For eight years my elderly mother has been receiving final demand letters for £7,000 and more from ScottishPower, despite never having been a customer.
At first they were addressed to a name we didn’t recognise. My mother has lived at her property for over 40 years. We repeatedly explained to ScottishPower that my mother was, and always had been, a British Gas customer. Then the demands began to arrive in my mother’s name. Eventually, it transpired there is a mistake with the national database meter number and it was confirmed British Gas was the supplier.
However, the demands continued along with threats of bailiffs, so we complained to the ombudsman who ruled ScottishPower should stop contacting my mother and pay £150 compensation, a miserly sum which my mother refused.
Three months later, another bill for £7,000 arrived with the threat of bailiffs knocking at her door! The situation has made her so stressed she doesn’t want to leave the house.
AF, London
It took three weeks to prompt a response from ScottishPower to this disgraceful saga. It admits it should have blocked the correspondence eight years ago.
The problem is rooted in the fact your mother’s flat, number 21a, is listed differently on the national database, the Post Office database and council records and it was linked to a meter in flat 21, which is supplied by ScottishPower.
ScottishPower says it can’t change the listing on the national database since it’s not the supplier but it’s increased its compensation offer to £500.
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