SPM Collections

Sol00

Hi,

I received a letter today threatening court action and charges of upto £250 which may be added to my account, which I obviously wasn't happy about. I phoned SPM and had an argument with the advisor as all she would say is "unless you can make a payment of £39 today, we can't do anything to stop this being passed further". As the account has had over £120 paid into it already, I was extremely annoyed at her attitude, she even had the cheek to ask me how long I thought they should wait until I can pay it off. She obviously isn't a student living on peanuts.

Is this true, or can something be done to stop my debt mounting even higher? I threatened to complain to Energywatch, but all she said was they wouldn't be able to do anything as they will see no payment arrangement has been made. I think she was right on that one, so I'll leave them out of it. :mad:

stimpo

Sol00 wrote: »

I received a letter today threatening court action and charges of upto £250 which may be added to my account, which I obviously wasn't happy about.

Pay on time then or go onto a Budget scheme

Sol00 wrote: »

As the account has had over £120 paid into it already, I was extremely annoyed at her attitude, she even had the cheek to ask me how long I thought they should wait until I can pay it off.

You get two weeks to pay. If you cant pay within those two weeks go onto a budget scheme

Sol00 wrote: »

She obviously isn't a student living on peanuts.

Thats not your suppliers problem, you use the power you pay for it when the bills come in.

Sol00 wrote: »

Is this true, or can something be done to stop my debt mounting even higher?

Pay on time.

Sol00 wrote: »

I threatened to complain to Energywatch, but all she said was they wouldn't be able to do anything as they will see no payment arrangement has been made. I think she was right on that one, so I'll leave them out of it. :mad:

She was right. And collections departments arent scared of energywatch

Sol00

Thanks for being so helpful. It isn't always possible to pay the full amount on time. :T

SwanJon

Energy supplliers accept that you may not be able to pay the full amount on time - which is why they offer budget/payment plans to spread the cost.

If you choose not to accept their offer, what can they do?

Sol00

SwanJon wrote: »

Energy supplliers accept that you may not be able to pay the full amount on time - which is why they offer budget/payment plans to spread the cost.

If you choose not to accept their offer, what can they do?

I think there's some confusion with what I said.

I contacted the debt collection agent for Scottish Power, SPM Collections, to let them know I can only afford to pay £40 per month at the moment due to other financial commitments. The advisor said the only way she could stop this going further is if I make a payment of £39 straight away, to which I said I couldn't as I don't have that kind of money.

The problem I have with this, is that they will now have on record that I called to say I am able to make payment of £40 per month, although this isn't good enough as it HAD to be made on that day. Bearing in mind I have already made a payment of £120 to this account, I think it is very unfair that these companies expect you to somehow make payments of high amounts out of thin air. To threaten an additional charge of upto £250 is disgusting when I have made a promise of payment within a few weeks.

Sorry if this post seems all over the place, but I'm just in from the rain and my hands are freezing lol

SwanJon

Where you are now is going to be difficult - the best thing you can do is to start making regular payments.
The lesson to take away is not to let it get this far - set up an arrangement at the first opportunity - easier to budget, and you may get a discount too.

lyndon_cardiff

I found a strongly worded email to Scottish Power [customer.services@scottishpower.co.uk] worked a charm. SPM Collections is after all merely a trading name for Scottish Power [as will be seen in small print on any correspondence from them]. After inferring the use of intimidation tactics, SP were very happy to come to an agreement.

kirsty_craig

I have had a similar problem, with SPM collections, but even worst is that the actual bill from Scottish power was incorrect, while i am waiting for them to amend the amounts, i get a very threatening letter from SPM. How can I pay it when myself and Scottish power's don't even know what the correct bill is. To add insult to injury, I believe that is actually SP who will end up owing me money!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

Mynewt

If the bill is incorrect and Scottish Power are correcting it they should advise the debt collection angecy of the admendment. If it can't be amended straight away you can make a request to Scottish Power to place a hold with the collection agency.

What's the date on the letter was it sent prior to the dispute being raised with Scottish Power or after? It may have been en route before the problem was recognised.

Scottish_Power

Hi Sol00

I'm sorry to hear of your troubles.


I appreciate that you have other financial commitments and that you have offered to pay £40.00 per month towards your consumption however this may not be enough to cover what you are using and to pay back the outstanding balance over an acceptable time.

If you believe that you are being billed incorrectly then contact us and we can discuss this with you.

I would encourage you to contact our customer service team on 0845 2700 700 or email at [EMAIL="customer.service@scottishpower.co.uk"]customer.service@scottishpower.co.uk[/EMAIL] and get answers to the following questions: (ensure that you provide your current meter readings)

Has my account been billed to an accurate meter reading?
How much is outstanding on my account?
How much am I using on a monthly basis?

You may also wish to speak with our energy efficiency team free on 0800 33 22 33 to help identify ways of using your electricity more effectively.

You are far better to get in contact with us to discuss options that are available to you than not to contact us at all.

Let me know how you get on and if you need any further help.

Colin @ ScottishPower

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