Problem with Scottish Power bill

car_r

I am having big problems with Scottish Power and would really appreciate some advice.

I recently received a request from Scottish Power to supply my meter reading. I have an online account so tried to enter my reading in online. I was unable to enter the reading. After several phone calls and emails it transpires that Scottish Power closed my account in June2013 hence why I was unable to enter new readings. The last bill I have received from them was in September 2013, I was £200 in credit at that point.

I admit I should have been more vigilant and noticed I hadn’t had any request for readings or bills for a while; however, in my defence as the last bill I had received was so much in credit I thought that was the reason why I wasn’t being billed.

I have not been able to obtain a reason for why they closed my account.

Scottish Power have said they will reactivate my account and issue a new bill, which is fine. However, I work out with my current meter reading I have used 6586 kWh since the last bill, which I calculate works out to a bill of approximately £989. I live in a one bedroom flat so that seems disproportionately high. (I don’t have access to the meter - I live in shared apartments and have to ask the caretaker for a reading when I need one. )

I am extremely anxious about the large cost of the next bill I am going to receive and have concerns it may not be accurate. I am keen to resolve this issue as soon as possible but am struggling with the customer service from Scottish Power. The responses to my emails haven’t been helpful . It is very difficult to get through to their call centre - after the last phone call I was told someone would look into it but it could take up to a few weeks for them to call me back.

I don't know whether it is reasonable for Scottish Power to deliver such a huge bill when they have managed my account so badly. I have no idea why they would suddenly close my account and stop billing me. I appreciate I am going to have to pay out a large amount but £989 really does seem excessive and I will struggle to pay that even broken down into whatever installment plan they offer me. As they have made an error here should they accept some responsibility and provide me with a more reasonable bill and payment plan?

Sorry for the long post. I am very concerned about this and would be grateful for any advice.

maas

Was the last bill you received in September 2013 for Actual readings or was it for estimated. Check the usage section of it, just to ensure your £200 credit was for the actual usage up to that point.

It may be that you already had used more electricity at that point and you were being billed off estimates creating a £200 credit.

Is £989 for 1 years electricity really THAT much over what you would expect to pay? Thats around £80 a month

maas

Also, I sympathise with you over SP customer service, I've just left them.

Their email service is abysmal, you wait the best part of a week for a response and they dont really read what you wrote and just copy and paste some generic guidance and point you to their website which is completely unhelpful. Contacting them over the phone you can expect to wait 1 hour to get through to them, and they very rarely solve anything over the phone.

savemoney

I have never had a response from them and its 2 weeks now. I am jumping ship too I will never use SP again

maas wrote: »

Also, I sympathise with you over SP customer service, I've just left them.

Their email service is abysmal, you wait the best part of a week for a response and they dont really read what you wrote and just copy and paste some generic guidance and point you to their website which is completely unhelpful. Contacting them over the phone you can expect to wait 1 hour to get through to them, and they very rarely solve anything over the phone.

rd350lc_2

Yes totally agree , awful shambolic service ,will leave when the time is up

Elliej69

Yes, it seems to me I've had a bit of your problem to. I haven't heard from them since September 2013 although my account seems to show all my monthly direct debits adding up. Like you I hadn't been sending regular meter readings - although a man came and read them about 2 months ago.

I tried contacting them to no avail - left a call back request - still heard nothing. I checked my account today and it looks as if they've prepared a bill as at yesterday. But still not heard anything.

I'm expecting them to come back and say I owe them money - but they can go swivel for it - what happened to them checking your direct debit amounts every 3 months to make sure you're not paying too much or too little????

car_r wrote: »

I am having big problems with Scottish Power and would really appreciate some advice.

I recently received a request from Scottish Power to supply my meter reading. I have an online account so tried to enter my reading in online. I was unable to enter the reading. After several phone calls and emails it transpires that Scottish Power closed my account in June2013 hence why I was unable to enter new readings. The last bill I have received from them was in September 2013, I was £200 in credit at that point.

I admit I should have been more vigilant and noticed I hadn’t had any request for readings or bills for a while; however, in my defence as the last bill I had received was so much in credit I thought that was the reason why I wasn’t being billed.

I have not been able to obtain a reason for why they closed my account.

