Payment Plan Money Not Taken - Now Supplier Asking For Payment Again

*Sam*

I left Scottish Power in June 2021 and they sent me a very high final bill of over £500 (it was very high back then - probably not at all this winter! ). I disputed this for a while, but eventually (and reluctantly) agreed to a payment plan on 29th July 2021. Since then they've never taken payment even though a new Direct Debit was setup. I didn't hear from them at all until 30th September 2022, 14 months later, when they've started asking me for payment again out of the blue. 

I think I know the answer to this, but just wanted to see if I had any consumer protection around this? I'm pretty sure back billing won't apply here, so I'm probably clutching at straws, but with every other bill going up I don't really want to fork out for this over the winter.

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks,
Sam 

EssexHebridean

Was the dispute resolved so that you accepted their bill - albeit seemingly high - was correct? It sounds as though perhaps not as you say you reluctantly agreed to a payment plan. If it wasn't resolved, why did you agree to pay for energy that you didn't believe you were liable for the cost of? You might simply be able to re-raise the dispute in the first place, and there will be plenty of help available on this forum to get your facts straight to follow up on that. 

[Deleted User]

All organisations make mistakes from time-to-time. Had 6 years elapsed in England you could have played the Statute barred card but, sadly for you, this isn’t the case.

High final bills are usually the consequence of the supplier using estimated readings on previous billing, which may be the result of the consumer not providing meter readings. I cannot see the supplier agreeing to re-open an already resolved dispute just because of a basic internal administrative mistake. You have to accept some responsibility for not bringing to the supplier’s attention the lack of any payments. The supplier may agree to a small goodwill gesture.

*Sam*

Thanks both for responding.

Yes, I had accepted the costs in the end - I was expecting a higher than normal final bill, but this was a good couple of hundred over expectations. It's hard to recall the specific details given it was last summer, but in the end I agreed an plan to spread it over several months. It's a little frustrating that they've waited all this time to contact me, but I guess I'll get in contact with them to discuss options.