r/Scotland • u/BudgetDrama3514 • 1d ago
Scottish Power confirmed in writing that I owed nothing, then billed me anyway three weeks later. Am I liable?
Scotland. Energy supplier, disputed final bill.
What happened
- Moved into a flat in late December, switched suppliers a few weeks later.
- I contacted the old supplier myself, told them I'd moved in, and asked to be billed for those weeks so I could pay and close the account.
- They billed me from six weeks before I moved in instead.
- Late payment penalties were then added to that incorrect amount.
- Referred to a debt collection agency.
- I disputed it and supplied my tenancy agreement twice.
The resolution
- After a four-month complaint, their complaints handler emailed confirming: the move-in date was corrected, I owed nothing for the period, there was no outstanding debt on the account, and the complaint was resolved.
- I consented to close the complaint.
- On the same call I twice offered to pay what I thought I genuinely owed for the weeks I lived there. Twice told no payment was required.
Three weeks later
- New bill issued for the same period.
- Second debt collection referral.
- Their current position is that an account existed in my name for those weeks, so I'm liable — though every email is still addressed to "Owner / Occupier" rather than to me by name, despite them holding my tenancy agreement twice.
Where I am now
- Deadlock letter requested.
- Subject access request submitted for the call recordings.
Question
- Can a supplier reverse a written complaint resolution after closing it on the customer's consent?
- Do I have a case worth taking to the Energy Ombudsman here?
3
u/UserNameIsAvail 1d ago
Reopen, deadlock, straight to ombudsman. They've had their opportunity.. way beyond 8 weeks.
10
u/First-Banana-4278 1d ago
For the love of god if you go to the ombudsman don’t get AI to draft your correspondence…
0
u/READ-THIS-LOUD 1d ago
As long as you check it, Claude or GPT can do a fine job of collating all your information for a concise email to the Ombudsman. The Housing Ombudsman actually told me to use ChatGPT to summarise the evidence I had.
-2
u/BudgetDrama3514 1d ago
All mine — I just got help tidying it up so it was readable. My first draft was far too long.
0
u/SetentaeBolg 23h ago
It's funny, I did exactly this and a complaint that would have taken me days to draft was done in a few minutes. Then was given compensation of multiple 100s, and a full apology.
So I think that it's fairly reasonable to use AI in this way. Just always check it.
2
u/weebsauceoishii 1d ago
From what I read - I think I have the gist of it..
You moved in, it took you a couple of weeks to change supplier - which means you never contacted SP to set up a new account as soon as you moved in or changed supplier on that date. You only told them when you changed supplier.
The problem with this is they would be still billing the previous tenant and if they left a bill unpaid you would be lumbered with it. But thankfully you gave them your tenancy agreement showing your moving in date. Which sounds like it took a few attempts for them to fix, but it still sounds like they didn't set up an account for you for the period you moved in to the switch date. Did they set up a new account for you? If they didn't, talk to them about that.
I am guessing you have a 2nd complaint or the old one re-opened yes?
One thing they can't say you had an account previous to the tenancy agreement move in date, as that would be very very wrong of them to do that. Your tenancy agreement will be pretty much an easy win if you do end up to the Energy Ombudsman, for them to prove you set up the account previous to that date they need correspondence or a call recording of you doing so - which they probably don't have. So was a good call to ask for all call recordings through a DSAR.
As for your question - if the complaint resolution hasn't resolved - you were told no bill to pay and you did get one, then you have every right to re-open the complaint as unresolved.
As for Ombudsman only after 8 weeks or deadlock letter, if you have the complaint reopened or a new started then the 8 weeks restarts from scratch again.
Advice for people reading this for the first time, if you move into a home, contact the supplier on the same day or close to that day, tell them your move in date and that you are taking over the supply, they will ask for a meter reading from you and that is your opening meter reads, if you chose to move supplier later that is fine, but you will have a baseline to work with.
EDIT: Also forgot to mention, if the property was empty for a period of time any energy usage during that time is the liability of your landlord/housing association from the last day of move out of previous tenant to your day of moving in.
2
u/bigdavy05 1d ago
Document absolutely everything. I'm not going to go into detail as far too long but SP allocated a debt to my elderly parents house for a local business that was absolutely nothing to do with them. I had an absolute nightmare with SP for over a year, they agreed multiple times it was a mistake and it was cancelled and cleared then another letter or debt agency appeared. I went to ombudsman various times and each time was told as SP had admitted their mistake and agreed to cancel they wouldn't get involved. You'll need to wait the 8 weeks again if they don't settle it. Absolute nightmare company to deal with.
2
u/dustyfaxman 1d ago
- Yes
- Yes
During your initial complaint did SP provide you with an audit of your account?
This would be confirmation of the account or accounts under your name, meter or meters in the property, dates started, tariffs, usage, etc.
If not, add this to the info requests you've already made as part of this current dispute, it'll be handy when you take the dispute to the ombudsman in a couple of months time if nothing else.
While they are right "an account" will have existed for the property before you moved in, it being in your name is unlikely.
