Gas related issue - hard to explain..

StuieUK34

Alright all.....
Got a bit of a tricky one here, not sure how to word it but here goes...

I started renting a new build house in February last year (house built in Jan 09, i moved in end of Feb 2009). Was the first person in...

Signed up with EON for there dual fuel package of gas & electricity...
Received first bill after so long, but was for Electricity only, so back then i rang EON to say i've had no gas bill..
Months later next Electric bill comes in, but no gas, so called again, was advised it should be sorted out (again)...
Next lot of electric bill comes in, no gas (9 months now), called, and and still nothing...
So now, i have been getting my gas, unbilled and unaccounted for, for the past 20 months... ie, Free!!

Heres what i need to find out, and as an example. I read that if by chance your local water company fails to bill you for whatever reason, and after 1 year decide to try and chase you for a back payment, there is a law which states they cannot chase you at all, or can only chase you for 50% of the amount owed ?

So am wondering is there a similar thing for Gas ? The incompatence of the company has failed to setup a billing system, and the last thing i would want, should i leave the house sometime next year is to find a bill for hundreds and hundreds of pounds chasing me, when i have tried several times to sort the account out (i.e, there is no account as they never generated one, and i made 7 calls in total to ask for one!)

DUTR

StuieUK34 wrote: »

Alright all.....
Got a bit of a tricky one here, not sure how to word it but here goes...

I started renting a new build house in February last year (house built in Jan 09, i moved in end of Feb 2009). Was the first person in...

Signed up with EON for there dual fuel package of gas & electricity...
Received first bill after so long, but was for Electricity only, so back then i rang EON to say i've had no gas bill..
Months later next Electric bill comes in, but no gas, so called again, was advised it should be sorted out (again)...
Next lot of electric bill comes in, no gas (9 months now), called, and and still nothing...
So now, i have been getting my gas, unbilled and unaccounted for, for the past 20 months... ie, Free!!

Heres what i need to find out, and as an example. I read that if by chance your local water company fails to bill you for whatever reason, and after 1 year decide to try and chase you for a back payment, there is a law which states they cannot chase you at all, or can only chase you for 50% of the amount owed ?

So am wondering is there a similar thing for Gas ? The incompatence of the company has failed to setup a billing system, and the last thing i would want, should i leave the house sometime next year is to find a bill for hundreds and hundreds of pounds chasing me, when i have tried several times to sort the account out (i.e, there is no account as they never generated one, and i made 7 calls in total to ask for one!)

Don't know where you read that! You use it you pay for it!
Keep on chasing them for the bill and mention that you will be informing ofgen of the slow response for a prompt resolve.

Premier_2

StuieUK34 wrote: »

Alright all.....
Got a bit of a tricky one here, not sure how to word it but here goes...

I started renting a new build house in February last year (house built in Jan 09, i moved in end of Feb 2009). Was the first person in...

Signed up with EON for there dual fuel package of gas & electricity...
Received first bill after so long, but was for Electricity only, so back then i rang EON to say i've had no gas bill....

Are you sure E.On are your supplier for gas?

Or even electricity for that matter
Just because they are billing you doesn't necessarily mean they are your supplier

How to identify your electricity supplier

How to identify your gas supplier


If E.On are indeed the correct supplier, and you can prove you have contacted them previously regarding setting up a gas account ( a recording of that phone call would be really useful - should be possible for a tenner), then there is a 12 month back billing rule that will prossibly help you in the future.
http://www.energy-retail.org.uk/customerbilling.html

It only applies to gas & electricity.
I don't know of anything similar for water, so no idea where you got that info from.

The legislation that may help you is the Limitations Act; 6 years in England & Wales, 5 years in Scotland.

Terrylw1

The 12 month back billing rule will apply if they have not produced any bills.

However, when you say a new build there could be other factors causing this. For instance, does your property have a MPRN and who is it registered to? Suggest tracing that and checking who you are actually with.

When you move in, you will already have a Supplier so you would owe them until a new one transfers you over. With new builds, sometimes it's a set up issue with the registration of the MPRN. If you don't have one, no one can bill you and you can't transfer. So, check if you have one with National Grid and IGT's. Look on EnergyLinx for help with this.

It's difficult to say without more info, however the 12 month backbilling policies would apply. However if no one has your MPRN registered, you could end up better off since the Supplier can't pay anyone either and will only start charging you from the data they can register you.

StuieUK34

Eon is the local provider, and was instructed to use EON as there the local ones.. They had the details for the property already, so i gave them my details for electric and gas...
As far as know, duel fuel gets produced on 1 bill, the fact that they only bill for electric makes me think they have a fault with there system so they cant setup the gas, or somthing like that ? I made several calls with each call being told a bill will be produced and sent out, which it never has, and given how long its been, they would have sent debt collectors to my door if they were chasing me....

I know utility companies have this problem, as i once worked for severn trent using different programs on how to trace people where they have customers, but no account setup on there billing side......

My guess is when EON the supplier inform Transco? or whoever it is about them being the bill provider, and the clock starts ticking, am guessing this hasnt been done, so a problem lies with the companies, and not me......
Therefore making me think i wont be liable for there mess up ?

StuieUK34

and cheers for your help guys

Premier_2

StuieUK34 wrote: »

Eon is the local provider,

So they may be the most expensive

StuieUK34 wrote: »

and was instructed to use EON as there the local ones..

Who instructed you?
You need to first register with the existing suppliers.
Follow the advice I gave in my previous post

StuieUK34 wrote: »

...as i once worked for severn trent ...

Is that where you heard of the 12 month back billing rule for water supplies??? :eek:

StuieUK34 wrote: »

...Therefore making me think i wont be liable for there mess up ?

Please do think again, and follow the advice already given

Terrylw1

It works like that in terms of registration. On a new build someone has to registers the site which enables billing to begin from that date. If you are already registered, you can swap by calling a new provider and they instigate the change of supply where they get a new start date and you owe the old supplier up that, the new supplier from that date on.

Same issues regarding tracing occurs as you say in water.

As long as they have your MPRN registered to them, they can bill you. However, there are all sorts of factors that can get in the way e.g. no meter details, incorrect meter details, they are still trying to appoint their agents, etc.

If National Grid of IGT's hold your MSN, address and show as registered to the Eon. There should be no issue other than internal failures or backlogs/process delays.

There is some Eon reps on this board so maybe they will be able to help you.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi stuie

I'm sorry it's taking such a long time to set up your gas account. Already some excellent advice on here but thought I'd add a couple things.

As Premier says, we may not be your supplier. I'd follow the links Premier has posted and check who actually supplies your property for both gas and electric.

New builds, as Terry says, are sometimes prone to mistakes when the accounts are first set up. It may be we are still waiting for some details before we can move forward. I'd contact us and ask about this.

Another thing, you could be what is known as a Shipperless Site. Basically, this is where gas is being used but the gas transporter has not allocated a Meter Point Reference Number (MPRN). In effect, this means there is no supplier registered at the property.

In these cases, you are free to select whichever energy company you wish to supply the property. Just contact the supplier of your choice and give them the Meter Serial Number. Tell them an MPRN is needed.

The chosen supplier will then arrange for the supply to be registered and an account set up.

If it turns out we are the registered supplier, then I would certainly ask for the billing code to be applied.

The billing code applies where we are at fault for not providing an accurate bill. In these cases, we will only charge for energy used 12 months prior to when the account was correctly set up and billed.

As you have been telling us about the gas for a fair while, you may well have a case. Certainly worth asking the question.

Give me a shout if you need any more details as will be happy to help.

Malc