Scottish Power...... non stop DD increases

majorstare

Will keep this as short and to the point as possible.

Switched to SP three years ago, did my meter readings though the app every quarter. Noticed payments were increasing so rang SP who said they were unable to make contact to say I was in debt. Turns out they had the wrong e-mail address for me and were unable to make contact. Set up paying more to clear the debt.

In June this year I rang regarding SP wanting to fit a smart meter. They said my debt was clear and payments would now be £89/month for gas and electric.
Smart Meter installed.

Payments have crept up since to £129 then £170 and finally £207.
Rang SP on Friday to ask how this is possible, gas isn't the issue (I hardly use any), its the electric.
We are VERY frugal with energy use.
All lighting through out the house is LED, outside lights (led) are disconnected, washing machine/dishwasher/clothes washing/tumble dryer is used after 1am on a timer. In the evenings (as I write this) the kids are watching TV with a 3watt led side lamp, we watch TV with a 7w side light and that's it. Nothing else is on apart from fridge and freezer and small fish tank (80-90W max during 8hrs a day). We even turn the light off in the oven when cooking!
Kids are at school/college in the day. Wife is home but occasionally just uses her apple computer and/or a side light for work.

SP said the readings seem fine and DD's vary per month.

So £207 on Fridays phone call...…… Sunday i get an e-mail to say my new payments will be £247/month!

How? We have done nothing differently in the last month?
This seems totally excessive and is causing me monthly hardship After our mortgage, this is the largest monthly bill (by some margin).

I have started doing daily meter readings but this is only as accurate as the meter, if this is reading wrong, then it means nothing.

SP just don't seem interested.

Need your help/advise.

D_M_E

1. Have you checked that the meter serial numbers on the bills match the ones on your actual meters?

2. Are the bills based on actual readings given by you or a meter reader, or do they have an E for estimate after the readings?

3. Do the readings include the figures after the decimal point - if so these figures should be ignored.

4. Have you turned everything off, including fridge/freezer, boiler - power down the boiler according to instructions to avoid damage to circiutry, then taken a reading with everything off - leave everything off for an hour, 2 hours would be better, then read meter again and see if reading has changed, it should not have advanced but if it has then there could be a faulty meter in place.

Don't forget to turn everything back on after the check.

Lorian

how do you heat the house, and your water?

majorstare

Thanks D_M_E, I'll do some checks and do that this weekend (by turning the mains board off).

Lorain, heating and hot water is by a combi boiler. Our bathroom shower is also fed from this.
Occasional log fire in the lounge at weekends and more as the weather is getting cooler (heating is off when this is lit).

PennineAcute

You have said you have started to take daily readings. What are they and what do they indicate your daily usage is?

Also what tariff are you on with SP?

WhoIsThat

majorstare wrote: »

Will keep this as short and to the point as possible.

Switched to SP three years ago, did my meter readings though the app every quarter. Noticed payments were increasing so rang SP who said they were unable to make contact to say I was in debt. Turns out they had the wrong e-mail address for me and were unable to make contact. Set up paying more to clear the debt.

In June this year I rang regarding SP wanting to fit a smart meter. They said my debt was clear and payments would now be £89/month for gas and electric.
Smart Meter installed.

Payments have crept up since to £129 then £170 and finally £207.
Rang SP on Friday to ask how this is possible, gas isn't the issue (I hardly use any), its the electric.
We are VERY frugal with energy use.
All lighting through out the house is LED, outside lights (led) are disconnected, washing machine/dishwasher/clothes washing/tumble dryer is used after 1am on a timer. In the evenings (as I write this) the kids are watching TV with a 3watt led side lamp, we watch TV with a 7w side light and that's it. Nothing else is on apart from fridge and freezer and small fish tank (80-90W max during 8hrs a day). We even turn the light off in the oven when cooking!
Kids are at school/college in the day. Wife is home but occasionally just uses her apple computer and/or a side light for work.

SP said the readings seem fine and DD's vary per month.

So £207 on Fridays phone call...…… Sunday i get an e-mail to say my new payments will be £247/month!

How? We have done nothing differently in the last month?
This seems totally excessive and is causing me monthly hardship After our mortgage, this is the largest monthly bill (by some margin).

I have started doing daily meter readings but this is only as accurate as the meter, if this is reading wrong, then it means nothing.

SP just don't seem interested.

Need your help/advise.

Unless you have agreed to pay monthly on receipt of bill, where the payment would vary depending on what you used (if that is even possible with SP), then the supplier should have given you a set amount to pay per month.

It maybe revised on review, but that shouldn't be occurriung every month.

Here is a MSE article I see is often posted on this very board that should assist you.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/lower-energy-direct-debits/