Fell into a trap with Scottishpower, my fault for not paying enough attention, paid way too much etc

CyberStein

Hi there.

I don't think I have a leg to stand on here as it's my fault, but I recently was made aware of being in a very unfavourable situation with how much I was paying for my electricity with Scottishpower.

I moved in my property back in 2015, and I believe I was paying about £29 a month for my electricity then. This changed to £51 a month from Feb 2017 and increased again to £87 per month in Jan 2018. I believe the final 'plan' I was on was called 'Online Fixed Price Energy December 2019' or something similar. I remained on this tariff until very recently when I switched to a much better deal. You don't need to calculate figures to work out that I have been completely fleeced, and yes I know it is mostly my fault for not keeping an eye on my bank expenditure.

This is my first time renting after moving out from home and I didn't keep enough of an eye on my spending. When I moved in, I simply continued with them as the previous tentant was with them and I didn't have access to any online account and I don't believe I ever received any postal and certainly not any electronic communication from Scottishpower throughout this entire time period until I signed up for an account a few months back after realising just how much I was paying. When the change from £51 to £87 a month occurred, it happened at a time where I was in no state to pay attention to something that I thought was 'sorted' and not an issue, due to a very close family members' cancer battle coming to an abrupt end. This along with my mental state over the past few years fuelled by not just the family member's declining health but my continual battle against (then) crippling anxiety and depression played into my less-than-adequate monitoring of my expenses. The only time I could see my rate had changed was by looking at my direct debit payments. There was no communication from the company.

My financial situation is fairly solid (I've also conquered my depression and anxiety) and I'm working my first job now, I have no debts and am saving up money for the first time of my adult life (hoping to buy my own place eventually soon.)

As I said earlier, I'm pretty sure I can't do anything about all this extra spending for my energy which has fleeced me, but I thought I'd ask to see if there's anything I can persue to claim back anything from Scottishpower.

Cheers and hope everyone is safe and well at this time.

missile

You have not been "fleeced". 

All energy providers set the Direct Debit amount on what the expected consumption to be. In my experience they over estimate. Check you bill on line to confirm how much energy you have actually used. You may find your account has a credit balance.

You may find you are on the standard tariff and there are cheaper options available to you.

CyberStein

missile said:

You have not been "fleeced". 

All energy providers set the Direct Debit amount on what the expected consumption to be. In my experience they over estimate. Check you bill on line to confirm how much energy you have actually used. You may find your account has a credit balance.

You may find you are on the standard tariff and there are cheaper options available to you.

Hiya. The only time I've been credited by Scottishpower is when I left them. They credited my account £34.23. I've never received anything else from them, and checking my online account with them, it still says I owe them £46.27? I'm really confused with how this all works. I've paid £87 consistently to them over the last couple years and then my last payment in march was £83, now they paid me back £34.23, but that's where it ends.

Plus, I forgot to mention, when looking at my account details when I signed up for their online service (just before I switched to my new provider), the address shown on all my previous online bills was to a person with a similar name to mine in Weymouth (I'm in Lincolnshire!), however the supply address was still my actual address? I don't know if this plays a role here.

Also, I don't know if it's worth noting, but my direct debit for the energy was more than a third higher than my parents pay for electricity and gas combined per month, even when I was living back at home.

Talldave

Forget direct debit amounts, that's just a payment in advance against the next bill you haven't had yet. It may be too little,  it may be too much. 

Look at how much energy you actually use and the standing charges and unit rates on your bill. The only sensible comparison with your parents is unit rates - what are theirs and what are yours?

I'd put the past behind you, work out your consumption (weekly meter readings), pop the figures into a comparison site (check separate suppliers as well as dual fuel), switch to cheaper suppliers and enjoy being a savvy energy buyer!

As well as finding cheap suppliers, the comparison site sorts out the potential confusion of what standing charge / unit rate combination is best for your consumption. 
Electricity meter readings are in units of kWh. Gas meters read in volume so to get a rough kWh figure multiply the  number of units used by 11 if your meter is metric or by 31 if your meter is imperial. 

missile

You really need to keep a closer eye on your expenditure. It would be a nightmare to troll through your monthly statements back to 2015 and identify if there have been any errors.
" the address shown on all my previous online bills was to a person with a similar name to mine in Weymouth"
I really don't understand. Is the address on the statement in Weymouth? Is the meter number(s) yours? Do the meter readings correspond to that on your meter. Why did you not check this? 
If you nave now switched hopefully you are on the best tariff?
You may want to consider https://lookaftermybills.com/