HELP! Previous owner didn't pay Gas/Electrics! £700 Debt!

AndyAtu

Hi,

The property I've just moved into has pre-paid meters from Scottish Power for both gas and electrics.

I noticed there was a debt when I 1st viewed the house but the EA said they'd be paid before completion.

Then on completion the EA did go and take meter readings etc

I wasn't sure the owner was going to pay the debt but I wasn't too worried as I know it wasn't my debt and the meters would probably be reset when I took over the house.

Long story short, I called Scottish Power and told them the date I was moving in and taking over the property and gave them my details and asked them to send me new Gas/Elecs keys.

Finally, the keys arrived yesterday, I took fresh pics of the meters and the debt, I activated them both as per instructions, topped up by £10 each and inserted the Electricity key in the meter.

SHOCK! HORROR! The £10 went towards the existing debt and I still don't have electricity.

I would just go with it and pay the debt so that I can have electricity if it was just about say maybe £50-£100. But we're talking about over £700. With all the expenses of moving in and the work needed on the house I just don't have that kind of spare money.

I'm just waiting for another 10mins to ring Scottish Power and email EA.

Any ideas on how I should deal with this?!

Nobbie1967

I'd ring Scottish Power to sort it out;)

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

How long between taking ownership and receiving the new top up keys? Accumulated standing charge could easily account for £10.

But that's just a guess, you'd need to call SP to know for sure. It's not your debt so you don't have to pay.

And get them to remove the damned things, it'll cost about £100 but will be worth it in the long run.

lonestar1

Just call the utility company/s previous owners debt is not your responsibility they should be able to sort it

Im fairly sure in england that a % of top-ups must be used for credit so topping up £10 shouldnt result in that £10 solely going on the debt

room512

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays wrote: »

How long between taking ownership and receiving the new top up keys? Accumulated standing charge could easily account for £10.

But that's just a guess, you'd need to call SP to know for sure. It's not your debt so you don't have to pay.

And get them to remove the damned things, it'll cost about £100 but will be worth it in the long run.

We had prepayment meters in our house due to previous tenants and when we moved in they were replaced free of charge with normal meters. The previous tenants had run up huge bills.

AndyAtu

UPDATE:

Called Scottish Power, they said they can send some £50 pre-topped up keys until we go through all the debt. I said that's unacceptable, it takes nearly 3 days to get each set of key/card, and to cover the debt that would be nearly 10 sets of keys, so I'd be without electricity for over a month. That's simply unacceptable.

They finally agreed to give me a code to reset the key at the PayPoint, I've finally done that (Royal Mail staff had no idea how to do it, even after I gave them the instructions, but thankfully, Co-Op staff were brilliant and got it sorted). Now I just need to go back to the house, re-activate the key, top it up again, and hope the money goes towards my own electricity, rather than the debt.

Regarding Gas, they need to send an emergency engineer to reset it so hopefully that should be easier to sort out.

Bluebirdman: It was only about 3 days, but it's the same debt it was when I went to get the keys. Regarding removing the idiotic pre-paid meters, already on it. I've contacted British Gas and they'll sort it out soon. But it will be about a month in total, can't be without electricity/gas for that long.

Lonestar: it all went towards the debt. It took about 30 secs from the moment I put the key in, whilst nothing happended, and then the meter showed £250 debt instead of the £260 it was before that. I tried switching on the lights, no joy.

Hoping for the best tomorrow but I'm really unhappy with how Scottish Power has been handling this so far.

AndyAtu

Room152: Scottish Power are refusing to do this, they're saying I've got to use the pre-paid meters for now, and then have a credit check to see if they can give me the normal meters, alternatively it's a £200 to replace them.

British Gas are much more helpful.

kinger101

AndyAtu wrote: »

Room152: Scottish Power are refusing to do this, they're saying I've got to use the pre-paid meters for now, and then have a credit check to see if they can give me the normal meters, alternatively it's a £200 to replace them.

British Gas are much more helpful.

So once Scottish Power have replaced the meter, you can vote with your feet and find a more helpful supplier.

room512

We switched companies to EDF and then they did it for free We were with EDF at our old house so I don't know if that helped.

Angie_B

When I bought my last place, there were pre-pay meters because of the previous tenants. EDF took over the supply and changed both over to regular meters quickly and without charge.

Perhaps give them a call?

mart6

Give OFGEM a ring give them details.
Would not trust Scottish Power i had a year battle with them , they try to wear people down till they give up and pay.
I had about 8 different readings and amounts they claimed were owed.{Commercial unit}
They changed meters between bills good job i took photo of readings.
Tell them straight if they do not sort it ASP you will be going to OFGEM