Scottish Power £9501 bill

Amjaco · 9 May 2018 at 12:00AM

I'm writing this to warn people about checking their final bill with Scottish Power.
My special rate was finishing at the end of March so I decided to change supplier as Scottish Power could not offer me anything to stay. When I decided to leave them I was £122 in credit, as we've had a cold winter I thought I might owe them something but when my final bill came saying I owe them £337 I decided to look closer at my bill. I have been paying a combined monthly amount of £102.82 but have never been given a break down to how much is for gas and how much for electric. My final bill has come as two separate bills, on the gas one it starts with saying I'm £77.24 in debit and has 3 payments of £52.08 against it, it also has a credit from my electric bill added to it for £43.77 but my electric bill starts off saying I'm £18.61 in credit. The meter readings for 28th November 2017 is exactly the same as the meter reading for 25th March 2018 so it appears I've been charge twice for the same electric, I called up to ask them to look at my bills as they didn't make sense and there is know where showing the balance from my £102.82 monthly payment.
They revised my bill and reissued it, this time it is for £9501.58, I nearly died on the spot, I called them straight away and they said they would look into it, I got my revised bill over the weekend, the total I owe is £9501.58.
I have spoken to them again today and they can now see that perhaps that's a little high for a single parent with 2 teenage daughters living in a 3 bed semi detached house.
They have now issued a new bill for £327.57, which is a lot better but I know it is still wrong as it doesn't show any of my monthly payments. I have requested that they send all my bills since I started with them 12 months ago and I'm going to go through them will a fine tooth comb.
Martin Lewis advises to change suppliers but if this is the hassle I wont both again, I changed because their monthly direct debit was cheaper BUT if the amount I owe is correct then my original monthly payments were actually cheaper and all I done is left myself with a large bill.
Please check your final bill, some people would just have paid the £337 they originally said I owe but if I'm correct the amount I actually owe is more like £100.
If they can send a bill out for £9501.58 to a single mum with 2 kids and think its right TWICE then they can do anything because they obviously don't check before sending.

JJ_Egan · 9 May 2018 at 8:04AM

< I changed because their monthly direct debit was cheaper>

But that's only an estimate not your actual usage .

Bigphil1474 · 9 May 2018 at 8:20AM

OP, swapping suppliers isn't just about what you pay. It's not even just about what your energy cost - which as Egan says, is a different thing. It's an overall look at the company you chose to do business with. I've never been with Scottish Power, so have no positive or negative experience of them myself. However, I have had happy days with BG, and EDF. Nobody says you have to switch, but if you don't want hassle, switch to a company that may not be the cheapest but has a good customer service rating, or decent feedback on whatever site you look at, but is cheaper than what you pay now.
Also look out for being in credit - it's usually based on what you've paid so far, but not what you've been billed for. I'm currently £300 in credit on my account online, but that's because I'm waiting a while before submitting my meter reading which will take all that credit away.

Amjaco · 9 May 2018 at 9:25AM

I know its an estimate and I expected it to be higher than last year because we had a colder winter but over £300 dearer!
I went with Scottish Power as they are one of the main 6 and have good customer services but its not really about that, they have sent me two bills saying I owe £9501, I don't think for one minute that anyone would think that a £9501 bill is correct but what if it was £950, then there may be people out there like my elderly parents that would panic at being in debt so much and just pay it.
I just want to bring it to peoples attention that they need to check their final bill as they are not always correct.

poppellerant · 9 May 2018 at 9:42AM

I think it is more important to submit regular meter readings, at the same time each month. So if your bill is due on the 7th of each month, take and submit meter readings on the 1st of each month. Doing this should give you two benefits:

No surprise bills
Your annual consumption

So when your contract is due to end, you should not owe the supplier anything, or very little and you will have your annual usage to hand when using comparison sites.

