Sse electric bill for shop excessively high?

[Deleted User]

MattMattMattUK said:

rowdy75 said:

MattMattMattUK said:

rowdy75 said:

Deleted_User said:

I've been reading this and I can't see what the problem is.

You have got a bill that is too high, because the reading was too high.

The supplier has said "yes, the reading was too high, we are putting your bill back down".

This would appear to be problem solved?

Or is it simply "this has happened more than once, so it might happen again"?  In which case the answer is "yes, but there's not much you can do other than change supplier, keep ringing up each month to correct the readings, or write with a formal complaint".

Yes pretty much. Although my first post was more in panic as the debt collector was there looking to take £7500 worth of stock, the majority of which is not even ours, and was hoping for a response from people that had gone through similar experiences with sse.

A "debt collector" cannot take anything unless you agree and are very often just aggressive characters in high vis jackets with official looking letters. A Bailiff or High Court Enforcement Officer can take items, but a legal process must be followed first which starts with a CCJ or High Court action and can escalate from there, they are generally far more professional and less pushy than a so called debt collector. None of them can take stock which is not owned by the legal entity they are pursuing (unless it is the legal owner seeking recovery), it is advisable that you, your wife and anyone else working there knows the difference between the three. 

rowdy75 said:

They have the correct reading and adjusted it, but as you say I fear this is just going to be an ongoing battle with them!

Resolve the issue, make sure the reads are accurate, change suppliers. There is probably no point overall, but it is more likely to give you peace of mind than anything else. 

I don’t know if she was a debt collector or a high court enforcement officer, but she was looking at the stock and handed a hand written letter to my wife. She was very sympathetic though and could see something was clearly wrong and that we have been trying to resolve the issues we have been having. My wife was only on the phone to sse last week and no mention was made regarding debt collection or court order.

A lot of the "debt collector" types make a real effort to look as if they have official capacity when they have no more recovery powers than you or I, they certainly would not arrive with a hand written note, although they may audit stock, if you choose to let them, you can tell them to leave at any time and failure to do so is trespassing. They will not have been an official bailiff or a HCEO as they make it very clear who they are, in what capacity they are visiting and where their authorisation comes from (CCJ, High Court Writ, etc.). 

A great clue is if you suggest calling the Police.  A bailiff or HCEO will not mind at all, and might even do it for you, as they know they have the court-backed legal right to be there.  A self-badged debt collector will try and talk you out of it or start talking about extra fees for delaying the process.

macman

There would only be a bailiff in attendance if you have already been served with a CCJ. Have you?
Debt collectors have no more powers than you and I, you should ask them to leave the shop and call the police if they refuse. They have no powers of entry or to seize stock.

wild666

rowdy75 said:
It was agreed that something wasn’t right and an engineer came out and fitted a smart meter, 

With the smart meter fitted SSE wouldn't need to do anything but produce a bill as readings should be sent to them by the meter. 
When the shop is closed the usage of electric will be minimal if any from appliances left in stand by mode. 
What I would do is check how much each appliance is costing per day or per usage and send SSE a monthly reading by email, unless you can input readings online. 
I would also suggest downloading an energy monitoring app like Loop then you can work out the daily or monthly usage if you know the prices per kWh and SC.

Robin9

I don’t know if she was a debt collector or a high court enforcement officer, but she was looking at the stock and handed a hand written letter to my wife. ................

Bailiffs etc and hand written letter ?

Jyana

Robin9 said:

Jyana said:

I think it's probably best to wait until Saturday and see what's on the bills before speculating at present. Without seeing what was on these high bills, it's practically impossible to advise any further.

Ditto - I'll wait till Saturday

PS I'm not sure but isn't the Ombudsman soley for Domestic Users

If you are a small business you can still use CAB and the Ombudsman, I believe.

As for the issue. I am split between thinking it's the old meter that was removed which has racked up the debt, either previous tenant or a faulty meter, which would help explain how debt collections have now become involved as we're looking at a bill stemming from November 2021. Or, the property used cannabis factory energy levels (esp since they hint at overnight use being a thing with the old customer at this shop) before they took over, so the SSE software is having trouble reconciling the estimates they are used to with the readings they are getting now.

