ELECTRIC SHOCKER
Widow stunned after energy firm issue bill demanding £27,000
AN ELDERLY widow was hit with by a £27,000 electricity and gas bill from ScottishPower – two years after leaving the energy giants for overcharging her.
Elizabeth Ramsay, 86, was recovering after a hospital visit for a heart complaint when she received the massive bill, which she said gave her a “big scare”. Despite her family making repeated calls to flag up the mistake, she was sent a final reminder threatening to pass the case to debt collectors.
Elizabeth, who suffers from angina, lives in a one-bedroom home in a sheltered housing complex and normally pays utilities of about £40 a month.
She moved from ScottishPower after they slapped her with a string of inflated bills which left the greatgran struggling financially.
Her family lodged a complaint with Ofgem, and the watchdogs ordered the company to pay her back about £1500 plus £500 in compensation.
Now the new bill for £27,493 has appeared out of the blue and Elizabeth said it has given her sleepless nights.
After the Record intervened, ScottishPower apologised for the “distress” caused but were still unable to explain the mistake.
Elizabeth, from Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire, said: “I got the first bill five or six weeks ago saying I owed them over £27,000.
“I nearly had a fit when I saw it and never slept all night really. I was rushed to hospital a couple of weeks ago with my angina. I’m not supposed to have big scares or stress.
“Half the time you phone ScottishPower, wait ages to get through to speak to someone then the calls hang up in the middle of it.
“My grandson Alex got in touch with them to try and sort it out.
“They weren’t able to give any explanation. They didn’t admit it was a mistake either.
“A couple of days ago, I got a letter saying they’d send the debt collectors.”
Alex Ramsay, 31, a railway project manager from Glasgow, said: “Gran had an electrical storage heater. Everything was electric but her housing association switched to gas central heating and put in solar panels to save residents money.
“But ScottishPower didn’t take her old meter off their computer system. They couldn’t get meter readings so they did estimated readings based on a large family home.
“Gran was getting bills for £240 a month for gas and electricity and she was just paying it.
“She changed provider but now ScottishPower are claiming £27,000 and can’t tell us why. They could’ve given my gran a heart attack.”
A ScottishPower spokeswoman said: “We sincerely apologise to Mrs Ramsay and her family for any distress caused by this matter.
“We’re carrying out a full investigation and rest assured, we will compensate Mrs Ramsay for the inconvenience.”
I nearly had a fit when I saw it and never slept all night. ELIZABETH RAMSAY