Scottish Power complaints

Raquel82

Hi all, my in laws both in their 70’s received a demand from Scottish power for over £3000 for unpaied electricity from 2015, as you can imagine this was very distressing.
They are duel customers and had a new electricity meter installed in 2016. They pay monthly via direct debit and assumed everything was fine.
When my father in law rang to query this bill he was told that SP had sent several emails and had also spoken to them over the phone, non of which my in laws can remember (and they are pretty good at remembering stuff) there person on the phone was then very rude and wanted the full payment there and then. My father in law managed to arrange for a call back today at 4pm so I can talk to them.
I am right in thinking that under The bill back rule they can only ask for a back payment for a maximum of 12 months?
Has anybody got any further advice?
I was also thinking if asking then for the call recordings and copies of the supposed emails that have been sent.

Many thanks

R

System

Hi - welcome to the forum. In my experience, Scottish Power is not the easiest supplier to deal with. I confess that I am struggling to understand how anybody paying by Direct Debit can find themselves with a £3000 debt? Up until April 2016, suppliers were required to take an actual meter reading once every two years so it is possible that your parents were underpaying. However, that doesn't explain a 3 year delay in a demand for payment. As far as the BackBilling Regulations are concerned:,

'Your supplier can’t ask to be paid for unbilled energy used more than 12 months ago, if you haven’t been accurately charged for this usage before. Suppliers must make these protections clear in their terms and conditions.'

That said, before you go down this route, you need to be sure that your parents are not admitting liability for what might not be their debt. It follows that the first thing that Scottish Power needs to provide is clear evidence that there is a debt. It is also worth noting that if BackBilling rules are applied, it is not a complete write-off. Any DD payments made during the billing period will be used to offset the write off.

Personally, I would not be dealing with this over the telephone as you will end up getting confusing/conflicting responses. I suggest that you make it clear when you speak to them that you want this matter reviewed as a complaint. Insist on a complaints number and do not be fobbed off. Put your complaint to Scottish Power in writing. This will provide an evidence trail which you can use to refer the matter to The Energy Ombudsman. Best of luck.

dogshome

As from the history of posts on this site, SP have form in screwing up the billing when something on the account changes - such as a replacement meter.


The change crew will have left a card showing the reading on the Old meter as it was removed and the reading on the *new meter, and the date.
* Replacement meters are not always 'Brand New', they can be re-furbished second hand ones which still show the reading from when they were last in service
The card would have been left either tucked behind the meter or in the meter cupboard.


A " Demand" isn't worth the paper it's written on, even less so an Email, unless that it is a chaser for previously issued bills that show the exact detail of consumption figures, useage dates & pricing

You really need to examine all the bills, SP have a history of taking D/Debit payments for both Gas & Elec, but then leaving the charges for one or the other off the bills. -

The Back-billing rule comes into play when a supplier fails to bill for 12 months, in which case they can only bill for the 12 months prior to the date they did manage to send a Bill

Anthorn

dogshome wrote: »

As from the history of posts on this site, SP have form in screwing up the billing when something on the account changes - such as a replacement meter.


The change crew will have left a card showing the reading on the Old meter as it was removed and the reading on the *new meter, and the date.
* Replacement meters are not always 'Brand New', they can be re-furbished second hand ones which still show the reading from when they were last in service
The card would have been left either tucked behind the meter or in the meter cupboard.


A " Demand" isn't worth the paper it's written on, even less so an Email, unless that it is a chaser for previously issued bills that show the exact detail of consumption figures, useage dates & pricing

You really need to examine all the bills, SP have a history of taking D/Debit payments for both Gas & Elec, but then leaving the charges for one or the other off the bills. -

The Back-billing rule comes into play when a supplier fails to bill for 12 months, in which case they can only bill for the 12 months prior to the date they did manage to send a Bill

I don't think I agree with anything in your post: A "demand (for payment) is usually one of the final stages before enforcement and an email is a legal document, especially so if receipt of the email is admitted. The Ofgem back-billing rule states that energy companies cannot bill for energy used more than 12 months ago not from the date they issued a bill:
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2018/05/energy-back-billing-ban-is-in-force-from-today/