British Gas demanding money but no invoice.

Rail_Staff

We had a pre-payment meter installed in our flat in January 2009 and have been using it to pay off the final quarterly bill we had (£160 at £7 per week), when I checked the meter last week to see if the debt had cleared (it should have cleared sometime this month) I was astounded to find that on April 29th the gas debt on the meter increased by over £350. We have never been invoiced for this amount and therefore cannot currently dispute the it, we have called BG numerous times and as yet we have had three different explanations for the £350, none of which make any sense. One agent told us they would send the invoice again as we had obviously not received it, another agent said that no invoice had been issed in the first place as the £350 was part of the quarterly bill we had in January. The latest we have had from them is that they will 'create an invoice' for the £350 and post it to us.

We have kept all of our correspondence with BG since we moved to this property a year ago, this includes the final bill which includes actual meter readings as opposed to estimates. We are currently waiting for BG to call us back next monday by which time we should have received the invoice. In the meantime what can we do about the debt which is becovered via the meter at the rate of £7 per week whether we like it or not. And where do stand legally if BG cannot provide an invoice for the £350.

And surely it cannot be legal for BG to add £350 of debt to the meter over four months after saying that the final bill had been settled?

Any advice would be appreciated thanks.


Matt

Andy_Ches

Send them a letter by recorded delivery demanding a statement/record of transaction on your account.

COMPLAINTS MANAGEMENT TEAM
BRITISH GAS
PO BOX 3054
EASTBOURNE
BN21 9FD

Rail_Staff

Unsurprisingly neither the invoice or the promised phone call matierialised yesterday. We called them this morning and they have now said that the bill they sent us in January incorrect and was a mistake on their part even though they admit that it is a very high bill and doesn't reflect our usage levels since then.

So in a nutshell, they keep changing their story as to how we have accrued the debt and seem unable to provide a written invoice.

sexandthecity

debtenforcer1 wrote: »

should have paid your bill in the first place shouldn't you scavenger

reported again

SwanJon

Not sure how much I can help with the information I have.
When was your meter fitted?
I assume there will be sometime between the January bill and the PP meter going in, so there would be more debt than just the january bill, but I'd only expect £20-£50.
I work for BG, so if you want me to have a look, pass me your details, otherwise write as above or call free on 08000480303.
(Some agents may have thought that they were sending you a copy of a bill, but due to the change of meter, the very last bill (up to the date of the change) never gets printed)