With Npower, got bill from British Gas & warrant

undaunted

jalexa wrote: »

Now I don't know whether you are agreeing with me or not.:D

I agree with you that he / she should ask the open questions.

I'd also agree that they can try arguing for back billing if supplier errors are then proven.

My reservation however is that the supplier may in turn argue that this should not apply due to the lack of querying no electricity bills for 4 years.

Ultimately it may then have to go to the Energy Ombudsman or something for a third party resolution

Terrylw1

undaunted wrote: »

I agree with you that he / she should ask the open questions.

I'd also agree that they can try arguing for back billing if supplier errors are then proven.

My reservation however is that the supplier may in turn argue that this should not apply due to the lack of querying no electricity bills for 4 years.

Ultimately it may then have to go to the Energy Ombudsman or something for a third party resolution

I agree, there is always a customer responsibility if the bills stop. In many cases, customers do chase and get nowhere and this is where the supplier should accept the loss.

With this case though, Bgas had no right to take the supply and Npower agreed and never switched.

So, providing Npower didn't fail at the objection stage, it could be argued that the only supplier with rights to consumption should be the original.

From the ombudsman or legal point of view, that might seem plausible. From an industry settlements point of view, it isn't. This would mean wiping out settlement and the distributor billing for a crystallised period to a non registered supplier.

I think if the ombudsman decides it should be Npower or the original, the distributor will have to raise a Trading Dispute to request their money outside of the industry settlements process.

Bgas will also have been paying for this so will need a full refund, again outside of settlement.

If Bgas is determined not to be the correct supplier, the above can't be fully applied until switched away from them or the settlements process will keep rolling with Bgas.

Complicated eh?

Does anyone think like I do that this will all be too big and complex for an ombudsman?

That's why it might be best to rule for a price match and the freedom to switch without prejudice.

That's why I reckon the OP needs to keep posting on here and try to draft what they believe to be the solution, industry settlement & process in mind, but ultimately in a common sense language that the ombudsman will understand.

matty_hunt

Terrylw1 wrote: »

Complicated eh?

Does anyone think like I do that this will all be too big and complex for an ombudsman?

Hi. Thank you for all the posts. Its getting me worried with quotes like the one above!

I contacted BG complaints department and they contacted me by phone today (quite sure I clicked on email contact only). They said they would stop the warrant process, asked me to confirm the meter serial number and said they would ring tomorrow if I could get together all my npower details. Now, I never mentioned npower in my complaint. When speaking to the advisor the other day trying to get dates and who this Mr. X might be, the operator asked if I had any bills from npower. Im 99.9% sure I never mentioned npower and when I quizzed the operator as to why he mentioned them he said, "I thought you had just mentioned npower' I denied I had and ended to call.
Should I now contact npower asking what has happened from their side and chase up why they have not sent a bill?
Thanks

jalexa

In the nicest possible way, duh, you have no proof of what was asked and replied and the call has been left hanging.
Next time firmly point out the complaint was by email and you expect a response by email.

For the moment only British Gas is threatening. I recommend you keep NPower out of it until BG have fully settled to your satisfaction. In writing.

After 8 weeks you can go to the Energy Ombudsman.

Terrylw1

I just wanted to be open about the fact the ombudsman will be lost in the industry settlement processes as they don't have that kind if knowledge. They may rely on someone from MRASCO to deal with that part as an industry process expert. Not sure whether they ombudsman pulls in regulatory experts...I would hope do.

Stick with this complaint for now. You could make an initial enquiry to Npowe by asking whether they ever tried. Switching is all data flows over a national network, so each action leaves a digital footprint in systems audit trails.

undaunted

matty_hunt wrote: »

Hi. Thank you for all the posts. Its getting me worried with quotes like the one above!

I contacted BG complaints department and they contacted me by phone today (quite sure I clicked on email contact only). They said they would stop the warrant process, asked me to confirm the meter serial number and said they would ring tomorrow if I could get together all my npower details. Now, I never mentioned npower in my complaint. When speaking to the advisor the other day trying to get dates and who this Mr. X might be, the operator asked if I had any bills from npower. Im 99.9% sure I never mentioned npower and when I quizzed the operator as to why he mentioned them he said, "I thought you had just mentioned npower' I denied I had and ended to call.
Should I now contact npower asking what has happened from their side and chase up why they have not sent a bill?
Thanks

It's always possible that somewhere along the way you've mentioned them or even possibly that some BG employee has read this forum & deduced it was your a/c - can't be a commonly heard situation!

If they know they know I wouldn't worry unduly, just persist with requiring British Gas to resolve the issue that you say they have never supplied you. If they wish to go to Court and claim they have evidence otherwise they will have to produce it.

If they have provided the power it isn't unreasonable that they'd expect to be paid for it somewhere along the way but that doesn't absolve them from having to address a legitimate complaint and explain how this has come about / ensure you are not left worse off as a result.

Terrylw1

undaunted wrote: »

It's always possible that somewhere along the way you've mentioned them or even possibly that some BG employee has read this forum & deduced it was your a/c - can't be a commonly heard situation!

If they know they know I wouldn't worry unduly, just persist with requiring British Gas to resolve the issue that you say they have never supplied you. If they wish to go to Court and claim they have evidence otherwise they will have to produce it.

If they have provided the power it isn't unreasonable that they'd expect to be paid for it somewhere along the way but that doesn't absolve them from having to address a legitimate complaint and explain how this has come about / ensure you are not left worse off as a result.

Technically, its an ET. Any stage up to 14 months, this could be reversed (although its set to 12 months to allow 2 months correct time since the 14 month rule is in real time). By doing a reversal, Bgas would never pay the distributor as its all removed and bilked back up again against the new supplier.

Its only the industry process deadline preventing a reversal. However, there is nothing stopping the suppliers engaging in a trading dispute to transfer their payments.

Trading disputes tend to be for large issues, millions, etc. So, I doubt anyone will want to do this but the OP could convince the ombudsman to get Bgas to price match which would allow them to cover their purchase costs.

matty_hunt

Update:
Thanks everyone for your comments. After complaining to BG they took a couple of months investigating and it seems a neighbour had moved to BG but had put the wrong house number down. Once BG had discovered this, several years ago, they changed the address but never checked the meter number and this prevented us from taking up a provider. They confessed they had made an erronious transfer and it was their error. Their ET team has contacted our previous supplier but due to the time passed they are not interested so BG have said we are free to take up a new electricity provider and we will not be billed for the last five years. Now thats a result!

undaunted

matty_hunt wrote: »

Update:
Thanks everyone for your comments. After complaining to BG they took a couple of months investigating and it seems a neighbour had moved to BG but had put the wrong house number down. Once BG had discovered this, several years ago, they changed the address but never checked the meter number and this prevented us from taking up a provider. They confessed they had made an erronious transfer and it was their error. Their ET team has contacted our previous supplier but due to the time passed they are not interested so BG have said we are free to take up a new electricity provider and we will not be billed for the last five years. Now thats a result!

what is that saying about some people coming out of dock with fish, almost as good as a lottery win.