Scottish Power £7k bill!

teamt84

Looking for some advice please…

My pensioner mum has recently moved into a new private rented retirement apartment (8 weeks ago) and has been presented with a bill from Scottish Power of over £7,000.

They are claiming it’s an estimate and despite submitting her own readings since she moved in are insisting that’s what she owes. We work it out to be more like £160 after government assistance. She even has a photo of the meter the day she moved in.

Where does she stand as obviously this is a mistake and as you can imagine is quite distressed about the whole thing.

Any help would be gratefully received.

Robin9

Please give that reading from 8 weeks ago.  

Be very wary of new meters and look for the decimal point.   eg 12345.678   the reading you give is 12345

tacpot12

Your mum needs to tell Scottish Power that she is not going to pay an estimated bill, but will pay a bill that reflects the actual usage based on the meter readings she has provided them with. If they will not issue an accurate bill, then she should make a formal complaint to Scottish Power about the fact that they will not do so. She needs to complain in writing. You can write the letter, she just needs to sign it. Then use the Energy Ombudsman Complaints service.

She should continue to take and submit meter readings, and should also put aside the money to pay the accurate bill when Scottish Power eventually produce one. She might need your help to calculate how much she needs to put aside as this will need knowledge of her tarrif and standing charges. 

BooJewels

What was the status of the apartment before your Mum moved in - empty after someone else moved out, new build etc.  Is it possible they they're trying to lump her with the previous occupiers usage too, if they left a debt on the account (although that's a lot)?  In which case she needs to ensure that they have her opening reads correctly recorded and she might need to prove when she took over the property.  Also ensure that they're billing her for the right units of measure and that the numbers on the meter and the bill match accurately. 

But as others have said, take regular readings of your own and keep on top of it.  The more data you have, the stronger your case for proving her actual usage you have going forwards.

dunstonh

My pensioner mum has recently moved into a new private rented retirement apartment (8 weeks ago) and has been presented with a bill from Scottish Power of over £7,000.

This should be easily sorted and no distress necessary.     If the bill is using estimated figures, then she just needs to submit actual readings, which you say she has.    If they have cross over each other (e.g. bill prepared before reading could be registered) then they should issue a new bill based on the actual readings.

Given the size of the bill and it being just 8 weeks, have you checked the opening reading is correct on the bill?  It seems strange to give an estimated bill of £7000 over two months if the correct opening reading was given.

There is the possibility that the previous occupant built up a debt and the changeover point has yet to be applied correctly.  i.e. the bill includes the unpaid element from the previous occupant.

Any help would be gratefully received.

What does Scottish power say when they have been asked about this?

pochase

Is this a new build? From the size of the bill it almost looks like she is paying for the whole building.

teamt84

Thank you everyone for your responses. I'll try and fill in with as much info as I can.

I'm trying to find her unit rates, Scottish Power have never actually supplied this information. She's had no welcome pack etc. She has however, towards the end of the day been sent an email to register for online which I aim to help with tomorrow when I see her.

She has taken over the apartment after the previous tenant had to leave for health issues, meaning there was a vacant period of a month or so. She has now spoken to the landlord and discovered that there was an outstanding payment owed (no where near £7k+) and from speaking to Scottish Power there hasn't been a meter read for over a year.

She has submitted 2 meter reads and also a Scottish Power meter reader has been out. With an increase of 600 (units/kwh) since move in day. Ironically she's supposed to be having a smart meter fitted next week!

I believe she is on Option 14 as she has electric heaters.

17th December (move in day) - Combined reading 77785 (Photo of this taken but didn't realise it was a split tariff meter so only have proof of the combined reading).

3rd Jan - Rate 4 = 55913
               Rate 1 = 22096
               Combined = 78009

8th Feb - Rate 4 = 55992
                Rate 1 = 22393
                Combined = 78385

Scottish power are refusing to let her speak to customer services until she settles the outstanding bill or sets up a payment plan for whatever she can afford. Apparently, according to one call handler, her mobile number is now linked to her account and regardless of which option she selects will always end up at collection. They have given her an email address to send a complaint to but will not receive a confirmation for any email sent. 

They are apparently finally admitting they can see her meter reads on their system and that she has provided proof (tenancy agreement) of time occupying property and are sending out a bill for what she's actually used, which will be with her in the next 14 days. However, they will not drop the demand for the £7k bill at this point.

diystarter7

"Scottish power are refusing to let her speak to customer services until she settles the outstanding bill or sets up a payment plan for whatever she can afford."

I find that staggering, incredible.
I'm loss for words
Something does not add up

You ring them and have mum besides you to consent or on the phone - I'm sure there has been a massive misunderstanding and it will be sorted - from what you posted, no fear the bill is 100% no more a lot by your calaculation

Good luck

teamt84

diystarter7 said:

You ring them and have mum besides you to consent or on the phone 

This is what I plan to do tomorrow when I can get to see her

sammyjammy

I can't add anything to help but I was with Scottish power once, never again, terrible customer service!

Gerry1

teamt84 said:

Scottish power are refusing to let her speak to customer services until she settles the outstanding bill or sets up a payment plan for whatever she can afford. Apparently, according to one call handler, her mobile number is now linked to her account and regardless of which option she selects will always end up at collection.

That seems out of order.  Tell her to withhold her number by using the prefix #31# when she calls them.

teamt84 said:

She has submitted 2 meter reads and also a Scottish Power meter reader has been out. With an increase of 600 (units/kwh) since move in day. Ironically she's supposed to be having a smart meter fitted next week!

Might be better to postpone the smart meter installation for the time being, a change at this stage will only complicate things, e.g. any question of meter accuracy will be much harder to resolve if the original meter has gone to landfill.  Similarly, it won't be possible to check whether the Day and Night readings were transposed.