British Gas move home gone wrong

cleverly

Hi,

I wonder if someone can help.

My girlfriend and I moved out of a flat in November 08. We were happy with BG and decided to stay with them, we started the "Home Move" process which seemed easily enough, gave BG our moving date and they said they will deal with everything and get in touch about final meter readings.

Sure enough 3 days later i had a text asking for the last meter reading which i replied to, them a couple of days later asking for the meter reading in the house we are moving to, also replied (i still have both txts on my phone). Didn't hear anything after that so was happy that everything was sorted.

Last Friday i have had a letter off e-On asking for £617 for gas and electric and today a debt collector has been to the house speaking to my pregnant girlfriend. I spoke to e-On and told them that i don't have a account with them and i am being supplied by BG. They told me that BG hasn't requested a home move so e-On has been supplying both Gas and Electric since November (eon were the previous supplier).

I have looked through previous bank statements and have noticed that BG have cancelled the Direct debit from our accounts.

I have logged a complaint with BG to see what they have to say (I now feel sorry for the person on the other end of the phone!), don't know if there is anyway of getting compensation for the hassle? Do i have any other options? As you can probably understand i don't have £600 to pay eon, i have some money that hasn't been used to pay BG but most of it has been eaten away through re-decorating (didn't think to check my bank statements to check the DD :mad: )

Can anyone give me some advice? Is it worth paying the debt to eon or trying to sort it out with BG and sticking with them? I don't want debt collectors coming to the door everyday hassling my girlfriend who is now 8 month pregnant.

Thanks

Premier_2

You say you don't have £600 to pay eon? But you'd now owe about £600 to BG if the switch had gone ahead to cover the last 7 months consumption.

Start saving hard, speak with eon and try and agree a repayment plan, although it may now be too late for that, in which case see what you can sell to pay the bill. It's better if you sell it yourself than if a bailiff comes and sells it at auction.

You may be able to get a prepayment meter and pay the debt that way, but you'll also end up paying more for the energy you consume from now on too, probably.

Cardew

Surely EON have been sending you bills since Nov - even if addressed to 'The Occupier'?

It really is rather surprising that there are so many people on MSE who are apparently short of funds, yet never notice for month after month that they are not having any funds for gas and electricity debited from their account.

Vestra

Sadly there's not much British Gas can do, I'm sure they'd love to take your money but they have failed to take the supply over, possibly E-on objected to the transfer, who knows.

What you now need to do is contact e-on make sure they know the date you moved in and the readings (you still have them on your text) make sure the account is set up properly and your not being billed for anything before you moved in and negotiate a payment plan, also make sure you get on e-on's cheapest tariff.

You could try complaining to British Gas and see if you can get some sort of goodwill but I wouldn't hold your breath.

jaxkesa

I am experiencing something similar. I moved from BG to Scottish Power, yet British Gas still send me bills asking me to pay them! I have spoken to both SP and BG about this and they say they have rectified it. But I still get letters addressed to 'The Occupier' asking why I haven't paid my bill!

cleverly

Nope have not received anything off eOn until this man arrived. Told him so as well which he thought i was lying.

I understand i got to pay the £600, i don't expect to get it for free. I was thinking is it worth going back to BG and seeing if they would do something about for example knock something off the bill. For good will.

Im not short of funds, like i said i have some money, just not the whole £600, i can afford to pay the money back, maybe not in a lump sum but over a couple of months. I don't check my account monthly, probably stupid on my part but i expect that when a DD is set up that it doesn't get cancelled without my knowledge, lesson learnt!

Thanks for all your help! looks like BG have another unhappy customer (former!)

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Hi,

Vestra has given good advice, I would contact E.ON and check the account they are billing you for is from the dates and meter readings that you moved in to.

Also check the up to date readings are also correct and this bill is not estimated.

As E.ON do supply the property, they should be able to set up a payment arrangement for you, this will need to cover your usage and pay off the debt.

You say you have not received any bills or correspondence from E.ON until the man turned up, have you asked why?

Hope this helps a bit.

Helena

Gerrard_8_lfc

When I have been in work you hear storys like this happening most of the time it is the previous supplier who blocks the move.

Each housemove is recorded and processed from the the time you hang up the phone.

What I find strange is if eon were supplying the property why was there not bill in that period.

Premier_2

Gerrard_8_lfc wrote: »

...What I find strange is if eon were supplying the property why was there not bill in that period.

What I find even more strange, if I were to believe it, is...

cleverly wrote: »

...Last Friday i have had a letter off e-On asking for £617 for gas and electric and today [the following Tuesday] a debt collector has been to the house speaking to my pregnant girlfriend. ...

You learn to read between the lines reading MSE, or rather fill in the missing links

A debt is not a debt until 28 days after it has been formally demanded