Scottish Power has faced criticism after sending a vulnerable pensioner an £8,300 bill and a chilling threat. Richard Palmer, 76, received the eye-watering demand from the energy provider in March, which warned that a credit default would be registered against his account if he did not pay.
Mr Palmer used half of his savings to settle the bill, feeling he had no choice but to comply. It later emerged that the charge was the result of a major miscalculation by the company.
Daughter speaks out
His daughter, Anne, told the Guardian: “The tone and urgency of the letter caused him significant distress, and he felt he had no choice but to call them immediately and pay the full amount on the spot. He is elderly, vulnerable and easily panicked by official-looking correspondence, and the impact on him was considerable.”
Scottish Power apologises
In a statement, Scottish Power said: “We’re very sorry for the billing issues experienced and the difficulties in getting these resolved, which fell far below our usual standards. We have fully corrected his account and meter readings and refunded a total of £9,000 to him. We’re also discussing a goodwill payment with his daughter in recognition of the distress and inconvenience caused while we rectified his account.”
Fuel poverty campaigners react
Simon Francis of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition described the case as “quite shocking”. He said: “This is beyond the pale in terms of the level of error that has been allowed by Scottish Power. There should be a lot of checks and balances in place to make sure people who are vulnerable do not end up with bills like this. You’d really think that if an older pensioner, who presumably isn’t used to spending huge chunks of money, suddenly rang up Scottish Power and transferred £8,500 to the company, they would have flagged that.”
