Scottish power

Sheepy1903

Please help folks. I owned a flat for 9 months and did not live in it. It required full refurbishment. Once the work was done I sold the flat. Scottish power are demanding £1500 for energy used. They will not accept that I was not living there and no energy was used. I have been to the ombudsman who ruled in my favour. Scottish power are now not accepting the decision and will peruse me further. What else can I do. Any advice at this stage is much appreciated.

MovingForwards

Did you take meter readings when you took over ownership?

Did the refurb not use any electric whatsoever?

Did you take a final meter reading before handing the keys over?

Were these given to SP?

Does the elec numbers on bill match your numbers?

If so, you owe the money due to the elec used during the refurb regardless of you living there or not.

billy2shots

To do the 'full refurbishment ' did you use electric tools or have the lights on etc? Did you have the boiler working through winter.?

If you had any tradesmen in, do you know for a fact they didn't use any gas or electricity?

Sheepy1903

Yes meter readings submitted and yes the only power used was to charge an electric drill a few times. I already paid them over £120 in direct debits which should more than cover the cost. I done all the refurb myself so no tradesmen were used. No heating was used either. £1500 is what they want. All Scottish Power meter readings are nothing lime what I submitted. How can they reject the ombudsman decision.

dogshome

The £120 paid covers the Daily Standing charge, and not even that if it was over 22pence a day so I suspect you do owe SP something



Did you give SP a meter read when the flat was sold?


Unfortunately the Ombudsman is not an official Govt. Agency, it is a private company that the suppliers pay a fee to, to adjudicate on customer disputes, and has no special powers to control the Energy Industry or insist it's decisions are carried through..


However, the Citizens Advice Bureau is an appointed Govt Agency to deal with customer complaints, so they are your next call

Cardew

Sheepy1903 wrote: »

I have been to the ombudsman who ruled in my favour. Scottish power are now not accepting the decision and will peruse me further. What else can I do. Any advice at this stage is much appreciated.

The energy company MUST accept the Ombudsman's ruling; provided you as the complainant accept the ruling.


https://www.ombudsman-services.org/sectors/energy/resolutions


https://www.ombudsman-services.org/docs/default-source/website-content/energy-remedy-implementation-policy.pdf?sfvrsn=16

Resolutions

It is not our role to punish energy companies when deciding what solution to provide. Our awards will be proportionate and will take into account all of the facts in the complaint.
How might things be put right?

If we decide to make an award, and you accept it, the energy company must take the action that we require. This might include:

• a service or a practical action, for example, remove charges incorrectly billed;
• an apology; or
• a financial award

If a financial award is needed, this will be an amount that we consider appropriate to the individual complaint. We can award up to £10,000 but the most common award is much less, about £50.
So that the same problem is less likely to happen again, we may also recommend the energy company to make changes to its policies and procedures. We also work with the industry as a whole to help them improve and learn from the complaints we handle
Accepting Ombudsman Services decision

We will work with the consumer and the company to reach the best solution to the problem. In many cases we are able to do this quickly by speaking to both parties. If the complaint is very complicated or either party finds it difficult to reach a mutually acceptable settlement, we will write a report which gives our decision.
If the consumer accepts the ombudsman’s decision the company must take the action we require, as per our remedy implementation policy. If the consumer declines the decision or fails to respond to us within the given timeframe, the consumer loses the right to the solution offered but remains free to complain in another way, for example through the courts.

I would be very surprised if SP are not accepting the Ombudsman's decision, as it could lead to a huge financial penalty. Have you accepted their ruling? Could it be that there might be some irregularity in SP's handling of your case but their ruling does not meet your expectations?



So when you say 'the Ombudsman ruled in your favour ',what exact wording was in the Ombudsman's ruling?

FullForce

Sheepy1903 wrote: »

Please help folks. I owned a flat for 9 months and did not live in it. It required full refurbishment. Once the work was done I sold the flat. Scottish power are demanding £1500 for energy used. They will not accept that I was not living there and no energy was used. I have been to the ombudsman who ruled in my favour. Scottish power are now not accepting the decision and will peruse me further. What else can I do. Any advice at this stage is much appreciated.

It doesn't matter whether or not you lived there.

Therefore I am confused as to the ruling you say the ombudsman service found in your favour.

Please post a full , legible image of the deciision the ombudsman came to, including all their reasons etc.

If you have accepted the decision the ombudsman came to, you would hav been informed of what to do should the supplier fail to implement any remedies agreed.

FullForce

Sheepy1903 wrote: »

Yes meter readings submitted and yes the only power used was to charge an electric drill a few times. I already paid them over £120 in direct debits which should more than cover the cost. I done all the refurb myself so no tradesmen were used. No heating was used either. £1500 is what they want. All Scottish Power meter readings are nothing lime what I submitted. How can they reject the ombudsman decision.

I am sure a supplier such as Scottish Power has NOT failed to comply with any final ruling given by the ombudsman service that you have already accepted.

Please post a legible image of any correspondence you have received that supports your allegation.

Sheepy1903

I accepted the ruling but SP are challe going the ruling. No idea why. I was only to be given an apology letter and be rebilled at 2kwh per day for the 9 months I had the flat. I should break even based on the payments I had made. No idea why SP are not accepting the ruling. Probably because they want to peruse me for the £1500 that they think I owe.

Sheepy1903

Dear Mr Tait 

!

Your complaint about Scottish Power

!

Scottish Power has challenged my investigation and provided representations.

We will review this information and issue our decision within the next four weeks.

Thank you for your patience during this time.


Yours sincerely

This was the ombudsman reply after I accepted their ruling

Cardew

Sheepy1903 wrote: »

Dear Mr Tait 

!

Your complaint about Scottish Power

!

Scottish Power has challenged my investigation and provided representations.

We will review this information and issue our decision within the next four weeks.

Thank you for your patience during this time.


Yours sincerely

This was the ombudsman reply after I accepted their ruling

So as yet there is not a final decision by the Ombudsman.


As you might see, from many many posts on MSE, posters have a very low opinion of the service from the Ombudsman. The complaints are handled by a civilian firm who never seem to investigate complicated cases in any depth.


It is perfectly possible that the Ombudsman has missed or ignored points SP have made; hence the appeal.


One such point is the meter readings, about which there is a disagreement according to your earlier post.