Hoping someone can point me in the right direction.

We have been with Scottish Power for apx 6 years. We had a series of meter readings back in 2003-2005 and then another in Jan 2007. This was our last actual reading and since then, our bills have been based upon estimates.

S.Power recently contacted us to request a reading (after 2.5 years) and it would seem that there was an underestimate over recent years, resulting in a bill for £3500.

Following a series of calls from us to S.Power, they then contacted us to advise that there was an 'error' at their end and they would be writing off a period of 6 weeks and then recalculating our bill for the last 12 months (up to the most recent meter reading). They have not been clear about what the error was (I suspect it was simply not reading the meter and using poor estimates).

They have advised today that they are sending a 'revised' bill which is slightly lower than the £3500 and I should receive this in the next couple of days. I asked them 2 questions (which I hope the forum can assist with)

1. Since they have no actual readings, what reading will be used to 'start' the period? ie. How do they know what was used in the past 12 months and what was used in the previous 1.5 years?

2. Secondly, assuming we agreed on the usage figure, what tariff is applied to the reading? Our pence/KWH has risen dramatically in the past 12 months....so what price is used to calculate the bill given that they have no idea when the electricity was used?

They have been pleasant on the phone, but ultimately couldn't answer Q2 above. They did say that the usage would be calculated on some 'average usage basis'.

Should I be doing anything? Does it matter that they didn't read the meter for 2.5 years? Do I have grounds for disputing the bill?

Any advice much appreciated

pford75:

OK, same issue as your other post but more detail. You will have gathered from the other post there is something called "Code of Practice for Accurate Billing". The gist of the Code is that suppliers can't charge for energy first billed more than 12 months previously. You might also gather that the circumstances in which the 12 months backdating rule applies to the customer's benefit is not always clear.

The meter readings from 2003-2005 and the Jan 2007 reading should enable a fairly accurate consumption pattern to be estimated unless you alledge there is a reason why consumption has significantly increased in the last 12 months.

£3500, less what you have paid in the last year, doesn't sound like writing off all but the last year. Your questions are good but a little more info about the estimates and monthly or quarterly payments made are required to advise better.

Thanks for the help.

I will await the revised bill (which I should have in next 48 hrs) and then post with some more exact figures

Aaargh!!!

So, after the initial advice here, I have been speaking with Scottish Power over the recent days. They advised that all of our bills for the past 2.5 years have been based on estimates (leading to an underpayment). When I queried why they hadn't read the meter for 2.5 years, they said that they did read the meter last year, but due to an error, this actual reading wasn't used to calculate our bill and instead they stayed with the estimate (which was much lower).

The total underpayment over the entire period amounted to apx. £3100! S.Power proposed to bill only for the past 12 months as this was due to their error. They then calculated the 12 month underpayment at £1443.16 which they propose to collect at £60/month over 2 years. They also wish to increase the monthly DD from £122 to £250. Meaning our monthly elec bill goes from £122 to £310.

When I asked about how the 12 month bill was calculated, they explained they are using an estimate of energy usage based upon our consumption over the past 2.5 years. They are then taking an average price over the 12 month period to calculate the cost. Is this what normally happens?

I said to SP that I wanted to wait for the printed bill so I could see the figures for myself. They agreed. Then yesterday the new bill arrived. It's still using estimates (too low) and doesn't have any of the figures I discussed with SP!!!!!

Do I have any comeback against SP, given that I have provided them with actual readings (and they have read the meter themselves), yet they have continued to bill on estimates?

Any help much appreciated

pford75:

Have you studied the Code Of Practice for Accurate Billing and it's FAQ. If not go through it with a fine tooth comb examining Scottish Power's handling of the billing. On the face of it they have admitted to at least one failure. Still puzzled that you are getting annual bills and not quarterly bills. Any reason?

Busy at the moment but will look at the details later.

Where can I find the code of practice?

We have always been billed on an annual basis by SP.

