British Gas - £1000 bill, anything I can do?

MissNicks

I've just moved out of my last rented accomodation and due to problems with British Gas, I've ended up with a £1000 bill!

I had been paying about £60 a month, which I believed was for both gas and electricity. As I had seen British Gas employees go in and out of the building for meter readings (they told me that's what they were doing) I was naive enough to assume they were actual readings. When I set it up I asked for both gas and electricity to be transferred to me, which they told me they had done.

Shortly after I moved in they did a gas check. At the time I was told that the water valve was 'playing up' but it shouldn't cause a problem and it was on their system that they had reported it to the landlord. They told me exactly the same on a separate visit. At that point we were having trouble turning the heat off, so the gas man went round and turned off all the radiators. Not once did they indicate that the water valve was the problem or that it meant the boiler was on 24/7. I only found that out when I mentioned it to my dad about a month before I moved out and he advised me that it would keep the boiler on constantly.

When I moved out I called British Gas for the final bill, where they told me I owed £600 for gas and they couldn't confirm whether they had it on record that they had reported it to the landlord. All they needed to do was tell me the valve could end up costing me a lot and to get it replaced at the beginning of the year when they first visited. I was also told on this call that there was no record of an electricity account, in my name, my housemates or even my landlords, so to forget about it because it didn't exist.

I called again a bit later to arrange paying the gas bill in installments, when they told me I hadn't closed the electricity account (so apparently not non-existent). They said they had 'no idea' why I had been told otherwise but that the final electricity bill was £67.

Just the other day I recieved an electricity bill for over £400. £350 odd for the year and another £67 for the last month.

Basically I have no idea what they're playing at. I've tried contacting them to complain but have had no response. Is there anything I can do? I can't afford to pay £1000 because British Gas serially messed up!

chanz4

but you used the power

Terrylw1

It sounds like you should make a complaint about the misadvice on the elec and to find out what the previous higher bill is for but have you paid anything to the elec? You should have so unless the consumption is over 12 months ago, you will have to pay for it. They can set up payments plans though.

You may get some compensation as a gesture of goodwill because of the service problems.

For the gas though, it was reported to you and the landlord and its on your end so it seems you need to take this up with the landlord. If he/she contributed to it being on so much by not correcting the problem, that's a 3rd party issue.