OK, this may not be urgent as I did phone and they agreed that it was wrong, but I'm worried that there's a problem that will return. I'd appreciate any advice in getting to the bottom of it. I'm with Scottish Hydro Electic. Not got any gas. I pay monthly by DD. £30 per month up to now and when I got my last bill I was almost £30 in credit which I got refunded. I tend to be about £20 in credit. I have storage heaters and have "Heating control energy" and standard energy. My storage heaters were switched off at the wall in March and haven't been on since. I live alone and I'm careful with electricity. Energy saving bulbs, go round switching things off, nothing on standby. I got a bill yesterday. Reading from 27/2 -31/8. They claimed I owed £235 and my DD needed to go up to £74. So I panicked and phoned them, did some readings and gave the serial numbers of my meters and the employee said it sounded right and went to speak to his manager whe he confirmed that I was now in credit which sounded right. My problem is that I can see this happening again because my readings weren't that different to theirs, just that they don't make sense. It's the heating control that's gone up. From 369 units to 4751 units. 4382 units compared to my standard energy which has increased by 667. So on my (cheaper) night time electricity I owe(d?) £264 compared to £90. I haven't even been using it! As I said earlier the storage heaters are switched off and I don't use power at night. Everything is switched off and unplugged. Except my fridge/freezer. But it's on in the day as well. Does anyone have any idea what the cause could be. I don't know a lot about electricity but this must be wrong. Help!!!!

I recently acquired a credit report to check that everything was in order and to my complete shock found that Scottish Power had recorded defaults. I contacted them via telephone and email and they refuse to budge, but I do not intend to let it lie at that. I moved house last year and prior to moving contacted SP and gave my new address details, I also set up a DD at the same time to continue paying an outstanding debt. (There was a pre-payment meter at the previous address) Payments were made to SP and yet they defaulted my credit file unbeknown to me and continued to apply a default monthly up until March of this year. I changed bank late last year and made an interim payment whilst sorting that out and when the new account was sorted an increased DD was started and has not been missed since. I feel that incorrect data has been given to the credit reference agencies and would like the defaults removed. How do I stand on this? I'm not happy with the way SP have dealt with this complaint.

Hi Guys, Really looking for some advice here please: Let me start from the top: I stay in a 2 bed flat, all electric. we are very energy wary so everything not needed is off. We also do NOT ever use the storage heaters as the heat from below warms the flat just fine! Last year I was on the £53 per month tarrif by direct debit and all was fine. This year I have been increased to a £74 pound tarriff. This seemed very high for nothing running. So now to today - I'm now paying £125 per month as i'm now over £400 quid in DEBT to them for using, yes you've got it, very little electricity! I've asked for house visits, bill checks - all come back with no help as I'm paying the correct Tarriff. I bought a 3rd part meter reader (EFERGY) programmed with the Scottish Power rates and my bill for today is currently runing at £1.18 usage. I'm on a 2 rate meter (ELSTER 100AC) that gives me a C reading, Rate 1 Readng and Rate 2 Reading. Scottish power say Rate 1 is night, which on the meter is the day rate and Rate 2 is day which infact is reading 1 night rate on the meter. My head is all over the place trying to understand why the billing is so high in a flat which is empty during the day as myself and my partner both work. Im getting nowhere with Scottish Power and the billing is now going up and up and up. Starting to get a little worried, can anyone please point me in the right direction. Thanks and much appreciated!

Hi Took out Scottish Power Platinum cover September 2012. First cover taken. Was going to go with British Gas but as Scottish Power tailored my new energy plan to incorporate this cover for just an additional £6 per month on my monthly direct debit I was not going to query. They explained about the radiator cover as well and told me they would arrange for an engineer to come and do the service check. Due to the bad weather it was not until January that they eventually got out to look at the boiler. Just before that the display panel on the boiler (ideal boiler) was not showing anything even though the boiler was working fine. I rang up and even though someone had not been to service the boiler they did send someone out to fix it. Good service as sorted within 2 days and the panel was working fine. Inspection a couple of weeks after that About 3 weeks ago the display went again. Finally arranged for someone to come out and look and it seems that there is a leak in the boiler that is leaking on to the display panel that is why it was going off. The sub contractor said he would price up and inform Home 3 Assistance who rang me a couple of days abot and said would need a new heat exchanger for around £750 and plus other parts so totally £1,409 and as my cover is only for up to £1,000 they cannot do. I was horrified as I did not know there was a limit on the cover. I was never informed of this when I took out the policy as previously spoken with British Gas and they were offering unlimited cover when they explained to me so most likely assumed that this cover was unlimited as well as I was never told. The home assistance guy said that there was nothing he could do but if I rang British Gas customer services and inform them that I was mis-sold the policy as they were the only ones who could overturn this decision. Rang them today on the number he gave me who then told me I needed to ring another number from which the lady then new I was getting the run around so actually put me throught to a lady called Jan in the customer complaints. She took the details and rang me back about half hour later to inform me the the terms and conditions highlighted the maximum amount that they would pay. I told her that I was unaware of this but she just kept going on about the terms and conditions. I understand this but I told her I would never have purchased the policy if I had know that as pointless. Come on when things go wrong with a boiler it is more often going to cost over £1,000 as labour is just as much as the flipping parts!!!! She is escalating and getting some other person to ring me back on Monday although she was adamant that they would tell me exactly the same as what she has I just wondered if I had a 'leg to stand on'. I am furious as wasted the last 6 months on a policy that is useless. If I had gone with British Gas I would have been covered. If I go with them now my boiler is not going to get fixed. It has now this evening started making a noise like a crying sound and the pressure gauge is starting to vibrate back and forth. This only happens when powering up. Please help Many thanks Lisa

