Help! Huge gas bill because they forgot to bill us!

machofairy

Our gas provider forgot to bill us since we moved into our property 2 years ago and we did not notice it. Now, we are faced with a £700 bill which they said was only for the last 12 months and they have written off the first year's bill.

Is this legal and do we have to meet their demand of the full sum at one go?

janninew

machofairy wrote: »

Our gas provider forgot to bill us since we moved into our property 2 years ago and we did not notice it. Now, we are faced with a £700 bill which they said was only for the last 12 months and they have written off the first year's bill.

Is this legal and do we have to meet their demand of the full sum at one go?

How didn't you notice that you hadn't had a gas bill for 2 whole years?! I think your extremly lucky that they have written of the first year, yes it sounds like your energy company has made a mistake, but you have used their gas and so will have to pay for it. I think you will have to contact your supplier and see if they will arrange a repayment plan.

Rikki

You used the gas so it's your responsibility to make sure you get bills and provide meter readings.

Would you rather pay back two years gas?

I would be thankful they are only asking for a years bill and work out a payment plan with them.

Francesanne

Think you're very fortunate to have only £700.00 to pay. Just amazed you 'didn't notice' you hadn't received any bills. Heating costs are a major part of any household costs and wish I could forget mine so easily. Might be best to bite the bullet and pay it off all in one go. We've got the winter ahead of us and bills will be high enough then without owing them money on top.

machofairy

We're the type who never check our bills when paying, unfortunately. Before moving here, we had a single bill with gas and electricity. So we thought nothing of it when we continued getting a single bill, not noticing that the gas was not being billed.

ginvzt

Have you never checked the meter readings? In two years???? And £700 is really not bad!!! I am sure my gas bill for a year for the current house will be more than that!!!! (Old boiler...)

Cardew

machofairy wrote: »

We're the type who never check our bills when paying, unfortunately. Before moving here, we had a single bill with gas and electricity. So we thought nothing of it when we continued getting a single bill, not noticing that the gas was not being billed.

The billing code allows them to back-bill only 12 months(used to be 24) when they haven't raised a bill and it is their fault.

It is simply amazing just how many 'veterans' of MSE, never notice that bills to the tune of £700 per year are not raised

As you are the type 'who never check your bills' you did well on this occasion:T

= machofairy
I discovered an unknown transaction in my credit card bill this month

In these situations people often say "a friend of mine etc etc";)

GarryJ68

Cardew wrote: »

The billing code allows them to back-bill only 12 months(used to be 24) when they haven't raised a bill and it is their fault.

It is simply amazing just how many 'veterans' of MSE, never notice that bills to the tune of £700 per year are not raised

As you are the type 'who never check your bills' you did well on this occasion:T


In these situations people often say "a friend of mine etc etc";)

A friend of mine has never paid a gas bill in 2 years... as when he moved in all of the power companies said they had no record of gas at that address.... what would be the situation then? Who would you actually owe money to?

meshel04

This happened to me a few years ago (although I was noticing that I wasn't receiving an electricity bill each quarter - I did tell the electricity company twice). However, the bills still didn't arrive for a few months. When I did eventually get my bill, one years worth - I phoned the company explaining that I had informed them on two occasions and they sent me a monthly payment plan. I paid it off over 12 months.

Cardew

GarryJ68 wrote: »

A friend of mine has never paid a gas bill in 2 years... as when he moved in all of the power companies said they had no record of gas at that address.... what would be the situation then? Who would you actually owe money to?

A friend - thats better!!!

When moving into a property, it is a totally different ball game. There are lots of posts on this subject.

As soon as your friend uses any gas he has entered a legally binding contract with the supplier.(even if he doesn't know who the supplier is) and is responsible for paying for that gas.

Usually companies leave correspondence addressed to The Occupier which is the correct procedure under The Gas Act. The company have no way of knowing if the property is unoccupied or not, so the onus is on the occupier to contact the supplier.

If your friend can prove(with written correspondence, and company's responses) that he made every effort to contact suppliers he might just 'get away' with only paying for the last 12 months gas.

However it is standard procedure for all companies to advise people(who ask) how to determine who is their supplier and it seems surprising that he wasn't told how to determine his supplier.

Premier_2

GarryJ68 wrote: »

A friend of mine has never paid a gas bill in 2 years... as when he moved in all of the power companies said they had no record of gas at that address.... what would be the situation then? Who would you actually owe money to?

If there's no Meter Point Reference or Administration Number, it could be a shipperless site.

If that was the case, your "friend" could approach any supplier and ask if they wanted to be his supplier.

Such supplier is permitted to charge the full amount of any gas used whilst the premises was a shipperless site ... but often they just bill from the date they agreed to be the supplier.