dont know what to do..

citrine_2
citrine_2 Posts: 26 Forumite
sorry bit of a long one...

i have a problem with gas/leccy peeps, they have sent me letters last week saying they want £230 for gas/leccy each month. i spoke with them but they wont help me, and wont budge with the amount, i spoke with complaints who said they would call me back but am still waiting a week later. i sent them a 3 page letter with various document amounting to a small novel, i dont know what else to do.. its their fault i,m in this position and feel they are hanging me out to dry..

it started in dec05 when i moved and used homemovers. they failed to sort everything out with my readings and cancelled my dds.. so up till aprill 06 i paid them no money , made many a call to try and resolve the situation and tried to restart my dds,spoke with many a manager and was promised time after time it would be resolved..

by then i had clocked up big bills. i had also received many cheques from the leccy for my pre address which i sent back as i worked out i owed them money and told them so many times, next thing i know i received a red letter demanding £26 then a week later from a debt agency, i was so annoyed..

i was promised £60 compensation which as far as i know has never materialized, as i also never receved a gas bill untill sept 06 which the company said time and time again they had sent, or it had been lost in the post etc.then eventually said it was down to a glitch.

in april 06 i started to receive bills at my address for someone else (who lived elsewhere) one of them was a disconection letter, which scarerd me silly.. this carried on until june, and agin many calls and many promises of sorting this out, again this was put down to glitches, new systems,problems with my supply etc..

i then received a card to change my gas meter for someone else, then another one then another one, the gas sent me on a wild goose chase, on the day of the meter changes the bloke came and i told him it wasnt me, he checked up and said there was a problem , he also arranged for the other gas meter changes to be stopped..

recently i received another letter for someone else and when i spoke with the gas they said i had a pre-paymnent meter registered at my home,, they said i had to speak with another department to sort it out, but were not willing to call me back then hung up so this issue has not been resolved..

i clocked up an awful lot of calling time to the gas/leccy they wernt prepared to reinburse me unless i showed them every phone bill with the calls highlighted, i wasnt happy, i also asked them if they could help me with my bills which they didnt do neither..

i,m frightend now, they are taking there money next week and i dont know what to do, i think the only best course is to cancel the dds and pay what i use each month by my bank until its resolved, at risk of being taken to court and paying extra for not paying by dd...

i,m not in the best of health and the stress is making it worse.freinds ect have suggested watchdog,cab energywatch ect.. energywatch cant help me just yet, they have told me this..

thanks if you managed to read this and understand it, any suggestions are happily taken

citrine xxx
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Comments

  • Gal
    Gal Posts: 437 Forumite
    What supplier is it?

    Energywatch won't get involved until you have gone through the suppliers complaint department first.
  • citrine_2
    citrine_2 Posts: 26 Forumite
    i wasnt sure if i could put which suplier it was.. its british gas..
  • Gal
    Gal Posts: 437 Forumite
    With regards to the property was it a new build when you moved in? Have they sent you a large bill now then as I can't see why they would want to take £230 a month every month? If so how much for and how long have you been in your property without receiving a bill?
  • citrine_2
    citrine_2 Posts: 26 Forumite
    just to clarify, i dont live in a new build, i took my account with me from my pre address, which i was paying £30 for gas and £30 for leccy each month on dd.. when i moved homnemovers messed up and cancelled both my dd, so didnt pay anything for 4 months until they finally rest my dd then i continued to pay £30 for each bill, this is where the builk of my debt has built up..

    i receivd leccy bills fine along with everyone elses bills, just not gas bills until sept..

    i owe £600 odd pounds for gas and £500 odd pounds for leccy, they want £116 now for gas and about the same for leccy this is where the £230 comes from..

    i should of been paying £60 for each bill as in a bigger home and this is what it works out at each month but they have whacked a further £50 on each to cover the debt that they caused in the pirst place with messing with my dd. this is the problem i,m having along with all the other problems with british gas..
  • Gal
    Gal Posts: 437 Forumite
    Have you called bgas to let them know that it was there error that has put you in this situation and can they spread the balance over a longer period of time?

    Although did you not think at the time that by moving into a bigger house you would be using more gas / electric?

    When the DD wasn't going through did you keep the payments to one side that you would have normally made as well?