So - back in 2009, I signed up with EDF for my electricity, got the supply confirmed. A week or so later, I got notice that I was being transferred to Scottish Power. I've got no idea how this happened - might well have been from slightly iffy comparison sites, but no matter. I registered this as an erroneous transfer, and got confirmation within a few days that I was going back to EDF. Unfortunately, and I can't remember exactly why, the actual process of shifting me back to EDF took about 3 months. Now I was going under the assumption that, as under the Erroneous Transfer Customer Charter, my billing would be continuous with EDF and I'd just settle up with them. Being on a quarterly billing cycle, I wasn't concerned at not having a bill from EDF in this period. I assumed that the Scottish Power bills would be automatically cancelled. Now, checking my credit record three years later, it turns out Scottish Power claim they're owed £96, and have stuck a default on my file. I wrote to them nicely asking to remove it (and offering to pay anything legitimately outstanding) but needless to say they have refused to delete the default. The customer service rep answering my letter completely ignored the issue of the fact my account had been slammed. I think this is pretty appalling. The default is going to cost me far, far more than a poxy £96. I would have paid it at the time, if I'd have thought they were entitled to the money. Now they're trying to dodge their responsibility for their dodgy practices in signing up customers, and refusing to follow their own industry guidelines in putting things right. Anyone got any suggestions on how to proceed? Not looking for compensation, I'll even pay them. Just want to get shot of an inaccurate default. Cheers!

In light of the announcement regarding the increase in Small Claims in England, are we likely to see an increase in Scotland or are we going to be disadvantaged and have to go through macol for our "pound of flesh"?

Hello All, I need some advice and I thought I would share my experience so others do no have to go through what I have had to deal with. My current Gas/Electric is with Scottish Power and I am on the Platinum package which gives boiler care / cover with Scottish Power for "free". I had always been with British Gas boiler care, so I decided to cancel as I was getting a service with Scottish Power - big mistake! I had a boiler breakdown so I telephoned Scottish Power. Scottish Power advised they would call me back for an appointment on the same day - no phone call. I telephoned Scottish Power for a update several times but was told I would get a phone call back. The evening of the following day, I get a phone call to book a appointment - earliest 2 day's later. The engineer arrived from The Active Group (www,active-ukgroup.com) - when you visit the website it comes up as Active Agent. The engineer gave a time to visit of 13:00-15:00 and arrived at 18:30. He was present for 15 minutes and said everything was ok. The next morning my family awoke to freezing cold again and no hot water - the boiler was not working. I telephoned Scottish Power and had the same fiasco again with the appointment. I telephoned Scottish Power several times throughout the day and was promised the engineer would arrive in the afternoon. I waited till late afternoon and gave a phone call to Scottish Power as the engineer had not attended - I was told the engineer went to the wrong address! Now the appointment was set to the following morning - no time given. The following day, I made several phone calls to Scottish Power in the morning to chase up the engineer visit. Several times Scottish Power had advised that they were unable to get through on the phone to The Active Group / Active Agent. The engineer eventually attended near lunch time. The engineer advised that there was dust in the boiler (which he cleaned) and advised there was an issue with the flame injector - but carried out no work on it. The boiler was up and running. 30 minutes later the boiler broke down again, with the Flame Injector sign being displayed on the screen of the boiler. I telephoned Scottish Power again and was advised that the engineer would visit again the following day. The engineer came the following day (as I was now "priority"), and advised I needed a Gas Valve (to do with the flame injector). The engineer advised they carry no parts - great! I asked when the part would arrive - the engineer was unsure. I got a phone call the next day again from The Active Group / Active Agent that the part would arrive the next day. The following day, the engineer came again and now fixed the boiler. The Active Group / Active Agent also do not provide a copy of the work carried out. I made sure that I was given a copy of it, by photocopying it. The engineer also broke a filling loop (this is on their work sheet, which I got photocopied). I have been asking Scottish Power to get their amateur sub contractor out to come and fix it - still waiting its been 10 days - chased up again. I have also submitted a complaint to Scottish Power approx 2 weeks ago - I am still waiting for a response. The advice I need is: 1) are Scottish Power / the Active Group / Agent liable to fix the part they broke - especially when I have written proof that they broke it? 2) If I do no hear back from my complaint, can I submit it to the energy Ombudsman, after the relevant timescales have passed? In total, I was without heating/hot water for 10 days. I had small infants in the house and it was freezing cold. The sub contractor (Active Group / Agent) seem to amateur at their own profession. I have never had this kind of service from British Gas before. I would advise to stay clear of Scottish Power Boiler care and their amateur sub contractor. As a consequence I may now also move my gas/electric and I have now signed up with British Gas again.

