Scottish Power Bill, But Im On Pre-Paid Meters?

Tommy8

Hi All, 

I recently moved into my property on the 17th March. 

The previous tenants used Scottish Power. 

EON took over the supply on the 31st March as that is when i 'officially' moved out of my old house (I transferred them over as i like EON). 

The house is on pre-paid meters but for some reason Scottish Power have sent me a bill demanding £81 for gas and £21 for electric for the period of 17th march to the 31st. 

From the first date of moving in the letting agent put £20 on each meter and since then i have topped up the meters as per usual. 

I dont understand why i have been sent a bill when i have been "paying as i go"? What do i do?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. 

Cheers

Tom

CSI_Yorkshire

Did you tell SP that you moved in on 17th?  New contact details, new account/top-up card, all that?

I think that they've not known it was you until E.ON took the supply on 31 March, so all the payments previously were assumed to be made by the previous tenants (or by 'the occupier' if SP knew they had gone).

In their systems, this can mean that the wrong person has paid the £102 - so it's refunded to that account and charged to your new account as a final bill.

Tommy8

CSI_Yorkshire said:

Did you tell SP that you moved in on 17th?  New contact details, new account/top-up card, all that?

I think that they've not known it was you until E.ON took the supply on 31 March, so all the payments previously were assumed to be made by the previous tenants (or by 'the occupier' if SP knew they had gone).

In their systems, this can mean that the wrong person has paid the £102 - so it's refunded to that account and charged to your new account as a final bill.

Thank you for your reply. 

No i didn't let SP know, i just got in contact with EON and went through the move process. 

Reading this back it now seems obvious that i should have let them know asap. 

The letters from SP are addressed to me so they have somehow been told our names?

What can i do? 

My experience with trying to convince companies that i dont owe what they are demanding is that of a difficult and frustrating endeavor. 

Is it likely i can get this sorted without forking out for these bills?

QrizB

Tommy8 said:

The letters from SP are addressed to me so they have somehow been told our names?

EON will have given your details to SP when they transferred your account.

What exactly have SP billed you for? Does the bill include meter readings, and do these match the readings on your meter? Do the meter numbers match yours?

Tommy8

QrizB said:

Tommy8 said:

The letters from SP are addressed to me so they have somehow been told our names?

EON will have given your details to SP when they transferred your account.

What exactly have SP billed you for? Does the bill include meter readings, and do these match the readings on your meter? Do the meter numbers match yours?

SP have billed me for the time period: 18th March to 30th March for both gas and electric. 

For electric:
- The meter number is correct. 
- 18th read is estimated but is only -00005.93 kwh out. (51200 instead of actual 51205). 
- 30th read is customer read and is correct. (Im guessing provided by EON). 

For gas:
- The meter number is correct. 
- 18th read is estimated and is a bit out (11920 instead of actual 11958)
- It then breaks it down into three day segments but the final reading on the 30th is again customer read and is correct. 

I just dont understand because even the bills state "Pay As You Go" so why am i having to pay when i literally have been paying all along? If i dont pay then my meters physically turn the supply off so how can i owe money?

Im not at home at the moment but im sure Ive kept some receipts from the paypoint transactions, but not all. 

Is there something im missing here?

CSI_Yorkshire

Tommy8 said:

QrizB said:

Tommy8 said:

The letters from SP are addressed to me so they have somehow been told our names?

EON will have given your details to SP when they transferred your account.

What exactly have SP billed you for? Does the bill include meter readings, and do these match the readings on your meter? Do the meter numbers match yours?

Is there something im missing here?

As far as SP are concerned, someone was paying for the energy between 18th and 30th, but they don't know who it was.  It might have been a different tenant for 2 weeks, or the landlord before you moved in etc.

They now know that you should have been paying it.

They don't know that you are the someone.

They would be trying to refund the someone (because they shouldn't have paid) and are billing you (because you should have paid).

Convince them that you are the someone and they should be able to work it out.

Tommy8

Ah ok thank you for spelling that out. 

I shall give them a call and convince them i am that someone. 

Tommy8

So trying to convince them i had already been paying didn't work. 

They messaged back the following:

"When preparing a final bill, prepayment meters are the same as other meter types. We need a final meter reading to accurately measure the amount of energy used which allows us to arrive at a correct account balance and then issue a final bill. The final bill will detail any outstanding debit or credit balance that needs to be paid. If you are in credit you are able to get a credit balance refund.

We only have standard tariff for our prepayment customers. Hence, the unit price and standing charges keep changing from time to time and we generate bills as per the latest price. However, the meter charges you at your old price until you top up your key after the price change.

That means for few days your meter charges you at different unit rate (old unit rate and standing charges) and bill is generated on updated unit rates and standing charges"

I just dont understand why its not as simple as . . . . we moved in on 17th . . . . . we paid Scottish Power via the previous tenants electric and gas cards up until the 31st . . . . . we paid the exact amount of the gas and electric used . . . . . EON took over on the 31st. 

Where do i go from here?

Surely small differences in tariff prices dont add up to £100 for 13 days?

Also on the bill sent to me, i cant see any of the payments listed that we made at the pay point machine therefore what are they on about credit on my account. 

After a quick google, it would seem this scenario with Scottish Power has happened a few times

MWT

Tommy8 said:

...we paid Scottish Power via the previous tenants electric and gas cards up until the 31st . . . . . we paid the exact amount of the gas and electric used . . . . . EON took over on the 31st. 

Using the previous tenants card is your problem...

You have told the supplier that you are responsible for the bill from the 18th, and they can see that the previous tenant has made payments for that period.

So they will be contractually bound to refund the previous tenant and charge you...

This is one of the reasons why we always advise people on here to never use a card from a previous tenant...

markin

Will the refund now be on the old  card you still have? Can you take it to the shop and get the refund?