A FAMILY fear they could have their electricity supply cut off in a row over a £15,000 bill with Scottish Power – despite never having an account with the company.
Sarah Barnard said a “nightmare” three-year dispute with the power giant has left her “exhausted, harassed and in tears.”
The mother of three from Hurst has received numerous phone calls, letters, visits from debt collectors and threats from Scottish Power to apply for a warrant to disconnect the family’s electricity supply.
And despite a ruling in January by the Ombudsman for the electricity company to send a special Community Liaison officer to visit the family home, Sarah said she has had no response from Scottish Power.
“I am at the end of my tether, we have been living a nightmare for three years over this situation,” she said.
“We have never had an electricity account with Scottish Power yet it is demanding we pay over £15,000. How can this happen?
“I can’t tell you how many hours I’ve spent on the phone or replying to threatening letters. We have had two visits from debt collectors, including one at eight o’clock in the morning. We feel this situation is out of our control and don’t know where to turn to next.”
The problem began in 2006 when the family had building work done including an overhaul of the electricity system and wiring. Sarah’s son is severely disabled and is reliant on electricity for his feeding, hoisting, communication and powerchair.
She said she approached Scottish Power about possibly supplying power but opted for another company.
“I have a huge pile of documents showing the names of two other suppliers, meter readings, photographs of the meters themselves and letters from the other companies, confirming they supply our electricity,” added Sarah.
“Despite all of this, Scottish Power is insisting it is the supplier and have estimated our bill which is currently over £15,000. When I contact them, they tell me to register a complaint and they will look into it but then I receive another phone call or letter demanding payment.
“My husband and I feel we are banging our heads against a wall. We have paid all our electricity bills up to date with the company that supply us. When we receive another phone call from Scottish Power, we have to go through the whole story again and send more proof they are not our supplier.
“The stress is unbearable. I am a teacher and when I come home in the evening, I dread to find another threatening letter from Scottish Power. How can a company behave like this for so long despite all the evidence we have that we do not have an account with them?”
Councillor Wayne Smith who represents the Hurst Ward described Sarah’s situation as “appalling.”
“As soon as I heard about Sarah’s plight, I contacted Theresa May’s office who were equally shocked.
“They have been in touch with Scottish Power and have requested a full update on the case.
“As a result, representatives from Scottish Power are visiting Sarah to check the electric meters.
“I hope this brings a speedy resolution to what has been a very stressful and worrying situation for Sarah and her family.”
And, as we went to press, Scottish Power confirmed to Sarah that they were ready to leap into action.
A complaints manager told her that they were locking the account while they resolved the issues and liaised with Theresa May over the complaint raised by Cllr Smith.
The email to Sarah added: “Please accept our sincere apologies for the concern and inconvenience caused and please be assured that your supply will not be cut off due to the outstanding issues.”
A ScottishPower spokesperson said: “We sincerely apologise for any upset and inconvenience this matter has caused. The case is with the Ombudsman and once the case has been fully reviewed by the Ombudsman they will present all parties with their findings and proposed resolution.
“We have assured Miss Barnard that we have reversed all bills associated to her address, we have applied locks to the billing accounts in question to cease further unwanted debt follow up.”