A Scottish housing guide for people leaving the armed forces and ex-service personnel This is taken from the Scottish Government Link: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2013/04/3247/1 Deciding where to live is one of the most important choices you and your family will need to make on leaving the armed forces. It is never too early to think about where you will set up home. Whether you are due to leave in a few years, a couple of months or have already left, there is support out there to help you.This leaflet sets out your housing options in Scotland and answers some of the questions you might have. It also gives you information about where you can go for further advice and support. What are my housing options? Your options depend on where you want to live, your needs and your situation. These options could include renting a property privately or through a council,housing association (sometimes known as a registered social landlord) or anex-service charity, or buying a property. The local council for the area where you want to live will be pleased to give you advice on your housing options.Contact details for all Scottish councils are listed at the back of this guide. What about renting privately? Renting privately can provide you with a home either for the short or the long term and give you greater choice about where you live. Private landlords will advertise properties through local newspapers, magazines, estate or letting agents and on property letting websites. You will also usually need to pay a rent deposit at the beginning of your tenancy. This will be held in a tenancy-deposit scheme and you will get all or part of this back when you move out if you have kept the property in good condition and paid your rent and bills. All private landlords have to register with their local council. You can check if a landlord is registered on www.landlordregistrationscotland.gov.uk. (remove spaces) I want to rent privately but I'm having problems saving for a deposit If you are having problems saving enough money for a deposit, rent-deposit or guarantee schemes may be able to help you. These schemes provide a financial guarantee to the landlord on your behalf. They work in a number of different ways. In some schemes, you repay the deposit over time and it is given back to you when you leave. In others, you won't need to pay the deposit back, but you may have to pay money to the scheme if the landlord does not return the full deposit to the scheme because of damage or unpaid rent or bills. The local council will be able to give you details of rent-deposit or guarantee schemes in their area. How do I apply for a council or housing association house (also known a social housing)? You need to fill in a housing application form. You can get this from the council or housing association. Your council will be able to give you a list of housing associations in their area. In some areas you only have to fill out one application form for all social housing in that area (this is sometimes called a common housing register), in others you may need to fill out more than one. What happens next? The housing providers will use your application to decide your level of priority and you will be added to each landlord's housing list. Landlords are likely to ask you for a copy of the Certificate of Cessation of Entitlement to Occupy Service Accommodation once you have it. The Ministry of Defence issues this six months before you leave the armed forces. This certificate will let the landlord know the date you have to leave your service accommodation and they should use the six months to help you look at your housing options. Don't wait for the certificate before applying for housing. Landlords have different ways to decide who gets housed across Scotland. Your priority will be based on your housing need and situation. Generally, the higher your priority, the more likely you are to be offered a home, but this also depends on the needs of other people on the housing list and the size and type of houses that become available. Some landlords will contact you to offer a house,others will advertise their properties (giving you a greater choice about the properties you are considered for). Social landlords must publish their rules on how they let their houses. You should speak with your council or housing association to find out what they do. How long will I have to wait for a council or housing association house? This depends on the area you want to live in and the type and size of home you are looking for. In many places, there are not enough council and housing association homes for those who want one. This means that waiting times can be very long even for those with a high priority, and to get a home quickly, you may need to look at renting privately. Your council or the housing association will be able to give you advice about your chance of being housed. Your local council should also be able to provide information on other housing options to help you find something suitable. What about housing by ex-service charities? There area number of charities across Scotland that provide housing for ex-service menand women and their dependants. All of these charities are members of Veterans Scotland and you can apply to all of them for housing using a single housing application form. For more information, including how to apply, visit Veterans Scotland's website at www.veteransscotland.co.uk. (Remove Spaces) I'm worried I won't be able to pay my rent If you aren't able to pay your rent you may be able to get state benefits to meet these costs. There are rules, and how much benefit you get depends on your circumstances. Also, the way your benefits will be worked out will depend on if you rent privately or with a council or housing association. The UK Government,who is responsible for most state benefits, is making a number of changes to the way benefits are calculated and given out. This may affect the amount of benefit you get. You can get more information on benefits, including how to apply and any changes that affect you, from your local council or from the UK Government's website, www.gov.uk. Your local citizens advice bureau (CAB) can also give you information and advice to help you access all the benefits you are entitled to. You can find out where your local CAB office is on their website, www.cas.org.uk,or you can visit www.adviceguide.org.uk/scotland,their information website. I'm thinking about buying a house but I'm not sure where to start There area lot of things to consider when buying a home - where to look for properties, what mortgages are available, the size of deposit you need and when you need to involve a lawyer. To help you, please see a booklet called 'Buying and Selling a Home in Scotland' at www.consumerfocus.org.uk/scotland/housing/publications(under Consumer Guides). I heard it was possible to buy a house without paying the full cost. Is this true? Yes. Some private house builders offer shared-equity schemes. Shared-equity schemes are a form of low-cost home ownership. They allow you to buy a home in partnership with a private house builder, who gives you an equity loan for part of the purchase price. The Scottish Government also offers support to help first-timebuyers get on the property ladder through its Low-cost Initiative for First Time Buyers (LIFT). If you are currently serving, have left the armed forces within the past 24 months or are a partner of a member of the forces who was killed in action up to 24 months ago, you will get priority access to the shared-equity schemes that are a part of LIFT. Under LIFT, your income and finances will be assessed to check you are eligible for help and you can apply to buy either a property on the open market or a new-build property from a housing association or a developer. You can get more information about these schemes from the Scottish Government's website at www.scotland.gov.uk/lift. I have a small deposit to buy a home but can't get a mortgage. Can