Scottish Power issues

Tadiie

Hi there. I'm new on here and have searched through the forum but cannot find anyone who has faced the same issue as me.

I moved into a rental property back in April 2021 and my landlord advised that Scottish Power was the energy supplier, at this point I reached out to them and set up an account. Within weeks of moving in, I decided to switch suppliers as there were other suppliers offering me a better rate than Scottish Power and my landlord was happy for me to switch.

Fast forward a few weeks into living in the flat, I start receiving letters addressed to me, from Scottish Power asking me to pay energy covering Feb 2020-March 2021. I supplied them with my tenancy agreement and asked them to pursue the previous tenant or my landlord and gave them the details of the estate agent. I also told the estate agent about this and asked them to contact the previous tenant in case there was monies outstanding. Scottish Power informed me that they would no longer pursue me for that time period. In July 2021 I switched suppliers to EoN using U-Switch and I paid everything that was outstanding with Scottish Power and they confirmed in writing that there was nothing outstanding. 

August 2021, I received a letter from a debt recovery company stating I owed Scottish Power for the time period Feb 2020-March 2021. I contacted the debt recovery company and supplied them with my tenancy agreement and copies of the email correspondence I had with Scottish Power where they confirmed there was nothing outstanding on my account. The debt recovery company confirmed that they couldn't do anything as it didn't seem as though I was liable. I contacted Scottish Power to advise them of the situation and they confirmed my account was closed and not to worry about the debt recovery because they won't pursue me. 

October 2021 and December 2021, another debt recovery company was instructed and again, I provided both of them with my tenancy agreement and contacted Scottish Power. 
In January 2022 when the same  debt recovery company reach out again for the debt, I gave them my tenancy agreement and proceeded to open a complaint with Scottish Power because it was becoming frustrating having to deal with the same thing over and over again. The only letter I received was that someone was looking into updating my account. I chased them several times for an update between January 2022 and April 2022. 

I opened a case with the Ombudsman who ruled that Scottish Power should bill my account appropriately, close my account, issue me with an apology and pay some monies as a gesture of goodwill in June 2022.

Scottish Power issued me with the apology in June 2022 and said they couldn't open an account for the time period they were my supplier so instead, they would refund the monies I paid during the time they were my supplier and pay the goodwill funds. Due to the postal strikes and all that I gave Scottish Power a 'grace period' to try and sort my account issues and send the monies if they were doing it by cheque.
To my surprise in August 2022, I received a welcome letter from Scottish Power and they confirmed that they were my supplier and were requesting opening meter readings. I reached out to the Ombudsman they went back to Scottish Power who then confirmed they would close the account and they apologised yet again. EoN remained my energy provider from July 2021 till now and I've had no issues with them.

From Sept 2022 to date, I have been receiving bills from Scottish Power asking me to pay energy bills for the property. Between Sept 2022 and Dec 2022 the Ombudsman had been assuring me that they are trying to reach out to Scottish Power to sort my account issues out but Scottish Power aren't responding to them. In Dec 2022 the Ombudsman said as it has been months of them chasing and me trying to get in touch with Scottish Power, that I should proceed with civil action.

Scottish Power have not yet upheld the Ombudsman decision apart from sending an apology letter. This is no longer about the compensation funds or the goodwill money, I just want them to leave me alone and bill my account correctly. 

Is this worth taking them to court or will I be wasting money going down that route? I need this rectified because the last thing I want is more harassment from debt recovery companies. I cannot afford a lawyer and from what I'm reading, if I take the matter to court and lose I could end up being told to pay their legal fees and that's not something I want.

Does anyone have any experience dealing with such an issue or have advise on the matter. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Sorry it's a long message, this situation has been draining for the past two years to the point where I was put on anti depressants last year. 

jbuchanangb

Although it has been a stressful nightmare being chased for money you did not owe, it seems that has now been stopped.

It seems that you paid SP for the energy they supplied before you switched to E.ON, and that any attempts to switch you away from E.ON have been dealt with so your energy supply is still with them.

Apparently as a result of all this mucking about, SP have said they will refund you the money you actually paid for energy consumed, and add a goodwill gesture as compensation for the atrocious behaviour. Which they haven't done.

