Nearly 4 years of hell!! PLEASE HELP

robertow88

Desperate for help - I've had nearly 4 years of hell with Scottish Power and still nothing has been done.

- in December 2018 I moved into my new build property with SP being the supplier

- paid the first bill of around £500

- shortly after (weeks) came another bill of around £900 this is where the issues started. I checked the bills and there as a massive spike in the electric readings. I questioned it and they told me there was a communication error and that the reading didn't come through correct but I owe the money. I refused to pay until the meter was tested.

- I was repeatedly sent very unclear bills each month- 3 months all with different amounts on ranging from £900 - £4k+ and the readings where very sporadic. One min it say intial reading was 596 then a few months later that was changed to 0 and it was marked as "actual reading" I've got some readings showing over 4000 units and marked as "smart actual reading" then few months later a different reading for the same date and marked as "actual reading"

- in 2020 they forcefully changed my meter to prepayment using Richburns debt collectors they didn't give any notice or paperwork as to how I top up just a hand written letter saying I owed £3,500+ and that it will be collected through my top ups every time I top up. Even though I was still disputing the debt and they had never justified the amount and the meter has never been tested to see if it'd reading correct despite them admitting numerous times that it has communication errors and it's a very old SMET1 Meter.

- I have since had nothing but problems with the prepayment meter. I can only topup through the app. The app hardly ever works the meter goes off supply and no way of topping up. If I do manage to tip it up numerous times the app has taken the money and yet the money doesn't reach the meter so I have to phone up and wait for hours for a reply. I've got screenshot of all of this

- because the account was duel fuel and I disputed the debt and didn't pay. They separated the accounts off so gas become independent. However they sent me a few gas bills that had a balance carried forward from the disputed electric debt despite them being separate and them collecting that debt through the meter. They admitted this to be an issue but done nothing about it. So I remained in the same position not to pay until an accurate bill was sent.

- In 2022 they forced there way into my property while I was out taking the kids to school. They used a locksmith to gain entry and a gas engineer was found walking round the inside of my property even though he didn't need to. Money was taken out my property and the lock was damaged on my property both are being investigated by the police. When the police turned up on the day Richburn could not produce any paperwork leading upto the warrant and the warrant was issued the day before!

- they changed my gas meter to a pre-payment meter and forced the debt repayment. They later admitted they shouldn't be forcing the debt repayment without doing any affordability checks and without this ever going to court snd have now reduced the debt repayment to £1.37 a week.

- in 2023 the ombudsman was involved solely for the electric. The ombudsman told SP they was not transparent on the bills they had to credit me £150 (which they haven't done) they also needed to apologise for their actions (which they haven't done) and they had a set time frame to rectify the issues (which they haven't done) they applied for an extension to rectify rhe issues and it was granted. That deadline passes and they applied for another extension which was granted and is about to pass

- The issues with the gas cannot be resolved until the electric meter is changed to a SMET2 so i am continuously going off supply to both gas an electric with 3 under 6 year old in the property one with severe aspberges!

- electric goes off and I can't top up because the app is faulty or i do top up and it doesn't reach the meter. I have to then wait hours for it to be resolved

- gas goes off supply and constantly says emergency credit used. I top up and it takes £20 - £30 emergency credit which can never be used as it constantly says "used" I've had 7 engineers out and 6 new payment cards 3 replacement meters still the issue remains and still SP are doing nothing. I've also just been told every time an engineer has been out to reset the meter the £20 they put on which is my money that's been taken has been going into my account as an advance!!!! 

I'm living a nightmare. Ombudsman doing nothing and neither is SP

Novice_investor101

Write to your MP & ask them to quiz SP. Firms tend to be a bit quicker to respond & investigate when MP’s contact them on behalf of their constituents. I expect yours will be interested in this with the current news stories about forced prepayment meters. 

Gerry1

Copy your letter to your MP to SP's CEO, whose info can be found at the ceoemail dot com site.

mongoose2009

are the meter reading accurate?

markin

£3,500+ over 2 years is £145 a month, Sounds about right, you should probably have paid that off, and moved provider.

Have you been putting money aside to pay the bill?.... 

robertow88

markin said:

£3,500+ over 2 years is £145 a month, Sounds about right, you should probably have paid that off, and moved provider.

Have you been putting money aside to pay the bill?.... 

Sorry if it wasn't clear. It wasn't £3,500 over 2 years it was over around 4-5months if that. The recorded units increased from around 900 to 4,500 in around 1.5 months - they have calculated themselves numerous times the spike and have agreed it would be incredibly difficult to actually use that amount of electricity. Paying the bill isn't the issue it's just I want an accurate bill. They have told me there is an issue with the meter but won't actually do anything to change it yet.

robertow88

Novice_investor101 said:

Write to your MP & ask them to quiz SP. Firms tend to be a bit quicker to respond & investigate when MP’s contact them on behalf of their constituents. I expect yours will be interested in this with the current news stories about forced prepayment meters. 

I tried about 18months ago to wrote to the MP but their secretary said its not something they would deal with. I'll try again now the issue has progressed significantly 

Mstty

What were you growing😅

Some levity for your situation.

markin

robertow88 said:

markin said:

£3,500+ over 2 years is £145 a month, Sounds about right, you should probably have paid that off, and moved provider.

Have you been putting money aside to pay the bill?.... 

Sorry if it wasn't clear. It wasn't £3,500 over 2 years it was over around 4-5months if that. The recorded units increased from around 900 to 4,500 in around 1.5 months - they have calculated themselves numerous times the spike and have agreed it would be incredibly difficult to actually use that amount of electricity. Paying the bill isn't the issue it's just I want an accurate bill. They have told me there is an issue with the meter but won't actually d

Was it a catch up bill with the previous use not sent and heavily under billed, 2000kwh a year would be normal usage. The omber would usually have spotted it and sorted it if it was faulty meter?

pochase

If I understand you correctly you had huge bills on your credit meter, which you did not pay, so they installed a new prepaid meter in 2020.

On the prepaid meter you have again huge bills.

Next they change your gas meter to prepaid in 2022, you are now experiencing

Broken meters are very rare, and it very unlikely that the old and the new meter are both broken.

For the electrcity the Ombudsman has given you a £150 payment, but tha tis for the level of service, not because they believe your bills are wrong. If you want to fight them, you will not need to go to court, but they will show the decision of the Ombudsman in their favour as defense.

Emergency credit to my knowledge is £10 and not £20-£30. Are you maybe waiting weeks before you top up and it is emergency credit plus standing charges?

robertow88

markin said:

robertow88 said:

markin said:

£3,500+ over 2 years is £145 a month, Sounds about right, you should probably have paid that off, and moved provider.

Have you been putting money aside to pay the bill?.... 

Sorry if it wasn't clear. It wasn't £3,500 over 2 years it was over around 4-5months if that. The recorded units increased from around 900 to 4,500 in around 1.5 months - they have calculated themselves numerous times the spike and have agreed it would be incredibly difficult to actually use that amount of electricity. Paying the bill isn't the issue it's just I want an accurate bill. They have told me there is an issue with the meter but won't actually d

Was it a catch up bill with the previous use not sent and heavily under billed, 2000kwh a year would be normal usage. The omber would usually have spotted it and sorted it if it was faulty meter?

Its a brand new build property I am the only owner.