Received large British Gas bill that was never chased - what are my rights?

fox10024

I'm having a nightmare with British Gas. We use them for our gas and electricity and set up DD's for both. We have received statements throughout the year which say 'you do not need to do anything' and as we pay by DD we have left it to run. Suddenly I have just received a £1200 electric bill reminder for the past year as apparently the direct debit was cancelled (but hasn't been) and they haven't sent any reminders or anything asking for payment and then suddenly land this reminder letter saying we owe them money with another letter saying that our direct debit has been cancelled.
BG say that it's our fault as we should have noticed the money wasn't going out of our account, but they've never chased for payment or told us our direct debit was apparently cancelled.
They have offered to give us 10% off but want us to pay £200 a month to them over the next year which we just can't afford.
I agree we used the electric, but they are to blame for not chasing payments or informing us we owed them money.
Has anybody else had a similar issue?

universalady_2

Were the reading estimated? shown as E on the statement?) IMO if you've used the gas/electric, and not been supplying actual readings over a period of time, then it's finally caught up with you, and it will have to be paid whether it be over a period of time or a lum sum

spiro

You will find that atheir DD can be 'cancelled' if you miss 1 or 2 DD payments and it will revert to payment on bill. If this is 3/6 months later and they have an actual reading this could cause a large bill due to constant estimating.

Under BG's T&Cs you are required to submit meter readings twice a year, have you been doing that?

Did you check the meter readings whenever you have received a statement in the past?

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.

I am afraid that you have a responsibility to check your account.

If money is tight and 'you just can't afford' to pay, it is a little surprising that you didn't notice that the DD (for ?? £100?) wasn't coming out of your account.

Any measures under the billing code to reduce your bill wouldn't help as they would only be for a period over 12 months ago.

To be offered a 10% reduction and time to pay back is a generous offer.

dogshome

This leccy charge going back a year, have you had the detailed Elec bills that covered this period, or were you just getting bills for the Gas?

If you haven't had fully detailed Elec bills, ask BG to provide them - They must do so - and when you get them examine them closely to see if the demand is justified
Also look at your bank statements to see when the D/D's started and stopped.- Are BG claiming none payment for any month(s) when the D/D was taken

So far as recovery of the debt is concerned, in these circumstances it is down to negotiation and if BG won't agree to an amount you can afford, immediately write a letter of Complaint as this will put you on the track to seek arbitration via the Ombudsman

jalexa

fox10024 wrote: »

BG say that it's our fault as we should have noticed the money wasn't going out of our account, but they've never chased for payment or told us our direct debit was apparently cancelled.
They have offered to give us 10% off but want us to pay £200 a month to them over the next year which we just can't afford.

That is £100/month for the £1200 owed plus £100/month for similar ongoing consumption. Payment terms over 12 months are the norm where the supplier recognises that it could have behaved better. Plus 10%, so a good offer. In answer to your direct question there are no customer rights for the immediately prior 12 months of consumption to be waived.

You say you use gas and electricity but how do you heat your home? £100/month electric is a heck of a consumption for a gas heated house. Take daily readings for a week to get a handle on your electric consumption. You *may* be paying too much.

undaunted

Your post seems a little unclear to me - "apparently cancelled" "but hasn't been" (do you mean by you rather than hasn't by anyone else?).

Are BG correct that the money has not been taken from your account?

If so I'm afraid I'd see it pretty much as others have already suggested - you used the energy, could reasonably be expected to notice money wasn't being taken from your account as expected & therefore to have known that you weren't paying for that energy for some unexplained reason.

To get 10% off the bill seems fair (or more than!) to me and to be able to pay it over the time the debt has accrued (if more than the 12 months already offered) is the best you can hope for.

What were you expecting / wanting to happen?

marc444_2

i was billed incorrectly for a long period of time and had most of my bill wiped off the slate by my provider due to the Back Billing Legislation, I am not sure if your circumstances would qualifiy for this to be effective for you but worth looking into... hope this helps

Carl31

Surely you have a years worth of cash for electricity bills built up in your account if the dd hasnt been taken?

macman

I too cannot reconcile 'money is tight' with 'didn't notice an extra £100 pm in my account'.
Given that you've had a year's electricity interest free, with a 10% reduction and (presumably) at least a year to pay back the arrears, I'd be celebrating, not complaining.

meerustar

I had the same problem about 18 years ago. BG were sending me statements saying 'this is not a bill' and so I left it. There wasn't online banking to check regulalry like now, and just paper statemnts which I never really scrutinised.

Anyway, I too got a letter out of the blue asking for around £1500 and I rang them and asked what was going on. Long story short, we both accepted responsibility and I agreed it was my fault for not checking statements properly, and they agreed as they hadn't sent any bills. We came to a compromise and I agreed to pay off the arrears, weekly, at a cost of around £4 per week for 7 years. I was on a prepayment meter at the time and when I topped up, the arrears came off.

Whether they would agree to something like that now I'm not sure, but the fact they have offered you a 10% reduction tells me that they also feel responsible, so maybe worth negotiating. Hope you get it sorted out.