Being Hit With Huge Gas Bill!

dotesson92

Hello there, long time reader first time poster. I’ve had a dual fuel account with Scottish Power since October 2020. Suddenly, in July 2021 the gas tariff dropped off my account. It still said dual fuel, but I couldn’t submit my meter readings and there was no mention of it on my bills. I’ve repeatedly tried to get Scottish Power to fix this via their online chat techs and via their call centre. Every time I was told ‘oh yes there’s an error with the account, it will be fixed in six to eight weeks’. But it was not fixed and I had to get in touch with them again. Finally, FINALLY today I got though to someone who went through a different route to find the error and potentially fix it. But I’ve been told I will get a bill through for the past nine months of gas usage. I’m only on my pension and can’t afford a massive bill. Every other Scottish Power adviser I talked to previously said that I wouldn’t be billed as it was their error. And I don’t see why I should have to pay for an error on their system. I have records of me repeatedly getting in touch to try and fix the issue.  Has anyone else had this issue before, or does anyone have any advice on how I fight this? 

Benny2020

You will be charged for what you have used and no more, that seems fair.
You would surely have been putting the money aside for this as you can't expect to get free gas.
Maybe a small discount for inconvenience.

jbuchanangb

It would have been prudent of you to set some money aside month by month when SP stopped billing you for gas, so that when the inevitable happened and the problem was resolved, you would be ready to pay the bill. The best thing if you can't pay a lump sum of arrears would be to offer to repay it spread over the next 12 months. Of course at the same time you will have to be paying for the energy you will be using during the 12 months.

However - it would certainly be worth putting in writing a formal complaint about their poor service and asking that they compensate you by cancelling all or some of the arrears.

Keep_pedalling

You will have to pay the bill as you used the gas, but if you can’t do it in one hit speak to SP they should offer you a payment plan to pay it off in instalments. 

dotesson92

@jbuchanangb @Benny2020 I should have mentioned in my post that of course I was keeping a bit of money aside each month, but unfortunately I have had a couple home issues such as a broken washing machine that have eaten into that savings. I am aware that gas isn’t free, but I don’t see how it can be fair that I’ve been repeatedly asking them to fix the issue to no avail, and as a result am going to be put in debt. Thank you for your advice, I will be putting in a complaint and I will be pushing for some sort of recompense 

Thrugelmir

dotesson92 said:

@jbuchanangb @Benny2020 I should have mentioned in my post that of course I was keeping a bit of money aside each month, but unfortunately I have had a couple home issues such as a broken washing machine that have eaten into that savings. I am aware that gas isn’t free, but I don’t see how it can be fair that I’ve been repeatedly asking them to fix the issue to no avail, and as a result am going to be put in debt. Thank you for your advice, I will be putting in a complaint and I will be pushing for some sort of recompense 

I'm struggling to see how they've pushed you into debt.  A minor inconvenience payment perhaps. Compensation no chance. 

theoretica

As they didn't bill you for 9 months, I think you could reasonably ask for the repayment to be spread over 9 months, if that would help your cash flow.

Reed_Richards

dotesson92 said:

...Every other Scottish Power adviser I talked to previously said that I wouldn’t be billed as it was their error. ...does anyone have any advice on how I fight this? 

Your only hope is that Scottish Power has a recording of a previous conversation where this promise was made.  You could try making a formal complaint on this basis.  

rp1974

Speaking from previous experience of Scottish Power,a long time ago granted be prepared for them to be as difficult,awkward,obstructive as they can be in virtually every way possible.
So bad was the customer service and general attitude of Scottish Power that even if they were the cheapest supplier,which they hardly ever are there's not a chance I'd be using them.
As unfortunate as it is life happens,mistakes are made etc,etc things used have to be paid for.
The very least acceptable thing Scottish Power should do would be to set up an affordable repayment plan,agreeable to you both.
If they dont then you could consider a complaint,compensation scenario but seems unlikely that you will get the sort of result your looking for really,so depends how much time and effort you deem worthwhile spending dealing with it for a minimal chance of it making much difference.

noitsnotme

dotesson92 said:

@jbuchanangb @Benny2020 I should have mentioned in my post that of course I was keeping a bit of money aside each month, but unfortunately I have had a couple home issues such as a broken washing machine that have eaten into that savings. I am aware that gas isn’t free, but I don’t see how it can be fair that I’ve been repeatedly asking them to fix the issue to no avail, and as a result am going to be put in debt. Thank you for your advice, I will be putting in a complaint and I will be pushing for some sort of recompense 

If there had not been the billing problem you would have been paying for the gas regularly  so would not have had those savings.  How would you pay for the broken washing machine in that situation?

EssexHebridean

I appreciate this could feel a little harsh but let’s remember, it’s not the supplier who has pushed you into debt. You’ve still been able to access your meter readings from what you have said, so the money to pay for the gas you’ve used over the 9 months could have been set aside and ringfenced to pay the bill when it turned up. Think about it this way - had SP had been billing you as usual, what would you have done to cover the cost of the household emergencies you faced?  Time to begin building a proper emergency fund I’d suggest - this is the reason we advise folk over on DFW to make this a priority.