Scot Power - £800 bill from 2001!!!

PJBECKETT_2

Hi,

Wonder if anyone else has had this sort of experience.
I'm on a pre-payment meter. Scottish Power wanted to come and replace it, so I said I would like to go over to a normal credit type meter.
They said I could only do this if the large balance on my account was cleared (£800) - WHAT BALANCE??? I replied (as the whole idea of paying up front is that you DONT incur a debt)

After an investigation thay found out the price increases had not been applied (by a bloke comming round and programming the meter) since 2001!!!
They checked their records and no one had tried to make an appointment or inform me.

Now I know the prices had increased, but didn't know HOW they changed the tariff. Should I be expected to pay for what is their mistake, particularly as they haven't bothered about it since 2001. They have offered a 30% 'discount' but I don't think I should have to fork out any money for their mistake.

What do you think? Any similar experiences?

Cardew

This has been covered many many times on this forum.

Firstly it is an absolute disgrace and questions have been raised on this issue in Parliment.

Some firms, including BG simply write off the whole amount.

Other firms don't and there is no doubt that you are liable for this debt.

Unfortunately you are not correct in implying that you pay for everything 'up front' All pre-pay means is you pay something on your account.

After all if prices had gone down(once! against countless rises) they would owe you money - fat chance.

Also if they didn't have this provision some people would not let them in to change the meter setting until the Utility company had obtained a court order.

So it was a sensible provision, as clearly several million meters could not all be reset on the same day of the price rise!

The trouble is that lots of Utility companies didn't really make much effort to reset meters or missed them. They should of course check meters regularly.

I would make a big fuss, say that they are bound to inspect meters every 2 years*, and you are going to pass it to Energywatch etc.

You might get a bigger reduction/written off?

Good Luck

* not certain if that applies to pre-pay, but I expect it does as other meters should be read every 2 years.

Sol00

Is there not new rules, whereby, the utility company cannot ask for more than 1 year of debt, if it is their fault?

Cardew

Sol00 wrote: »

Is there not new rules, whereby, the utility company cannot ask for more than 1 year of debt, if it is their fault?

No.

That is for credir meters(ie normal meters where get quarterly bills - not pre-pay).

Even then that only applies if you have not had a bill at all - a low bill doesn't count.

IvanOpinion

PJBECKETT wrote: »

They said I could only do this if the large balance on my account was cleared (£800) - WHAT BALANCE??? I replied (as the whole idea of paying up front is that you DONT incur a debt)

That is a mis-perception of a pre-payment meter ... the 'payments' on a meter and the actuall billing of a tariff are totally independent actions. They will/should adjust the meter to record the tariff as closely as possible however it would purely be coincidence if the 2 matched exactly.

What surprises me is that you should have received AT LEAST 6 or 7 bills during this period. They would have shown the actual state of affairs .. why did you ignore them? If they did not get an actual reading in the last couple of years or send you bills (and they can check) then I would suggest you have quite a strong case ... if however they sent you bills showing consumption and amount owing it will weaken your case.

Ivan

Joyful

Garyfirst

You could not have had an identical problem with every poster. You do not need to post this info every time you see a thread about SP.

Cardew

Garyfirst,
Spamming every thread about SP with the identical post will not help your cause.

You have posted on your 'problem' previously.

Nobody, and there are some knowledgeable people on this forum, thinks you have a case.

Energywatch and the ombudsman don't think you have a case!

Shouting loud and frequently about the case, will not make it any stronger.

I assume that English is not your Mother tongue? Perhaps you simply have not understood the terms and conditions?

As I said in another post, if you still feel that you have been wronged, then take legal action!

Plushchris

Post reported.

I know its not spam but its just as annoying reading exactly the same drivel on every thread.