Can British Gas back date charges by 3 years???

petbul

Hi all,

I've just had an interesting conversation with British Gas. They claim although they regulary take readings from my gas meter and adjust the monthly direct debit to compensate for any movements in usage, that the meter was faulty. Consequently, they have readjusted the last 3 years bills to create a debit balance of £850 which they have asked to to repay over the next 11 months.

If I have been receiving and paying bills over the last 3 years, how can they suddenly claim "Oops, those were wrong now pay up"?

Can anybody shed any light on whether this is legal and/or what I can do about it?


Much appeciated
Pete

soothyerboots

I think you'll be eligible for back billing in this case whereby they wipe one year off the debt. Someone with more knowledge than me should be able to confirm or dismiss this though.

chanz4

its a difficult one, as technically they did bill correct but it has been discovered the meter was faulty. Was it faulty due to tampering ?

petbul

No, they weren't able to say what they fault was. They just said they discovered the readings were incorrect and had to be amended. Something to do with the people who make take the readings on their behalf.

jalexa

petbul wrote: »

Can anybody shed any light on whether this is legal and/or what I can do about it?

The (voluntary) rules on "backbilling" can be found here...

http://www.energy-retail.org.uk/documents/BackBillingSept-Version8.pdf

A "faulty meter" is completely different to "faulty billing". Unless the meter has been changed then the issue must be "faulty billing", in which case, on the face of it, backbilling more than 12 months is not allowed.

If you are not happy, raise a formal complaint in writing (or by email) specifically asking for the "Billing Code" to be applied. If they phone, decline to discuss the issue and request a written (or email) response.

I cannot predict the outcome since the posted facts are incomplete, but if you remain dissatisfied on final response or after 8 weeks, whichever occurs first, you can refer the matter to the Energy Ombudsman.