back? They mention on the letter that they should send me a letter every month telling me what to pay, but I have literally had nothing from them until now. The guy on the phone said this was probably because they through it was unoccupied. It never was, and I didn't give them any reason to think so (i own the home and live there).

I'm not trying to get away with stuff for free, all my other monthly payments are paid by direct debit with no issue, but how could I be expected to pay for something that they didn't tell me they would? Now, it's a huge issue to pay back such a large sum for me

Before I call them back I just wanted to get some information or advice?

bob_bank_spanker

What happened to the money that you thought had left your account?

SP can backbill for 1 year if it's their error, or 6 if it isn't. The DD not being set up can hardly be claimed to be entirely their fault (what role did the bank play?) and you are expected to have noticed something was awry.

I'm afraid you'll almost certainly be expected to pay it back, normally over the same period that the debt was accrued - in this instance approximately £100 a month on top of your consumption.

Andy_WSM

I'm not sure the back billing rules would apply here as you haven't made any attempt to chase them for bills or informed them you are not having a DD collected.

In a situation like this you may be allowed the same time that the debt has accumulated over to pay it back, so based upon the numbers you have given your future payments would be £105 a month towards the debt (£2,400 built up over 24 months) and £105 a month to pay for ongoing useage (+ any increases for price rises).

macman

The cynic in me says that if you failed to notice an extra £100 per month in your account because the DD wasn't going out, then will you really notice an extra £100 a month going out to recoup the arrears (assuming that you can negotiate such a long payback period as 2 years)? Plus £100 to now cover your ongoing usage as well of course. But you may well disagree.
Have you really not checked a single bank statement in 2 years? Why did you not chase the bill after the first quarterly billing was due?
Back billing may or may not apply here, too little to go on.
PS: I'd also check that the bill is based on accurate readings, because if it''s not then the bill may be less than £2,500-or more. If not, submit new reads.

amorv

I'll have to check the readings too. £100 a month seems high for electricity? I like in a 2 bedroom apartment with my gf, the 2nd bedroom is empty.

Macman, yeah I fully accept some blame on my part. However, I don't tend to go through every charge on my bank statement so wouldn't have noticed this. (I suppose that's a lesson for me to take away).

Acknowledging that, they do say in the original letter that they will send me a letter each month with the expected charges. So as they didn't do that, is there anything I can do with regards that not happening? If it had we wouldn't be in this issue as I would have paid as and when the bill came (or at least checked they were taking the correct amount).

Andy_WSM

amorv wrote: »

I'll have to check the readings too. £100 a month seems high for electricity? I like in a 2 bedroom apartment with my gf, the 2nd bedroom is empty.

If it's your only fuel source (ie you don't have gas) then £100 a month is an average charge nowadays I'm afraid. In the Summer you won't use that, but in the Winter with the heating on you will use way in excess of that, so evens out over the year to a pretty standard charge.

People will tell you that they pay less etc etc, but if they heat by gas, which is a cheaper fuel source, then you'd expect them to pay less. All electric properties with 2 people living in them will be comparable to yours.

amorv

Thanks andy that helps too, we don't use heating at all, top floor apartment it stays (too) hot! I'll try and get the figures so they charge me correctly! I'm assuming they made the assumption that we do use heating so hopefully that'll bring the cost down

macman

If the bill is based on an agent reading then it won't make any assumptions at all. It states quite clearly on it whether the opening and closing readings are agent, customer or estimated (A, C or E). If the latter, submit new readings.If it's a recent agent reading and corresponds to your meter reading at present, then the bill is accurate, assuming the right rates have been applied and the opening read matches your own.
When was your meter last read (presumably you haven't submitted your own readings, which should be done every quarter)? The supplier must by law read a least every two years.
No you might not pore over every bank statement, but I'd have expected you to notice on 1 out of 24 that you weren't being charged for electricity, and to notice 8 missing bills over 2 years?

Wywth

amorv wrote: »

Hi all,

I have just gotten a bill from Scottish Power for £2,500. Apparently they haven't billed me for anything since I changed to them in July 2011.

As I hadn't heard anything I just assumed a direct debit was set up and forgot all about it. So this has come out of the blue. Obviously I can't afford to pay it either.

I called them late on Friday and they said to call back today to talk about a payment plan to pay off that balance + my normal usage. My question is, should I have to pay all that money back? They mention on the letter that they should send me a letter every month telling me what to pay, but I have literally had nothing from them until now. The guy on the phone said this was probably because they through it was unoccupied. It never was, and I didn't give them any reason to think so (i own the home and live there).

I'm not trying to get away with stuff for free, all my other monthly payments are paid by direct debit with no issue, but how could I be expected to pay for something that they didn't tell me they would? Now, it's a huge issue to pay back such a large sum for me

Before I call them back I just wanted to get some information or advice?

Sorry, are you suggesting you thought leccy is provided free of charge? What did you think the meter is for?

Speak to the supplier - I'm sure they will happily arrange a repayment plan for you if you didn't save the approx £100 a month you failed to notice was not leaving your bank account.

amorv

A few kinda b1tchy replies, expected it to be a bit more friendly here!

@Wywth, like the bit of my post you bolded, I'm not trying to get away with stuff for free. I'm not sure what meter you're referring to either, you make it sound like there is something in my apartment I see every day..

Like I said I probably should have picked up on it. But I didn't (neither did they) and was just here asking for help/advice on how to proceed now, that's all