@sp_energypeople Scottish Power - looking for some sort of compensation

[Worstutility]

Dear All,

 

I am extremely unhappy with the way that Scottish Power have dealt with a complaint I had.

 

My father lived in Scotland and my brother and I live 360 miles away in England.

 

To cut a long story short,

 

in 2012 my late father notified them that his meter was not working correctly

 

from October 2012 to date, they were sending bills to him with the same meter numbers on

 

. In September 2014, my father died and Scottish Power had still not changed the meter even though it was still showing the same readings as in 2012.

 

My brother and I were left his property as part of the estate and I (and the solicitors in Scotland) have attempted to get them to change the meter since September 2014.

 

We found a buyer for the flat and they wanted to move in on 10th July 2015 but obviously we had to declare the meter wasn't working so they threatened to pull out of the sale.

 

Luckily, at the 11th hour, Scottish Power did change the meter on the afternoon of 9th July as I threatened to sue them because the Purchaser threatened to pull out and the house sale may have fallen through.

 

This meant that all the paperwork didn't get done in time and we finally sold the property on 24th July 2015 to the same person.

 

The bills have now been sorted out and luckily my dad did keep making payments to Scottish Power until he died as he was afraid that he would end up with a large bill once the meter issue had been sorted out and I now have to pay them £12.09 to finish everything off.

 

As you can imagine, this was extremely stressful for my late father who was very ill during this whole period, fighting cancer and going through radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

 

He involved the Citizen's Advice throughout the whole time but nothing was ever resolved.

 

I then took up the fight after he died because I knew it needed sorted before we sold the property.

 

My dad did not let the situation go, but didn't get anywhere and I have now spent hours trying to sort it out even though I lived 350 miles away from the property

 

. I feel that we deserve some sort of compensation but don't know where to start.

 

I know that my solicitor in Scotland has written and called them on numerous occasions up to the date they changed the meter and I was constantly calling and emailing them to try and resolve everything so the sale went through.

 

Does anyone think that it is cheeky to look for some sort of compensation?

 

I spent at least 2 hours on the phone to them, then phone calls to my solicitor in Scotland, plus the bill I will receive for the solicitors letters that were sent to them?

 

I wouldn't even know where to start in calculating such a thing?

 

Any advice from anyone would be appreciated as the last 3 years have been very difficult dealing with this and the loss of a parent?

 

Many thanks for reading.

 

Worstutility

[BankFodder]

When you say they were the same numbers - are you referring to the meter serial numbers or the energy usage readings?

[Worstutility]

When you say they were the same numbers - are you referring to the meter serial numbers or the energy usage readings?

The energy usage readings - they remained the same for 3 years! They appeared on my dad's bills too, for 3 years. I know it's probably unbelievable but SP wouldn't come out and look at it.

[BankFodder]

Thank you.

In that case it seems to me that as they haven't billed you, you may be able to claim the money paid over as they may have forfeited the money under the back-billing rules.

 

What do those rules actually say, would you mind digging them out and posting them here.

 

Also have you done an SAR in your father's name? I think that you should

[nottslad]

https://www.energy-uk.org.uk/files/docs/Factsheets%20and%20guides/back_billing_consumer_guide.pdf is very useful

 

I've not worked in a customer facing role for many years now, however from what I remember I don't think the back billing code comes in to this; they haven't actually charged for any under-billed consumption. Seems like they have charged the standing charge, so that part wouldn't have been under-billed, so I can't see that the payments should or would be refunded.

 

Having said that, the supplier has not acted in an appropriate manner towards a vulnerable customer and could have done more to resolve the issues.

 

The Op has also suffered from lost time and costs of calls etc. I think the best course of action would be to write recorded delivery to Scottish Power setting out the grounds for complaint - IE they failed to act when asked, and that you are unsatisfied with the way this has been handled.

 

What then would you like them to do to put matters right. Be realistic with the level of compensation you request - perhaps £150 in full and final settlement would be a suitable amount