In credit with Scottish Power, but direct debit more than doubled

normalpeopleworryme

I'm a bit confused. I switched to Scottish Power from NPower in March, on a Online Fixed Price Energy, paying £32 per month. Just given my first quarter meter readings and I'm using £18 per month. However, they have decided to up my payments to £86 per month.

I know we're in summer, and my usage varies seasonally but this seems ridicilous, especially given I'd paid £42 per month in the period from September to January on nPowers SVR...

Any thoughts

Scottish_Power

normalpeopleworryme wrote: »

I'm a bit confused. I switched to Scottish Power from NPower in March, on a Online Fixed Price Energy, paying £32 per month. Just given my first quarter meter readings and I'm using £18 per month. However, they have decided to up my payments to £86 per month.

I know we're in summer, and my usage varies seasonally but this seems ridicilous, especially given I'd paid £42 per month in the period from September to January on nPowers SVR...

Any thoughts

Hi normalpeopleworryme,

I'm sorry that you are having problems with your direct debit amount.

Could you possibly please send an email to me at [EMAIL="social@scottishpower.com"]social@scottishpower.com[/EMAIL] including your full name, address and account number so I can get this investigated for you?

Kind regards
Faye

Happygirl86

Hi normalpeopleworryme,

I logged onto my account yesterday and this too has happened to me. I rang up Scottish Power and they said "Based on your reading we are going to put your direct debit upto £108 from £54". My husband has just bought a fish tank and I have been off this month on summer holidays and our electricity bill was higher but why double the price? Did they give you any reasons apart from 'We expect you to use more over Winter so upped your direct debit by double the price'. Surely a fish tank can not double electricity alone, even if we have used more. Have they upped their energy prices even though we are on a fixed rate? Would love to know what they replied to you.

Many thanks,
Happygirl86

footyguy

Happygirl86 wrote: »

Hi normalpeopleworryme,

I logged onto my account yesterday and this too has happened to me. I rang up Scottish Power and they said "Based on your reading we are going to put your direct debit upto £108 from £54". My husband has just bought a fish tank and I have been off this month on summer holidays and our electricity bill was higher but why double the price? Did they give you any reasons apart from 'We expect you to use more over Winter so upped your direct debit by double the price'. Surely a fish tank can not double electricity alone, even if we have used more. Have they upped their energy prices even though we are on a fixed rate? Would love to know what they replied to you.

Many thanks,
Happygirl86

Follow the advice given here:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/lower-energy-direct-debits

or follow the advice given 6-7 weeks ago in post#2,

Good luck!

matelodave

Instead of being reactive, be pro active.

Read your meter yourself at least monthly and send the readings into your supplier. Check how much you are using and make sure that your on-line account reflects the readings and make sure that your DD will be covering your consumption over the term of your fix.

If it does, then get onto your supplier and get them to reset your DD to a more realistic figure.

I use 70% of my energy in the 5 winter months and the other 30% in the seven summer months, but overall it averages out. Unfortuanely the computer programs that some suppliers have just look at the last quarter's consumption and flip the DD up & down, seemingly at random (Scottish Power used to try that with me).

If you monitor your own use and make sure that you are on track then you tell the supplier what your DD should be.

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

I have no problem with SP. They fixed me up good and proper last October until December 2018. Nor have they over the years bobbed my DD. I provide readings every quarter and consistently is 3,300kWh Electricity and 12,000 to 12,800 kWh gas.


Any chance of another decent fix soon SP?

scaredofdebt

normalpeopleworryme wrote: »

I'm a bit confused. I switched to Scottish Power from NPower in March, on a Online Fixed Price Energy, paying £32 per month. Just given my first quarter meter readings and I'm using £18 per month. However, they have decided to up my payments to £86 per month.

I know we're in summer, and my usage varies seasonally but this seems ridicilous, especially given I'd paid £42 per month in the period from September to January on nPowers SVR...

Any thoughts

The fact you'd paid £42 a month from Sept-Jan is kind of irrelevant, what was your actual usage?

You may well have built up a large credit over the summer last year but you need to work on actual usage figures.

It's hard for the company to know your usage as you are new to them and they don't share this information, we use more electric in summer as we have the immersion on!

However, is SPOW use SAP that could also be the issue.

:rotfl:

badmemory

Happygirl86 wrote: »

My husband has just bought a fish tank and I have been off this month on summer holidays and our electricity bill was higher but why double the price?
Happygirl86

If you are talking tropical or marine fish with a reasonable size tank, then yes the first month could have been horrendous, especially if you let the tank heater do most of the heating and then you have the aerator going 247. Whilst I believe that heating methods have improved it is still an expensive hobby.