The guy that reads the meter is fairly consistent and i do check the bill readings against my actual meter reading.

Generally they have been within spitting distance, i would hate to try and short pay them to receive a bumper bill, so I am pretty honest about it.

I'll try and find an old bill and see if theres any rate change from last year until now. I do not think that my usage will have increased.

I have an account I use for bills and have a standing order set up, so hopefully if I went away from a DD, I would have that money available to pay a quarterly sum.

Has anyone seen any rate reductions from their suppliers as fuel prices have dropped significantly?

Brewerdave - Account has always been in credit. Not always as much as £250, that was partly due to them screwing me for a DD discount. (I have payed DD since buying my house 2.5 years ago but i doubt they would back credit me that amount!) I have always wondered why they continually want to increase it based on bull**** readings until you confront them.

Thaks for the comments

At the end of the day it is your usage and the unit price that determines how much you pay each month. So check that your quarterly bills are based on actual readings rather than estimates. Also check the unit price of the units you are buying - it should tell you if the underlying cost has gone up. Look back at last years bills and compare the units usage figures (rather than just the cost) to make sure they are comparable or have reduced as you expect.

If you only want to pay for exactly what you use move to paying each quarter by cheque but you will then lose the discount for paying by monthly DD and may find budgeting harder. Again if you go down this route make sure you get an accurate reading for each bill and get the bill amended to reflect that.

The first increase proposed to you by Scottish Power a couple of months ago was probably based on estimated meter readings/ usage.I was in the same situation with them about the same time as they wanted to increase my DD by £33 pm but when I plugged in the actual usages by reading my meter and pointed out that they weren't showing my up to date payment records they agreed to leave my DD at same level!

I would presume the big turnaround in your situation is due to actual meter readings now being used; was that £250 credit based on estimates???

Our bills got hiked to £70 a month when the price increases first kicked in. We have always payed by direct debit, yet they were not applying the discounts you get for paying monthly, so they were screwing us for some time.

Our bills reduced to £50 or so from a reduction in fuel prices and also applying the discounts that we should have had anyway.

The account has always been in credit, and with fuel prices falling still, and the Government warning utility companies they will force them to reduce their prices, how can anyone justify putting our rates up?

I realise they think they can pretty much do as they please, but surely its just the same as theft?

I dont think my consumption has increased, as last year my partners brother was staying with us, and now with him away there are less people in the house, and i would say less consumption?

Would moving to paying quarterly increase my bills? Or is it a safer bet for accurate payments?

Thanks for your help

It was warm last winter. It was warm the winter before that. Not only are you paying for winter months now, you are paying for a much colder winter than for a while. Add last year's price increase (or two) and the scum who knocked on your door and debits are out of kilter. If you were paying £70 before you should certainly be paying more now.

Look at your meter. Look at your consumption last winter. Look at your consumption this winter. Look at today's prices. Are you sure £80 is too much?

If you don't want money sitting in their account withdraw from the direct debit scheme and pay quarterly.

And never listen to a word a salesman who knocks on your door says.

I am a Scottish Power customer for both gas and electricity and had been paying around £70 a month by direct debit for some time. Account was always in credit.

A couple of months ago we received a letter advising that our bill would increase to £100 a month. Coincidently, a Scottish Power rep came to our house and advised us that we should actually be able to reduce our bills as we pay by direct debit/fuel prices dropping etc. A quick phone call to Scottish Power and without any arguement the bills reduced to £50 a month. Account was in credit by £250 at this point

We have now received a letter stating that our bills will be increased to £80 a month and we actually owe them £50, so our account has turned around by £300 in just 2 months. I can appreciate the heating has been on more over the winter, but not much more than it had been on in October when the bills reduced. So I dont think it justifies such a hike in my bills.

Has anyone else had the same problem? Any advice before speaking to Scottish Power and asking them to justify the price increase? Is it worth moving provider, or at least threatening them that I will in order to keep the bills down?

I have read from the moneysupermarket articles that fuel prices have dropped to almost half of what they were in July 2008, so surely they have no right in hiking my bills just so that money sits in their account, rather than mine?

Any advice would be appreciated.