Please help . . . we just want to stop living in fear of Scottish Power
S.B. writes: My account with Scottish Power has been under review by the energy supplier for more than 18 months, as it insists we owe more than £7,000. The company claims we have not made a payment since 2013, but I have spoken to people at Scottish Power who stress that a domestic account would not be allowed to get into this state. I have supplied meter readings but still get an estimated bill. I have set up direct debits for agreed amounts, but then it takes different amounts, once collecting three payments within seven days. I cancelled the direct debit, so Scottish Power then took £700 from my wife’s account instead. It has now put a default notice on my credit file, which is causing untold stress. We want to stop living in fear of Scottish Power.
I AM quite used to receiving complaints about utility companies, but something has clearly gone badly wrong at Spanish-owned Scottish Power, judging by the sharp rise in the number of letters and emails I have received from readers.
And what jumped off the page when I read your complaint was the company’s claim that you have not made a payment since 2013.
Several weeks ago we published a letter from a charity that was being threatened with closure because of Scottish Power’s demands, and those demands were also rooted in the allegation that the charity had paid nothing since 2013 and now owes almost £25,000.
The explanation was – and is – bizarre. In 2013, Scottish Power updated its computerised billing system, but the update was flawed. Customers who were affected by this received normal bills, and made normal payments. But the computer recorded that Scottish Power owed them money instead of the other way around.
This showed up in records as a credit balance, so Scottish Power reduced the amount it collected, and every month the same thing happened: the more energy you used, the bigger the accidental credit balance grew, and the less the company collected. Now the computer glitch has been spotted, and although there is a limit to how far back it can go, Scottish Power wants its money.
But even now, it cannot get things right. It sent you a notice of overdue payment that complains: ‘You agreed to repay your outstanding balance of £0.00 by instalments. Because you have not kept to this agreement, it has been cancelled.’
How anyone can pay no pounds and no pence by instalments is a mystery.
I repeatedly invited Scottish Power boss Keith Anderson to comment. He stayed silent and said nothing. One of his staff also refused to comment, because early in March you had lodged a complaint with the Energy Ombudsman. The company would only comment after it had considered your complaint, filed their response, allowed a couple more months for the Ombudsman to investigate and then to offer an outcome. Meanwhile, the fear continues.
And Scottish Power has been just as bad at handling the situation with the charity I wrote about. On March 18, the company told me it would contact the charity on March 20 to discuss the problem, but March 20 came and went without any such contact. Yet Scottish Power has increased the charity’s monthly bill from £1,490 to £1,596, increasing the risk it could go bust. Truly, something is very, very wrong with this company, and just as truly, I am sure I shall be writing about it again soon.