Energy Supplier's sharp practice?

[julianutwood]

I switched from Scottish Power to a new energy provider last October. The following April I happened to ring Scottish Power to query when they had last billed me. The lady I spoke to mentioned, very casually, that they owed me £116. I protested that if I hadn't made this chance phone call, over 6 months after I had left them, I would never have known about this outstanding money. She was extremely casual about it and hardly apologised.

I would have thought that outstanding money would have automatically been refunded. I have rung OFGEM and the Energy Ombudsman about this but they do not investigate claims which have been resolved. I wonder whether it could be Scottish Powers policy to hold on to outstanding money and only refund it if there is an enquiry.

Does anyone else have a similar else have a similar experience?

I'd email the CEO of scottish power.

I changed from SP in early Jan. I gave them a final reading and at that point asked them to calculate my final balance. They told me they needed a final reading figure from my new supplier which would take a few weeks.
Last week I emailed them to ask for the money they owed me as it was far beyond "a few weeks".
The next day they emailed and the money is in our account now.
It seems they don't chase up credit balances (though they're quick enough to chase debit balances).

Scottish Power seem really bad. I had to keep on top of them to get my credit balance back when I switched. Also once the switch was completed they suddenly seemed obsessed with trying to get me back.

I left npower over a year ago. About 3 months ago they wrote to me saying I was in credit for £42 - foolishly I thought that meant a cheque would be in the post. It was only when I phoned them that they actually refunded the money. So slightly less shady than Scottish Power, but still relying on people having to chase their own money.

It's a known problem and yes they are bastards.

www.ofgem.gov.uk/press-releases/ofgem-calls-suppliers-take-action-over-£400-million-they-hold-customers-closed-accounts