anyone help? Yes. If you have a good credit record and need a 90% to 95% mortgage for a new-build property with a value up to £250,000, you may be able to get a mortgage through the MI New Home scheme. MI New Home is a private-sector scheme open to anyone looking to buy a new-build home who is finding it difficult to get a mortgage due to the level of deposit mortgage lenders usually ask for. More information about the scheme is available online at http://minewhome.co.uk/. Help! I can't find anywhere to stay If you are in this position you should contact your council as soon as possible to let them know you may be homeless, and ask to speak to a member of staff in their homeless team. If you haven't been discharged yet, you should also speak to a member of your welfare team, who may be located at your base or another base in Scotland, as soon as possible. This team will also be able to give you some support. In Scotland, all homeless households or those threatened with homelessness (if you don't have anywhere to stay or your current accommodation is not suitable or you are at risk of losing it) must be given temporary housing and free information and advice by local councils. If the council find that you are homeless through no fault of your own, they must find you housing, but you maybe offered somewhere temporarily before accommodation becomes available. I was injured during my service and need support and adaptations to my home or future home. What support can I get? The type of support you can get depends on your circumstances. However, whether you rent or own your own property, you should get in touch with your local council's social-work department. They will be able to tell you about how to have your needs assessed. If you rent from a council or housing association they will usually pay for any agreed essential or high priority adaptations. If you rent privately or own your own property, you may be able to get help to pay for any adaptations. You can get more information from your council. The Scottish Government also has a guide to the support available for disabled people who own or privately rent their home. The leaflet is available on the Scottish Government's website at www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/03/31131031. There are also a number of other organisations across Scotland who can help you understand your options and provide advice on independent living and the benefits you may be entitled to. UPDATE Scotland can help you to find local advice on independent living and the benefits you may be able to get, as well as a range of other disability-related information and services. Website: www.update.org.uk Phone: 0131 669 1600 Housing Options Scotland's Military Matters service provides specialised housing advice and support for disabled ex-service personnel and veterans with a disabled family member in Scotland. They provide support to those with a physical disability, mental-health problem (including post-traumatic stress disorder) or learning disability. Website: www.housingoptionsscotland.org.uk (Remove Spaces) Phone: 07713482697 or 0131 247 1400 Email: [email protected] (Remove Spaces) What else do I need to think about in finding and keeping a home after I am discharged from the armed forces? There area number of things you will need to think about. Costs -You will need to make sure you budget for and pay your rent or mortgage and any household bills such as council tax, fuel and phone bills, TV licence, and any service charges or maintenance fees you may be responsible for. You should also think about whether you need building and contents insurance. It is worth finding out what these costs are likely to be in the size of house and area you want to live. This will mean you can prepare for these costs so they don't come as a surprise. Furniture- Whether you rent or buy, many properties are unfurnished. You may want to think about saving to help you buy the things you will need when you move out of service accommodation. If you cannot afford the essentials you need, speak to your local council, Shelter Scotland or SSAFA Forces Help who should be able to tell you about any furniture projects in your area that may be able to helpy ou. Details of how to contact these organisations are below. Where can I go for further advice and help? Your localc ouncil, or the council in the area where you would like to live, will be able to provide you with information and support to find a suitable house. Many will be able to provide you with a housing options guide for their area. There is a list of all the councils in Scotland at the end of this leaflet. As well as the welfare officer at your base, there are also organisations that provide specific advice and support to men and women who have served in the armed forces. ■ Citizens Advice Scotland's Armed Services Advice Project (ASAP) provides free independent, confidential and impartial advice and information to the armed forces community on a range of issues including housing, employment, benefits, debt and relationships. You can call their helpline on 0845 231 0300. Website: www.asapadvice.org.uk ■ MOD Joint Service Housing Advice Office provide civilian housing information, advice and, where possible, arrange housing through housing associations for service personnel and their dependants and to ex-service personnel who are still living in service accommodation. Phone 01980618925, visit their website at www.gov.uk/housing-for-service-personnel-and-families#joint-service-housing-advice-office or email them at [email protected]. ■ The Service Personnel and Veterans Agency was launched by the MOD to improve personnel, pension, welfare and support services to members of the armed forces and veterans. They also have five Veterans Welfare Service Centres across the UK. Phone their free helpline on 0800 169 2277 or visit their website at www.veterans-uk.info. ■ Haig Housing Trust and Haig Homes offer help with housing and have homes for ex-service personnel and their families to rent across the UK. Phone 0208 685 5777 or visit their website at www.haighomes.org.uk. ■ Poppy scotland provide financial help and access to mobility services and short breaks to meet the needs of veterans and their families in Scotland. They also lead the Armed Services Advice Project (ASAP) and run a wide range of schemes to help ex-service personnel back into work. You can call them on 0131 557 2782 or you can visit their website at www.poppyscotland.org.uk. ■ Scottish Veterans Residences provides single-room en-suite accommodation with catering and support services as well as some independent flats. Phone 0131 556 0091 or visit their website at www.svronline.org. ■ Scottish Veterans Garden City Association, Houses for Heroes Scotland, provides low-cost rented housing in Scotland for disabled British ex-service personnel, merchant navy, police and fire brigade personnel. Phone 0131 557 1188 or visit their website www.housesforheroes.org.uk. (Remove Spaces) ■ Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen and Families Association (SSAFA) Forces Help provides advice through its Housing Advisory Service on 0207 463 9398, through their website at www.ssafa.org.uk or through one of their local branches. They also have a confidential support line on 0800 731 4880. ■ Veterans Assist Scotland provides online access to information and advice resources from one single website.Topics include housing options, how to claim a War Disablement Pension, and finding a route into employment. Website: www.veterans-assist.org ■ Veterans First Point offers help and assistance to veterans in Lothian, whatever their needs are. Phone 0131 2209920 or visit their website at www.veteransfirstpoint.org.uk. (Remove Spaces) ■ Veterans Scotland brings the veterans charities and organisations in Scotland together to support the ex-service personnel community. Phone 0131 550 1595 or visit their website at www.veteransscotland.co.uk/pillars/housing (Remove Spaces)