    Bgas can bill you for the period since you have moved into the house but as it was there mistake they may be willing to spread the payments out to make it easier for you. Although whatever way you look at it your payments will be higher then before without a doutbt :)
  • citrine_2
    citrine_2 Posts: 26 Forumite
    i,m sorry i dont mean to sound snappy, but i did put in my original post that i have spoken to bg and many managers many times.. i was calling up to 3 times a week trying to sort out 1 thing or another and i did ask for help earlier in the year, and yes i did know i would have to pay the money they wernt taking, and i did know that my bills would be higher. but not by how much as had not got any bills by that time as i said no gas for 10 ,mnths and everyone elses leccy bills..
  • Gal
    Gal Posts: 437 Forumite
    citrine wrote: »
    i,m sorry i dont mean to sound snappy, but i did put in my original post that i have spoken to bg and many managers many times.. i was calling up to 3 times a week trying to sort out 1 thing or another and i did ask for help earlier in the year, and yes i did know i would have to pay the money they wernt taking, and i did know that my bills would be higher. but not by how much as had not got any bills by that time as i said no gas for 10 ,mnths and everyone elses leccy bills..

    Got to be honest I only went over your post briefly because most of it was complaining about Bgas - I work for another supplier so can't comment on there services.

    The only thing I can suggest is writing to them - Send it recorded delivery and give them 14 days to respond before you contact Energywatch - Once you have the letter you can tell them you have given them time to repsond with no luck.

    The gas bill if you were to call me would be spread over 10 months at least as thats the period you have not had a bill for. As for calling them 3 times a week etc - again if your not happy with this do what they asked for - Copies of your phone bills highlight the calls and tell them you want the monies refunded. If they are as many as you say I would imagine they have mounted up as well - So they might take them off you bill total.

    New Build houses are always problem accounts - Because plot numbers and house numbers never match up and the builders take ages sending the correct details through. Its not an excuse but your not the first and won't be the last.

    Have you checked your bill against your meter to make sure they match? Incase you have recieved the incorrect bill once again? The serial number should be on the bill alongside the readings - I would check this with the number on the face of the meter just to be sure.
  • tripled
    tripled Posts: 2,879
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    Direct debits are always cancelled when you move and new ones set up, so cacnelling your old dd's wasn't a 'mess up', but not setting up your new account properly was.

    I am slightly confused as to how they are taking dd payments if they have you down as having a prepayment meter to be honest, as the billing system shouldn't allow it, also they wouldn't have been able to issue you a bill. Homemovers don't deal with prepayment meters either, so if it was down on the system as a prepayment meter they would never have set the account up in the first place. I think someone at BG has got there wires crossed to be honest.

    The first step is to check the bills they have issued are correct (accounts opened to the correct date and readings, current reading not estimated, correct tariff, etc).

    I certainly wouldn't recommend cancelling the dd, as once this is done they will expect immediate payment and you will find it hard to get put back on a payment scheme (if you break your payment arrangement they won't put you back on a payment scheme at all until the debt is cleared. Although it's possible they would make an exception given the circumstances, there is no guarantee). Also they wouldn't simply take you to court to get the money, you would be at risk of having your gas and electricity disconnected as well.

    They usually let you pay any money owed back over 12 months. However they are not supposed to make you pay back any more than you can afford. The best you can hope for is for them to extend the repayment period to two years, this would cut your monthly payments by approximately £45. General enquiries could not do this (they are only allowed to alter dd's by a maximum of 10%), you would need to speak to their debt management department.

    If you send in your phone bills, they will knock the amount off your gas or electric bill. I don't understand why you are not happy with this, you aked for them to refund the calls and they have agreed. What's the problem? If you recorded the name of the manager you spoke to who agreed the £60 you should be able to get it added. If not, unless there is a note on the computer supporting you then you will need to extract a promise of compensation from them all over again.

    If you are currently on their standard tariff, switch to click energy to save some money, or if you don't want to do that, ask for £25 free electricity (it will be credited to your account in 12 months).

    Finally, good luck getting it all sorted out!
  • citrine_2
    citrine_2 Posts: 26 Forumite
    sorry wasnt clear on the pre payment meter, its registered at my home in a different persons name.. as is/was several other meters.. these people live at different adresses around where i live..
  • tripled
    tripled Posts: 2,879
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    Don't worry about those prepayment accounts too much if they are for other properties. If BG are sending payment cards to the wrong address that's their problem ;)
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