British Gas and disputed bill (they are awful)

bingy_burge

I have issue with british gas putting 4 late payments on my otherwise on the mend credit file.

I have been in dispute with them since jan. I left them eventually after they held it up twice in 6 weeks paid bills of £154 to leave. Then they sent me an est bill for 101 gas and 33 elec. Elec no issue paid the gas didnt stack up since they said 3 weeks previous I owed the them 154 and I paid then it should of been 3 weeks bill.

so i normally used 60 quid elec month so 101 for 3 weeks didnt stack up. Since it was estimated i got final readings and they send that it was bang on:eek: which smelt fishy.

So I wrote a letter disputing it with new providers readings and they ignored that. They just rang me asking to pay and after a few weeks passed it to a debt collector. I told the debt collector and they passed it back so bg just pass it to another debt collector making more and threats and ringing all the time.

Anyway I would send the letter to each debt collector and they would pass the acc back to british gas and ignore my dispute. They never bother reporting my credit status to experian but all of sudden they do with late payments!!:mad:

I am now 4 payments late have another debt collector threatening over the 101 and they have send a rebate cheque out the blue of £63 for my gas account after the realised there error. I have banked and its cleared now.

However I still 101 apparently??? I dont mind paying it now subjecct to adverse data being removed.

Premier_2

If British Gas accepted your claim there was a justified reason the amount was in dispute, they would have marked the account accordingly and held off all recovery attempts until they could investigate the dispute and report to you accordingly with their findings.

The fact they have continued with their recovery attempts suggests that, for whatever reason did not put the amount into dispute.

Unfortunately that means the payment is late and hence they are within their rights to report such matter to a credit reference agency.

You still owe the money, and that is not conditional on them removing the adverse comment on your credit file. If you disagree with the comment, you have the right to contact the credit reference agency concerned and have your own explanation attached to the comment ... but the original comment will still remain.

bingy_burge

Thanks for that how do you know with certainy that bg would do that?

So you are calling me a liar? Do you work for british gas?

I asked them to investigate they said they had. I gave them scotish power readings and asked for theres and they wouldnt explain the difference.

They have now given a rebate even though I owe them money so that is acceptance the bill was wrong surely.

Wickedkitten

When you say you use 60 quid worth a month, is that how much you actually use or is that how much you pay them by direct debit?

DVardysShadow

Premier wrote: »

If British Gas accepted your claim there was a justified reason the amount was in dispute, they would have marked the account accordingly and held off all recovery attempts until they could investigate the dispute and report to you accordingly with their findings.

The fact they have continued with their recovery attempts suggests that, for whatever reason did not put the amount into dispute.

Unfortunately that means the payment is late and hence they are within their rights to report such matter to a credit reference agency.

You still owe the money, and that is not conditional on them removing the adverse comment on your credit file. If you disagree with the comment, you have the right to contact the credit reference agency concerned and have your own explanation attached to the comment ... but the original comment will still remain.

You are off on one. OP got a rebate - so how did that happen without a dispute?

Premier_2

bingy_burge wrote: »

..So you are calling me a liar?..

What on earth drew you to that conclusion? :huh:

bingy_burge wrote: »

.. Do you work for british gas? ...

Apparently ... according to numerous other posters here. I only wished I was being paid by them :cool:.
That's presumably when I'm not working for whatever other company the OP of a thread is ranting about at the time.

Bye

Premier_2

DVardysShadow wrote: »

You are off on one. OP got a rebate - so how did that happen without a dispute?

It appears it is you that is off on one

bingy_burge wrote: »

...Then they sent me an est bill for 101 gas ...
...I am now 4 payments late have another debt collector threatening over the 101 and they have send a rebate cheque out the blue of £63 for my gas account after the realised there error. I have banked and its cleared now.

However I still 101 apparently??? I dont mind paying it now subjecct to adverse data being removed.

Even the OP seems to admit they still owe money

bingy_burge

Wickedkitten wrote: »

When you say you use 60 quid worth a month, is that how much you actually use or is that how much you pay them by direct debit?

i was on monthly budget plan but yeh for just over two years it averaged £60 a month so in jan it could of been more but I cleared the gas acc £154 to leave them as they stop the switch!

then less than 3 weeks later I owe £101 for three weeks?!?!

bingy_burge

They ignored my dispute and they werent reporting to credit ref so I thought no I will stand my ground.

Then out the blue they appeared on experian. It seems that they deny their wrong and get heavy handed within a week on the bill being unpaid.

They want 101 and then send me a cheque for 63 claiming i had been overcharged and its seems its a standard letter not in answr to any dispute.

They are paying me money when they say I owe them. Seems the left foor doesnt knwo what the right is doing.

SwanJon

Bingy - I do work for British Gas but have been steering clear of this thread. (I got confused early on which energy the bill was for as it seemed to change form sentence to sentence.)
Anyway, the reason I'm joining in now is to explain the rebate, but still owing issue.
Gas & electricity accounts are separate, so it is entirely possible to have overpaid on one and underpaid on the other.
We all know it would make more sense to combine them, or at least off set one against the other, but that doesn't happen automatically.

To your specific case, and if the bill was for gas used during the coldest winter for 30 years £100 is entirely possible for 1 month.
It sounds like there is a difference between the closing BG read and the opening SP read these should always be the same, and no supplier should change it without confirming it with the other. Have you told them in writing what the reading was on the day you changed?
How much difference is there between the two readings? Have you offered to pay/paid what you have calculated the right amount is?