Greetings to all the honest, hard working people who have been treated unfairly ;-)

As the title says came out on 18th March 2013 This is the link: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2013/03/advice-for-landlords-on-bedroom-tax18032013 This is a PDF of that link:

Hi I was hoping that a Scottish Power rep could get back to me. I'm really utterly frustrated at the moment and would like to speak to someone about this directly. Long story short, I was put onto prepayment meters for both gas and electric, with a view of having my arrears paid from the credit I put on. I am not in work but receive a reduced JSA payment owing to other debts [money being taken off for Fuel Direct]. Since switching to PPM, I have been written to saying that my gas meter wasn't set at the correct rate of debt collection, so they're increasing the amount of repayment. That would be fine except I have ALWAYS been debited something when I put on credit and it's definitely not for emergency credit. The person who issued the warrant said that if I could pay back the arrears in a year, they'd change my meters back to credit ones - I have even less of a chance of doing so now because of their mistake. Additionally, I can't check to see how much money I still owe in debt on the LED screen on my gas meter, when I can on my electric one. Is this normal? My next issue has been quite an odd one. I receive statements showing how my debt repayment is progressing, outstanding amount, finish date etc etc, but I am sent TWO for my electric account and the gas one is missing entirely. Again, why am I not being sent up to date info on my gas account? Another issue is that a meter reader from Scottish Power attended the property after I had the prepayment meters installed, however the person addressed me as someone else - called me another name, to my face and went to read the meter anyway. I think it must have been a previous tenant because I still get letters addressed to her every so often. I did email SP at the time to ask why this had happened and I never received a satisfactory answer to this. In fact, they didn't address this point at all. Why is someone else's details being used with my account? And lastly, could I please get some details on the 'Debt Assignment process', what it entails, how to go about it. I am hopefully moving in with my partner and won't be responsible for having bills in my name there, I'll just be contributing when something needs paying. Obviously I don't want to default on repaying what I owe, so how would I work it? Similarly, as the meters at my current property were changed to PPM's under warrant/against my and my landlord's wishes, will they return them back to credit meters for the following tenants free of charge? I was never offered any other alternative means of paying for the debt, and would have rather had a PPM for my current use and repaid the debt amount via DD each week/month. Any info would be great. ~ CMT

