Elderly Parents getting Ripped Off

JGB1955

Your parents were on an Online Fix and Save August 2019 tariff, so I suspect they were customers from August 2018 and that the arrears of £500 had accrued in the year leading up to Aug 2019.

bsms1147

As I suspected and as you've found, they started with a debt, so there isn't a large credit balance to reclaim. Payments have gone towards their usage, their starting(?) debt, and the debt from the large electricity use from Jan 2020.

Looks like they were on a tariff 'Online Fix and Save August 2019' which ended 22 August 2019, so they were fixed with SP for some time and built up a debt over that fix period (hence the opening debit of £-475.08 on the first bill you've posted. The tariff was available  from 7 August 2018 so they were on it for a year. Depending on how long they've been with SP they may have been rolling over a debt on the account for a while.

(The highlighted cell in the above is an estimated reading for that one month; an actual reading supplied next month showed ~800 units over two months, so a later estimate was generated of approx 400 units for that month, which remains consistent with every over month aside from January 2020.)

Gerry1

There is no need to leave any lights on all night, that's just a waste.

What is the total wattage of the bulbs that are left on?

If there were half a dozen 12W CFLs left on for eight hours per night that's 210kWh per year.  If they are 60W incandescents, that's an extra 1051kWh wasted, about a third of the average domestic electricity bill.

xlnc99

Hi Guys-
Yes that explains that credit for being £473 as opposed to over 1k. I have spoken to my parents and they have told me they were with Scottish Power for the last 2 or 3 years. Is this normal then - them starting in arrears? Should i look into the arrears to see if its been calculated correctly?

However i am still concerned about Jan/Feb bill for electricity was £600. How do i sort this out? Once i figured this out i can move on to gas and finally switch supplier! 

Complete nightmare this is, my own fault for leaving this to late. Should have got involved many years ago

xlnc99

Gerry1 said:

There is no need to leave any lights on all night, that's just a waste.

What is the total wattage of the bulbs that are left on?

If there were half a dozen 12W CFLs left on for eight hours per night that's 210kWh per year.  If they are 60W incandescents, that's an extra 1051kWh wasted, about a third of the average domestic electricity bill.

Its due to their age and to be honest i would prefer them, safety etc. They are very old and the area is not to safe. I dont mind the extra payment for a few lights on at night. Although - i will try get some energy saving bulbs. I will find out the wattage of the bulbs. However as most have pointed out - the electric bill seems to be consistent and ok throughout the year? Is this correct? Most on here say its normal apart from a couple of high months which have not yet been explained

GunJack

the negative £500-odd will be from their running total from bills prior to June 2019 - maybe they hadn't really been keeping on top of things and built up a big debit amount?

bsms1147

Who has been supplying the monthly readings by the way?

Gerry1

xlnc99 said:

Once i figured this out i can move on to gas and finally switch supplier!

As repeatedly mentioned, it would take about all of 10 minutes to switch gas right now, the fixed tariff for which which is about to end so you'll have to do it soon anyway.

The gas usage is almost certainly correct: I use more in a detached 2.5. bedroom house occupied during the day.

The RHE/Ebico gas-only deal is likely to save hundreds of pounds, if it's still available.

By doing nothing you're just making a rod for your parents' back.  You'll have 14 days to cancel, so there's nothing to lose.

xlnc99

GunJack said:

the negative £500-odd will be from their running total from bills prior to June 2019 - maybe they hadn't really been keeping on top of things and built up a big debit amount?

Yes it does build in with the figures that i have calculated today which is fine. But my issue is where this £500 deficit
 came from. IF i know my mum she never goes behind on any bill so its strange for it to be £-500. Scottish power will not allow me to access any of the old bills so i cant see anything. Is this worth investigating more or leaving it as its probably correct? £500 is a big sum of money

bsms1147 said:

Who has been supplying the monthly readings by the way?

my mum

xlnc99

Gerry1 said:

xlnc99 said:

Once i figured this out i can move on to gas and finally switch supplier!

As repeatedly mentioned, it would take about all of 10 minutes to switch gas right now, the fixed tariff for which which is about to end so you'll have to do it soon anyway.

The gas usage is almost certainly correct: I use more in a detached 2.5. bedroom house occupied during the day.

The RHE/Ebico gas-only deal is likely to save hundreds of pounds, if it's still available.

By doing nothing you're just making a rod for your parents' back.  You'll have 14 days to cancel, so there's nothing to lose.

i want to switch and ile do it right now but how do i now if im getting a good deal? (not saying i do not trust your judgement at all) but is it not better that i know what exactly i am doing or looking for when making a big decision like this? I am sure you are correct and your advice is 99% perfect but i still dont know what i am doing to be honest. And its good for me to learn so i dont have to rely on other people who may not always be there to help me

I mean, car insurance, banks, cars, sports etc - ask me anything i can answer. Energy - i have no idea. So when switching how do i know the cheapest supplier? What  do i look out for? Some guidance on these issues would be nice so i can make an informed decision