What protection do i have from British Gas?

wigannwuk

To cut a long story short i have transferred from BG to Eon in December - i had calculated my Electric bill to settle as £75 in debit.
Therefore i was suprised when they sent a bill for £269 that didnt tie in with my previous bills. When i rang up to query i was told that my account had been recalcualted from the time i joined them 2 years previously and they had undercharged me.
With customer services i got him to calculate from the previous actual reading the took in may 10 (I owed £25) to the final reading it came to £75....but he did say if they have been charging me in correctly then that reading means nothing.
Anyway ive asked for an investigation...and since then ive recieved no end of letters to which i ring up to complain and eachtime get told there is now a hold on my account so i dont get anymore.
So this morning i get a inal demand threating court , bailiffs & ruining my credit file.

IVe said ill pay what i owe but i want it quantified and wont pay till i get an explanation.. I feel defenceless as if they tell me i have to pay because they have incorrectly billed me to this point...what can i do?
Also i asked for a copy of my previous bill and was told they have been deleted because it has now been recalculated.

Premier_2

In what way do BG say the bills were incorrectly calculated originally?

We need this information in full to give you appropriate advice.

BG will normally stay any collection processes whilst a bill is in dispute. Naturally that only happens whilst the matter is investigated and a final response given.

Don't worry about the letter with threats of bailiffs etc, it's their standard computer generated letter. Just point them in the direction of the current dispute you have and ensure no further collection attempts are made until they addressed that complaint.

If you didn't agree with the suppliers final explanation, then they should have informed you of your right to take the matter tothe energy ombudsman.

wigannwuk

Thanks for your reply.....so far ive had numerous conversations with the Billing deparment and been given very vague reasons as to why this has happend..i.e they have changed (after 2 years) my original reading.....also been told they thought the wrong meter had been billed (which i didnt really understand how).Ive been told an expert is looking into it and this has been dragging on since 6th December.
Ive queried as to how they can let me believe my account has been running ok then when i leave them they have alll of a sudden say oh sorry weve been miscalculating for 2 years you now owe us £200 more than you think.....i should have some defence against this..? If they cant Caculate it correctly over 2 years how do i know its accurate ? i have no trust in them.
Another point is ive had my meter replaced during my 2 years with them...not sure how relevant this is.
If anything its give me a kick start....ive always let my acounts plod on ..just shows you should keep upto date at all times,

Premier_2

Ok, as you've not had any real success over the phone, time to notch it up a gear.

Put your complaint in writing (send by recorded delivery), and request a full written response

Until you are sure of the reason for recalculation, it will be very hard to argue against it.

spiro

You should raise a complaint, this will put on hold any chase for the outstanding bill.

Joyful

It is more than likely that when you have changed supplier the information sent through the industry has shown up the problem. If you never queried your bills this may be the first time BG were aware they had the wrong info. Remember they will have to close down your account to the same start read as your new supplier.

If there is a dispute it normally takes about 6 weeks to rectify within the industry. Make sure BG have blocked the account for you.

Re the fact of the meter exchange , sometimes there is a problem when this information does not get sent to the supplier so again you could have brought this to light after checking the bills.

Premier_2

See the responses given in your thread from last month
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2930616