HETHERINGTON: How can my house be using ‘industrial’ amounts of power?

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How can my house be using ‘industrial’ amounts of power? TONY HETHERINGTON investigates

By Tony Hetherington, Financial Mail on Sunday

Published: | Updated:

Tony Hetherington is Financial Mail on Sunday’s ace investigator, fighting readers corners, revealing the truth that lies behind closed doors and winning victories for those who have been left out-of-pocket. Find out how to contact him below.

Ms L.J. writes: I joined ScottishPower for my electricity in March 2017, paying £190 a month by direct debit and supplying monthly meter readings. In March last year, they asked for weekly readings and said I was not paying enough. They increased my monthly payments to £600. I have a house, not a business, and I am sure I cannot be using electricity costing £600 a month, but ScottishPower never gives me a bill.

Review: ScottishPower wanted to bill £600 a month and will now check Ms J’s usage

ScottishPower told me that your initial payments were based on two meter readings provided between March and September 2017, followed by just one reading in 2018 and quarterly readings since then. 

The figures at the end of 2018 showed bills of more than the £190 you had been paying, and the increase in March last year was aimed at covering arrears as well as current charges. That said, even ScottishPower estimates that your month-on-month usage should be about £400. 

The company is investigating what appliances you are using. Mysteriously, you have been told you are using ‘an industrial amount’ of power at night, yet you have told me that all you use then is a dishwasher three times a week.

You have also told me about far more meter readings that you have supplied, but unfortunately, because of the staff situation at ScottishPower during the lockdown, I have not been able to get answers about these. However, the company has told me that paper bills have been sent regularly by normal post, though you do not seem to have received a single one.

The outcome is that ScottishPower has told me: ‘We have advised Ms J that her recorded electricity use does appear out of sync with what she says she is using it for, and will visit her property to review this as soon as current working restrictions are lifted.’

Separately, last week another ScottishPower customer, Mr B, complained that he was being asked to pay more than £7,000 because he had allegedly paid nothing since 2013. This was the year the company suffered a serious computer error that saw some customers’ direct debits turned into credits.

Officials have now denied that the debt arose because of its computer mistakes, and the Energy Ombudsman has gone over the figures and confirmed the debt. It appears to have arisen because Mr B supplied meter readings but still received estimated bills, and contested the amounts by cancelling his direct debit.

ScottishPower has now said that if Mr B confirms he is no longer in any dispute with the company, it will not expect a big cheque but will work with him to organise a payment plan.

And finally, there is good news for Mr S, who heads a charity that clashed with ScottishPower over bills that threatened its very existence. 

I reported how the company first cut the charity’s monthly payments to just £1, then demanded £6,529 in arrears. This was followed by a claim that the charity owed £24,367, and a warning that its monthly payments would rocket to £1,596 in May.

This really is a case involving the company’s remarkable 2013 computer error. It has now told me: ‘Mr S has not received the quality customer service we pride ourselves on, and we are truly sorry for the distress and inconvenience caused.’

ScottishPower has scrapped all its charges from 2013 to April last year, leaving just over £1,300 due – and as a goodwill gesture, even this has been cut in half. A good outcome.

If you believe you are the victim of financial wrongdoing, write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TS or email [email protected].

Because of the high volume of enquiries, personal replies cannot be given. Please send only copies of original documents, which we regret cannot be returned. 

We’re watching you! 

Like Groundhog Day, the scam involving the fake company Data Financial Services (DFS) just keeps repeating itself. It is now six weeks since I reported that victims of investment fraud involving diamonds and binary options were being contacted and told that if they handed over a few thousand pounds in up-front fees, then DFS could magically recover their losses.

There is a genuine company of this name, but the DFS that has been telephoning and emailing from a bogus address is run by crooks that are impersonating the real firm. In February, the Financial Conduct Authority added DFS to the long list of clone companies on its website, but it appears to have taken no further action to halt the fraud.

Three weeks ago, The Mail on Sunday published full details of the Lloyds Bank account used by the crooks to rake in their loot. Warned in advance, the bank closed the account within hours. Two weeks ago, I reported the crooks had switched to a Barclays account. Again, the bank moved immediately to freeze the account and then close it.

But the gang continued their scam, turning to Nationwide. Last week, I published full details of that account. The building society immediately blocked it and began returning victims’ funds. And today, it is the turn of Santander.

Victims have been told in the past week to send their payments to Santander at sort code 09-01-38 for the credit of account number 20780019. Needless to say, nobody should part with a penny. There is no pot of gold from earlier scams. This is just another rip-off.

I alerted Santander and it has taken action, telling me: ‘We welcome all information relating to potential criminal activity and use this alongside our own fraud monitoring systems.’

But just like Groundhog Day, some things do not change. The crooks still use the same telephone number, 020 7315 4076, supplied to them by Dolphin Com Limited, based in Crewe in Cheshire. It provides phone numbers to anyone who wants to keep their location secret.

There is no sign so far that the number will be cut off, any more than there are signs that the growing list of bank accounts will lead back to the fraudsters and result in their arrest.

 

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