Fergus Muirhead on utility bills and credit cards

Fergus answers money questions on Reporting Scotland and online

I'm Fergus Muirhead and I'm trying to answer any money or consumer problems you may be facing at the moment.

You can contact me by e-mail at [e-mail]

I will deal with a selection of your e-mails every second Monday on lunchtime Reporting Scotland, Scotland Live and on the BBC Scotland news website.

Fergus also has a consumer page on Twitter: http://twitter.com/consumerstuff

Question 1. Q. Can you tell me why, on my electricity bill from Scottish Power, my standing charges are higher than my electricity consumption? For one month I paid in excess of £36 standing charges!

Also, despite countless letters and emails to Scottish Power they cannot seem to stop sending me direct debit demands. I pay them after I receive Bills. Their computer systems are completely hopeless. I am moving to a new house this week and am dumping Scottish Power in favour of British Gas (Scottish Gas) - is this a good move?

Norrie Hunter

A. There are a number of questions here and I'll try to address them all. I suppose the last question you ask is the most important - should you switch from Scottish Power to Scottish Gas? This depends on whether they are going to charge you more and/or provide a more professional service. And it brings in your query regarding the standing charge.

As I understand it Scottish Power has a number of options that you can choose from. You can pay a standing charge and a lower rate for energy you use or you can choose not to pay a standing charge but pay a higher rate for consumption. You will need to do a calculation based on your own consumption over the last 12 months or so to see what suits you better.

You then need to compare the better Scottish Power option with the options available from Scottish Gas and decide. For every email I receive telling me one is better than the other I have one saying the opposite!

As far as the direct Debit query is concerned I know that a lot of people still like to pay once the bill is received but it may be that you can help out with budgeting, and receive a discount, if you agree to pay by Direct Debit. I think it's worth considering.

Q. I have a prepaid key meter so imagine my surprise and delight on receiving an electricity bill informing me I was owed £34.83. I was a bit confused to say the least as I have been on prepaid meters before and have never been told I was owed money.

I can't help feeling there is something amiss. I am led to believe that prepaid meters charge more than normal which seems grossly unfair considering we pay for the electricity `as and when` we use it, we don't have credit for it as in a normal meter, so perhaps this overpayment is something to do with this?

I hope you can make sense of it and enlighten me.

Linda.

A. First of all I can confirm that I have spoken with Scottish Hydro Electric and they have confirmed that the rate you pay with a meter will be exactly the same rate as you would pay if you received regular bills. They also tell me that there are various reasons why you would have a meter in the first place.

It may be that there was a meter in place when you moved into the house, it could be that you asked for a meter because you felt it would make it easier to budget or it could be that you have previous unpaid bills that you are repaying using the prepay meter. As I understand it the Statement you received is a 'snapshot' showing the payments you made and the electricity you used in a given period of time. It doesn't show any standing charges that need to be applied to your account, or any arrears that you may be repaying.

Q. Last week my daughter booked a flight to Majorca for my husband and myself using my Credit Card. On receiving confirmation of the booking I am astounded to note that the card fee is £11! How else are you supposed to pay - hand cash to the Pilot?

Eileen Irwin

Q. Recently BMI changed from no credit card charge if you use BMI credit card and now charge £4 per person rather than per booking. I booked 5 people on a flight at same time and was charged £20. Other airlines just have a flat charge. Also claiming refunds, particularly of govt tax element of the fare, is an interesting experience.

Phil Flanders

A. I thought it made sense to answer these two questions together since they cover a very similar area, and one that brings lots of queries these days! Each airline seems to be a law unto itself when it comes to pricing policy and although many of us would describe the way they add charges as 'hidden', they would defend their policy by saying that all of the information is available online if you read the Terms and Conditions carefully.

You are correct, Eileen, when you say that you may have no other option if booking on line than to use a credit card. But each airline seems to have different charges that apply to different cards. MasterCard may cost more than Visa and Credit Card more than Debit Card so it is important to scroll through all options before deciding which card to use.

And remember that you now need to arrange as much as possible from your computer before you get to the airport or you could find that your travel costs double because you try to check in people and bags at the airport!

As far as your 'tax' refunds are concerned Phil it should be possible to reclaim the tax element of unused flights. The problem is again that each airline seems to have a different policy and apply a different 'admin' charge each time you try to reclaim.

Have a look at http://www.aph.com/news/tax_return.htm where you can find some useful information on the admin charges likely to be levied by different airlines. And remember that if you book via a Travel Agent then you may have to pay two admin charges - one to the airline and one to the travel agent. But remember also it's your money and you should be able to get it back!

The opinions expressed are those of the author and are not held by the BBC unless specifically stated. The material is for general information only and does not constitute investment, tax, legal or other form of advice. You should not rely on this information to make (or refrain from making) any decisions. Always obtain independent, professional advice for your own particular situation.