Final amount taken from my bank

fly-catchers · 18 March 2017 at 8:57PM

I started a switch from Scottish Power to Coop energy late last year. And provided my final reading to the Coop on the 1st Feb as instructed. Later on Scottish Power showed a final bill on their web site with somewhat higher readings and described as "Estimated". I have read on this site that this is normal practice and they get a third party to give them this figure. So far Coop energy have taken one DD amount on the date agreed but have not yet added any figures to the amount used- it still shows 0KW against gas & electricity. I assume they should add the same figures that Scottish Power used. I have had no contact from Scottish Power about my final bill and it was only by chance I looked at my account on their site. I had a remaining debit of just over £800. Today I happened to log onto my current account and saw this amount was withdrawn 3 days ago and I have been overdrawn by that amount for those days. As this was taken via my DD does the DD rules apply where you should be informed about any changes to amount or date 10 days before it occurs? As had I been informed I would have ensured I had moved some funds across. Now I will have charges to pay for the overdraft.

cheers

victor2 · 18 March 2017 at 9:25PM

It does seem to be fairly common for estimated readings to be used. Co-op should use them as opening readings for your account, so you won't be charged twice for the same utility.
The final bill from Scottish Power probably also said when they would take the payment by DD. If you were managing your account online, I would have expected them to send an email saying your bill was ready. Maybe they did and it was treated as spam?
Until Co-op get (or estimate) readings and produce a bill, you are unlikely to see any usage reported. How often do they bill? If your contract only started on Feb 2, it could be a few months before they produce a bill. If you want to figure out your current position, take your readings now, deduct the estimated final readings, work out the kWh and corresponding cost - don't forget the standing charge, any discounts applicable and VAT at 5%.

fly-catchers · 18 March 2017 at 9:41PM

I did check very carefully and there was no reference to when the amount would be debited and no e-mail or letter from Scottish Power either. Although I did get a letter from Scottish Power on the 26th Jan telling me they had reviewed my DD and were upping it for my March payment on the 1st. This particular payment did not occur and nothing was taken till the £800 odd this week. So could easily have sent a letter or e-mail or a message on their web site...

D_M_E · 18 March 2017 at 9:57PM

If you did not agree with their "estimate" why did you not dispute it?

Was the final demand/bill for £800 what you were expecting or anywhere near?

When I switched from SP they sent estimated readings to the new supplier and these readings equated to 2 years of energy use.

I had to raise an Agreed Readings Dispute with the new supplier and eventually got them changed to only about 20 or so units above what they should have been, but even so it took SP about 3 months to finally agree and send a "correct" final bill which was close enough to what it should have been which I then paid.

Have you considered using the DD guarantee and claiming back the £800 then requesting SP to produce a bill to support their demand?

Hopefully by now you have cancelled the SP DD mandate.

matelodave · 18 March 2017 at 10:35PM

Were you unaware of the rough size of your closing bill or have you just not bothered to check your bills or statements, especially as you knew that there was a final one in the offing.

£800 seems to be quite a large arrears, have you been letting estimates build up and not sending in readings - if so they've finally caught up with you.

You could try the Direct Debit Guarantee, assuming that you weren't notified, but SP could counter that by saying that the bill/statement was readily available on your on-line account.

footyguy · 19 March 2017 at 12:18AM

fly-catchers wrote: »

I started a switch from Scottish Power to Coop energy late last year. And provided my final reading to the Coop on the 1st Feb as instructed. Later on Scottish Power showed a final bill on their web site with somewhat higher readings and described as "Estimated". I have read on this site that this is normal practice and they get a third party to give them this figure. So far Coop energy have taken one DD amount on the date agreed but have not yet added any figures to the amount used- it still shows 0KW against gas & electricity. I assume they should add the same figures that Scottish Power used. I have had no contact from Scottish Power about my final bill and it was only by chance I looked at my account on their site. I had a remaining debit of just over £800. Today I happened to log onto my current account and saw this amount was withdrawn 3 days ago and I have been overdrawn by that amount for those days. As this was taken via my DD does the DD rules apply where you should be informed about any changes to amount or date 10 days before it occurs? As had I been informed I would have ensured I had moved some funds across. Now I will have charges to pay for the overdraft.

cheers

You are fully protected by the terms of the Direct Debit Guarantee.

It is a requirement that you are given appropriate advance notice before any amount is taken from your account. If it is not, you can claim a full & immediate refund from your bank plus consequential damages ( i.e. bank charges) although these may take up to about 2 weeks to be reimbursed)

spiro · 19 March 2017 at 9:21AM

In elec it is the new supplier who provides the change of supplier reading to the old supplier. Did you give the Co-op a reading within 5 days of the switch date?

Final amount taken from my bank

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