British Gas just taken £285 DD for property I moved out of a year ago!

pyueck

I left a two bed property in April 2009. For this property I was paying £60 a month for gas and electricity. When I moved out I provided the meter readings and cleared the account (I paid about £450 by credit card which at the time I thought was loads).

A year passes and I don't hear anything. Today I check my bank statement and see a direct debit for £285 from British Gas. I am no longer a customer of British Gas so rang them up. At first I got fobbed off with some 'the first bill was estimated' rubbish, before she reaslised that I had provided final meter readings and paid them in full. Then she just said that she wasn't sure and would investigate what the charges were for.

I am not at all happy as £285 is a LOT of money for me, and feel like i've effetively been robbed as I moved out of the property over a year ago and cleared my bill in full when I left (and what a huge bill that was!). Now I have £285 out of my account and according to British Gas it will be until they investigate it. At present that cannot even tell me what the amount is for.

I am tempted to ring the bank and say I am not a customer of British Gas (I'm not!) and the direct debit is clearly in error. I am though worried that British Gas will then just class it as a debt if I get the DD refunded and my credit status will be affected and debt collectors etc.

Also is there some sort of compensation utility companies have to pay when they take DD payments from customers who left over a year ago?

kjsmith7

No, is the short answer. If you were not notified of the payment (perhaps the 'revised' final bill [saying you owed an additional £285] got sent to the old property?) then you can claim the payment back using an indemnity claim form (which will also claim back any overdraft charges/interest automatically if appropriate) with the bank. However, if you actually owe the money, you'll have to pay it back again.

Where you a tenant?

I would ask for a copy of said revised bill to be sent to you so you can have a look at it. Check the opening meter reading and the closing meter reading of your account is the same as either the ones you provided, or on previous bills that you have. If the opening meter reading of your account has been amended (perhaps by a landlord or letting agent either rightly or wrongly?) this could result in the increase in your bill.

Here is an example - The new tenant could have provided an alternative reading to open their account or there could have been a void/unoccupied period with the property. The landlord could have insisted that the reading s/he was opening the new tenants' account with was the same as when you left, either intentionally or otherwise.

This would result in your account being rebilled and an additional £285 being 'owed', either correctly or otherwise. As your direct debit would still be in place (it would be inactive - pretty common practice with most companies, either due to costs involved in cancelling it or in case it is reactivated) it would simply be reactivated and the money debited. A revised final bill would have been sent first, usually to a forwarding address but if not, to the property itself.

Hope that helps!

NeverInDebt

Did you have it in writing first time that the bill you had was final bill based on your own readings that you gave them and not estimate

pyueck

kjsmith7 wrote: »

No, is the short answer. If you were not notified of the payment (perhaps the 'revised' final bill [saying you owed an additional £285] got sent to the old property?) then you can claim the payment back using an indemnity claim form (which will also claim back any overdraft charges/interest automatically if appropriate) with the bank. However, if you actually owe the money, you'll have to pay it back again.

Where you a tenant?

I would ask for a copy of said revised bill to be sent to you so you can have a look at it. Check the opening meter reading and the closing meter reading of your account is the same as either the ones you provided, or on previous bills that you have. If the opening meter reading of your account has been amended (perhaps by a landlord or letting agent either rightly or wrongly?) this could result in the increase in your bill.

Here is an example - The new tenant could have provided an alternative reading to open their account or there could have been a void/unoccupied period with the property. The landlord could have insisted that the reading s/he was opening the new tenants' account with was the same as when you left, either intentionally or otherwise.

This would result in your account being rebilled and an additional £285 being 'owed', either correctly or otherwise. As your direct debit would still be in place (it would be inactive - pretty common practice with most companies, either due to costs involved in cancelling it or in case it is reactivated) it would simply be reactivated and the money debited. A revised final bill would have been sent first, usually to a forwarding address but if not, to the property itself.

Hope that helps!

Thanks for your reply. I thought that the Ofgem super complaint of 2005 meant that from 2007 gas suppliers were no longer allowed to bill customers for gas/elec used over a year ago. As this would be the case as I moved out over a year ago, and there is no way I am liable for gas/elec after I moved out, I can't see how I would could possibly liable for this bill?

pyueck

NeverInDebt wrote: »

Did you have it in writing first time that the bill you had was final bill based on your own readings that you gave them and not estimate

To be honest I can't find it, it was over a year ago. British gas don't seem to be able to find it either. But I explicitly remember giving the final meter readings and paying a huge final bill by credit card over the telephone. Now when I try to log into what used to be my online account I can't see anything as it says the account was closed over 6 months ago, so that pretty much shows the account was closed.

Surely British Gas need to prove what the charge is for BEFORE they take the money out the account. Sending a bill to a property I moved out of a year ago isn't much use to me.

NeverInDebt

Consumer direct

http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/EnergySupplyandPost/energysupply/managingbills/


I haven’t had a bill for ages – do I still have to pay?
Consumers are legally bound to pay for their utilities. However, the Limitations Act 1980 prevents charges being recovered if the electricity or gas was used more than six years ago. In Scotland this period is five years.
Suppliers should at least offer a payment plan that allows you to repay any debt over the same length of time that it has built up. In other words, if you have not had a bill from your supplier for three years then, when a bill does finally appear, you should be able to spread the repayments over three years. However, if you accept a payment plan then you will not be able to change your supplier until you have cleared the outstanding debt.
However, as a result of the ‘super-complaint’ submitted in April 2005 to the energy regulator, Ofgem, energy companies have been told that, as of July 2006, they should no longer bill for any energy used by consumers more than two years previously where the company themselves has failed to provide a bill. Energy companies are not expected to bill for any amount that dates back longer than a year.

Joyful

This is only if you have never been billed. If you were billed and a new reading means it gets rebilled this is not covered under the 12 month backbilling.

As said above, if you were not advised of this then ask your bank for an indemnity claim. When BG prove you owe the bill they can then arrange something with you.

pyueck

Joyful wrote: »

This is only if you have never been billed. If you were billed and a new reading means it gets rebilled this is not covered under the 12 month backbilling.

How do you work that out, I've read the super-complaint and can't see that opt out? It simply says gas used over a year ago?

I gave the final meter readings when I left. Unless the gas man came that day, how can I be held liable for any energy used between when I moved out and the next meter reading?

markharding557

You should cancel direct debits with companies when your custom is ended

pyueck

markharding557 wrote: »

You should cancel direct debits with companies when your custom is ended

Thanks all I have now completed the indemnity with my bank and will get the money back in my account within 24 hours. Have cancelled all the direct debits on my bank account with companies i no longer use. Good lesson there to cancel all direct debits.

I can't possibly see how British Gas could correctly be billing me for this amount, I gave for the property an entry and leaving reading, paid the final bill (got my credit card statement to prove it) and my online account was closed. Any energy used since then is nothing to do with me.

Thankfully now they havent got access to dip into my account when they please. Still not happy though, they really shouldn't be allowed to get away with this sort of practice.

Antispam

I think its reasonable to expect when one leaves a property to pay what is owed. However a utility company should in a reasonable time send a final bill, it shouldn't take them months or years assuming owner leaves forwarding address etc. This is just my view