A DISABLED man has hit out after discovering he was being charged for his neighbour’s electricity – after ScottishPower took cash from his bank account to pay her bill.
Stunned Ryan Cunningham found an unauthorised direct debit had been set up after he tried to help a female refugee living above his flat in Glasgow’s Clutha Street overcome a language barrier when she ran up a £3k debt with the firm.
The energy giant used details from a previous account that Ryan, 36, had closed after deciding to switch to a different supplier and began taking funds.
Ryan exclusively told the Glasgow Times: “My neighbour’s first language is Arabic and she struggles with English. She was being charged for electricity that she just couldn’t afford and she asked for my help to reach out to ScottishPower to get a payment plan in place, as well as asking for smart meters to be installed.
“I offered to speak to them on her behalf, I thought it was the right thing to do as she was quite distressed owing such a sizeable sum of money.
“I rang them and explained the situation she was facing, who I was and why I was reaching out to them. I thought everything was being sorted out, but then I started to receive letters with my bank details on them and my old account number along the top but all the other details about the monies owed were my neighbour’s.”
Ryan, who is wheelchair-bound due to several health conditions, says that ScottishPower then took £75 from his bank account to begin chipping away at the four-figure bill.
He added: “I was shocked, the money pushed me into the red and I was worried that they would keep taking more from bank.
“I got myself in quite a state worrying that I was going to go hundreds of pounds beyond my overdraft, so I rang them and was placed in a queue for over an hour. I was then told that I would need to speak to a different department and the phone was hung up on me. This is ScottishPower’s mistake and the way the company has behaved is awful.
Further correspondence from the supplier received last week then said that it had set Ryan up as a beneficiary on his neighbour’s account, which he feared could leave him paying off the debt.
He says the news forced him to lodge a complaint with the Energy Ombudsman as he sought to find a speedy solution.
He added: “I was terrified they would try and take more money from my bank when this letter arrived. That was the final straw and I decided I needed to seek help.
“I just can’t believe ScottishPower would use an account I closed in October when it was £400 in credit to then try and pay someone else’s debt. I went on the phone to try and help open up the channels of communication for someone in distress and somehow they took that as I was going to pay the bill. It is total incompetence. How could they get it all so wrong?”
The Glasgow Times took the case to ScottishPower on Ryan’s behalf. After we stepped in, the firm promised to unlink his details from his neighbour’s account and remove them completely from their system.
They have also offered a written apology and £125 in compensation – an offer which Ryan says is unacceptable.
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He said: “I’m not willing to say yes to a measly offer like this, especially given the sleepless nights and stress I’ve gone through with all of this.
“At one point I didn’t know how much they were going to take from my bank without warning or permission. It has been extremely upsetting when I already don’t enjoy good health.
“I want the ombudsman to step in and bring about a fair resolution. All I did was try to help someone in need when they were at their lowest ebb and it has backfired on me because of this company’s incompetence.
"How on earth was this allowed to happen? The debt had nothing to do with me yet I was expected to pay for it."
A spokesperson for ScottishPower said today that they are continuing to work towards finding a solution.
They added: “We are sorry to hear of the issues experienced by Mr Cunningham and his neighbour. The matter is currently with the Energy Ombudsman, who we are working with to resolve the issue.”
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