Anyone clued up on the process up here after non payment of parking tickets? Ida x

Hi all, I've been on this superb site for quite a long time as a viewer but now need a little help. I have had lots of contact from Robinson Way in the last few months demanding payment of over £7,000 for a debt that I owed to London and Scottish Finance for a Hire Purchase Agreement. I had a lot of correspondence from Robinson Way about two years ago. I asked for proof of debt and sent off template letters and I received some attempt at showing me the agreement, albeit not in the prescribed terms as it should have been. Then, Robinson Way seemingly forgot about the debt until a few months ago when they started getting in touch again. The letters are always in the same format, debt owed to London and Scottish, passed to Robinson Way and then passed again to Horwich Farrelly, their in-house legal team. A payment was last made to L & S in late 2007 and not a penny since. The letters warn me that I may be going to court soon if I don't pay up in full. Here's the interesting thing. This debt does not show in ANY form on ANY of my credit reports. Not Experian, Equifax and Call Credit. Furthermore I haven't responded to Robinson Way in any way recently...but how should I proceed going forward? Specifically: - The debt isn't statute barred as the last payment was late 2007. It will be statute barred later on this year. - Can Robinson Way / Horwich Farrelly add the agreement / defaults to my credit report after all this time? Or is it too late now? - How should I respond to RW after all this time, yet again?! Any advice most gratefully appreciated. Thanks SM

I moved out of flat I had been living in for 2 years about 6 months ago and have just received a bill for £1500. I had considered that the account was closed down when I moved out. I had rung in the final meter readings and Scottish Power had actually told me that they owed me £400. At the time I thought this was strange as I had been paying an agreed amount each month by direct debit. There was a lot of back and forth as I tried to clear this up. I had been sending in the meter readings when they asked and when this came up I checked the serial number of the meter with them and they confirmed it was all correct. I still have this all written down. During the time I lived there, Scottish Power never read the meter as far as I am aware. When I called to speak to them about the bill Scottish Power said the readings had been incorrect and I had been under charged for the whole two years and had to pay the bill. The lady on the phone was very forceful. The bills were for a 2 bed small flat and would amount to £3000 over two years if I take the new bills in consideration. This seems extreme. I work full time and am not in the flat a good deal. I have looked on a few websites and seen that I should speak to Energywatch but I don't think they exist any more. Does anyone have any advice on how to deal with this?

hi guys having a bit difficulty interpreting the date when my deposit should have been paid into a TDS i paid my deposit in dec 2010. also what should a scottish landlord do with my deposit prior to the scheme being enforced. thanks in advance

Hi, I had a default placed on my credit file from Scottish Power back in 2011 that I am attempting to contest as I never remembered receiving a notice of. The balance was paid a month after it was applied. However, clearly, removing it entirely would be most beneficial. Using the web as a resource, I recently sent a letter which included: After recently obtaining a copy of my credit file from Experian I was concerned to note that your company has placed a "Default" notice against my name. Further to this I have no recollection of ever receiving such a notice, and I therefore require you to substantiate this data at your earliest convenience. 1. You must supply me with a true copy of the alleged agreement you refer to. This is my right under your obligation to supply a copy of the agreement under the legislation contained within s.78 (1) Consumer Credit Act 1974 (s.77 (1) for fixed sum credit). Your obligation also extends to providing a statement of account. I enclose a £1 postal order in payment of the statutory fee, PO Serial Number #### 2. You must supply me with a signed true and certified copy of the original default notice 3. Any deed of assignment if the debt was sold on I have received a letter back from then (which included my PO) advising that my gas supply was not covered unter the consumer credit act and that if i wanted information on my account that I should make a DPA subject access request @ £10, which is fine. Despite saying this, included in the response was a copy of a letter I was sent detailing i was going to get a default, however I never received it. However....my question is, does the default notice still have to follow a specific format? Is there anyway i can take this further? Many thanks in advance. Steve

