Scottish power no bills unforeseen final payment!

doogey

Hi,
I have been reading a few of the post so I am hoping I am in the right place.
I am soon to move out of my property and want to close my account with Scottish Power. I moved into the property a year ago and phoned in August 2014 to set up payment for my energy supply. I was on a set amount of £25 every month and paid by direct Debit. In March 2015 the direct debit increased to £75 without my knowledge. Since moving into the property I haven't had any correspondence or bills so when the direct debit changed unexpectedly I phoned Scottish power to investigate. They explained an outstanding balance of £284.18 hence the increase. I have called regularly explain I have had no bills through the post and ask for the outstanding balance as well as to give a meter reading. Each time they would say that correspondence was marked as sent on the system. Sometimes they could give me the balance and sometimes they couldn't. On 11th June I had an outstanding balance of £177.08 and when trying to close the account on 23rd June they asked me for £277.46. When I questioned this amount they said they couldn't check as the account had been closed, they couldn't explain the standard rate of charge and pushed for the long card number on my card. I had to call back and get passed around a few times then to speak to someone more in the know (Brian). We were then able to establish that all mail had forwarded to an unknown address in Blackpool and suspiciously meter readings were high and didn't seem correct. I gave my current meter reading and whilst on the phone he said he was going back through to change a few readings that were wrong!?!? I have written a letter to them asking for a justification of charges. All in all i am unhappy paying an unforeseen amount in one go when it could have been organised better beforehand. Any advice on this would be much appreciated. Thanks

Hoof_Hearted

I wouldn't pay without evidence of a bill. In some ways, it doesn't matter now if some of the meter readings were wrong as long as the final reading is correct. This company is notorious for getting things wrong, so insist on copy bills.

vuvuzela

£25/month is way too low to be a realistic figure to cover usage for electricity or elec/gas.

footyguy

Responded to in the other thread the OP asked this question in

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3412687

doogey

Thanks for the help I will write a letter asking for a bill before I pay. I am not sure if this applies but would I have a case to apply for a backclaim?

matelodave

Have you checked your on-line account with SP.

naedanger

doogey wrote: »

Thanks for the help I will write a letter asking for a bill before I pay. I am not sure if this applies but would I have a case to apply for a backclaim?

Not sure what you mean by a "backclaim". If you are referring to the back billing code it does not apply to your case. It only covers energy that has been unbilled for over a year.

doogey

I wasn't made aware that I had an online account with Scottish power but i can check. Thanks it was back-billing I was referring to. I have sent a letter to them indicating that I would like to see my bill before I make a payment with justification of the amount to be paid. I also have sent the current meter reading in writing. I have been keeping track of my meter readings which have been on average 9 units (kw?) per day so hopefully with a bit more information from them it will make things clearer.

keith1950

Hi if you were genuinely using 9 kwh/day your dd should have originally been set at around£50/month. For the year as a whole you would have used around £470 so if you deduct what you have actual paid you will know roughly how much your outstanding bill will be.

If you want an exact figure of your usage enter your years figures in kwh on the like of ukpower using your current tariff.

As has already been stated £25/month was ridiculously low payment.

doogey

Thanks very much for all your help. I used the calculator on ukpower.co.uk which has helped me understand the numbers better. Yes the initial cost was very low and should have been a lot higher. I have also taken into account a standing charge which is around £100. When the bills come through I will call to sort out a payment plan.

Pincher

Unless you are on standard tariff, you are expected to do everything online, to save "them" money. Don't forget to download all the statements, they disappear after a year! Also, once the account is closed, good luck if you need to look them up.