British Gas Billing

justmarch

I know what you are saying, and as I stated it was for the pre paid meter therefore I just dismissed it as being a clerical error on their part for not closing the account down correctly? I may be should have looked into why I was not getting seperate bills for the new meters but I was under the impression that I was on a dual fuel type deal and was only getting one bill for both and one direct debit for both utilities. I do see both your points and I will have to go with whatever they tell me. My point was though that I had made the request to move over, I had signed all the paperwork, setup all the direct debits ( granted I may have miss understood them not having a dual fuel or it not coming out on the same direct debit). But if I had received a bill asking for money on the PPM I would have asked the questions as I don't have one, but as they where for no money just put it down to a clerical error and as I said they had all my details and I thought I was paying for both on one direct debit and had not at any point been told any different until now. I am not dumb and I know I have an obligation to check bills but also as a vendor they have an obligation to get things right, I am not after wiping the bill at all, I just do not like being made out to be the bad person in this and made to feel guilty when I was the one who came to them in the first place to go onto direct debit and again I was the one who called them to ask why my bill was so high at £1000 and now is up to over £2000. The advice I originally asked for was there anything I can do or not, If I was miss sold the new meter and way of billing and how it worked then again how is that my fault. 1 company 1 bill was how I was told it worked when I moved over and the direct debit was coming out, lesson learnt don't assume you are actually getting what they are selling you on the phone.

bloss0m

I think the only thing you can hope for is to reach some sort of settlement regarding payments, maybe they may lower the figure a little seeing as you both appear to be equally at fault

Tomo85

I understand what everyone is saying regarding it is justmarch's responsibility to check the bills however there is also a responsibility on the supplier.

Suppliers have signed on to the Back Billing Principles. Each and every back billing case will be assessed on an individual basis by your supplier.

5.1 If your supplier is at fault, they will not seek additional payment for unbilled energy accrued more than one year prior to the bill being issued.

5.2 The back billing clause is not intended as a means for avoiding payment. You as a customer should pay for energy used and have an obligation to assist your supplier by co-operating with attempts to obtain meter readings or resolve queries from your supplier.


So a couple of questions I would ask BG

• Have they sent you a letter asking for meter readings?
• If they have received readings from either A the customer or B the data collector what have they done with these meter readings?
• Have you refused to provide BG with information they have asked for?

The key thing is 5.2 "it is not a means for avoiding payment" what constitutes avoiding payment? If the customer has co-operated with the supplier i.e. provided meter reads and the supplier has done nothing with these readings then the supplier is at fault.

The supplier should know that energy is being used based on information the data collector will be providing them either AQ for gas (annual quantity) or AA for electric (annual advance). Basically the DC's estimates on what KWH is being used at an address

I would personally raise a complaint with BG and enquire about billing code

justmarch

Thank you Tomo85. That helps a lot, I am awaiting a call back and what you have said and the quotes make sense. I have had the readings taken by siemens everytime they have knocked and if not I have supplied them on the phone system. I will bring this up with them. As I have said I am not trying to avoid paying and I know that I have used the energy but at the same time I thought I was paying for it and had provided all the information asked of me and collected by a third party also. It seems we also have to be account inspectors to, I will let you know what the outcome is. Thanks again.