I live in a one bedroom cottage and am currently paying £25 per week for gas and electricity. I am in the support group for ESA and suffer from angina and other heart conditions. I had to wait almost a year to get assessed for ESA and, until then, was living on £60 a week...after crisis loan deductions. I can't believe the amount of gas and electricity that I am using and so have just phoned Scottish Power after looking on their website where they promise to stop any deductions to debts for the most vulnerable between December and February...the winter months. They say they would write to you. This is now January and I've just been told that I wouldn't get that help backdated. It's a disgrace. I would consider myself to be in that vulnerable group. I live on my own with serious health conditions and yet they continue to take almost £6.50 per week from me before I even take any fuel. The standing charges are disgusting. I really feel as if this is a PR exercise because how can they tell who is vulnerable and who isn't? Where do they get that information from? Do they get it from DWP? If so, why are they getting this information without having my permission to receive it? I also had to get Transco round to my property because my gas supply keeps cutting out...especially when its very cold outside. One night they had to come out and told me that there should be a box covering the gas meter for protection. I had raised this issue with Scottish Power previously because this meter has never had a box since I moved in. They told me they are not responsible for the box. The guy at Transco told me that they are responsible and that they fit boxes every day of the week. When I advised them of this they still said they were not responsible. My gas supply is being prejudiced because of this and I cannot afford to buy a box..... I feel really let down....firstly because I feel that the "helping the vulnerable" statements on their website are only a PR exercise and secondly that they expect customers who are buying gas at extortionate prices now....to purchase a box that protects the safety of the meter. They say the meters are covered by another company.....so despite me paying these prices to them they still refuse to keep your supply safe. This is completely wrong!

Hi All, Essentially, we moved into a brand new set of apartments (rented accommodation) and lived there for a year and then moved out. We never received any correspondence from Scottish Power, we never signed up with scottish power, we presumed that suppliers would be in place for us and we would hear from them shortly after moving in. We did, British Gas, so we setup an account with them for what we thought was duel fuel (gas and electricity) and paid a direct debit every month, happy days. Over a year after leaving this apartment, we received a letter from a debt collection agency at our new address, on the letter it said to a call a number and didn't provide any other details. I called the number and was told they had found me and i must pay for a years worth of electricity at our previous address, i asked them to provide me a bill, they did, we called up again and paid it after realising they had been supplying us our electricity and british gas were supplying the gas. We didn't pay a settlement figure (a discounted amount) we paid the full amount so it wouldn't affect our credit file. We never signed anything to become a customer of scottish power and they never reported anything on either of our credit files for over 2 years while we were supposedly a customer. Then suddenly 6 months after paying the debt, they posted a default on my girlfriends credit file and the amount still says not settled. They never sent us a notice of default, nor did we ever give them permission to access our credit file, so how can they just do this? and how can i get it removed as it is incorrect and the account was technically never in default. I presume i should do a SAR to see all the details about our account and find out when they actually supposedly sent us a notice of default or a letter to say we hadn't paid a bill etc... with that, i can then prove they are incorrect and have it removed.

I have what I believe to be a faulty or Tampered Electric metre and I really need some advice on how I raise this with Scotiish power. The reason I think it's fault or been tampered with is that since I moved into this new property as it was in Aug 2008, I have only generally used on average 6 units of Electric a day. My Tariff is online is NSC fixed online. I am fairly engery conscious and most of my appliances are A rated and only use energy saving light bulbs. I submitted a reading on Friday 21st Dec 2012 as I wanted a refund on my built up credit, however when I entered the reading which I though was high, it came back to say from 16th Oct to 21st dec 2012 I had used 3837 Units I nearly fell off my chair. Please Please can someone advise me on this ? I have already raised a dispute with Scottish Power but am concerned if I can't prove I didnt use it I will still have to pay the 400 bill

Hi First post and looking for some advice. I have recently completed a Scottish Trust Deed and have my discharge letter. My brother has come into some money and says he wants to give me a share but would not do so if it meant that I would have to give it to the debt management company to go towards the TD. Anyone know where I would stand on this.

Having retired at 72yrs I checked my credit records which I find show two account debts to Scottish Power from 2008. My diaries show no details of ever dealing with that company in that year. Have contacted Scottish Power giving full details of credit record and at their request meter numbers. It would seem that they too are having problems tracing these accounts as two emails from them say they are unable to give me details requested. Any ideas on how I can get this sorted out would be appreciated and if in fact I do owe these sums I want to come to an arrangement to pay them off.

a few weeks ago i recieved a final bill from scottish power,as id changed my electric and gas from them to edf. they are asking for £139.10.we had prepayment meters fitted on september 5th 2012.£60 of this is from july 12th to 5th september,when using normal meter. they are trying to charge me £74,from september 5th to october 23rd,in this time i was using prepayment meters.pay as you go.i cnat understand why they want this £74 as i only put on what i used when we need it. i havent been able to pay it due to financial difficulties. today i recieved a letter from insight collections,acting on behalf of scottsih power saying to pay this amount £139.10 immediatley or another £20 for "average legal agent expenses will be added. it gives the usual "notice of legal proceedings" i am going to phone scottish power and tell them ill pay them the £60,from before prepayments were installed.but as for the £74 they can go to hell. can you give me any advice please ? thanks

