Scottish Power payments not collected - now big debt

danrfd

I've been a bit lapse on checking my energy bills and have just been told I am 3k in debt!  I investigated and discovered that they have not taken any direct debits in the last two years despite my details being set up correctly on their system and them occasionally notifying me that they are changing the DD amount.  I contacted them and was told it must be due to a technical error.  I've had no notifications of attempted or failed DDs from them or my bank.

I've not budgeted for paying off a 3k debt. Before I just suck it up and start saving for the big payments, is there any chance I can complain to Scottish Power and/or the Ombudsman and get any of it written off?

Thanks for your advice!

ariarnia

you can try. but if you were billed correctly then i think they have 6 years to chase the debt (if the bills were wrong then back billing might come into it and limit your debt to 12 months). 

if thats the case then any reduction would probably be a good will gesture (so if you go in guns blazing probably less good will). 

if you agree you used the energy and just didn't check your bill/didnt notice you had more money than you expected then best bet would be to see if they will agree a payment plan. if you show what you can afford then they might agree to write off a portion so its repayable in a reasonable time?

TheElectricCow

Assuming the billing is correct I wouldn’t expect them to write off any significant portion of the debt unless you could prove it would put you in financial hardship, although they may offer a small credit for the inconvenience if you go down the complaints route. Not likely to be much though probably better than nothing.

I suspect that from the energy company’s perspective they may take the view that it  was your responsibility to make sure your bills are being paid correctly even if it’s their fault the payments hadn’t been taken.

They would almost certainly have to accept a repayment plan though to allow the debt to be paid reasonably. This would probably take the form of you agreeing to pay the usual direct debit amount for your current energy use plus a bit extra per month as agreed between yourself and them depending on what’s affordable.

macman

You've enjoyed a 2 year interest free loan, so expecting them to write any of it off is a tad optimistic.
You can't use the Ombudsman until you have gone through the supplier's own complaints procedure, waited 8 weeks or received a deadlock letter.
What happened to the money you had budgeted for the energy bills? If you have only used £3k of energy in 2 years, then your usage must be very low indeed. Is this £3k bill based on actual readings, or estimated? Are you supplying regular reads, or is it a smart meter?

EssexHebridean

As an aside, I'd suggest that you go back over at least the last 6 months bank statements now and check what else you might be paying for/not paying for without your knowledge.  

Where has the money that you thought you paying for your energy use ended up? If you have transferred it to savings as surplus you should at least have earned some interest on it. If it can't just be transferred back easily then you will need to arrange a payment plan in the meantime. 

I'm not too sure what you are going to complain about to be honest - presumably you thought that you were paying, and the energy company have (until recently at least) thought that you were paying - had either party checked the facts of the matter, then you would have been aware of the true state of affairs. While the supplier may have some fault for whatever the "glitch" that allowed it to happen was, you also have to accept responsibility IMO for not having checked either your energy account or current account in that length of time.  

MWT

A token gesture (£50-75) for poor customer service is the most you could expect from an Ombudsman review.

macman

It's not a failure to bill, but a failure to collect. I don't think the Ombudsman would award anything in this instance. I know not everyone is as fixated with energy prices as regulars of this board, but the OP has failed to notice the missing DD on no less than 24 bank statements. Given that the DD should have at least doubled during last year, how do you miss that?