Scottish power advice

yozer

Hi everyone. I have been a dual fuel customer with scottish power for a few years without any issues. Always payed by direct debit on time and entered meter readings when requested.
Last week I called them to ask about a new fixed price deal. Long story short, the lady on the phone said there was a problem with my account and that she would phone me back.
After waiting for an hour she called back and said that my account had gone from £700 credit to £700 debit as we had not been charged for electricity since february and we had been massively undercharged for gas as i had not entered any meter readings.
I was told that our direct debits had to be increased from £69 to £119 to cover this extra cash. there are only two of us in the house and i fail to see how we could have spent £1400 on gas and electricity in 10 months.
We have a baby on the way and this extra cash per month will put a real strain on our finances. I have logged a complaint with scottish power and cancelled my direct debits until i can find out what is going on.

Has anyone else had similar problems that can offer some advice as I am being told i must pay by scottish power or the heavies will be sent round!

Many thanks,

Chris & Sarah.

System

Pity you didn't ask for advice before you cancelled your DD. Most ts and cs contain a clause that in the event that a customer cancels the DD mandate the energy supplier will switch the energy supply to its standard/variable tariff rate. I would reinstate the DD as soon as you can.

Surely, the sensible thing to do is to dig out the last bill you have had from SP (based on actual rather than estimated meter readings), read your meters and calculate what you actually owe. It may well be that 10 months ago you had a negative credit balance on your account. Remember DDs are only an estimate: we all have to pay for the energy that we use based on the tariff rates that we have agreed with our supplier.

There is, of course, the possibility that your supplier has got its sums wrong. You will only know whether SP is in the wrong if you calculate the sum owed.

energyworker

It sounds like you hadn't logged meter readings for a while so the power company based your bills on estimates, now you've submitted readings it seems these were underestimated. I agree that from what you've described it sounds like this sudden difference between balances is rather high, particularly if you are on a fixed direct debit.

I'd advise you to find the last bill based off readings you submitted and calculate the usage charges since then up to readings you take today. Don't forget to include the standing charge in this. Check this against the balance on that bill along with any payments made between now and then.

In the meantime I would call them and reinstate a direct debit, even if for a lower amount. Cancelling entirely will mean either you will fall behind on payments now or, if the companies calculations are correct, fall even further behind.

good_advice

Money is easily spent when not watching the bills and reading the meters often.
Complaining will not help, you did not read your meters to keep up to date. A lesson learnt.

My advice = be more careful on switching off and unplugging.

yozer

Thanks for the advice guys. Just to point out, i have always entered my meter readings on time but scottish power are saying they have no record. I cant access my bills either as my online account is locked out as it is in dispute. I will reinstate my direct debits tomorrow and see what they say.

Many thanks again.

System

good_advice wrote: »

Money is easily spent when not watching the bills and reading the meters often.
Complaining will not help, you did not read your meters to keep up to date. A lesson learnt.

My advice = be more careful on switching off and unplugging.

A bit harsh. The OPs have had a shock and are seeking help. Criticising them about their energy management practices when they are feeling down is, imho, unhelpful. Clearly, they need to know the scale of the problem. If they are sure that they provided SP with regular meter readings (the OPs' post is a bit contradictory on this point), and SP hasn't updated their bills, then they may have a legitimate complaint and good cause to ask for more time to pay off any arrears.

energyworker

yozer wrote: »

Thanks for the advice guys. Just to point out, i have always entered my meter readings on time but scottish power are saying they have no record. I cant access my bills either as my online account is locked out as it is in dispute. I will reinstate my direct debits tomorrow and see what they say.

Many thanks again.

I would ask British Gas to send you any copies of your bills as this idea of them locking you out from viewing them seems fishy if I'm honest.

imho

energyworker wrote: »

I would ask British Gas to send you any copies of your bills as this idea of them locking you out from viewing them seems fishy if I'm honest.

But OP is with Scottish Power. There are email addresses of the senior staff of SP on here somewhere search for them and email one of them for help after u have reinstated the DD

oramgepekoe

yozer wrote: »

Thanks for the advice guys. Just to point out, i have always entered my meter readings on time but scottish power are saying they have no record. I cant access my bills either as my online account is locked out as it is in dispute. I will reinstate my direct debits tomorrow and see what they say.

Many thanks again.

When I provide online readings to Scottish Power they send an email confirming the readings. Have you got these emails?

Marmaduke123

oramgepekoe wrote: »

When I provide online readings to Scottish Power they send an email confirming the readings. Have you got these emails?

Its a good idea to keep your own record of the readings you submit as well, just in case of problems.

polymaff

yozer wrote: »

Hi everyone. I have been a dual fuel customer with scottish power for a few years without any issues. Always payed by direct debit on time and entered meter readings when requested.
Last week I called them to ask about a new fixed price deal. Long story short, the lady on the phone said there was a problem with my account and that she would phone me back.
After waiting for an hour she called back and said that my account had gone from £700 credit to £700 debit as we had not been charged for electricity since february and we had been massively undercharged for gas as i had not entered any meter readings.
I was told that our direct debits had to be increased from £69 to £119 to cover this extra cash. there are only two of us in the house and i fail to see how we could have spent £1400 on gas and electricity in 10 months.
We have a baby on the way and this extra cash per month will put a real strain on our finances. I have logged a complaint with scottish power and cancelled my direct debits until i can find out what is going on.

Has anyone else had similar problems that can offer some advice as I am being told i must pay by scottish power or the heavies will be sent round!

Many thanks,

Chris & Sarah.

Your mention of February rang alarm bells here. That was when SP's new data processing system went hay-wire - and in my case started charging me twice for both gas and electricity. It took until August to get them to admit their error - and the proof of the errors was the accounts they submitted online. Download and examine the bills for each accounting period and make sure that the start and end meter readings tally with those on the previous and following accounting period. I also hammered them on their not using my regularly submitted readings. Again, download these from the activity log and see if you've been overcharged by their incompetence.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/65660391#Comment_65660391