If the conclusion is that we have to make repayments etc. are we able to switch to another supplier or are we tied into SP until the underpayment is reduced to zero (I don't object to paying for what we used, but I don't see why I should be tied into SP because of their error)

http://www.energy-retail.org.uk/customerbilling.html

click on link above

Never really understood this point of view. Surely if SP have sent out an estimated bill it's the householders responsibility to check it and advise them if they are under or over estimating....It's surprising that you don't here of people getting back thousands of pounds due to over estimating isn't it ?

Yes, it is the householder's responsibility to ensure that their bills are based on accurate reads. However, it is also the power companies' responsibility to make sure they attempt to read the meters in the first place.

Sounds like you've been doing the rounds. I'd go straight to Consumer Focus (Formerly Energywatch), they'll help you with your complaint.

d28boy:

Never really understood this point of view. Surely if SP have sent out an estimated bill it's the householders responsibility to check it and advise them if they are under or over estimating

I agree with you up to a point. Its a no-brainer for an able bodied consumer with good eysight not to check the accuracy of any estimated readings received, and the suppliers make it easy to submit an actual reading. The Code of Practice mentioned is an industry association document to which most suppliers are signatories to.

Consumers are not signatories to the Code.

The Code implements among other things, a legal requirement to obtain a meter reading at least every 2 years. It also requires a supplier to make accurate estimates based on previous consumption or failing that typical consumption. I do not believe a consumer's failure to update an estimated reading excuses the supplier for failures to observe a Code the consumer is not a party to.

I can't judge the merit of cases highlighted in this forum but on the face of it most involve failure of the Code at least in spirit. And these are only the cases we hear about.

just read the above code of practice & it seems to say that the provider must "attempt" to obtain an accurate reading every 15 months. I guess that will be where the crux of the issue is. If they can demonstrate attempts to access the meter or requests for the meter to be read I guess the consumer is sunk!

pford75:

If the conclusion is that we have to make repayments etc. are we able to switch to another supplier or are we tied into SP until the underpayment is reduced to zero

Yes and No to your questions. An account deficit due to the Direct Debit being insufficient is not grounds for an objection to a transfer so long as the payments were maintained, but be aware that if you switch the final balance will be due to Scottish Power as a lump sum (unless you agree a different outcome to the issue)

I note you are paying monthly DD. Yes there will an annual "bill" but I am puzzled that there is no evidence of quarterly "statements". If you have not been receiving quarterly statements that is something to investigate.

Jalexa's right. I can tell you from experience that you're entitled to at least the following:

Write off of ANY usage prior to the latest read as they had not taken reads in 2 years. This is a statute, and the Power Company cannot ignore this. The fact that they state they have a read but it wasn't applied in error is insignificant. They have to prove they took the read in the first place.

Contact Consumer Focus (formerly Energywatch), explain the problem, and state you would like the following:

1. You are not willing to pay for any usage prior to a meter read, as SP have broken the Code of Practice by not attempting to register a meter read for over 2 years.

2. You cannot afford to pay such a large bill, due to the stress and inconvenience caused by this, you would like some money knocked off.

3. The bill must be based of accurate estimates. Therefore, provide a full list of appliances in your household, along with 7 day reads, and for how long heating etc is used. State that you want your usage to be based on accurate estimates and not ones SP has pulled out of a hat. They can't very well estimate usage based on previous usage when they have no reliable reads to get this figure from!

4. Do nothing else. Consumer Focus will take this forward. SP will have 7 days to respond to them, until then the account will be in dispute and you'll be left alone.

I really cannot stress enough how important it is that people use an organisation such as Consumer Focus. it's a lot more difficult for a power company to ignore a goverment funded regulator than it is for them to dismiss your complaints.

Have spoken this afternoon to Consumer Direct. They advised me that SP have broken the code of practice by failing to use actual readings provided by myself (and their own meter readers). As such, they will only bill for underpayment in the past 12 months.

Consumer Direct advised that SP are not obliged to write-off the entire bill - just anything more than 12 months old.