Hi,

The flat I live in has four bedrooms and has the standard number of appliances fridges, tv's etc etc. We do not use the tumble dryer and the heating is Gas.

We received a threatening letter from SPM Collections on Monday this week demanding £292.56 to be paid immediately. However we never received a bill! When I phoned Scottishpower I requested the meter readings that the bill was based on and was absolutely shocked to see the descrepancies between the meter readings.

The meter readings below were all read by somebody from Scottishpower.

Date: June 09 Reading 067968

Date: 31/07/09 Reading 068791

Date: 03/09/09 Reading 070727

Date: 27/10/09 Reading 070848

In the 8 week period from when we moved into the flat in June to the first reading in July there was 823 units used. From the reading taken in July to the reading taken in September (5 weeks) 1,936 units were used. From the reading taken in September to the reading taken in October (8 weeks) 121 units have been used.

The readings appear to be all over the place. I have read that faulty meters can cause problems however when I asked Scottishpower about this they said thay had no problem sending someone around but it would cost £150 if they concluded the meter was fine.

I would be very grateful for any advice you could give.

Regards

John

John Coleman:

Are you sure this is not a bill for the previous tenants or a different flat?

Regarding the readings they do seem high for a gas heated house. Try to get a handle on your consumption by taking daily readings for a week.

You say the readings were all taken by someone from Scottish Power. That is quite surprising that they should read the meter so frequently. How do you know and do you know the reason why?

Before you go any further, disupute the bill with Scottish Power on the basis that you have not received any bill and anyway do not believe the numbers are accurate. Do not take no for an answer, use the complaints procedure if not happy.

At this early stage there is little point in paying for a meter test, there are other more likely explanations.

Thanks for the prompt response.

The meter readings refer to the period we have been at the flat and the letter states our names on the top. One of my flatmates recalls the when the guy came to read the meter. I should have said the first meter reading was given by ourselves when we moved in. The final meter reading was taken by Scottish power when we cancelled the contract (We were set up as a customer by the letting agency without our knowledge/permission). The new gas supplier is currently in the process of setting up the new account.

Since coming home from work I have read the meter and we have used 190 units since the meter was last read (last Tuesday - 27th October). We certainly will dispute the bill and shall use the complaints procedures if necessary.

Thank you for all your help.

John Coleman:

The new gas supplier is currently in the process of setting up the new account.

Ha, I was influenced by your talk of "fridges tv's etc" to assume you were talking about electricity but now your are talking about your gas supplier.

Reading your post again I can see it's not possible to be certain however electric meters have 6 digits, metric gas meters have 5 digits and imperial gas meters 4 digits before the point. You have quote 6 digits so I still assume electricity.

I don't entirely agree the readings are "volatile". There is only 1 reading and/or date that is inconsistent. The rest seem fairly consistent though 19kWhrs/day is quite a lot for a gas heated house. Are there some secret electric heaters blazing away in the 4 bedrooms? Look again at your usage before suspecting the meter. I take it you are confident the meter is for your flat?

Done some reasearch and SPM Collections seems to be Scottish Power's in house collections team (or similar). Doesn't excuse not getting a proper bill out. Probably they will say they did and will blame postal disruption when you challenge them.

Sorry, my head is wrecked from a busy day at work. The meter readings are for electricity. What I meant was that our gas supplier is currently in the process of setting up our electrical account.

The meter is for our flat as it's just inside the front door. We do not have any electric heaters in the flat. 121 units in eight weeks and 1,936 units in five weeks may not be volatile but it's certainly inconsistent.

Sorry for late repsonse somehow managed to miss this post,

As usual some good strong advice from Jalexxa, so not too much for me to pick up on.

Firstly no-one needs your permission to set up an account for you at a property. If you are the tenant you are responsible for the energy bills during the period of your tenancy. All your letting agent did was inform the current supplier of the property that the previous occupants had left and that you were now responsible. Even if you immediately swithced supplier you would still use gas and electrcity for a 4 to 6 week period, payments for which would be due to the current supplier.

To contradict Jalexa, electric meters should have 5 dials (not counting the red digit which represents a fraction of one unit and will not be recorded for billing purposes) a minor thing but it could cause confusion.

For you to recieve a debt collection letter, numerous other correspondence must have been sent. Its highly unlikely (but not impossable) that all of these would go astray but soemhow the debt collection letter made it through. (is it possible it they could be in some communal area?). Several reminders letters of increasing severity should have been sent before this stage, so be sure to chase this up with the provider.

If the readings are "actuals" how many of them beside the opening read did you provide, and how many did you double check? what's the current reading now?

Mynewt:

To contradict Jalexa, electric meters should have 5 dials (not counting the red digit which represents a fraction of one unit and will not be recorded for billing purposes) a minor thing but it could cause confusion.

Thank you, mental slip caused by reading the OPs post. Not sure what the OP is recording now.

Score 1 for mynewt :D

I should have clarified further 6 digit electric meters do exsist but they are for industrial and commercial premises, so unless you're living in a factory I'm sure its a 5 dial meter. This leads me to beleive the OP has been recording the 6th red digit as well increasing the consumption figures by a factor of 10.