I could really use some help please. My husband is a soldier so we move around rather often. Upon moving into our house in York the utilities were already with Scottishpower. I called them up and gave our details for bills ect and thought that was that. They then proceeded to attempt to add the previous people's 3 months worth of arrears to our account. At this point I refused to pay anything until they resolved it as I didn't know if I was paying our bills, theirs or a joint combination. We kept the money to one side for when they'd eventually sorted it out. 5 months down the line they finally sorted it I was all ready to pay the arrears we had due to not payment while sorting the matter out but it turns out they'd GROSSLY under estimated the bills (ours) in an effort to sort the situation out I asked if we could do a payment plan and they stated we had to pay at least half of the arrears or they wouldn't do a payment plan (even half of the arrears was double what we had put to the side) and they gave us a cracking great monthly payment of £280 which we can't afford. I have offered them £50pm on top of our monthly bill to cover the arrears however they won't accept it. Now it's been 12 months since we moved in I've paid 1 bill in that 12 months as they are still refusing to help (now the bill stands at a little over £2,000) They are telling me that I need to pay a lump sum to set up a payment plan, pay in full or have a meter installed which not only will the army housing not allow but I can't get out to top it up as I have a son with very severe autism and a young baby. I've made efforts to sort this but they won't budge. I have asked how much our standard monthly plan is and they won't tell me because it includes the debt so I can't even make an "offer" to them because I don't know what I am offering on. Could I get some help in reference to sending them an offer through the post? PLEASE HELP

hi, a friend was paying £140.00 per month as her bank Lloyds advised her to take a 'life assurance policy' she has now cancelled the policy because she had assumed that she would be covered for illness (which she is not) she does not speak english and her son who only speaks a little english was with her and translated as much as possible (his english skill is not good) is it possible that this policy was missold as the customer was not sure what she was actually paying for? are there any rules / regulations that state a customer should know what they are buying / paying for? or can they simply sell to someone who has at the most a knowledge of maybe 10 english words?

Hi, About a month ago i had an alert which noticed that a credit agency were searching for somebody on my credit report with a similar name to myself (imagine my name is marianne o' connor - the name was mary conner, etc.) my credit report dropped 50 points as somebody was trying to trace me for unpaid debts. i thought at first it was identity fraud then to my horror the penny dropped... In january 2011 i moved into a flat and signed myself up with SSE. I have a welcome letter from them dated 25 january. ( i have this letter as proof) then i received a strange letter from Scottish power about my new account dated the 7th - the day i officially started tenancy - named this strange name. I found it very bizarre and thought, well i havent signed myself up. i imagined the fact that i had transferred to SSE would override it as they of course would take over my energy supply. i could only imagine that somebody had signed me up to scottish power under my name. i did not do this and never authorised anybody to do so. why else would the account be in the wrong name? i can only imagine somebody had got my name (landlord? previous tenant? letting agency?) and signed me up. As i had transferred i was not worried - SSE were contacting the previous supplier. i later received two electricity bills to my horror - the same address but two different companies. i obviously had to pay them ( ironically as i did not want unpaid bills against my name and set about sorting the whole mess out - Scottish power had billed me for electricity from 7 jan - 14 march ( i have this bill and bank statements - i can prove this) SSE told me that scottish power were at fault - they should have disconnected the supply. How can SSE start a supply without taking the meter number from Scottishpower during the switch? This took ages to get sorted out - i had direct debits of different amounts going out from two suppliers. I paid at the end of march a bill to SSE too. i have proof of this. I spnt ages chasing this up - i could not understand how scottish power could allow somebody to be signed up without their consent and then mess up a switch and then bill me in error. i had to send emails to them asking about amended bills as there were errors in billing - i cannot be paying two suppliers for one supply. i moved out at the end of may. I paid my final bill to SSE and was told I was fully up to date and my electric accounts were closed. Fast forward to me finding this credit search - it suddenly hit me it was these guys at scottish power again. i rang them up - of my own volition asking if there was any money that needed paying as i was concerned that somebody had been looking for me - they had my email, my phone number an online account - i received no contact. they said there was an outstanding amount. no mention even then of a default. i gave them my new address and got a final bill and paid it. then i received a letter from pastdue credit solutions (using the new address info) saying ' scottish power may register a default with CRAs' - i had no idea this was going on and had no idea they reported to cras - i did not give my consent for my name and information to be used in such a way. Surely this can't be right - you cannot just sign people up to credit agreements without their knowledge. As far as i was concerned, I'd paid my bills - if i were delinquent why would i ring up of my own volition asking if i needed to pay anything the second i realised? they made no reasonable attempts to contact me other than a bill that clearly arrived after i'd left the property- my ACTUAL supplier was given a forwarding address. I've been turned down for current accounts and then an overdraft with my bank - when i checked my experian credit report I was horrified to find a default from scottish power for a final bill £60 dated last year. I had no idea about this as it was at my old address. I'm gutted as my partner and I want to apply for a mortgage and there is now a default against me that i had no idea about. And for such a paltry amount too. i feel this is very unfair and i wish to complain and get it removed, if not on the basis of scottish power's ineptitude than on the basis that it is not in my name and not with my consent. What should i do, and to where should i complain? Thanks!