Scottish Power Won't Let Me Transfer due to debt

darlenewilliam

Hi, I'm having problems with Scottish Power.  We've been with them for about 4 years now and are wanting to transfer our electric away from them to Shell Energy.  The account is in debt of £1000.00, this is due to (I'm guessing) our entire property is electric.  We have a direct debit set up with them so it's nothing to do with any late payments or anything like that.  I received an email from Scottish Power saying there was a problem with the transfer and for me to login to my account.  Once I saw  what the problem was I rang Scottish Power.  After being on hold for over 30 minutes someone came onto the phone.  I explained the situation and asked the guy at Scottish Power to set up a direct debit for £100.00 to pay this debt off.  He said he could do this and that it wasn't a problem.  He would be back in a few minutes.  The phone after a few minutes went dead and I had been disconnected!  (Not happy at this point anyway)  So I called the number back and this time I got a girl on the other end.  I gave her my details and she checked to make sure the direct debit had been set up which she confirmed it had.  Ok, I was happy then.  Later (the same day) I receive another email from Scottish Power stating there was a problem with the account and for me to ring the number provided.  So I rang them.  Got another lady on the phone who was VERY quick to tell me that they don 't do Payment Plans for debits?  I proceed to explain to her (when she would let me speak) what had transpired in my earlier conversation with another of their employees.  Ok, trying to keep this condensed but I'm not doing a great job at it.  At the end of the conversation, she had told me she had sent an email to one of the managers who replied and said they don't do this? She then asked me if I want to file a complaint which I glad did want to do this.  So I'm suppose to have a phone call from then on Friday, but I won't hold my breath!  When I transferred from EON to Scottish Power, there was absolutely no problem with EON doing a payment plan and they released us to move to Scottish Power, something now I'm really regretting ever doing.  My question is this, if I've offered to pay them on a monthly basis, which works out at 10 months, are they not suppose to accept this?  I mean, at the minute I'm at their mercy and basically locked with them until I pay the money, by staying with them, we will never be out of debt with them.  The electric cost £223 per month which is more than what our mortgage is!  Any input would be greatly appreciated

Brie

Have you checked that the meter readings are correct?  Did you give them to SP regularly?  They should then have updated your required payments to help you avoid a big debt.  

I quite get the issue with their customer service - it's one of the reasons I moved away from them.  I'm sure I must have talked to the talkative bossy woman or her twin.  Really annoying when someone won't let you speak.

GSDMum

Sorry can't help with your problem, but just want to say Scottish Power was discussed on a radio chat show this morning, consensus was that they were 'thugs'. Surely their practices must be well known to an ombudsman? 

Gerry1

The DD is just a contribution to a kitty.  Unfortunately, it seems that the kitty wasn't sufficient to pay the bills, so you're in debt hence they are allowed to block you from leaving.

If you can't clear the debt in one go, there are are only two things you can do to escape as soon as possible.

• You need to make sure you are on the cheapest SP tariff.  Find out your annual kWh consumption (find two actual readings a year apart, not estimates) and start comparing using Citizens Advice and 'Which?' Switch'.  Limit the results to SP.

• Reduce your consumption.  What is your room heating?  There is nothing more expensive than full price electricity, as used by panel heaters, oil filled radiators, fan heaters, electric fires etc.  Assuming that it's impossible to get gas, if you have storage heaters make sure you're on Economy 7 and you use them rather than anything that you plug in.  Also make sure that the immersion heater is only using E7 via a switched E7 circuit or a local timer.  If there is a Boost switch leave it permanently off and make sure that the local timer is set correctly and doesn't use peak rates.

MWT

darlenewilliam said:

When I transferred from EON to Scottish Power, there was absolutely no problem with EON doing a payment plan and they released us to move to Scottish Power, something now I'm really regretting ever doing.  My question is this, if I've offered to pay them on a monthly basis, which works out at 10 months, are they not suppose to accept this?

It seems you have got into the habit of under-paying each month and building up a debt, then moving on...

I would strongly suggest you break that chain by making sure you are giving your new supplier your actual annual usage when switching, and not just picking one of the suggested user profiles.

Also make sure you always give a meter reading each month and check the bills to make sure the debt is not increasing.

To answer your question though, no, they are not obliged to let you go just because you are willing to set up a payment plan, they can insist that you pay the amount owed before they release you.

Robin9

This underpayment seems to predate your time with SP - you refer to a payment plan with Eon - are you still paying this ?

Can you give us your ACTUAL ANNUAL CONSUMPTIONS please - in kWh's not £'s

darlenewilliam

The payment to EON has been paid off for a long time.  There is nothing left outstanding with them at all.  Have you ever had an electric bill come through that says estimated on it even when you know full well that someone came out and read the meter?  I've had this happen on several occasions, and with different suppliers. 

JJ_Egan

Not seen a meter reader for years . Never had an E bill as i give monthly meter readings .

TheMilkmansDad

Have you ever had an electric bill come through that says estimated on it - no, as i always give actual readings monthly

even when you know full well that someone came out and read the meter? - I've been a homeowner for 11 years and renter for 7 years prior to that, i do not recall a single person ever coming to read a gas and/or electric meter.

darlenewilliam

Exactly, and even if you do, it's more than likely an estimated reading even if they send someone out to take a reading.

darlenewilliam

No, the payment to EON was well before Scottish Power came into the picture, well actually, as I was doing the transfer, but the debt was not that much...