Scottish Power Fixed Price Deal

slkinnear

Hi there

I bought a Scottish Power Fixed Tariff Deal through moneysaving expert.com's Cheap Energy Club recommendation for £152 per month, fixed until March 2015.

They have now started taking £250 per month out of my account, and when I contacted them about this, they said they never guaranteed my energy would be £152 per month, even though I am on a fixed Tariff Deal.

How is this possible? My energy consumption hasn't gone up and I informed them of my exact consumption figures when I look the deal out.

If I'm not 'fixing' the price of my energy, then why am I locked into a deal until March 2015 which is now more expensive than the one I already had with British Gas before I switched?

Does anyone have any useful suggestions of what I can do?

Kind regards

Susan

maas

I think it means the unit price of the energy is fixed, not the bills.

Have you had any recent bills with breakdowns of consumption since the price hike?

Nada666

It is the price per kWh and standing charge that is fixed - the starting instalment size will be changed to accommodate your actual usage.

The price of the tariff has not changed.

It is possible they have miscalculated future usage - or you may have used more than expected over a mild winter. What time of year did you switch? That too can affect a new instalment revision.

Look at the prices of your old British Gas tariff and your current tariff - that should confirm the tariff is a reasonable decision.

webnise

Hi Susan,

The fixed term means that the PER UNIT price (or probably Standing Charge) won't go up during the fixed term but they can change the DD amount based on your consumption.

That £152 per month was just an 'estimation' based on the numbers you provided in the quote while switching to SP.

But I am with you that an increase from £152 to £250 is shocking provided you have given them the exact consumption figure. You should give them a call again and ask for reduction in DD.

A similar thing happened to my office colleague and she is now thinking about moving to another provider with cheaper per unit/SC rates.

Nada666

Just thought I'd throw in some numbers to explain why it is a possibly a reasonable increase - it is most likely a consequence of a switch at the end of autumn/mid winter. (If you didn't switch then, yes, there is a foul up).

Say you switch beginning October and your usage is accurately £150 per month over the year. It is perfectly reasonable for a household to consume seventy or eighty percent and more of its gas over the six months of winter.

Say the split is £100 gas £50 electricity. But you use £175 gas over winter and only £25 over summer. That would give you arrears of £450 after the first winter. You can't pay that back over this summer's payments - as they are going to next winter's usage. So you end up with £450 to pay on top.

Remember, when you received the quote and they say we will charge you £18oo a year or £150 per month what would have been your reaction if they has started off saying 'hey, it works out to £150 a month but we will set the starting instalment at £200 per month to cover this winter' you and many others would have told them where to go.

That missing first winter excess has to be paid from somewhere and at some time.

JJ_Egan

As now is the summer months when energy bills drop something is not right .Looks like you built up a winter debit .
What was your previous energy usage .
Did you give correct end meter readings .
Are you currently recording your monthly meter readings .
As said fixed is a fixed price not a fixed payment but its easy enough to work out the bill .
Standing charge multiplied by days + Kwh multiplied by fixed tariff price .

Gratis

A large number, probably the vast majority, of people are now submitting figures to comparison sites that are based on the extraordinarily mild winter of 2013/4.

It was neither typical nor representative of British winters.

Energy providers are bearing in mind that winter 2014/15 could be just as cold as the extremely nasty one of 2012/13 (for example) and want to ensure that their customers build up a large enough buffer to accommodate that.

footyguy

slkinnear wrote: »

Hi there

I bought a Scottish Power Fixed Tariff Deal through moneysaving expert.com's Cheap Energy Club recommendation for £152 per month, fixed until March 2015.

They have now started taking £250 per month out of my account, and when I contacted them about this, they said they never guaranteed my energy would be £152 per month, even though I am on a fixed Tariff Deal.

How is this possible? My energy consumption hasn't gone up and I informed them of my exact consumption figures when I look the deal out.

If I'm not 'fixing' the price of my energy, then why am I locked into a deal until March 2015 which is now more expensive than the one I already had with British Gas before I switched?

Does anyone have any useful suggestions of what I can do?

Kind regards

Susan

It possible because:

1. You did not accurately provide your anticipated annual consumption in kWh when you obtained the comparison and started your contract
2. You have started using a lot more energy than was anticipated
3. No actual meter readings have been obtained and the supplier has wrongly over-estimated your actual consumption.

So which is it?

You are not locked into anything with Scottish Power. You have been provided with a fixed price tariff as requested - the tariff will not change during the agreed term. You may suffer an early exit fee if you decide not to remain on this tariff for the full term.

If your circumstances have changed or you chose the wrong product in the first place, and you feel you can now make considerable savings elsewhere, then switch. Chances are you can obtain cashback for changing supplier that will pay much of any early exit fees anyway.

Nada666

footyguy wrote: »

It possible because:

1. You did not accurately provide your anticipated annual consumption in kWh when you obtained the comparison and started your contract
2. You have started using a lot more energy than was anticipated
3. No actual meter readings have been obtained and the supplier has wrongly over-estimated your actual consumption.

or
4. Estimates and reads have been supplied and guessed correctly and usage is as expected but you switched at the end of summer and the first winter's excess is being repaid over six months.

Pincher

The OP is not alone in wanting a eat as much as you want UNLIMITED tariff. Lets face it, it IS the ultimate in the simplifying of tariffs. Tell Ed Milliband it will work even better than Freezing Prices. Put it in the Labour Manifesto that they will force the utilities into providing an UNLIMITED tariff.


Obviously it will cost £5,000 a year, with Fair Usage Policy in the small print, and no refunds for power outage and brown-outs.


There will be no resistance in implementing the policy, since
the take up will be nil, except a few grandmas who will believe anything that reassures them that "It might cost a little more, but there can be no surprises". Ed Milliband can claim total triumph, without upsetting anybody.


The idiots who actually sign up for it will be placed on a Golden Sucker list, and their phones will ring non-stop from companies that want to sell them vital junk that they cannot do without.

Nada666

(To be fair the OP does assert in her third paragraph that quote and consumption are not changed so this does not appear to be a case of expecting an all-you-can-eat buffet.)