Prepayment PAYG final bill?

Puddles1971

New here, but couldn't find a post on this specific issue.

My partner has just moved from Scottish Power to UW (for their much cheaper E7 tariff). She has been on prepayment for several years due to previous debt issues and preferring it to avoid any such future problems. The question is about a "final bill" she has received from Scottish Power for just over £75. How is it possible to owe money when she was on prepayment? She kept the prepayment balance low in the last few days before the switch with small top-ups, but it was always positive.

I just don't understand how it's possible to owe £75. I've looked at the final bill and it looks more like a normal energy bill covering the last six months: starting balance, monthly meter readings, cost of energy used, credits applied and a balance due.

Any help is appreciated.

superkoopauk

The only possibility is there was debt loaded to the meter that now has to be repaid.  Or it could be an error and they have billed it as a credit meter

Puddles1971

superkoopauk said:

The only possibility is there was debt loaded to the meter that now has to be repaid.  Or it could be an error and they have billed it as a credit meter

Thanks for your reply. Interestingly the bill for the last six months provided as a "final electricity bill" shows a credit balance on the account of £95 as a starting balance. It then adds amount paid, subtracts costs (which are only electricity and standing charge costs - no debts) which then leaves the debt balance at the end.

It appears that Scottish Power are operating this as a normal credit account but with payment by a PAYG prepayment smart meter. It doesn't make sense!

Exasperated77

I too have alleged debt on payg, with SP. ongoing now for over two years. get help now to resolve it. try citizens advice, but ask for their energy expert (edinburgh has one) or this could spiral out of control, as mine has. SP prepayment meters are a nightmare from my experience, you cannot have debt on payg as long as you stay in credit, but it will not stop SP from claiming you do 

MWT

Puddles1971 said:

It appears that Scottish Power are operating this as a normal credit account but with payment by a PAYG prepayment smart meter. It doesn't make sense!

Scottish Power have been doing this with PAYG for some time now and it shouldn't make any difference if the correct start and end readings are used and the tariff updates have been correctly applied.

The final balance can sometimes be traced to a problem using a previous customers key or perhaps failing to let the key update the tariff information at the correct time by buying a lot of credit in advance of a tariff change and then not using the key for some weeks or months after the change.(not usually an issue with Smart PAYG meters)

Do the dates on the bill match with the time she has been using the meter?

SAC2334

If not topping up regularly there could easily be money owed on standing charges especially on electricity which can be as high 75 p a day in some areas . My area is 66 p a day which is over £20 a month .Gas at 32 p a day per month is £9.92 so total for month could be £30 

SwanJon

Puddles1971 said:

It appears that Scottish Power are operating this as a normal credit account but with payment by a PAYG prepayment smart meter. It doesn't make sense!

Not just them, British Gas did it when I started working for them over 20 years ago - I think it's how it's always worked.
There was always an account on the billing system, with opening & closing reads (along with other reads, usually via the key/card), and it charged for usage & SC.
The meter would charge based on what it knew, but as above, if it got stuck on an older, lower tariff a debt could build up on the system.
It might be that credits were sent to the meter, but never balanced on the billing system  or if it was set to help pay back a balance, if not all of it was sent to the meter (e.g. it was set up a few weeks before the meter was installed and the use between then and it being fitted was not sent), there would be some left over on the system.