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Estimated Electricity bills - stitched up!
Hi all, wondered if you could help here.
My partner had estimated bills from Scottish Power for over 2 years. She was paying around £35 per month by DD.
When they finally did a meter reading, they presented her with a bill for over £2000, demanding payment within 30 days.
As a single mother, she obviously couldn't pay it all, but offered to pay £50 per month on top of a monthly amount, to pay it back. They refused and forced her to have a pre-paid meter - which costs more per unit!
I seem to remember that there was talk of legislation about estimated bills, but don't know if this was/is going to be enforced.
Any one?
My partner had estimated bills from Scottish Power for over 2 years. She was paying around £35 per month by DD.
When they finally did a meter reading, they presented her with a bill for over £2000, demanding payment within 30 days.
As a single mother, she obviously couldn't pay it all, but offered to pay £50 per month on top of a monthly amount, to pay it back. They refused and forced her to have a pre-paid meter - which costs more per unit!
I seem to remember that there was talk of legislation about estimated bills, but don't know if this was/is going to be enforced.
Any one?
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Comments
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I'm guessing Scottish power didn't stop your partner from submitting her own readings, or using her own readings to calculate her monthly cost and then putting that money aside?
In which case, not much you can do.
Sorry she is now stuck in this situation, but PPM are not then end of the world, just not usually the cheapest.0 -
As Istar says, it wouldn't have been difficult to read the meter to make sure that the bills were correct and to phone, text or E-mail the supplier to get them corrected.
Two years is a long time to not bother getting the bills sorted out and being a single mother is no excuse for not checking them. She hasn't been "stitched up" she has a responsibility to make sure that her bills are correct.Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large numbers0 -
Hi all, wondered if you could help here.
My partner had estimated bills from Scottish Power for over 2 years. She was paying around £35 per month by DD.
When they finally did a meter reading, they presented her with a bill for over £2000, demanding payment within 30 days.
As a single mother, she obviously couldn't pay it all, but offered to pay £50 per month on top of a monthly amount, to pay it back. They refused and forced her to have a pre-paid meter - which costs more per unit!
I seem to remember that there was talk of legislation about estimated bills, but don't know if this was/is going to be enforced.
Any one?
So she used on average £118.33 worth of energy per month, and she proposed to somehow pay it off by paying just £85 per month which, assuming no reduction in consumption, will not even cover the ongoing consumption.
:huh:
I can fully understand why the supplier has decided a PPM is best suited in this situation.
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At over £100/month, I think some serious cutting back is in order. Is this an all-electric household?
Maybe we can offer some suggestions to help lower her energy usage as a starting point. What details do you have about the house?0 -
All electric house - storage heaters, extremely inefficient boiler - rented accomodation.
Yes, she could have read the meter - hindsight is a wonderful thing.
The estimated bills + what she was paying didn't give her cause for concern - she thought she had it well covered.
The bizzare thing to come out of it, is that they are charging £1 a day to recover the outstanding bill - £30 PM, when she offered to pay £50 on top of whatever the monthy usage was. Ho-hum.
Anyway, the original question was 'is there/will there be legislation regarding the length of time Estimated bills can be sent out, before they are legally bound to read the meters?'
I seem to recall something along those lines about a year ago, but it didn't affect me, so I took no notice...0 -
All electric house - storage heaters, extremely inefficient boiler - rented accomodation.
Yes, she could have read the meter - hindsight is a wonderful thing.
The estimated bills + what she was paying didn't give her cause for concern - she thought she had it well covered.
The bizzare thing to come out of it, is that they are charging £1 a day to recover the outstanding bill - £30 PM, when she offered to pay £50 on top of whatever the monthy usage was. Ho-hum.
Anyway, the original question was 'is there/will there be legislation regarding the length of time Estimated bills can be sent out, before they are legally bound to read the meters?'
I seem to recall something along those lines about a year ago, but it didn't affect me, so I took no notice...
There is no legislation regarding the length of time bills can be estimated, a bill will always simply reflect the latest reading. If it's actual, then that will be the reading. If there is no reading, it will be estimated.
There is legislation on how often meters need to be read. At present, the supplier has to read it once ever 2 years. Everything inbetween is down to the consumer.0 -
But has she remained as is there would have been the risk of running up the bill further if the usage didn't remain consistent, whereas with the PPM and the recover amount they've set they know that it will happen and by taking £20 less per month, but safe in the knowledge that it cant spiral higher its safer for the supplier..The bizzare thing to come out of it, is that they are charging £1 a day to recover the outstanding bill - £30 PM, when she offered to pay £50 on top of whatever the monthy usage was. Ho-hum.0
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Bluebirdman, thank you - thats what I was looking for.
Stu, she offered to clear the usage monthly + £500 -
Take care of draughts, cover up windows with thick curtains and/or blinds. Heat the main rooms, but bedrooms you can use an electric blanket which is far more efficient. Make sure hot water tank has a jacket which is fitted well, and try to reduce hot water usage.All electric house - storage heaters, extremely inefficient boiler - rented accomodation.
What she was paying was calculated using the estimate, so there would never be cause for concern if you're only looking at the estimated bills. Always check against the meter. In most cases it tells you to check the estimate against your meter to make sure it is accurate!The estimated bills + what she was paying didn't give her cause for concern - she thought she had it well covered.
PPM is guaranteed money.The bizzare thing to come out of it, is that they are charging £1 a day to recover the outstanding bill - £30 PM, when she offered to pay £50 on top of whatever the monthy usage was. Ho-hum.
I doubt you will find anything that will help with this situation. AFAICT, the energy company is not at fault.Anyway, the original question was 'is there/will there be legislation regarding the length of time Estimated bills can be sent out, before they are legally bound to read the meters?'
I seem to recall something along those lines about a year ago, but it didn't affect me, so I took no notice...0 -
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