But, as I say, impossible to really say what is going on until bills are looked at really. It may be that SSE finally accept the current meter reading now, it may be that a debt is still floating somewhere. Hopefully the former, obviously.

Robin9

rowdy75 said:

..................
Also, the salon is completely separate meter, and the supplier is a different company so apples and oranges.

I appreciate that  - just amazed at the low cost for the Hair Salon.

ariarnia

Robin9 said:

Jyana said:

I think it's probably best to wait until Saturday and see what's on the bills before speculating at present. Without seeing what was on these high bills, it's practically impossible to advise any further.

Ditto - I'll wait till Saturday

PS I'm not sure but isn't the Ombudsman soley for Domestic Users

nope. they dont cover LPG contracts for some reason but commercial gas and electric is not out of there remit.  

https://www.ombudsman-services.org/providers/business-energy-solutions

Robin9

@ariarnia Thank you for the clarification

ariarnia

Robin9 said:

@ariarnia Thank you for the clarification

no worries. i read to the end and saw Jyana had said the same anyway

the ombudsman is really worth doing as they have a fixed process for each side to present there case and it can go on a bit but they keep it progressing with deadlines. 

even if you decide to not go with the ombudsman one thing i think you really need to do is stopping dealing with this over the phone.

you dont have a record of what was said. you can't follow up promises or deadlines easily. its all going through one person (your OH) who i bet is doing a brilliant job but who is probably frustrated at having to explain everything again to a new agent each time and also means you dont know everything so your stressing out probably more than you need to. all reasons why this might have dragged out so long already. 

if i were you i would take some time and write down that timeline i mentioned. start when you bought the shop and add detail but just a few words. something like 

1 dec 2020 - opened salon. opening reading x gas x electric
1 dec 2021 - salon readings x gas x electric
1 feb 2021 - opened card shop. opening readings x gas x electric
10 july 2021 - text message from sse about debt. assumed fraudulent took no action
10 sept 2021 - bill for card shop from sse. claimed use of x units gas x units electric. actual readings x gas x electric. contacted sse by phone to query.  

then either use this for an ombudsman case OR write to sse (using your account email or as a physical letter) and include it and say you have calculated you owe x amount and your dd should be x a month. you want them to resolve the billing issue in 8 weeks and provide compensation for them removing you from your previous fix OR provide a deadlock letter before then to go to the ombudsman.  

or whatever you think is reasonable. 

rowdy75

Jyana said:

Robin9 said:

Jyana said:

I think it's probably best to wait until Saturday and see what's on the bills before speculating at present. Without seeing what was on these high bills, it's practically impossible to advise any further.

Ditto - I'll wait till Saturday

PS I'm not sure but isn't the Ombudsman soley for Domestic Users

If you are a small business you can still use CAB and the Ombudsman, I believe.

As for the issue. I am split between thinking it's the old meter that was removed which has racked up the debt, either previous tenant or a faulty meter, which would help explain how debt collections have now become involved as we're looking at a bill stemming from November 2021. Or, the property used cannabis factory energy levels (esp since they hint at overnight use being a thing with the old customer at this shop) before they took over, so the SSE software is having trouble reconciling the estimates they are used to with the readings they are getting now.

But, as I say, impossible to really say what is going on until bills are looked at really. It may be that SSE finally accept the current meter reading now, it may be that a debt is still floating somewhere. Hopefully the former, obviously.

No, the outstanding debts were all settled in July, when the smart meter was fitted. 

And yes, my wife did say to the person that came round (bailiff debt collector whatever) that we are not running a cannabis factory, so she had a good look around and agreed they have got something very wrong. 

Overnight storage heaters were in there before, but as I say I renovated the property and took them out with the electrician. If they were running they would have been useless though as the bottom foot of the back door was missing along with one of the back windows the previous tenant left it in a shocking state.