Scottish Power
 

My daughter came round this morning and said se was pig sick, why I asked, she old me she'd just recieved a letter from Scottish Power saying that they put up her monthly payments up to £150, she lives in a mid terraced house goes out to work all day. It didn't make things any better when I told her that my monthly payments to British Gas for both Gas and Electricity are £51, although its only a flat and I'm in all day every day and have a lot more electrical appliances than her too. I told her the best thing to do was to go on line and do a price check, I'm sure she can get abetter price than that

Re: Scottish Power
 

I live in a 3 bed mid terraced, home all day and I'm a nightmare with turning the heating on, even if its just a chill in the air, and my gas is probs about 15 pounds a week, double it in winter.

Me thinks she is being robbed....

Re: Scottish Power
 

I recently left Scottish Power recently because of their overcharging, went to British Gas who i`m much happier with.

Re: Scottish Power
 

mines £160 per month n thats N-Power.:( mid terrace.

Re: Scottish Power
 

Yikes..........mines that per quarter...........:eek:

Re: Scottish Power
 

Thats what I thought onlyme, hers is only a two bed, but I've heard Scottish Power are very dear, my break down is £15 for gas and £36 Lecky, okay my gas goes up in the winter, but £150 a month, oh its gone up from £95 three months ago

Re: Scottish Power
 

tell scottish power to sod off thats only what they estimate you will use , if they insist say you will ring up each month and give a meter reading and pay that

scottish power are idiots to say the least , they send demands out to people who are on pre payment meters

bloody goons

Re: Scottish Power
 

Ours is a 2 bed house which is not insulated yet, and open on 3 sides, heating is on constant, (cheaper to tick over), on 21 degrees, we pay £30 per month with eon, (which was powergen), I have just fitted a condensing boiler so this will go down now.. cheap as chips!

Re: Scottish Power
 

well i reckon £30 fer chips is robbery.:D

Re: Scottish Power
 

Don't get me going. Was being charged £129 last year just for gas.

Took a big look at what I was using, and to be honest, was not being very economical e.g. leaving heating/water on all night (find don't need now).

Temperature of 75 degrees.
Pilot light on on gas fire.
Faulty timer so water had to be on all of the time.


Even though turned heating down as I went out to work .. only got it down to £97.

They have put me a new timer in but the system will not let me time the heating without the water being on.

Now, at last .. they have now decided to reduce to £31 !! (includes credit through direct debit).

Problem is, did feel a little chilly at times, and had to put on blow heater in back room, where I spend most of my time, and can see they are underestimating my electric usage (estimates) .. this is charged at £54 per month. Don't use cooker much .. :rolleyes: Keep one lamp on all night, apart from that, not heavy user on the lights.

Yes, have become obsessed by it all.. :eek:

Re: Scottish Power
 

i left scottish power after they tried to make me pay a big bill even tho i was on a prepayment meter.

Re: Scottish Power
 

Sorry, of course there is my washer and dryer and computer on most of the time ... so not really grumbling about the lecky.

Think your daughter ought to take a good look at her usage first .. might surprise her, before she looks around for better deals.

Re: Scottish Power
 

Well i live in a flat and i pay about the same as you,but i've got 9 appliances on standbye 24/7.Theres something cockeyed some where.:confused:

Re: Scottish Power
 

I live in the same sort of flat as Jasay and mine is £49.50 monthly
Scottish Power Online Energy Saver 3 - dual fuel - direct debit - 'no paper bills'
Every supplier has a variety of tariff rates
Insulation and 'which tariff' can make a difference

Re: Scottish Power
 

I have a 3 bedroom semi and have all the usual electrical appliances, gas heating and water (condenser combi boiler - 8 radiators), gas fire and gas cooker. There's me, my daughter and my granddaughter - baths and showers every day and washing machine on 3 or 4 times a week. I don't skimp with the heating.

I'm with Scottish Power and I pay £80 per month for gas and electricity combined. One thing I don't do is leave anything on standby - it eats electricity. If I were your daughter I'd be checking every appliance and if I thought everything was OK I'd have my gas/electric meters checked.

Re: Scottish Power
 

Problem is with this West Ender, if it turns out not to be the meter, then they will charge you around £65, and was advised that it is very rare for it to be so..sorta' gamble really.

A combi boiler would save me about £250 per year (I was advised by a gas fitter), but how long would it take me to recoup this capital outlay .. plus all the adjustment aesthitically to my kitchen.

Re: Scottish Power
 

I know the meters are rarely much out but, if it's not appliances, there must be something wrong. It can't be just that S P is more expensive or all their customers' bills would be as enormous and - well, mine aren't.

I changed to a combi boiler 6 years ago, Kate. Before that I had the most ancient, delapidated boiler in my kitchen. It was about 40 years old and looked every day of it, it was horrible. I was ready for a new kitchen anyway but the boiler went in what was the airing cupboard as I no longer have a hot tank. My old boiler was costing me a fortune - I don't think its thermostat had worked properly for years - and my heating bills dropped by about a third. The boiler cost about £3000 so it hasn't paid for itself yet but in terms of efficiency and reliability, plus the instant hot water, it was worth every penny.

In the 6 years I've had it, the boiler has gone wrong just once and, of course, it had to be during a particularly cold spell in 07. I have a maintenance contract with British Gas, though, and it was soon fixed.

Re: Scottish Power
 

Seeing as accyman mentioned pre-payment meters can anyone confirm if what I heard is true?

Private landlords tend to have card meters installed in their property for rent and refuse any request to change to a normal meter. I understand that the reason for this totally unreasonable behaviour is that a private landlord is a re-seller of energy and he can set his own tariff on the meter and thus gets a cut of the fees charged to the user. Much like public phones in shops, community centres etc. where the premises owner sets the phone call tariff.

Re: Scottish Power
 

My brother when he rented his house out had a normal meter in - when the people who had it did a moonlight flit - left him with the leccy and gas bills..... which were sky high. So before he rented it out again he asked for a prepayment one put in.

Re: Scottish Power
 

good question, i heard the same a while ago, had completly forgot till ya just mentioned it.:confused:

Re: Scottish Power
 

That’s fair enough as far as it goes. Except for one tiny detail. Energy is supplied to a person at a particular address not the other way around.

Social housing landlords like the local authority or housing associations are not liable for their tenant’s energy bills if they renege and neither is a private landlord unless the property is rented as part or fully furnished. Canny private landlords rent a house out with carpets already laid thus making it partially furnished and that’s how they get away with insisting on pre-payment meters and re-selling the energy.

These pre-payment/card meters are just another way of extorting money out of others. Far too many ordinary folk who cannot get council or housing association properties to rent are forced into the private market and fall prey to sharp practices. Who are these people? Why the most vulnerable.

It wouldn’t be so bad if the Tenancy Agreement stated the facts about energy meters but it doesn’t.

Re: Scottish Power
 

When I was private renting the meter belonged to the supplier not the house owner. I had a pre payment meter changed to a standard one just by phoned my supplier. It has nothing to do with the property owner. I also did it the other way round many years ago. I rented a house and then had a prepayment meter fitted.

I think people forget the extra cost of these meters. Put that together with the way you pay, at a local shop often so they want their cut for allowing you to pay their. Then there is the cost of these pay zone type machines as well. Is it any wownder that the energy costs you more money when on pre pay?

Why should it cost the same on pre pay and direct debit? Those on direct debit would in effect be subsidising the expensive equipment needed by pre pay customers.

The Government appear to be moaning about the cost of pre pay. I wonder if they actually know why it costs more.