If you want an easy life, draw a line under it all and move on. At the moment it seems you have paid the proper people for the right amount of energy which you have used. If that is true, cased closed.

macman

If you have an Ombudsman ruling in your favour, and an apology letter, what makes you think that you would lose in court. The odds are that they'll either settle out of court, or not bother defending the action. You don't mention the amount you are seeking, but the cost of them defending it is likely to be well into 4 figures and simply not worth it-probably more than the value of your claim.

Tadiie

jbuchanangb said:

Although it has been a stressful nightmare being chased for money you did not owe, it seems that has now been stopped.

It seems that you paid SP for the energy they supplied before you switched to E.ON, and that any attempts to switch you away from E.ON have been dealt with so your energy supply is still with them.

Apparently as a result of all this mucking about, SP have said they will refund you the money you actually paid for energy consumed, and add a goodwill gesture as compensation for the atrocious behaviour. Which they haven't done.

If you want an easy life, draw a line under it all and move on. At the moment it seems you have paid the proper people for the right amount of energy which you have used. If that is true, cased closed.

Thanks. To clarify, they are now sending me energy bills as though they are supplying me with energy. That is now my concern. I cannot afford to pay two suppliers and each time I have contacted SP to ask them to not send me bills because they are no longer my supplier, they do not respond to my emails.

Tadiie

macman said:

If you have an Ombudsman ruling in your favour, and an apology letter, what makes you think that you would lose in court. The odds are that they'll either settle out of court, or not bother defending the action. You don't mention the amount you are seeking, but the cost of them defending it is likely to be well into 4 figures and simply not worth it-probably more than the value of your claim.

Thanks for your advice.

jbuchanangb

I think it would be good for you to double-check who really is registered as your energy supplier. It is 2 stage process. First find out who is your network operator using your post code at https://www.energynetworks.org/customers/find-my-network-operator

Then connect to the network operator's website and look up your address.

When you know this you will know how to proceed. It it appears that you have been wrongly transferred from E.ON to SP, then it is up to E.ON to sort it out and get you transferred back. If they are both billing you as if you belong to them, then you can use the definitive information from the network operator to tell the wrong one to stop.

ariarnia

i dont; know what amounts we're talking but i agree with macman. 

IF you have all the documentation you say you have then if i was you i would use money claim online and file a case. 

https://www.gov.uk/make-court-claim-for-money

it's actually really easy. very similar to the ombudsman case. just fill in the boxes and upload your evidence. 

chances are they wont defend it. and you add the fees for opening the case to the claim. plus you can add interest of 8% per annum. 

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/609046/MCOL_Userguide_for_Claimants_April_2017.pdf 

in my opinion worth it just to get it all sorted. if they come back to you after this you can complain harrasment and thats something they would need to take seriously. 

EssexHebridean

Definitely agree with sorting out who currently believes they’re supplying now though - that’s a fairly vital point, as if it’s NOT SP, then them billing the OP for the current period really does underline a remarkably serious failing! 

For clarity - are you getting bills from both Eon AND  SP, and are both using actual readings from a smart meter, or are SP estimating and you are giving manual readings to Eon?

diystarter7

Hi OP

Sorry to hear about your problems.
As you have a letter in your favour.

At times best to talk and talk to the top Richard,
Then get it in writing in concise clear wrting you own them naff all
and date when your contract started

I dislike compo chasers but i this case, these people need to give you a decent amoutn of money for the
worries, time wasting etc that they have given you

Take care

JoniFry89

I have recently used the SP ‘my complaint’ dashboard. It is useless. You schedule a date and time for a callback and they don’t get in touch. Also, lack of replies to emails.

MikeyPGT

JoniFry89 said:

I have recently used the SP ‘my complaint’ dashboard. It is useless. You schedule a date and time for a callback and they don’t get in touch. Also, lack of replies to emails.

I feel your pain - keep plugging away and rebook calls as they fail to return them, some poor sucker eventually returns a call!  In all seriousness though, how is Scottish Power allowed to provide such a godawful service if they don't even respond to the ombudsman surely it is time they were nailed to the naughty step for good?