British Gas / EDF Error.....that i'm paying for

Jade_Dodds

I would really appreciate some help on what to do with my situation:

I received a letter on the 6th March from LCS Debt Collectors advising that I owed British Gas £398 for electric used at my previous property. As far as I was concerned this letter was wrong as I changed supplier to EDF Energy when I moved in due to the fact EDF were cheaper.

I phoned EDF for copies of my bills and payments to prove to B Gas I wasn't with them and explained the situation to EDF. EDF then confirmed that they made an error when I moved in. When EDF took the supply number for my property to do the change over - they took the supply number for another property! So for the duration (1 year) of my time at this property, I was paying the electricity of another property!! In the meantime, a British Gas bill adding up for the property I was in.

So well over a year later I have this bill from British Gas, I have been refuned from EDF what I paid them at my time at the property (£273). I have been willing to pay British Gas this amount, but this leaves £125 which I do not feel I should be paying for the reasons:

1. British Gas did not do enough to chase me while I was at the property. I recieved letters from them chasing payment - and every time I rang them to discuss...they replied, "please disregard Miss Dodds, the bills are not for you" So now I recieve a large bill over a year later in a new property.

2. If EDF didnt create this error in the first place I wouldnt have this bill.

3. I shouldn't have this extra to pay as I elected to be with EDF and their tariff from the start - they were cheaper, if the jobs had been done correctly, I would have been with the cheaper option so these charges would not be incurred.

I dont know what my rights are or where to turn but I shouldnt have to deal with this because of providers being sloppy.

Any advice please...

spiro

It would appear that you have paid EDF £273 for the wrong property while building up a bill of £398 with British Gas.

Did you get any letter from British Gas while at the property even ones addressed to 'the occupier'? If so this should ahve alerted you to the fact the BG thought they supplied you.

On the bills from EDF did you not check readings or meter serial number because if they regsitered the wrong property one or both would have not matched.

You could argue with EDF that because they got it wrong they have cause you the additional cost.

Jade_Dodds

As I have advised - yes I received letters from B Gas and I phoned them and queried - to which they responded it wasnt my bill and to disregard. After all it shouldn't have really alerted me as B Gas make mistakes like this all the time - Ive had 3 people come forward and advise me how bad they are for errors.

EDF had the correct readings for me - but had me under another address - they supplied me with my first and final readings I provided them with when I moved i and left and the serial numbers - it was an error of number address.

My query is there shouldn't be this additional cost as I elected to be with EDF - they were cheaper, so with the readings I gave, for the consumption I was using, I would have such a large bill.

dogshome

Hi Jade Dodds - If you thought, quite rightly after your contacts with BG and thier assurances that it was all an error and you should ignore thier bills, that is was all of no consquence and threw thier bills away - You must write to them and demand fully detailed bills for the whole affected period They are duty bound to supply them
Likewise EDF if you have not kept thier bills. These bills are in fact the only record of what you were consuming in your house, and the bills you were paying to EDF were for someone elses house, BUT having both sets of bills is to your advantage.
It allows you to see if you were paying for more or less than you consumed, and compare the discount structures offered by EDF & BG - With this history it's doubtful that you were on BG's best deal, but were probably on one of EDF's better deals

EDF screwed up badly - they accepted your switch instructions, but when for unkown reasons it failed, they did not inform you but just carried on sending you bills and taking payments.
By doing this they denied you your right enshrined in the 2002 Utilities Act, to compare the market further for other tariffs that were more competitive than BG, and are directly responsible the extra costs of the BG tariff that you were still unknowingly contracted to.

Doing the comparisions between the two sets of bills is a big chunk of homework, but get ANGRY and do it. Then write a letter headed Complaint- just like that in bold- to EDF enclosing a claim for any tariff differentials that have dis-advantaged you, and add £50 for the homework
Good Luck

Bark01

My view on this is that you should be charged for the consumption you have used at EDF rates not BG's Rate. So what ever consumption BG have used to calculate £398 should be applied to EDF rates. You should also ask for some sort of compensation from EDF. It'll probably only be £20.

The £273 has no relation to what you used, its what some else has used at another property and you have rightly been refunded that amount.

kjsmith7

Bark01 wrote: »

The £273 has no relation to what you used, its what some else has used at another property and you have rightly been refunded that amount.

Exactly, which means that sadly the OP will probably have to pay the "difference" as it is EDFs error not BGs.

corbyboy

Bark01 wrote: »

The £273 has no relation to what you used, its what some else has used at another property and you have rightly been refunded that amount.

I don't think what you have said here is correct. As Jade mentioned, she was supplying meter readings the whole time, they were just being applied to the wrong meter. Although if there was a difference between the opening readings of the two meters you may have a point here.

I think EDF should definitely take the blame here. Just refunding the amount paid is not good enough.

Premier_2

The OP asked EDF to take over the supply.
EDF failed (but took over someone elses supply)

The OP was always being supplied by BG and BG is entitled to payment from the OP for what was supplied.

EDF have rightly refunded the amounts received by them from the OP.

If the OP wanted to try and sue EDF for consequential loss due to their failure, I think the OP will end up a lot more than £125 out of pocket.

dander

I think the OP is absolutely right MORALLY, but the trouble is that British Gas can be very trigger happy with debt collectors, placing defaults on credit records etc. The risk is that by fighting it too long, that they will destroy your credit rating regardless of the rights and wrongs of the case.

Personally, I think I would start the process for complaining about both companies to the energy ombudsman - which would involve getting complaints in writing to both companies. Hopefully, the ombudsman will help you negotiate an agreement between the two companies. Just do whatever you do quickly so that you minimise their opportunity to take steps that could cuase you even more problems in the future.

dogshome

Hi Jade Dodds & fellow posters
In Post No.4 I pointed out that EDF were liable for the exrta BG costs because thier error had caused him to pay a previous supplier, from whom he had correctly excersised his legal right to move away from.

I am not a lawyer, but due to my working career I had to take a course in Contract law, I still have the books and EDF haven't a hope in hell of defending Jade Dodds claim for the cost differential between the BG and EDF tariffs.

The law is quite clear that when one party to an agreed contract for Goods or Services, fails to deliver their major obligations to the point that the contract fails, the other party has the right to reject the contract and engage with another contactor.
Provided the injured party has made reasonable efforts to obtain competitve quotes, then the first contractor is liable for any costs above those stated in the first contract.
ALSO
Where a contracted supplier fails to deliver on part of the contract obligations, the injured party is entitled to recover any extra costs that the failure has caused him.

As in Post 4, this needs a written Complaint letter to EDF detailing the financial loss, wether or not this loss can include Jade's time in resolving the issue is debateable, but I take the view that Jade goes to work to support himself and pay his bills, and only after he has done this can he spend money and time on leasure activities. Therefore his leasure time costs whatever rate he earns per hour whilst at work.

EDF may very well reject the claim, but when they do so Jade has an open door to the Ombudsman who because of the law, must support it.

naked

Shouldn't you pay EDF the £273 (that's what you used, at EDF's rate based on your readings) and EDF pay BG the £398 to clear the debt?

Have BG based their bill on an estimated reading, seeing as the readings for your meter were going to EDF?