So I would check your bills. Are they based on actual readings? If not, submit them today and ask them to recalculate your bills based on your actual usage. This is the fairest way of billing you, as you're only paying for what you use. While you're on the phone, ask for your annual usage - you can then start getting proper estimates online.

brewerdave · 9 May 2018 at 9:58AM

This is a thread that ,once again, underlines the importance of taking responsibility for one's utilities. Unfortunately, the days of the regular meter reader visit are long gone (I haven't had one on the gas for over two years and nearly 2 years since the leccy meter was read).
The bill of £9500+ was raised by the computer -no human intervention - and as I have found when sorting out my daughter's bill, it is VERY difficult to get hold of anyone in first line Customer Services who is empowered to do anything about an obviously incorrect bill EVEN WHEN they recognise it's wrong!!.
Every bill/statement I get nowadays is checked and checked again because the Utility Cos. have no interest in the individual.

wavelets · 9 May 2018 at 10:38AM

Amjaco wrote: »

I'm writing this to warn people about checking their final bill with Scottish Power.
My special rate was finishing at the end of March so I decided to change supplier as Scottish Power could not offer me anything to stay. When I decided to leave them I was £122 in credit, as we've had a cold winter I thought I might owe them something but when my final bill came saying I owe them £337 I decided to look closer at my bill. I have been paying a combined monthly amount of £102.82 but have never been given a break down to how much is for gas and how much for electric. My final bill has come as two separate bills, on the gas one it starts with saying I'm £77.24 in debit and has 3 payments of £52.08 against it, it also has a credit from my electric bill added to it for £43.77 but my electric bill starts off saying I'm £18.61 in credit. The meter readings for 28th November 2017 is exactly the same as the meter reading for 25th March 2018 so it appears I've been charge twice for the same electric, I called up to ask them to look at my bills as they didn't make sense and there is know where showing the balance from my £102.82 monthly payment.
They revised my bill and reissued it, this time it is for £9501.58, I nearly died on the spot, I called them straight away and they said they would look into it, I got my revised bill over the weekend, the total I owe is £9501.58.
I have spoken to them again today and they can now see that perhaps that's a little high for a single parent with 2 teenage daughters living in a 3 bed semi detached house.
They have now issued a new bill for £327.57, which is a lot better but I know it is still wrong as it doesn't show any of my monthly payments. I have requested that they send all my bills since I started with them 12 months ago and I'm going to go through them will a fine tooth comb.
Martin Lewis advises to change suppliers but if this is the hassle I wont both again, I changed because their monthly direct debit was cheaper BUT if the amount I owe is correct then my original monthly payments were actually cheaper and all I done is left myself with a large bill.
Please check your final bill, some people would just have paid the £337 they originally said I owe but if I'm correct the amount I actually owe is more like £100.
If they can send a bill out for £9501.58 to a single mum with 2 kids and think its right TWICE then they can do anything because they obviously don't check before sending.

Misleading thread title alert.

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth · 9 May 2018 at 12:29PM

In February this year on Your Stitched site, current SP users were offered the April Super Saver deal, my gas went down and the leccy just up slightly. I was December 18 2 year fixed and snapped it up!

Current £65 a month, smart meters. gas 12,100 kWh and elect 3,200 kWh per year.

SP customer for 30 years, apart from a brief period in Coventry when someone else paid via BG and MEB because I could not cancel their contract!!!

Amjaco · 9 May 2018 at 2:30PM

I don't usually post on here, I wanted to warn everyone just to be careful but everyone seems to want to jump down my throat.
I'm a 49 year old women that has been paying her own mortgage and bills for 30 years, I'm really not stupid and I do shop around and don't just go with whoever is offering the cheapest.
My gas meter is in a very difficult place to reach and even the meter man has failed to take a reading before.
Having said that I do check every bill and I do keep an eye on the readings BUT Scottish Power have my reading dated the 27/11/18 exactly the same as my meter reading dated 25/11/18 even though I provided them with readings. My bills were fine until the last ones, my last bill was February and I was £122 in credit, I left on March the 25th, but my new gas is bill is dated the 6th July 2017 to 25th March 2018 and my electric bill is dated 31st August 2017 to 25th March 2018. Why aren't the bills dated 26th February 2018 to 25th March 2018.
I phoned up Scottish Power when I decided to leave, in my area they could not offer me a deal that was worth my staying with them.
As with 'wavelets' saying this is a misleading thread title, I'm the one that's had to wait 4 weeks with a 9K bill on my lap, not very enjoyable.
I have now worked my bills out from my very first meter readings and I should actually be in credit.
Why are you all so cross and angry, my main concern was that someone else would receive a bill like mine and panic and do something silly, I was just trying to say that sometimes they get it wrong.

Amjaco · 9 May 2018 at 2:41PM

Yes but an estimate is not usually £300 out

Amjaco · 9 May 2018 at 2:43PM

This is not a misleading title, Scottish Power have billed me twice in the last 4 weeks for £9501.58.

Scottish Power £9501 bill

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