Unfairly charged

chrismax2

Hi I wonder if someone could help me. I moved into my flat on the 2nd July this year, as a first time buyer I have been given very little information to start with. I was aware I was using the previous occupier’s electricity (British Gas) where I was expecting to be contacted by them when I switched over to NPower, which I did almost straight away. I had to wait the normal 6 weeks to be transferred across never hearing from anyone. I also did not move into the property till after I moved to Npower and used very little electricity in the mean time. Once with the lawnmower for 10 minutes and the vacuum cleaner was used most days as the flat had a flea infestation and I was not going to move in until they were gone. Obviously I also had the lights on for normally only a couple of hours a day.

However now I have had litigation services company some kind of debt collector contacting me informing me I owe British Gas £53.06, now I hear all these horror stories all the time from these sort of companies and I would not be surprised if a lot of that money was for themselves, there is no way I would owe anything near that for going into the property a few hours a day, (though I was doing decorating every day for 2 weeks, but I was being very careful not to use the electricity) they claim I owe them this money between 08.07.2010-08.08.2010

Can I do anything about this? As I don’t want to become one of there victims if I can help it.

Thank you in advance.

spiro

The meter point moves between supplier therefore BG will know nothing about you as a person unless you contact them. They may have sent the bill to the previous occupier who has now provided they did not live there so they are chasing you. When you moved in a Change of Tenancy occured which you should have advised the supplier. The bill may be based on estimated meter readings buit the company chasing the money should be able to provide details fo the bill. You best option is to phone BG and not the debt collector.

macman

You should have take a meter reading on the day you took over the property and registered with BG, with whom you already had a deemed account. I don't understand your sequence of events, as until you had an account with BG set up you could not have initiated a transfer to NPower?
As you were the legal tenant between those dates it's going to be difficult to dispute your liability, so first of all you need a copy of the bill.

Andy_WSM

chrismax2 wrote: »

but I was being very careful not to use the electricity) they claim I owe them this money between 08.07.2010-08.08.2010

Did you keep the meter readings from when you moved in - maybe even photos of the meters? It could be that you are being billed for electricity consumed before you moved in. You have to prove this though.

Also - standing charge would apply whether or not you are using electricity. Either in the form of an elevated price per Kw/h or in the form of a daily charge.

nPower

Hi chrismax2

Sorry to hear about the problems you're having.

macman is right, when you move into a property, you need to take meter readings and give them to the energy company the previous occupiers were with to open or, in your case, close the account. In some cases, the previous owners may not have given a meter reading and so energy companies have to rely on the new occupier.

If you let British Gas see a copy of your tenancy agreement, they will only charge you for any energy used while you were with them (up until you switched to npower).

Hope this helps

Best
Sally