Retrospective Bill from British Gas - 3yrs late

JillyS

Hello,

I've just been told by a friend who I flat-shared with that she's received a bill from British Gas for electricity charges. She's been in the flat for 3 years and when she moved in, she tried to get the billing in her name. It didn't happen and she did not receive bills until now. British Gas have now sent a hefty bill for the past three years and claim they have been sending bills to the landlord all this time. Our landlord says this isn't the case but we don't know for sure.

I was only in the flat for a year and obviously I'll share the payments with my friend for the time I was there. She had other flatmates over the period and she's hoping to get the money from them too.

Can British Gas do this? Wouldn't they have cancelled the electricity as they didn't get a payment in all that time? If we do need to pay, I don't know how we can make sure the billing is accurate.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Jilly

wulfhere

Can British Gas do this?

Yes they can. If you don't pay, it will go down as an unpaid debt on your credit reference file, which will stay with you for however long.

Just get on top of the situation as quickly as possible and put it down to experience.

As for accuracy see above.

There's a lesson in there for you somewhere.

JillyS

You're quite right, I have learnt my lesson the hard way and should have looked into it myself when I was there. Thanks for the reply.

bengasman

JillyS wrote: »

...she did not receive bills until now. British Gas have now sent a hefty bill for the past three years and claim they have been sending bills to the landlord all this time. Our landlord says this isn't the case but we don't know for sure...

Can British Gas do this?

Simple answer: no. They can only back bill one year if they have not sent you bills before that. If they billed the landlord, than they will have to settle the bill with him.
Whose name is on the bill?

SwanJon

Ben's almost right (but he likes to slate BG)

bengasman wrote: »

Simple answer: no. They can only back bill one year if they have not sent [STRIKE]you [/STRIKE]bills before that.

This only applies if they have sent no bills at all. If they sent them in the wrong name it doesn't apply. In this case if they were being sent to another address, I'd be looking for a goodwill gesture though.

bengasman wrote: »

If they billed the landlord, than they will have to settle the bill with him.

If only that were true no one would ever tell the supplier that they had moved in - if they billed the previous tenant after they moved out you'd get free electricity.
Sadly it is not true. Whoever used it should pay for it.

Ken68

If it got took to the courts, it would be thrown out for late billing, sloppy administration etc.
When I did debt collection on the admin side yonks ago, there had to be a sequence of invoices/reminders/warnings all in the proper name with the right address.
Make an offer. A strongly worded and polite letter , short to the point, aimed also at the judge if it got that far. Should get a fair bit orf.