Scottish power blocking my switch to British Gas

DianeBurrell

Hi, I have been meaning to switch from Scottish power for a long time. I finally bit the bullet and used your site to find a better deal (A mush better deal). I paid of my bill of £766.83 (I get ridiculus bills) and did the switch.

My problem is that SP keep blocking my switch. I paid the bill on 16th June 2020 and switched. SP did not call the money from my bank despite many phone calls/emails. I emailed evidence of payment but still nothing. When the payment returned to my account unclaimed, I called and made payment again (recorded conversation and screen shot showing payment pending on my account on 26th June and again I have received an email stopping switch through debt on my account. This time my payment is showing on SP website and my balance is zero and payment is still showing on my bank account as pending. What can I do? They are not taking my money and cancelling my switch. This is making me look like a bad debtor to British Gas and I'm not. My bill was paid before I switched and I have evidence but I'm being ignored. Please advice me what to do. Thank you.

Robin9

Have you asked yourself why you get ridiculous bills ?   What is your actual annual consumption ? What is your heating ?

matelodave

Make a complaint in writing - stop keep phoning. Mark it complaint and send it via recorded delivery demanding that they sort it out or send you a deadlock letter

Neil_Jones

You may have to wait for the payment to clear before Scottish Power will let you go.  If you only paid on the 26th then that was only on Friday and it can take up to three working days to clear.  So I'd say by Thursday if it hasn't come back and the website is showing a zero balance, you should be good to go.  Remember you will still owe them money for what you use between now and when your switch goes through.

Please look into why you get "ridiculous bills" - almost certainly because of a lack of regular meter readings.  Moving provider won't end these if all the billing is done on estimated readings.

Cardew

Neil_Jones said:

You may have to wait for the payment to clear before Scottish Power will let you go.  If you only paid on the 26th then that was only on Friday and it can take up to three working days to clear.  So I'd say by Thursday if it hasn't come back and the website is showing a zero balance, you should be good to go. 

Agreed, Indeed 'as you 'called' on 26th June, did you make payment by Debit Card? If so it can apparently take nine(9) banking days to clear.

m-holland

Good luck, Scottish Power objected to my switch away from them several times because I had an outstanding balance of £0.00
Ended up having to phone them several times until I got someone who actually knew what he was doing and sorted it

DianeBurrell

I use a lot of power as have various medical equipment on 24/7 and have duvets and quilts to wash and dry daily. A lot of electricity and gas is on all the time for a constant temperature for the medical equipment.

I paid my bill (1st time) on 16th of June but they didn't take it out and said they weren't aware of it. They just didn't take it from my account. It was showing as pending for nearly a week and it just returned to my account as they didn't claim it.

DianeBurrell

matelodave said:

Make a complaint in writing - stop keep phoning. Mark it complaint and send it via recorded delivery demanding that they sort it out or send you a deadlock letter

What is a deadlock letter?

MWT

DianeBurrell said:

matelodave said:

Make a complaint in writing - stop keep phoning. Mark it complaint and send it via recorded delivery demanding that they sort it out or send you a deadlock letter

What is a deadlock letter?

It is an acknowledgement from your supplier that they are not going to do anything more to resolve your complaint and it lets you go straight to the Ombudsman without further delays. 

Gerry1

It would be well worth considering a gas tumble dryer when it's time to replace your existing one.  Capital cost is higher but it's far, far cheaper to run. Just look at the kWh prices, well under 3p for gas but probably 12 - 15p for daytime electricity. Also, you don't have to wait for Economy 7 cheap rate because the electricity usage is minimal.

Cardew

Gerry1 said:

It would be well worth considering a gas tumble dryer when it's time to replace your existing one.  Capital cost is higher but it's far, far cheaper to run. Just look at the kWh prices, well under 3p for gas but probably 12 - 15p for daytime electricity. Also, you don't have to wait for Economy 7 cheap rate because the electricity usage is minimal.

However the cost/inconvenience of running a gas pipe to where the dryer is situated can be a problem in many homes.