GAS providers mistake, what are my rights?

hanniel

@sporty_han26 Thanks, I think I am going to wait and see what total they come up with. I probably won't need to as in another conversation with one of the advocates dealing with the case they have said that because it's their fault I should get compensated (I am led to believe that that means the majority if not all of what I owe will be wiped) and she will investigate further using the latest readings I have given her and the last official meter reading to correctly estimate my new bill.... sounds promising, will wait and see though.

SwanJon

(Firstly I also work for British Gas)
From what I've gathered.
You called and set up your details as you thought you should, then ignored your gas for 3 years. You say that you don't look into the account unless there is money issues. Would you have chased Thames if the bill was too small? So you only check it if there is an issue to your immediate detriment.
In 3 years you never query the lack of a statement (paper or electronic).
There is a good chance that you will get 2/3 of the bill paid for by BG's other customers. You will get an interest free loan for the remaining year.
And now you want 'compensation' - maybe even to get the other year paid for by someone else.

What exactly do you want compensated for? If you spell it out line by line you are much more likely to get it, but from what you've said I can't see it.

As to how accurate the estimates are, do you have the read from when you moved in? Do you have any other reads from the last 13 billing cycles? If not, start taking regular readings now - weekly/monthly. The more you can provide, over as long a period as you can, the more accurate any estimates (yours or BGs) will be.

Good luck.

hanniel

Hi SwanJon, thanks for your comment.
Yes the biggest thing I've learnt from this is to start taking regular readings myself. The only time I've ever done that is when we got our water meter fitted and because of this I've actually started providing readings for gas, water and electricity.

I think you've misread my post, I have been getting e-bills and yes I failed to spot any inconsistencies but there was nothing to catch my eye, I wasn't in debit and there was only minimal credits on my account, the most being £25 which I assumed would be rectified as and when. If the Thames bill was noticeably off then I probably would not chase Them if I'm honest, although saying that it would actually be in my interest to, as I know that any discrepancy would be righted either when I provided the next reading or a reader comes to do so and I wouldn't want to get hit with a large amount.
Also if there was an issue with my DD to be honest I would expect to receive a call or some form of communication, it is generally what happens right? It happened with my electricity bill in which I was able to pay the deficit and set up a new DD paying more. It isn't a case of 'if there is an issue to my immediate detriment', it is more to do with whether something out of the ordinary happens i.e unexpected bill, service cut off etc etc.

Didn't ask for 'compensation', that was what one of the advocates dealing with my case said I would get which, from what I understand means that the majority of my balance will be written off, and going by my conversations with BG as well as the posts here I think I will have to pay a year backdated.
The problem with that being, not that I have to pay, but that I received a bill for £1500, which seems a lot for 2 bed flat, based on previous readings, but they have no accurate previous readings to go by! The advocate dealing with my case said she will get back to me with more info, so I will have to wait and see.

Interestingly they still haven't got details of the last, accurate, proper reading done by one of their readers on the system and can't find out why.
I did spend most of yesterday morning trying to trace the account that belongs to the serial on my meter in order to get some accurate readings, but BG did a national search and couldn't find that serial anywhere, which leads me to believe that actually the root of the problem lies with the National Grid who would have installed that meter in 2003 (4 years before I moved in) and should have registered it correctly. I think it is fair to say that as far as both parties were concerned everything was fine although I would have thought that alarm bells would have gone off anytime someone looked at the account or read the meter. I think that due diligence on the part of BG would have righted this a long time ago as I have said in previous posts.

Again thank you for you advice

SwanJon

The meter readers are a separate company. That means that they have no idea what happens on the supplier's accounts. However, they should keep their own records of any reads they have taken. The advocate should be able to get in touch with them directly (i.e. over the phone, not via data flows) to see what they have.
Do you still have any of the statements that they sent? Did they mention what tariff you were on? If they back bill you, it might be worth making sure you get the DD discount backbilled too, rather than at the standard rate.

British Gas have about 16 million accounts. I'm sure that someone will spontaneously look at your account any decade now.

ad4757_2

Hi
I moved in to a new build property in april 2005, the site managers gave me the meter readings and told me the supplier was eon.I called Eon immediately and set up an account and gave the current readings, they quizzed me on how many people lived there etc and estimated i would use£40 a month which i agreed to pay by direct debit, shortly after this rocketed up to £80 and i was told it was due to usage etc then over the last 6 years it has gone up to as much as £105 a month and down to as low £65 then in january they reduced it to £40 and i was told my account was now in credit (£7!) i assumed this was why it had gone down to £40.
Then on friday I received a letter off eon saying -notice of high bill-we write to inform you that we have been supplying your property with gas since the meter was fitted but not set up an account in your name!
to be honest i just laughed because i knew i had the bank statements to prove they had etc
then the next day i received a letter from eon saying welcome to your new home with details of my "new" account-the one i'd been paying by direct debit for 6 years!!!
I rang them last night to point out their error only to be told that i had only been billed for electricity not gas!!!!
I supplied them with a current meter reading and they said they are going to call back tonight with details of the bill!
now i think it is clear that i was not trying to avoid paying when i am paying electricity with the same company etc but i cant afford to pay 6 years gas in one go! i also queried the high payments if was just paying electricity as there is only myself and my partner and we both work all week!
I have read that suppliers can only back bill 12 months-is this true and is it relevant to my situation.
Sorry for rambling on but HELP!

Cardew

ad4757 wrote: »

Hi
I have read that suppliers can only back bill 12 months-is this true and is it relevant to my situation.
Sorry for rambling on but HELP!

Indeed the billing code does stipulate that companies can only back-bill 12 months where they are at fault.

However the same billing code is quite specific that it excludes situations where people move in and don't notify the company and set up an account.

It might be argued that you should have noticed that you were not getting a gas bill and your electricity bill would only charge you for electricity. Did you not check a bill in 6 years?

You clearly did not take reasonable steps to ensure you got a bill, albeit your argument is you were unaware of the situation.

There is no point in going into who is at fault, there is a case to be argued on both sides.

Whatever the final outcome - you will get time to pay back whatever it is decided you owe.

ad4757_2

Hi
I did set up the account and i was on paperless billing i checked every month that my DD was being paid and every now and then i'd get a letter sayin that my payment was going up or down-i was still getting gas and electricity so i never thought there was a problem at all!

macman

And you never thought it curious that your 24 bills over 6 years only said 'Gas Bill' and made no reference to electricity?

ad4757_2

if i had not set up the account giving both meter readings and been told that it was dual fuel or even if i'd thought payments were low i probably would have checked but as far as i was concerned all was well.I am not disputing the fact that i have not paid for any gas nober am i trying to get out of paying,i simply cannot afford to pay 6 years worth at once which is my only concern at the moment.
Maybe i should have looked closer but i simply did not have any inclination as i was receiving both gas and electricity so had no reason to think there was a problem.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi ad4757

I've posted a reply to this question on the other thread you started as below.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/41822572#Comment_41822572

Hope this helps.

Malc