Bold claim: Your family deserved respectful handling, not a labyrinth of delay and indifference from ScottishPower. And this is where the story highlights a systemic flaw that many customers fear to confront.
When my father died last year, nearly every organization we contacted showed kindness and empathy. ScottishPower, however, stood out for the opposite reason. For years, the company had been paying feed-in tariff (Fit) payments for electricity generated by my parents’ solar panels into my father’s account. My parents owned the panels jointly in 2011, and my mother—named on the certification and acting as ScottishPower’s main contact—assumed redirecting the payments to her bank account would be a straightforward process. It was not.
Four months of exhausting bureaucracy followed, a period of grief that deeply affected my 82-year-old mother. The experience was so distressing that she contemplated letting ScottishPower keep the funds. The process demanded three onerous forms to prove she resided in her own home, plus numerous documents, including an insensitive copy of the will. ScottishPower promptly lost these documents.
Since then, she has been bombarded with emails requesting information that had already been supplied and, tragically, addressed to my late father. Her own emails have been ignored, and her complaints have gone unaddressed. Customer service agents appear unable to communicate with one another. Staff show little regard for her age and bereavement. In short, dealing with ScottishPower has been emotionally devastating.
TM Cromer, Norfolk
You were contacted last September, a year after ScottishPower had begun sending Fit payments to your late father’s account. By then, your mother was owed more than £1,000. ScottishPower offered a timely apology when you notified its press office of the ordeal, with a spokesperson stating: “We’re deeply sorry for the experience the family has had with us during such a distressing time. Our handling of the case is far below the standard we aim for, and we are investigating why this has happened and why it has taken so long to resolve.”
Did that apology resolve anything? Not at all. Another cheerful email arrived addressed to your deceased father.
When you raised the issue, ScottishPower finally recognized that you had lost a parent—and offered condolences for the death of your mother, which was an unfortunate mix-up.
In November, your mother received the year’s worth of Fit payments, but without the interest payments you had requested. The compensation offered—£75—felt derisory given the delay and depth of the distress.
Two weeks later, an agent called your mother, attempting to speak with your late father. After learning of his passing, the agent followed up with an email addressed to him.
“Does ScottishPower know what ‘dead’ means?” you asked in despair. “It means my father is no longer with us; he has expired. He is deceased. He has shuffled off his mortal coil. It also means my father is no longer able to read emails or answer the phone.”
Another month passed. ScottishPower repeatedly claimed the interest on late payments was being calculated, then abruptly said no interest was payable because your mother was deemed responsible for delays the company had previously apologized for. They raised their compensation to £150.
Last month, ScottishPower finally admitted it had wasted two months by requesting unnecessary paperwork and delaying the processing of essential documents. It also admitted it took two months to act after being notified of your father’s death last May.
The company later offered £300 in compensation, which includes the interest, and your mother accepted it.
This case shines a light on how even well-known firms can mishandle bereavement-related accounts and, crucially, underscores the importance of compassionate, efficient service when families are navigating loss and legal paperwork.
If you have had a similar experience or want to share thoughts on how utilities should handle sensitive emergencies, join the conversation in the comments and tell us what steps you’d expect a responsible company to take. Would you expect stricter internal escalation paths, more empathetic communication, or clearer timelines for resolving such issues? Your perspective matters.
