Complaint to regulator and final demand

AndrewAfresh

[FONT=&quot]My electricity provider massively increasing the direct debit a year after I switched to them, so I switched away and complained to the regulator that I believed British Gas deliberately set the initial DD low to lure me in. BG replied that my usage was twice the estimated level. So in the letter to the regulator I offered to make my payments up to twice the initial DD. Now BG have sent a final demand. Should I make the payment of what I offered or wait until the regulator adjudicates? Thank you for reading[/FONT]

undaunted

By the Regulator do you mean Ofgem - if so they won't help you (not interested in talking the the consumer to any serious extent)

If you mean the Energy Ombudsman (not actually the regulator) then I would have expected that the account should be on hold pending their findings

That said, whilst I can sympathise with your irritation, I'm afraid that I don't think you'll get anything more than a token gesture - if you're lucky - based upon what you've posted.

What was their estimate based upon by the way? (eg previous usage elsewhere, just guessed & have you genuinely used twice the estimate?)

AndrewAfresh

[FONT=&quot]I wrote to the [/FONT]Energy Ombudsman. When I signed up, I gave my usage figures in the previous 12 months and BG used this to give a monthly DD of £13. After a year, they increased the DD to £77. [FONT=&quot][/FONT]