£30 per week arrears for Gas & Elec

badmark

We have got into bother with paying gas and electric with Scottish power by direct debit and they have insisted we have prepayment meters installed, ok fine, I know they are more expensive but... the problem is they are saying that they will be set to reclaim £31.00 per week of the debt for the gas and electric. they say this is a standard amount but it will cripple us even before we start buying the stuff we use !
Any ideas ?

kez1978

scottish power offered me to pay £5 a week if i went on a meter, and i owe over £700, tell them what you can afford, if they wont accept it, then change suppliers and contact cab.

bagpuss_fan

We pay on DD with Hydro, and ours hasn't covered the cost of what we've used for the last 3 months. Their standard procedure is to divide the debt by 12 so you've paid it within a year. I know you're with a different company but that amount seams a ridiculous amount, you definately need to ring them, sooner rather than later!.

UtilityMan_3

I have a feeling that would be 12 months?

CAB is definitiely the place to start, statement of means etc.

The whole thing is ridiculous, as if you were on Income Support it's £5 standard (and less with Fuel Direct).

You get punished for trying to earn a buck in this Country! But Politics is another thing altogther.

mute_posting

How big is the debt?!?

£31 per week sounds a LOT for a arrears repayment on a key meter - like others have mentioned, £4 -5 per week seems to the norm from the posts I have seen on these boards.

Either it is a very big debt or they are asking for it paying off double quick.

MP

UtilityMan_3

Hi MP

It's a combination of debt and consumption for next 12 months so balance zero's.

My guess is the offer is for 12 months, if not then definitely needs to be spread over 12 months.

mute_posting

UtilityMan wrote: »

Hi MP

It's a combination of debt and consumption for next 12 months so balance zero's.

My guess is the offer is for 12 months, if not then definitely needs to be spread over 12 months.

Well if it covers the next 12 months then the £31 isn't strictly being "reclaimed" - part is for the reclaim and part for ongoing usage

badmark

Thanks everyone sorry for late response for your help, the figure they want on a £500 arrears is £30.00 per week plus usage

eira

See my posts re Scottish Power and DD.
1)How did the arrears occur-in my case it was their error
2) Contact EnergyWatch as a mediator-it found that the arrears were SP's fault and reduced them. It also negotiated paying off the arrears over a longer period of time which made the whole thing more manageable
3)Beware what happens when the arrears get paid off-SP revised my DD to include the arrears amount plus the price rises plus the regular bill
4) They then became very cavalier about the DD amounts until I ended up very much in credit and I couldn't get the money back

Have now given up and gone to another supplier. I found SP had a real cavalier approach to DD-it was hard to make them understand (a deliberate ploy perhaps) that DD came out of monthly income and that dumping a rise of £100 a m onth in my case just might be hard to manage.

Ring Energy Watch as soon as possible- and good luck !

kianella

Hi all, i am having massive problems with my scottish power prepayment meter. I was forced to get the meter installed in may & have been averaging use on my electric of about £1 to £1.50 a day. last saturday I put £20 into the meter & yesterday i put another £5 in when ive looked today only £1 of that was left, the meter is whizzing round like no tomorrow & even used £2 yesterday when no one was in {only fridge plugged in}. I am worried that scottish power have decided to up the debt i am repaying as it says charge £16.14 on the meter & someone has been at my meter this week as its outside & the door was left open. tried to call scottish power but are closed does anyone have any advice thanks

kjsmith7

I don't think they can just "up" your amount you have to pay, kianella, but I'm only really very good with credit meters not prepayment! I presume they'd HAVE to write you a letter letting you know about the change. The person who was "at your meter" was probably a meter reader. You mention they've left the door open - do you have a key to shut it? If not you can request one from your supplier. I say this only because if the door breaks and it's their fault, they'll pay for it, but only if it is within 6 weeks of them opening it! (Just thought I'd give you a heads up)