British Gas being a pain in the a**!

cruisemum75

Help! My husband and I run a manufacturing company. We've had an estimated bill from BG for x amount,, only problem is is that it is for a meter that is NOT REGISTERED to our business address. We have spoken to them & asked them to put a note on the account that this meter is not registered to our address. They sent an 'investigator' round to check that we were not lying. We have received another RED bill from them. We have called and requested that they put a note on the file that this is being investigated and to stop sending RED bills, but apparantly they're COMPUTER GENERATED and cannot be stopped. In the last couple of days we have received notification that the bill is being passed to a debt collection agency. Have been back in contact with them etc etc etc. Have emailed them twice; so far with no response & have spoken to the ombudsmen and consumer advice. Apparantly, legally they don't have to reply to your requests for a response. They can continue with this process despite the fact that the meter for which they are charging us is NOT OURS. We are severely worried about our credit history; its very good, and about the baliffs coming round. How can we resolve this without us having to a) pay the bill and fight like tooth and nail to get it back b) lose our impeccable credit history c) become increasingly riled and angry about their bl**dy incompentance.

PLEASE HELP.

DVardysShadow

You need to write proper letters and keep copies. Tell them that the account is IN DISPUTE and the reason why. No doubt they will at some point try to trash your credit record at some point. The up side is that when they back down and accept they are wrong, they will not be able to justify trashing your record..

I suppose the other way to do this is to pay them and immediately claim the money back via the small claims court. If you choose this path, I would suggest to you that you write and tell them that you will pay if they confirm that they understand that you will take them to court. It is not the orthodox way of doing it, but then the utilities never used to be quite so bone headedly intolerant of reason

Premier_2

https://www.britishgas.co.uk/business/making-a-complaint

Sterling

crusemum75 wrote: »

We are severely worried about ……… the bailiffs coming round.

Google “bailiffs powers” and you’ll find various sites that confirm that bailiffs in these circumstances require a county court order, and by the looks of it you can successfully defend any court proceedings brought to recover this alleged debt.

As BG’s investigator has already agreed that the debt is not yours, you should have little problem blowing BG away. In your shoes, I would write to BG making a formal complaint at the treatment you are receiving, and ask for a complaint number.