A fed-up mum has claimed she's been paying for a neighbour’s electricity for two years after moving into a new house.
After Alison Hill moved into her property in December 2017, Scottish Power registered four accounts in her name, with one marked “deceased”, she claims.
She then found herself getting billed for somebody else's electricity - despite spending "hours on the phone provided the correct meter numbers" to Scottish Power.
Alison and partner Michael Leese complained to the Ombudsman, who ruled in their favour, but the issue has still not been resolved.
Alison, 25, said: “I’m astounded at the ineptitude. It’s surely not that difficult to bill someone for the electricity they are using, the Daily Record reported .
“I’ve spent hours on the phone, provided the correct meter number countless times and sent photos of the meter in situ. But it’s still not sorted.”
She and Michael, 27, a personal trainer, moved to the £145,500 three-bed terrace and were told to expect a welcome pack from ScottishPower.
Alison, of Croftfoot, near Glasgow, said: “The builder had provided final meter readings and the entire development was taken on by ScottishPower.”
But no welcome pack arrived. Alison, a banker, said: “I called to complain and was told it was on its way. I’ve yet to see it.”
She contacted the energy giant again in May last year as she was worried about the mounting bill.
Alison said: “I was unaware that the meter registered to the account was the wrong one and I was paying for someone else’s supply. But I’d set up the app on my phone and could see the bill increasing.
“All I wanted to do was pay by direct debit. The penny dropped when an adviser at ScottishPower read out the meter number. It was one digit out.”
Alison said: “Michael arrived home one night and found a letter addressed to the executors of the estate of Alison Hill. A trawl through the app showed four accounts registered against a random address two streets away.”
The Ombudsman intervened and told the energy giant to sort the meter issue, re-bill Alison from December 1, 2017, apologise and pay £30 compensation.
But she said: “ScottishPower told the Ombudsman it had done this in February but the meter issue is still not resolved.
“I got so fed up that I tried to change supplier. But I couldn’t as the meter number is wrong. Please help.”
I got on to ScottishPower. A spokesman said: “We apologise for the problems. The billing side has now been updated internally.
“We experienced problems when updating the meter details on the national database.
"We will update Ms Hill and the Ombudsman. We will implement any further actions we receive from the Ombudsman.”
Scottish Power has been approached by Mirror Online for further comment.
