Gas Bill from over a year ago...

JodieUK

Hi
Yesterday i received a bill from a debt collector regarding a british gas bill for £75 - when i phoned them they said that british gas had handed this over to them in June 08 and the debt was for bill in february 07 and related to a property I moved from in September 2007.

When contacting British Gas they were very confusing - said that they hadnt sent us out a final bill when we changed supplier in feb 2007. We lived at the property for a further 7 months and had nothing to say we owed them anything. When leaving my property I paid everything outstanding and then shredded all old bills so i have no reference of gas bills at my old property.

they said that the debt has gone to the debt collector as after we moved they couldnt locate us (even thought we were actually back with british gas at this point) wew have just moved to another company..

I am not happy about paying this, i dont believe its right, and even though she is sending me out a copy of the bill they originally "forgot" to send me I still dont feel confident that Ill be able to work out if this in fact right that I owe them this.

As far as Im concerned this is their fault - can they really ask us for money from so long ago, and now that it is with a debt collector any advice on the complaint procedure to try and get this wiped?

anniecave

The general advice would ALWAYS be to check your bills if you change supplier. Check that the final meter reading for the old supplier matches the opening reading for the new supplier. And for that matter, unless the reading they use is a reading you provided, check that it is a sensible meter reading as well - not lots of units above or below what the meter is actually saying!

There was an energywatch supercomplaint a while ago, this may help you. That says that energy suppliers shouldn't suddenly issue a bill for supplies more than a year previously (on residential supplies). So if say they didn't issue this final bill until March 08 or after, then this would be incorrect as per the energywatch ruling, as it would relate to supply more than a year ago. If this is the case, you can tell them the debt is not valid.

If the bill was issued anytime before February 08, then unfortunately it's valid and due for payment. Obviously check you haven't already paid it, sometimes payments do get allocated incorrectly so it's worth checking.

It's not uncommon for suppliers to "forget" to issue a final bill. It's due to the fact the computer has to wait for the agreed change of supplier meter reading to be received before the final bill can be issued, and sometimes this can take more time then usual. If this happens, then the bill isn't produced during the "normal" billing cycle. It then would only be picked up if a computer (or a human) starts checking for unbilled billing periods, and that can be weeks or months later.

If it is due for payment, you can always ask for a reduction in the value due to the lack of customer service, and the fact that BG should have billed you on time in the first place. They might give you a few quid off, it's always worth asking. They can only say no.

Oh and I would always keep a copy of bills and stuff, even after I move out of a property. Legally companies can persue you (and get a CCJ against you) if a debt is less than six years old, or if it is less than six years since you last made payment towards an even older debt.

For most stuff now, I scan a copy into my computer and keep the scanned copy, so no paper needed!

I hope you get it sorted.

Cardew

they said that the debt has gone to the debt collector as after we moved they couldnt locate us (even thought we were actually back with british gas at this point)

BG have millions of customers. How would they be expected to know that you, say, MR Tony Blair now residing at 12 Railway Cuttings East Cheam, are the same Mr Tony Blair who used to reside at 10 Downing Street London SW1.

Post above sums it up perfectly; You really should have checked that the meter readings for the new company account were the same as the old company closing account.

BG for all their failings are very probably correct in this case that you do owe the money, albeit that they should have notified you sooner.

BG are providing 'proof' that you owe the money and I suggest that unless you can prove that the bill is wrong, you are best off paying!

Incisor

Unless you can actually prove that you don't owe, then you should pay. Even if you shred bills normally, you should always keep the latest one and the last one from any property and the first and last from any change of supplier.

Consider what might happen if BG take it to court. If you explain to the court as you have explained here, it doesn't look like a very strong argument. But you should get the bill from BG before you pay. And your only grounds for challenging it would be if you can get a copy of the first bill from the next supplier which shows BG are wrong.

JodieUK

Thanks for the advice. i am quite particular about bills and know that I will have checked when changing supplier that all readings were correct, thats why I am so confused, I also usually keep bills as well...but after 6/7 months and believing that I paid everything off i didnt think I would need them anymore, i decided to declutter and sort out all my paper work when i moved and felt that it was ok to get rid of these. I will wait and see when I get the bill - but I am going to contact BG about my dissatisfaction.

JodieUK

just thought id give an update to this - so glad i objected, checked the meter readings that they had and what the company i moved to (powergen) had recieved, it was WAY OUT, ended up in fact that biritish gas owed me - got a cheque a couple of days ago for £70! Happy days x

quiet_advisor

JodieUK wrote: »

just thought id give an update to this - so glad i objected, checked the meter readings that they had and what the company i moved to (powergen) had recieved, it was WAY OUT, ended up in fact that biritish gas owed me - got a cheque a couple of days ago for £70! Happy days x

Well done - never give up!

I suggest ask BG for written assurance that it has not passed any adverse reports regarding your credit standing to credit agencies - this can happen when matters are passed over to debt collection agencies, even though the customer is subsequently shown not to be in debt. Credit ratings are very important at present.

QA

JodieUK

Thanks, never thought of that, I'll check that just in case!