Scottish Power have said they will reactivate my account and issue a new bill, which is fine. However, I work out with my current meter reading I have used 6586 kWh since the last bill, which I calculate works out to a bill of approximately £989. I live in a one bedroom flat so that seems disproportionately high. (I don’t have access to the meter - I live in shared apartments and have to ask the caretaker for a reading when I need one. )

I am extremely anxious about the large cost of the next bill I am going to receive and have concerns it may not be accurate. I am keen to resolve this issue as soon as possible but am struggling with the customer service from Scottish Power. The responses to my emails haven’t been helpful . It is very difficult to get through to their call centre - after the last phone call I was told someone would look into it but it could take up to a few weeks for them to call me back.

I don't know whether it is reasonable for Scottish Power to deliver such a huge bill when they have managed my account so badly. I have no idea why they would suddenly close my account and stop billing me. I appreciate I am going to have to pay out a large amount but £989 really does seem excessive and I will struggle to pay that even broken down into whatever installment plan they offer me. As they have made an error here should they accept some responsibility and provide me with a more reasonable bill and payment plan?

Sorry for the long post. I am very concerned about this and would be grateful for any advice.

[Deleted User]

Personally I would like to see my own meter, not accept the caretakers read. You have a legal right for access to your own meter, just make sure if and when you get in to double check you are looking at the correct meter, do a "kettle on and off " check if you are not 100% sure. Meters are always getting mixed up in meter cupboards

System

Elliej69 wrote: »

what happened to them checking your direct debit amounts every 3 months to make sure you're not paying too much or too little????

It is too simplistic to place your trust in any energy company when it comes to producing an accurate personal energy projection. The rules have been tightened but even OFGEM states that it is nothing more than an estimate. In my view, consumers have to take on their share of the responsibility for ensuring that they know how much energy has been consumed and how much they will have to pay. I am £200 in credit at the moment but I suspect that if we have a colder than normal Winter then my DDs plus credit balance may not be enough to cover it. I am not sure that the term 'they can go swivel for it' is a legal defence against what is little more than poor customer service.

Remember, the Back Billing Code only applies in certain circumstances. For example, if you were last billed on xxSeptember 2013 and, say, not billed until only yyOctober 2014: then only the period xxSeptember 2013 to yyOctober 2013 would be the subject of investigation and possible write-off. You would still be liable for all the energy consumed in the previous 12 months.

http://www.energy-uk.org.uk/publication/finish/43-code-of-practice-for-accurate-bills/412-the-code-of-practice-for-accurate-bills-back-billing-for-domestic-customers.html

car_r

Thankyou for your replies. I am still waiting to hear back from Scottish Power - they have still not managed to issue me with an accurate bill. I feel that I am having to do a lot of chasing and getting no where.

elaine241

I to sympathise re the shocking way Scottish Power run things! I am on an online account and check regularly, imagine the shock when I had a bill for over £3294 :eek: I had been paying my £95 month and usually went into credit over the summer which was used up over the winter. I had given a meter reading but apparently it had failed as the reading meant the account would be going backwards! A meter reader had supposedly read my meter prior to this, which I dispute as I live on a farm and if I am out no one gets onto the yard let alone near the house with my dogs loose.
Anyway I raised a complaint, then rang 3 more times re the silly bill and after a month finally got a near normal bill.
I thought great jump ship now! but no!! after checking the normal bill I see that I am on a no standing charge tariff but have been charged standing charge, even the nice lady at Scottish power couldnt figure it. NOw I have raised a second complaint which they may, or not, take two weeks to reply to! :mad: No changing during this period but then I will jumping ship asap! The cheap energy club reckon I can save £148 a year although the Scottish power lady was at pains to point out the smaller firms are not regulated and that if something goes wrong I had no regulator to back me. I think I'll take my chances!

System

elaine241 wrote: »

the Scottish power lady was at pains to point out the smaller firms are not regulated and that if something goes wrong I had no regulator to back me.

OFGEM has only just woken up to the fact that consumers exist which is why some of their 'knee jerk' policies have been introduced without any thought being given to the unintended consequences. I am with Ovo - a small company - and if anything goes wrong I can revert to the Energy Ombudsman. As far as I know, no domestic consumer has direct access to OFGEM so I am not sure what the SP lady is talking about?