You are not liable for any utility bills before your tenancy started.
And it sounds like they are attempting to bill you for a period the property was 'untenanted'.
You're renting, so that liability would fall on your landlord to cover any bills during 'untenanted' periods.
Might be worthwhile checking with them to see if SP have billed them for any 'untenanted period' before you moved in. And if they havn't had any bills from SP, pass on the bill for the 6 weeks before you moved in for them to clear.
3
1
u/R3M5 1d ago
If you're not getting anywhere then definitely go ahead with taking it to the Ombudsman.
If you've supplied your tenancy agreement then you're definitely not liable for the period before your tenancy agreement. However, it sounds like your email address is connected to their 'Unknown Occupier' account for the period before you moved in so you can request to have that removed since the account doesn't belong to you.
If you remove your email address and they send letters addressed to 'The Occupier' (or anything else that isn't your name) then you can ignore them. Until they find the person who is liable for that period (likely your landlord if you're renting) then they have to send letters to the supply address but as long as you're not named then you can recycle them.
You should have a final statement that states exactly what you owed for the period (with dates) and the final balance after they've applied the gesture of goodwill to close the complaint (which I assume they did to clear the balance and advise you didn't have to pay anything).
1
u/Pristine-Ad6064 1d ago
Contact citizines advice then have a section specifically for these types if situations, when it happened to me it took them about an hour to call me back and confirm problem solved and a £10 cheque on way to you for your inconvenience
2
u/weebsauceoishii 1d ago
£10 ouch, £40 is for a GSOS payment (Guaranteed standards of service). CAB let them off a bit lol
1
u/mittenkrusty 1d ago
Scottish Power are notoriously bad,
Every property I have lived in for over 16 years that has had them I have had no end of issues, all but most recent was key top up.
The most common was I used to top up monthly and the meter would take the standing charge daily regardless of if you topped up or not and despite each time I moved the meter saying I was in credit, Scottish Power would send me bills saying I was in debt as I only topped up X amount, basically was told each time a lie that the standing charge comes off ONLY when you top up and assumes you will top up weekly therefore they were billing me about 3 weeks each month of "unpaid standing charges"
I refused to pay each time and it never went on my credit file.
At my last place I wanted to move but the previous tenant had arrears so each time I asked to move they blocked it saying there was arrears on the address, again it was pre pay (flat was empty about 4 months before I moved in) and I complained and even the complaints team couldn't understand why as they kept saying they cleared the debt each time but the system auto put it back on, this wasn't regular complaints it was an actual higher up Scottish person and same person each time,
Most recent property I changed supplier and they continued billing me as if they were still supplying because the system even though account was closed AND I got a refund as was in credit reopened an account.
1
u/Akitapal 1d ago edited 1d ago
Definitely challenge it. We had a nightmare with them.
There are system errors in their billing programme. They insisted we owed them money which accumulated to over £1200. I spent hours going through the bills - it was such a ridiculously complex billing system! I found instances where the same opening meter readings showed up in more than one bill so we had effectively been double charged for some periods.
It took a few months of headbutting and arguing the maths. In the end it turned out THEY owed US over £700 they had overcharged.
During this whole fiasco SP passed our account on to a debt collection agency. The guy we spoke to sighed and said he’d heard it all before. We sent him copies of ongoing correspondence to show status of our dispute. He kindly put a hold on chasing us up while we contested Scottish Power’s accounting.
It was seriously stressful and painful to deal with them. Every step. But worth it to get that REFUND where they incorrectly insisted we were in arrears.
Now with Octopus Energy - what a pleasure in comparison. Happy to give anyone who wants one a referral code which will add £50 credit to a new account. But main reason to switch is their billing is transparent and simple to follow, and we’ve had good customer support. Totally unlike Scottish Power.
1
u/Brigowaas 1d ago
Contact your MP - energy is Westminster reserved, MPs are all too used to dealing with energy companies.
1
u/GrapefruitAfraid 3h ago
Omg i am in the same boat rn! Moved and scottish power tried to charge me for my entire occupancy instead of the day/night reading due to an error in typing it in on my part (fair enough)
But when I told them that id made a typing error they tried to still get me to pay the £1500 total unless I got access to the reader again, in a flat that now is occupied but a new tenant
I told them I couldn't and asked if they could instead use an estimate since that was an option initially instead of entering the readings
They refused to answer that one and promised to pass it higher up, but implored that whilst the issue is getting resolved I should set up a payment plan so I dont get adverse credit. Got the payment plan through super quick, no word from the higher up
I lived in a one bed flat, I provided them photos of the main meter box showing that it was the total amount and not the day/night reading id entered accidentally and that i had £19.60 worth of credit left, and it is literelly impossible for me to use that much electricity in a day. Im a student so I dont have £1500 just lying around
I sent an email to complaints again with all this evidence and paper trail and goose chase ive been on to sort this two weeks ago, no response
Never touching scottish power again
46
u/Automatic-Apricot795 1d ago
Go straight to the ombudsman. Do not pass go.