Business electricity - Scottish power - HELP!!!

evansabove11

Help please! I have a small hotel (9 rooms) and bar.My electricity provider is Scottish Power. I have been paying £680+/month by direct debit however, last week they announced that they would be putting this up to over £1200/month. I have queried this and provided meter readings. They informed me today that they have now reviewed and said my new monthly payment will now be over£1700/month!!! I hire all my laundry and my heating and water is via gas. I do not have a catering kitchen and breakfast is served continental style. How can this be??? Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you

Gerry1

Have you always been sending monthly meter readings, or have you come seriously unstuck because you've been paying too little based on unrealistic estimates?

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

evansabove11

Thanks Gerry1.  No I haven’t been sending regular readings however I have only been with them for less than 18 months so can’t have consumed that amount of energy given the amount of electrical equipment I have

Gerry1

What annual kWh consumption do you get if you subtract the opening reading from today's reading and multiply by two thirds?  It won't be 100% accurate because it will include most of two winters, but if you do the sums you'll see how much it has cost you.

Now, how much have you paid in the last 18 months?

If you've underpaid, it'll be a double whammy.  The DD will increase to reflect your actual usage.  And then it will increase again to claw back your arrears, perhaps on a relatively short timescale.  When the arrears have been paid off, then the DD should be reset to a realistic level, 1/12 of your annual consumption.  If it isn't, that's likely to be the only point on which you can challenge them, unless the meter is clocking up when everything is disconnected.

evansabove11

Thanks again Gerry1.  I’ll tackle that tomorrow when I get in.  I have just been back over my DD payments and notice they have been reducing my monthly payment slightly on a regular basis for some reason. 

dogshome

Reducing my monthly payments slightly on a regular basis ?

This is often an indicator that the supplier has 'Lost' one half of a Dual Fuel account, usually the Gas, and have not been billing for it.

Check the past bills to see if Gas is included

When this happens In the Domestic market, Back-Billing rules come into play that prevent the supplier from billing anything used before the last 12 months

However this is a business account, but I did read somewhere that 'Micro businesses' which I presume your is, have the same protection rules as domestic supplies - Hopefully another responder will be along to confirm this

evansabove11

Thanks dogshome.  No gas isn’t and never has been included

dogshome

Like myself, most of the responders on this site are used to dealing with domestic energy problems, so it's best you start your own research on "Micro business's" by a visit to Ofgems web site and putting Micro Business into the search panel, also hopefully, another responder with more knowledge than I have, will pick up the post

The Back-billing rule if it applies, lays down that when a supplier fails to bill for a period over 12 months, they can only bill for energy used in the last 12 months, and that 12 months is counted back from the date they did manage to issue a bill - Note it is the date on that first bill that counts, letters demanding D/Debit increases mean nothing

evansabove11

Thanks dogshome. That’s really helpful

tk47

evansabove11 said:

Help please! I have a small hotel (9 rooms) and bar.My electricity provider is Scottish Power. I have been paying £680+/month by direct debit however, last week they announced that they would be putting this up to over £1200/month. I have queried this and provided meter readings. They informed me today that they have now reviewed and said my new monthly payment will now be over£1700/month!!! I hire all my laundry and my heating and water is via gas. I do not have a catering kitchen and breakfast is served continental style. How can this be??? Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you

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

dogshome

Took some doing, but I found the ruling by Ofgem on Back-Billing micro businesses and it's in the attachment

WRITE to Scot Power quoting the letter / dates, and claim back-billing relief - You haven't said how far the billing goes back, but Good Luck

In cases of Back-billing I've seen some 'Creative' accounting by suppliers when it comes measuring how much power can be billed, against that which has to be written off - Check it all carefully