Help, shock £1202 gas bil!!!!!

Cardew

robox09 wrote: »

Hi

That's right I haven't recieved an gas bill for 24 months according to Scottish Power, they state in the letter they are reviewing billing records in my area which indicated they have not sent me an account for gas for 24 months.

I'm a single parent with a very busy life between work & school, like alot of people I'm sure, so when I set up an account with them to pay £46 per month, I was under the impression that covered both gas & electric as when I provided my bank details for the direct debit I didn't think with them supplying both utilities they would only charge me for one!!!

I understand people may say I should have questioned not being billed, but I didn't notice also as I say thought my direct debit covered my utilitiy bills as I pay direct debit for all bills so I don't have to worry about remembering to pay bills it's just automatically done.

The letter admits they are at fault.

So you have just been paying a £46 monthly Direct Debit for Electricity?

If you moved both gas and electricity from British Gas to Scottish Power, and they haven't sent you a gas bill, then it seems that the error is with Scottish Power; and in that case they can only backbill you for 12 months from the time they notified you.

Does the letter not acknowledge that they will only back-bill for 12 months? Or(horrible thought!) could the £1202 be the reduced charge?

Something is not right here, Scottish Power will know that 12 month ruling and I would be very surprised if they tried to ignore it.

So if the £1202 bill is covering the 24 months since they started supplying you with gas, then you should contact them and mention the 12 month rule.

However to help you further, we really need to know the full contents of their letter.

Vestra

Cardew wrote: »

So you have just been paying a £46 monthly Direct Debit for Electricity?

If you moved both gas and electricity from British Gas to Scottish Power, and they haven't sent you a gas bill, then it seems that the error is with Scottish Power; and in that case they can only backbill you for 12 months from the time they notified you.

Does the letter not acknowledge that they will only back-bill for 12 months? Or(horrible thought!) could the £1202 be the reduced charge?

Something is not right here, Scottish Power will know that 12 month ruling and I would be very surprised if they tried to ignore it.

So if the £1202 bill is covering the 24 months since they started supplying you with gas, then you should contact them and mention the 12 month rule.

However to help you further, we really need to know the full contents of their letter.

I always thought the 12 month billing code only applied if the customer raised the issue of not receiving the bill with the supplier? So if the OP never contacted Scottish Power to say they never received a bill then they are allowed to back bill beyond the 12 months?

beliver

Rian1988 wrote: »

I always thought the 12 month billing code only applied if the customer raised the issue of not receiving the bill with the supplier? So if the OP never contacted Scottish Power to say they never received a bill then they are allowed to back bill beyond the 12 months?

everybodys diffrent i think when northern electric tried to sting me
they could only use 12 months the joeys on the phone did not tell me this they are not authorized to do so i had 2 find this out by ringing complaints direct they can authorize the back billing rule if they have not sent they will do the back billign rule and also offer a repayment plan at reduced rate

but as i said every company diffrent but all have to abide to the rules :rotfl:

1carminestocky

beliver wrote: »

everybodys diffrent i think when northern electric tried to sting me
they could only use 12 months the joeys on the phone did not tell me this they are not authorized to do so i had 2 find this out by ringing complaints direct they can authorize the back billing rule if they have not sent they will do the back billign rule and also offer a repayment plan at reduced rate

but as i said every company diffrent but all have to abide to the rules :rotfl:

Yes, I have to say I'm surprised at Cardew's incredulity at even the possibility that one of these companies would 'try it on' in such an instance. I mean, apart from us obsessionists (is that even a word? - Ed) who would actually know about the 12 month rule? About as many as know about the 'I'm switching so I request to pay at your old rates rule'? 1%? 0.5%? 0.05%??

Cardew

Rian1988 wrote: »

I always thought the 12 month billing code only applied if the customer raised the issue of not receiving the bill with the supplier? So if the OP never contacted Scottish Power to say they never received a bill then they are allowed to back bill beyond the 12 months?

I don't think there is any need for a customer to raise the issue of no bill; the sole criteria is that the company are at fault.

Certainly when someone first moves into a house they have the responsibility to notify the company they are using gas/electricity.

However in this case the OP was with BG and transferred both gas and electricity to Scottish Power. Scottish Power must have taken the action to move the accounts from BG(the gaining company handles the process) otherwise BG would have continued billing the OP.

However I am pretty sure that things are not as straightforward as it might seem.

Cardew

1carminestocky wrote: »

Yes, I have to say I'm surprised at Cardew's incredulity at even the possibility that one of these companies would 'try it on' in such an instance. I mean, apart from us obsessionists (is that even a word? - Ed) who would actually know about the 12 month rule? About as many as know about the 'I'm switching so I request to pay at your old rates rule'? 1%? 0.5%? 0.05%??

Incredulous is putting it a bit strong, I said surprised.

I would not be surprised at one of the call centre operators 'trying it on', but to put in writing "we haven't sent you a bill for 2 years and we want payment in full for those 2 years gas" -which in essence is what the OP is implying - seems unlikely to me.

I would think such a letter would land them in trouble with the regulator as they would be in contravention of the rules.

My gut feeling is there is more to the story. Either they have reasons to 'blame' the OP, or they have sent a bill, or the £1202 has taken into account the 12 month rule.

KimYeovil

I suspect the 'we may have to pay them £60 or £80 compensation if they complain to the regulator' is easily underweighed by the possibility of 'they may shrug their shoulders and pay us the £1200 they realise is due somewhere'!

1carminestocky

Cardew wrote: »

Incredulous is putting it a bit strong, I said surprised.

I would not be surprised at one of the call centre operators 'trying it on', but to put in writing "we haven't sent you a bill for 2 years and we want payment in full for those 2 years gas" -which in essence is what the OP is implying - seems unlikely to me.

I would think such a letter would land them in trouble with the regulator as they would be in contravention of the rules.

My gut feeling is there is more to the story. Either they have reasons to 'blame' the OP, or they have sent a bill, or the £1202 has taken into account the 12 month rule.

Call it poetic licence. But I do take your point on board....;)

Cardew

KimYeovil wrote: »

I suspect the 'we may have to pay them £60 or £80 compensation if they complain to the regulator' is easily underweighed by the possibility of 'they may shrug their shoulders and pay us the £1200 they realise is due somewhere'!

I suspect that if they sent a formal letter along the lines of ""we haven't sent you a bill for 2 years and we want payment in full for those 2 years gas"" then they would be in trouble with the Regulator - and I do agree with everyone's opinion of Ofgem!!!!

wineoclock36

Hi

Hoping someone can give me some advice.
We moved into our property in Nov 2003, usually when you move you recieve a letter/bill from the current supplier. we received Nothing.
I had to phone round all companies and they all told me they were not my supplier. I was advised to call the main database to find out who our supplier was ( cant remember the name of it), and they informed me it was scottish power. Numerous calls to scottish power and they still told me they didnt supply us? We did eventually just give up trying, knowing that one day we would recieve a bill.
That day came today....................................27/05/07 - 28/05/09 for £2,547.55
The meter was regularly read and reading on bill accurate .
We never had any mail addressed to The occupier, So, can anyone tell me what I should now be doing? Does the 1 yr rule apply here? They always told us on the telephone they didnt supply us? I really really really need some help please?

thankyou in advance
Jo