British Gas Error - Bill for £1800.00!

boywonder22

Hello

Just wondering if anyone has any advice or has gone through a similar problem with their energy provider as my Dad is right now with British Gas!

Try my best to keep it short but basically:

A month or so ago my Dad received what he thought was his normal electricity bill, but turned out to be a bill for nearly £1800.00! Obviously my Dad rang them straight up for an explanation, as he has always always paid gas and electric by direct debit since he has been a home owner, some 30 years now! So just how could he owe £1800.00? The guy at British Gas tried to insinuate that my Dad had not been making any payments, which was obviously a load of c**p as like I say he always has paid by direct debit! (excuse the french!) Anyway, after 40 minutes on the phone the guy finally agreed that British Gas had got the bill wrong, and had mixed up the day and night rates, so gave my Dad his name which he's made a record of, and said he it would take up to 17 or 18 working days for a correct bill to be issued. Dad was fine with this, more than 18 days goes by, and still no new bill. So again my Dad rings them up to chase it, and after an hour long phone call at my Dads expense, British Gas decide that the original bill was right, and for the last 5 years, yes FIVE!! they have been charging his electricity used in the day at the night rate in , and so the £1800.00 arrears relates to the last 5 years! My Dad for whatever reason didn't really cause that much of a fuss about it, but still did voice how unfair he thought it was as it was there error and how was he expected to know that, British Gas take the readings, send the bills and he just pays, simple as, so they agreed to knock off a "generous" £200.00 from the bill, and have agreed to let my Dad pay it over the next two years.

However, i am not happy! I'd of raised hell if I had been my Dad. How can they rightfully/legally make someone pay for arrears that in effect started 5 years ago and was down to their error..? I am sure this can't be allowed, and that they are just tried to recover the money and see if my Dad would accept it, which he has stupidly done! Although it is quite different, I work in Housing Benefits and I know that if we tried to recover an overpayment of benefit from a customer from 5 years ago that was the authority's fault, we would get b*ll*cked and if took to appeal over it, would be crucified! We can only recover overpayment if it is reasonable that the customer would have known they were being overpaid, surely something similar must apply in this case?

I'm sorry this has gone on for a bit but it would be great if anyone could give some advice or their opinions as to whether they think it is worth fighting this? Really appreciate your time, thank you Tom

1carminestocky

I'm no legal expert but I was under the impression they could only charge back one year if they had made an error or hadn't charged anything at all?

boywonder22

Thank you for that, it's just nice knowing that at least one other person agrees that It can't be right to do what they've done, the only reason my Dad has accepted it is because luckily he can afford to pay it and doesn't want the hassle, but it shouldn't be like that, as a matter of principle I would begrudge paying it! Im not saying he is their best customer ever, but they could do a whole lot worst!! In 30 years of owning a home he to my knowledge has never ever defaulted on a utility payment and then they go and do this...grrr! Anyway, thank you again, Tom

Joyful

He has been billed so the 1 year no bill is not relevant here. As it is meter readers who send the readings through to a company usually based on what the Meter Operators have as night and day rates, unless it is brought to a suppliers attention that the reads are the wrong way round they will be unaware of it . Does he know how this came to light?

I would hope that if he raises a complaint that he would get more than £200 knocked off.

1carminestocky

Tom, there is a way you can talk to them yourself, you know. Just let your dad talk to them and ask that they speak to you on his behalf and let him pass the phone to you. I do this all the time for my father, it's amazing how the tone of the call centre bod changes when he realises he/she isn't talking to a doddery old person!

Edit: Found the relevant info on the energywatch site (this relates to not being charged at all so I'm hoping a BG error in charging is the same):

http://www.energywatch.org.uk/help_and_advice/billing_basics/index.asp#2

I haven’t had a bill for ages – do I still have to pay?
Consumers are legally bound to pay for their utilities. However, the Limitations Act 1980 prevents charges being recovered if the electricity or gas was used more than six years ago. In Scotland this period is five years.
Suppliers should at least offer a payment plan that allows you to repay any debt over the same length of time that it has built up. In other words, if you have not had a bill from your supplier for three years then, when a bill does finally appear, you should be able to spread the repayments over three years. However, if you accept a payment plan then you will not be able to change your supplier until you have cleared the outstanding debt.
However, as a result of the ‘super-complaint’ submitted by energywatch in April 2005 to the energy regulator, Ofgem (see below), energy companies have been told that, as of July 2006, they should no longer bill for any energy used by consumers more than two years previously where the company themselves has failed to provide a bill. As of July 2007, energy companies will be expected not to bill for any amount that dates back longer than a year

.

Joyful

1carminestocky wrote: »

Edit: Found the relevant info on the energywatch site (this relates to not being charged at all so I'm hoping a BG error in charging is the same):
.

It's not the same. The rule is purely for no bill and this customer received his. I still think though that he may get a further amount off- perhaps 20% if he gets through to a complaints team.

1carminestocky

Or contacts energywatch prior to ringing back, perhaps? If the error is entirely BGs there's no way he should be liable IMO.

SwanJon

In these cases, I'd be lokoing at either a slightly bigger reduction (more than the 11% already offered), or as long to pay it back as it took to build up (this is commonly offered, so why not here.
At risk of being flamed - your dad did have statements every quarter with readings on them so he had a chance to check that the readings were accurate whilst the compnay can only go by the readings that were given. It would be interesting to see if there were any queries about the readings (from either end) during those 5 years.