Advice needed urgently!!!

jobbingmusician

Thanks for reading - here's the scenario.

I work for a small charity, and British Gas is chasing us for an alleged unpaid electricity bill - the bill relates to Dec 2001 to May 2002. At least, when I say BG, they have unhelpfully passed this to a debt recovery agency who I think are bullying us.

There are 2 issues here - 1. We moved out of the property in Feb 2002, and have sent proof of this to BG. They are saying that unless we can provide a final meter reading (which of course we can't after this period of time) we'll have to pay the lot (great, huh)

2. We have a bill from TXUEnergi for this period of time. The one member of staff remaining (office mgr) says she doesn't think we were EVER a customer of BG. BG have sent us a computer printout which they say proves we were. I have asked them for a signed agreement where we gave authority for them to be our supplier, and they say they don't need this.

What should I do? They are now threatening to take us to court if we don't pay in the next 7 days............

mr_fishbulb

When did you send proof of moving out? Before you moved out or after?

lisyloo

We have a bill from TXUEnergi for this period of time.

If you are sure of your posistion then tell them they can whistle for it.

I have asked them for a signed agreement where we gave authority for them to be our supplier, and they say they don't need this.

They WILL need to prove their case in court.

What should I do? They are now threatening to take us to court if we don't pay in the next 7 days............

I would write them a letter asking for the signed contract.
If not then you'll see them in court (not those exact words obviously).

I think they are bullying you and they have no case.
Call their bluff.

They WILL have to prove the debt to a judge if they do to court.
Some computer printout won't do it.

jobbingmusician

Thanks for help so far. OK, another question. Does anyone know - do you have to agree in writing for a change of utility company? Is it plausible in any way that BG took over from TXUEnergi without us realising or signing a mandate?

Annando

You would have been notified if BG had taken over, and they would have had to send you some paperwork stipulating the new charges etc... and giving you a period of time to find a new supplier if you were unhappy with their T&Cs
If you have a bill from TXUEnergi for the period I don't see how BG could have taken over !

3 Years ago we had a spot of trouble when Powergen took over Amerada. They did send us a letter stipulating the charges etc..., when our first bill arrived the amounts were totally different.
Thanks to advice I got from other moneysavers I contacted energywatch and explained the situation to them, also sent a copy of the letter I had sent to Powergen. They managed to sort everything out, powergen gave us a refund and a one off payment as a way of saying sorry!

You can contact energywatch directly by phone on 08459060708 or through their website https://www.energywatch.org.uk

I hope you manage to sort this out, Good Luck!