I'm after some advice...

A DCA called Insight have sent me threatograms regarding a scottish power gas/electric account at my old address.

I moved in November last year and kept Scottish Power as my supplier.

I gave them meter readings for my old property and they sent me a final bill for a whopping £1050.

I'm not disputing the bill, but Scottish Power wanted me to pay £120 a month on top of my regular direct debit to clear the outstanding balance over 12 months.

...I told them at the time that I couldn't afford that extra amount but could pay a smaller amount.

After a few months of back of forth 'negotiation' they have passed the account onto Insight who are demanding full immediate payment

or they'll instigate legal proceedings and record a default on my credit file.....

..I haven't spoken to Insight yet,

but have received 2 letters and numerous texts demanding I cantact them..

...I can afford to pay back around £30 a month.

Shall I write to them offering this amount or get back in contact with Scottish Power,

and also do they have the power to trash my credit file?

(I wasn't aware that I was in a 'credit agreement' with Scottish Power!...)

thanks

It is a default on a Service Contract which they can report.

Hi new

1) Firstly, because Scottish Power say it's £1050, doesn't make the bill right, if they told you it's £5000, would that make the bill right. Firstly, go through the bill to make sure it's correct and not on their say so. Is it £1050 for a quarter?

2) Once you've done that, write a letter to their Customer Services, don't speak to them over the phone. Tell them how much you can afford to pay each month. Keep a copy of the letter.

http://www.scottishpower.co.uk/pdf/Paying_your_bil.pdf

Let us know how you get on. We can suggest other avenues.

we also have Scottish power onboard here

would you like them alerted

if they don't see this thread themselves

dx

Yes please DX, any help they can provide would be great......

I've checked the bill and is was correct...

.the previous few quarters had been estimated readings as opposed the actuals which were considerably more hence the big final bill

hello ND

didn't see it was you

of course done!

dx

Hi Newdad, can you email account/address details to [email protected] & mark CAG in the header & we'll pick it up as soon as we can. Regards Gerry

will do, thanks for your help

any update?.....haven't heard anything yet....cheers

Hi, I am sorry but I can't see the email, can you resend & mark CAG & my name in the header please? Gerry

yep, i'll resend it Gerry

done

I could really use some advice regarding an ongoing issue with scottish power.

the issue is there is now a large amount of arrears on my account (£4K) due to an ongoing complaint....

Numerous times I've entered into an arrangement plan with SP to cover both current usage and arrears repayment. It comes out on one direct debit.

A few times I've had to use their online system to change the direct debit date.

The issue is that when the date has been changed, they still take the arrears 'element' of the direct debit on the old date not the new one causing me to go overdrawn.

I then have to contact my bank to indemnify the DD as it's come out on the wrong date and here lays the problem as the moment

the DD is indemnified SP then cancel the direct debit, put me on 3 monthly billing and I then have to phone SP to get the DD reinstated and put back on monthly online billing and they they always set it for the following month.

Even though they 'reset' the DD on countless occasions over the past few years they keep on taking the 'arrears element' of the DD on the wrong date causing the DD to fail, I indemnify it and thus an endless non-payment loop starts. The issue seems to be a complete breakdown of SP's IT systems.....

Despite countless phone calls to SP, they still haven't solved the problem, and they've now sent me an utterly factually incorrect final response saying they're right, I'm wrong and pay up the £4k or face the consequences!..

..please help!

Because it is Scottish Power, I believe you.

However, I scarcely understand a jot as to what your complaint is about.

Maybe it's just me being thick – but I'd be grateful if you can spell it out a bit more carefully – or maybe someone else who understands it or can come and put it to me in simple words

the arrears repayment plan and current usage are taken out as one DD, not separate payments every month as I'm on a monthly online billing tariff..

.I used their online service to change the DD date (I've done this several times as I'm part time self employed with no fixed wage day) .

..The problem is, is that when I do this, for some reason, they still take the arrears part of the DD on the original date and not the new date...

.The DD fails as I'm not expecting the DD to come out on the old date.

I indemnify the DD (as it's taken on wrong date).

Scottish Power automatically cancel the DD as it's unpaid and their system automatically puts my account back on 3 monthly billing.

I then have to contact Scottish Power to reinstate the DD to go back onto monthly online billing with a first revised payment coming out the following month....

The ongoing problem is every month they still take the arrears payment on the wrong date causing the DD to fail and this leads to an ongoing cycle of failed DD's....

.I have asked SP to have 2 DD's (one for current usage and one for arrears) but they always tell me that their system doesn't allow it..

... every time I contact their complaints team they assure me that it will be sorted but every month it's the same story.........

.The arrears have built up because in essence every time they reset the DD, they class it as a new combined current usage/arrears plan to start the following month..

.The following month arrives and the new DD fails because the arrears part of my payment is taken out on the old (and wrong) date

BF, they keep on taking the DD's out on the wrong date causing it to fail

You are looking for excuses.

If the dd fails then you have not paid and you reset it up for the next month. As seen as you have not paid this months you'll already have the funds for next month so the dd should not fail irrespectively of what date is set up.

Or alternatively you can pay with a bank slip.

You dont have to pay via dd.

And arrears of over 4k???

You've been burying your head in the sand for years.

first things first, I'm not looking for excuses, rather rude to imply otherwise!.....

with their online tarrif you do have to pay by direct debit, their words, not mine....

..I've not been burying my head in the sands for 6 years, rather this complaint has been going on for years and SP have never rectified it despite numerous promises to the contrary..............

.I have a separate bank account for all of my bills, and bank transfers are set up to make sure the right amount is sent to my 'bills' account on the right day..

