Did Scottish Power comply with rules when objecting to our provider switch?

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This discussion was created from comments split from: Scottish power closed account..

numptybloke

We have recently (last week) left Scottish Power.  We found managing/understanding the billing was difficult even after installing a smart meter.  The payment dates never coincided with the monthly meter reading so we were always trying to catch up the hefty charges for winter months and not building up any credit.
So when we tried to switch supplier back in March they objected because we owed about £170 (about one month of billing), so we got the arrears down to £64 and they still objected, then to a zero balance and from there they delayed the tranfer for another two weeks.  Apparently it was our fault for not chasing the new supplier.
Whilst much of the emphasis with electricity firms is getting the best rates, there is a case if you pay £50 a year more but can understand and manage the billing you can sleep better.
Maybe someone could advise if Scottish Power did not comply with the accepted switching protocols, from what we can make out switching with a £170 debt should be possible.
Regards to all.

QrizB

numptybloke said:

We have recently (last week) left Scottish Power.  We found managing/understanding the billing was difficult even after installing a smart meter.  The payment dates never coincided with the monthly meter reading so we were always trying to catch up the hefty charges for winter months and not building up any credit.

In general there are four different ways to pay an energy account.

1. Prepayment 

2. Monthly fixed direct debit, with a budget account 

3. Monthly variable direct debit, where each bill is automatically paid.

4. Payment on receipt of bill ("standard credit").

Which method of payment were you using?

MSE_ForumTeam5

We've split @numptybloke's question into a new thread