Scottish Power Dodgy billing strategy

A_fiend_for_life

I informed scottish power that I was having trouble paying a bill because of a change in circumstances. I had an outstanding bill with Scottish Power with £50 remaining to be paid. I then received a phone call requesting a reading. This was apparently to check the reading rather than billing as it has not been physically checked for around a year and a half. I then received a bill for £120 compounding my difficulty in paying

I received a phone call on the Thursday before Easter and informed them that I would be paying the outstanding balance on the following Tuesday or Wednesday (to allow for bank holiday snarl ups. I was told that was OK so long as I paid up by Wednesday at the latest.

I then received dated for (Bank Holiday Monday - do these people not have decent holidays??) stating that it had been passed on to a debt collection agency with threats of court action a visit that would cost £37 !!

I have now had to pay this as they would not negotiate a different means of paying. at a time when I was on very low income and just received their nasty price rise.

I have a number of issues with this:

1) Scottish Powers issuing of a letter when I had already made an agreement on the phone.

2) Issuing another bill 1 month early despite being a quarterly contract!!

3) Producing an early bill when they already new my difficult circumstances

4) Claiming it was just a reading and not for billing.

5) Issuing a letter and persisting in for the last three years to get me on a prepayment meter that they stated is not more expensive than quarterly billing (standard Tarriff ).

6) Forcing me into paying when I could not afford it with a threat of court action.

7) This according to SP has not affected my credit rating. Which I still need to check.

This strategy seems designed to force me into a prepayment meter that is more expensive as reported on the press and to result in a court action that could affect my credit rating and make migration more difficult. I have been complaining for 6 weeks or more and have still not received a satisfactory response from them. Their strategy seems to be to avoid escalating your complaint to the next level. You have to explicitly request that you want it dealt with at X level.

Has anybody else had this problem?? I feel they need a good rap on the knuckles for this one.

Any suggestions??

Cardew

Firstly you shouldn't be surprised that a Utility company call centre has chaotic admin.

Secondly, unless I have misunderstood something, it appears that you have a poor payment record, as they have been "persisting in for the last three years to get me on a prepayment meter"

I can't think of another reason why they would try to get you on a pre-pay tariff.

Presumably the £50 was owing from a bill you did not pay in full?

IMO it is simply not an excuse to say I can't afford to pay a bill. You are on a quarterly credit tariff and agree to pay your bill in full. If you cannot afford to do this then pre-pay is the option.

I also am pretty sure that a Utility company would not call in debt collectors for a mere £50 debt unless there was a history of poor payment.

Unless I have missed the point, the company have simply lost patience with you and have stopped negotiating and taken steps to get the money you owe them.

glasgow_DFW

I would agree. It they are looking for you to pay for the eneergy that you have used. I have had a look at the sp website and prices and a quick comparison and pre pay is cheaper than paying quaterly especialy if you are not paying promptly. (which from your post your not)

Premier_2

Scottish Power Dodgy billing strategy?

So let me get this right.

You used gas and/or electricity on a credit meter.

The utility company billed you for the amount you consumed based on a meter reading

You failed to pay the company for the energy recorded as used and billed.


... I think that's dreadful. Take 'em to the High Court! Sounds extremely dodgy to me. :rolleyes:


To address some of your points in more detail.

The company has every right to send you letters either confirming what was agreed or attempting to secure money from you they believe you owe.
If you've used the energy and they've billed you for it correctly, you owe them the money.

I don't think you are on a quarterly contract (unless you have a unique one where it says what dates they will bill you on)
I think you are on a standard credit tariff. The company can therefore bill you when they like for energy recorded as being used. It's just customary for them to bill you approximately every 3 months, but I don't think there is any contractual reason they cannot bill you before this.

In the event they do not read the meter, they are entitled to use an estimated reading for billing purposes. Would you have prefered they billed you using an estimated (possibly higher) reading rather than the one you supplied? Indeed as the meter had not been read for 18 moths or so, previous bills would have been estimated. The reason for the request for you to provide a meter reading was to check those estimates. I could have been they had overcharged you by over estimating the usage. How peeved would you have been if it was discovered that they were chasing you for £50 worth of energy that you had not even used (because of the over estimated readings)? I bet you would have asked for a revised bill quick enough then. In the circumstances, they had underestimated the readings and so sent a revised bill based on the reading you provided and more accurately reflecting the amount you have actually used.

As previously mentioned, claiming not to be able to afford to pay is irrelevant. You used the energy, they are entitled to bill you accordingly and you have to pay. The company may resort to legal action if necessary to force you to pay.

With regards the £37 fee for a visit from the collection agency, well I guess you didn't actually get charged this as I somehow doubt the agent called within 2 working days of you reaching an agreement to pay the overdue £50.00. No visit, no fee - and if you paid up by Wednesday as promised on the previous Thursday they won't visit.
However, if you didn't pay, they could have used a collection agent since you obviously owed the money for some time and were worried about securing that payment. They needed to send you the letter since, let's say you broke your promise and failed to pay - how would you have felt having a visit and being charged the £37.00 without prior warning?