.It's hardly my fault if SP fail to take payments on the correct day (indeed if I don't immediately spot it, my bank charges me for a failed payment!)

I think the comments above may be rather harsh. They are certainly unhelpful.

I can well imagine that if money is a bit tight and that one isn't too sure what day of the month one is going to get paid then managing money is not terribly easy.

I understand that you set up a direct debit but you have to change it from time to time in order to suit your pattern of payment.

I understand also that even though you set up a new direct debit date on a particular month, ScottishPower still take the direct debit on the date set for the previous month. Is that correct?

Are there any rules about direct debits as to how much notice there has to be given for a new date? For instance may be the mechanism simply doesn't allow a direct debit to be modified later than, say, four days before its activation date. Does this explain anything?

Is there something else which I haven't understood?

Also, what you mean by "indemnify".

BankFodder said:

I understand that you set up a direct debit but you have to change it from time to time in order to suit your pattern of payment. yes, that's correct

I understand also that even though you set up a new direct debit date on a particular month, ScottishPower still take the direct debit on the date set for the previous month. Is that correct? yes, correct, and there have been occasions when I've contacted customer services and they've manually reset the direct debit, the arrears part of the monthly payment is still taken out on the wrong date

Are there any rules about direct debits as to how much notice there has to be given for a new date? For instance may be the mechanism simply doesn't allow a direct debit to be modified later than, say, four days before its activation date. Does this explain anything?

they require 6 working days to reset the DD payment date using their online service and I always give more than the required 6 day notice

Is there something else which I haven't understood?

Also, what you mean by "indemnify".

contacting the bank to recall the direct debit because of the payment date error to avoid bank charges (they allow up to 3:30pm on the day to do this

In a nutshell, my experiences with SP customer service/complaints team is that they say they will sort the problem out and then don't

I do understand where the previous poster is coming from to a degree, but in my circumstances, I'm a military veteran with a permanent disability and can only work part time therefore money is always tight every month, and sometimes I have to rob peter to pay paul with some of my bills

This is very helpful.

I understand that you alter the direct debit with the help of Scottish Power and they do it for you. I thought that maybe you did it directly through the bank or something. Scottish Power are fully aware and fully in approval and they receive all the required notice.

I think the next step is to send them an SAR. Wait to see what information that produces. Make sure you send them an SAR requiring everything they hold about you in any form and on any matter. Send the SAR accompanied by a cheque and monitor its progress through your bank. Set a note in your diary as to when the 40 days expires.

Come back here when you have the information

Also, please can you post up their final response in PDF format.

You should also understand that it is extremely common for utilities companies, banks and so forth to receive a complaint but then to distort it in their final response so that it represents something completely different when it eventually goes to the ombudsman.

Read our customer services guide and you will see the advice that is given there in respect of making sure that there is an accurate screen note. This is essential.

The amount of times that complaints get sent to the ombudsman but in fact it is the wrong complaint and it is couched in a way which avoids the real issue or puts the company in a better light is legion

thankyou for your advice BF, I'll send a SAR tomorrow and await their response......

In their final response letter they have offered me the chance to phone them before escalating to the ombudsman service...

.I will speak to them if anything to see if they are willing to put any enforcement action on hold until I receive the SAR

BankFodder said:

Also, please can you post up their final response in PDF format. will do!

You should also understand that it is extremely common for utilities companies, banks and so forth to receive a complaint but then to distort it in their final response so that it represents something completely different when it eventually goes to the ombudsman. this is exactly what they've done 

 

thank you

If you are going to call them then read our customer services guide carefully and implement the advice there. Inform them that the matter is formally in dispute. Tell them that you have sent them an SAR and that it will help if they will escalate. (I doubt whether they will).

Please post up the final response.

How do they propose to be enforcement? Are they going to turn over to debt collectors or are they going to start a County Court action? A County Court action would be preferable because they will have to begin the the pre-action protocol which you can string out for up to 90 days. That will give you lots of time to get your ducks all lined up

i'll pop up their final response this evening.....they've stated the full balance is now due, if I;m unable to pay in full to contact national debt helpline

By all means contact the debt helpline but I'm afraid that they are unlikely to help you. These organisations very seldom challenge the alleged creditor. They simply want to help you organise your payment instalments. They very rarely challenge the legitimacy of a debt.

I've received an email stating they've bought a debt from Scottish power, the amount is for an eye watering £7640 !

A brief bit of back history,

I was a scottish power customer for several years but changed supplier in nov 2019, the account had been in dispute for several years due to misbilling and utter incompetence from SP

they would constantly change the direct debit amount, take it out at the wrong time and then request I'm indemnify with my bank, doing this would auto-cancel my tariff and put me on the wrong 'standard' tariff

some payments were successfully made but the majority were not, and I was always advised by them not to make manual payments but to wait for them to set up the correct direct debits...

.I also have literally dozens of calls with their customer service agents and debt managers promising that they would sort this miss-billing out and correctly bill me, but they never called back with any kind of resolution  and I would have to reinitiate contact with them,

this went on for literally years and I haven't heard from anyone related to SP since 2020 until I received the email today....

I'm worried sick about this, as yes there is a debt, but nowhere near the amount shown, and as a single parent, I am in absolutely no position to clear this debt,

any help would be greatly appreciated !

3 threads merged for complete history.

well dont be worried it's just an email, they have no idea if the email is working nor if its ever read.

1st things 1st . did you ever get that SAR done to sp?

2nd have you since moved from the address of 5yrs ago when you were last in contact with SP?

dx