Scottish Power Unexpected Christmas Eve Bill

theman84

Hi I wonder if anyone can give me some advice.
After being with Scottish Power for over 2 years I recently received an overdue bill in excess of £1, 600 which is payable in 28 days. I received the bill by email so initially assumed it was spam, as I had previously received a bill for £85 in October 2020, and decided to telephone Scottish Power.

To my shock the representative informed me that the actual reading taken in November 2020 by there representative was correct, the bill was correct and the previous readings, several which had been submitted by a Scottish Power representative visiting my property, had been calculated in error there side and advised me to send photos of the meter readings which I've kept since we moved into the property. 

The telephone representative advised me it would take a week to sort out and would return my call. I mentioned to the lady that I would call back in a week if I hadn't heard anything (as I assumed they were under enough pressure right now to think about little old me).

Thoughout my 2 year period as a customer I have more than once contacted Scottish Power and  have advised them that we have someone in the household who is ill (type 1 diabetes and pancreatic cancer) so and alway want to ensure bills are right for my partner health more than anything. 

In the meantime I've chased every week since November 28th for an update and been told it's still under review. 
Unfortunately today (24th December 2020) I received the first hardcopy letter saying pay up, add nearly £200 per month to your direct debit or face being sent to debt collectors. 
I appreciate in this climate there are more things to worry about but now I'm worried sick more for my partner.

If I had known this from day one then we would have paid what was right but upping the bill that much would put us in financial poverty. 

elsien

Are the readings you sent in correct (given that you do have photos) and in what way are they saying they were miscalculated?
Plus if the mistake is theirs,  they can't back bill further than 12 months.
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/consumers/household-gas-and-electricity-guide/who-contact-if-its-difficult-paying-energy-bills/energy-back-billing-guide-your-rights

Before I paid anything I would be asking them for a written explanation as to how the figure received has been calculated. Ignore the debt collector threat for now - they can send as many letters as they like but they would need to take you to court to enforce anything and there's a backlog going on there at the moment. 
You have the option to agree a repayment plan if the direct debit amount they are suggesting isn't affordable if it turns out you do owe more than you thought. But you do need to check how they've arrived at the figure in question. Don't phone, write to them so that you have a paper trail. 

wolfehouse

If you actually are in arrears and have difficulty paying you might be eligible for a grant from the British Gas energy trust 
https://britishgasenergytrust.org.uk/who-can-apply/
(Any supplier considered)- see their requirements in case you qualify.

theman84

elsien said:

Are the readings you sent in correct (given that you do have photos) and in what way are they saying they were miscalculated?
Plus if the mistake is theirs,  they can't back bill further than 12 months.
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/consumers/household-gas-and-electricity-guide/who-contact-if-its-difficult-paying-energy-bills/energy-back-billing-guide-your-rights

Before I paid anything I would be asking them for a written explanation as to how the figure received has been calculated. Ignore the debt collector threat for now - they can send as many letters as they like but they would need to take you to court to enforce anything and there's a backlog going on there at the moment. 
You have the option to agree a repayment plan if the direct debit amount they are suggesting isn't affordable if it turns out you do owe more than you thought. But you do need to check how they've arrived at the figure in question. Don't phone, write to them so that you have a paper trail. 

Thanks so much for the advice that article was very helpful and reviewing my Scottish Power Account online it seems as though they want monies previously due from January 2019 (that would be nearly 2 years back).

They are also putting it down to the gentleman who previously read our meter on behalf of Scottish Power not correctly inputting the readings. 

When we submitted any readings ourselves (which we did at one stage on a monthly basis) we would follow the meter reading system online. 

I'm definitely going to write a letter to them as the more I'm reviewing this the more I'm starting to identify mistakes when it comes to the rate I'm paying (even though I've been in a fixed rate deal for the last two years). 

Thank you so much for your comment and have a safe and healthy Christmas. 

theman84

wolfehouse said:

If you actually are in arrears and have difficulty paying you might be eligible for a grant from the British Gas energy trust 
https://britishgasenergytrust.org.uk/who-can-apply/
(Any supplier considered)- see their requirements in case you qualify.

Thank you I will do. We don't claim for anything normally and want to pay for what we use but during this period an extra £200 per month would push us paying other priority bills right now. 

MWT

This doesn't make much sense as if you had input correct readings at any point in between the incorrect readings the bills would have caught up at that time.

Do you still have the original opening reading when you moved to SP?

If so then do a simple calculation of your total consumption to date and see if that matches what they are trying to bill you for and compare that against what you have actually paid...

poppellerant

Ah I remember the good old days of Scottish Power.  They are so incompetent, I genuinely wonder how they even manage to make their own breakfast.  In contrast, most people will wretch at the mention of Iresa, but I found they eventually solved my problems albeit very slowly.

Vegastare

Three things come to mind....if you have advised them there are vulnerable people in household then you should have  been placed on the Priority Service Register by the agent you told, if not find out and ask why not.

Second - if they have admitted the error is their meter reading get it in writing then write to CEO of Scottish Power with all the details of their error not yours including that you have advised them of vulnerable  persons in household and the difficulty of and that £200 per month is too high a figure for you to find.

Thirdly they have a fund for people in financal difficulties and they have created this to you, they cannot use meter reading as others error it is there's alone, they sent person to read your meter, there error!  They can reduce the amount or they can wipe a decent part of it away.
Email
keith.anderson@scottishppwer.com
.  

Vegastare

Sorry email is keith.anderson@scottishpower.com
He is the CEO according to the ceomail website

Streaky_Bacon

I had a situation with SP where the meter had not been read for years before we moved in (even though it was outside the property). We gave readings when we moved in, during the tenancy and when we moved out, received a final bill and paid it.

Fast forward a few years, and we finally received a large bill, which seemed to have come about because they rejected all of the readings and estimated all of the bills anyway, and then finally realised their error.

That's my guess because they never actually said, but I did get a recording of a phone call when they admitted that they had received all of the readings submitted by my partner, and when I looked back over the account all of the bills (including the final one) were estimated.

This was all before I looked after the bills myself

As long as the OP has not submitted incorrect meter readings, then there is a good chance that SP will not be able to bill further back than 12 months (as others have already pointed out).

If the OP wants to pay SP for that unenforceable period that is up to them, but my experiences with SP suggest that they would not be so amenable if they boot were on the other foot (I still had to go all of the way to the ombudsman, until they gave up and called of the debt collection hounds).

theman84

Hi everyone and hope you've all had a good Christmas and are staying safe in whatever tier your currently in. 🙂

Thanks so much for all your comments. I hope you all don't mind but instead of responding individually I will give you all an update. 

So I didn't give up on this one lightly and took everyone's advice into account and can thankfully report that because I had proof to hand we submitted everything to Scottish Power from day dot (once again) and the bill has since been corrected to a much more reasonable figure.

Unfortunately I'm still yet to receive an apology from Scottish Power for all the stress it has caused me and my partner over Christmas (At one stage they were sending me text after 1am in the morning together with emails).

Just glad it's sorted now and thank you everyone for your advice. Stay safe 🙂