British Gas Billing Fiasco

rtbcomp

Briefly,

I have had a BG Business electricity supply for a few years and it has just come to light that they have been taking my money via direct debit and crediting my account, but they haven't been debiting my account with the meter readings.

This has resulted in me receiving a bill for just over £1800.

I have started the complaints procedure but reading other posts on the 'net I am scared s***less that they may send a thug round to disconnect me before the matter gets resolved. This means I'll have no light, heat, cooking and will be unable to work. With all the other crap in my life this will push me over the edge. I haven't had any sleep for that past 36 hours as it is.

I understand that they need to warn me and get a magistrate's warrant, but from some accounts they don't bother. If they go down this route am I allowed some representation at the magistrates court?

Constructive help desperately sought please.

Cardew

Unfortunately a business account doesn't have the protection that is given to domestic accounts.

I suspect that no action will be taken until the complaint has been resolved.

Presumably the £1,800 demand is because the direct debit was set too low?

As a matter of interest, why a business account - paying VAT at 20% instead of 5% - when it appears to also be for domestic purposes? Perhaps there is mileage in getting the lower rate of VAT applied to some/most of your supply??

spiro

rtbcomp wrote: »

but they haven't been debiting my account with the meter readings.

What do you mean by this? Suppliers only have to read the meter every 2 years therefore all interveening bills can be estimates and the onus is on the customer to check the bill and contact the suppluier if the estimate is wrong. A catch up bill this big can happen to a domestic customer let alone a business.

rtbcomp

The reason it's business is because the supply is to my workshop, which is where I now live following a house re-possession - but that's a NatWest story! The vast proportion of my usage is air compressors and and a bit welding.

I understand microbusinesses are covered by the Ombudsman scheme.

I've just checked the VAT position - they have charged 5%

The DD was too low because my account always showed a credit balance as the weren't debiting the cost of electricty, so everything looked OK.

I opted for paperless billing, but there's no way I could get this to work, they only thing I could do online was to request a paper bill.

Increased monthly payments shouldn't be an insurmountable problem, it's the fact that I've been effectively blocked from moving to another supplier so BG have taken advantage of this situation by increasing my tariff by 50%, where everybody else's seems to have gone up by just under 10%. Nice trick BG.

rtbcomp

spiro wrote: »

What do you mean by this? Suppliers only have to read the meter every 2 years therefore all interveening bills can be estimates and the onus is on the customer to check the bill and contact the suppluier if the estimate is wrong. A catch up bill this big can happen to a domestic customer let alone a business.

They read my meter on a regular basis, probably bi monthly. I opted for paperless billing but couldn't get any bills online.

It's a legal requirement of businesses to keep accurate accounts and they have a duty of care to customers. They should have reviewed the DD whenever the price increased, but they failed to notice that they weren't debiting my account. This is negligence.

When I first moved to BG they didn't collect the DD, but they did apply the meter reading, at that time I had paper billing and pointed this out to them, they then got it ar** about face.

Cardew

rtbcomp wrote: »

The reason it's business is because the supply is to my workshop, which is where I now live following a house re-possession - but that's a NatWest story! The vast proportion of my usage is air compressors and and a bit welding.

I understand microbusinesses are covered by the Ombudsman scheme.

I've just checked the VAT position - they have charged 5%

If you only pay VAT at 5% then is it a business tariff?? I thought all business accounts paid 20%?

You need to be careful in how you word your complaint or you will be paying an extra 15% VAT back to ????

In any case you are far better off if it is treated as a domestic account.

It's a legal requirement of businesses to keep accurate accounts.

Does this not also apply to yourself? If a business account, won't that argument be 'thrown back in your face'.

rtbcomp

I pay to British Gas Business.

I do keep accurate records, I know who owes me what, what I owe to suppliers, what my current tax liabilty is &c&. and there is always enough money in my bank to cover 6 months outgoings.

I pay exactly what BG ask to me pay by way of DD It's down to BG to look after their accounts, if they can't spot when an account is going outside normal boundaries than that's incompetence. The banks do it, try going £18 pounds over an overdraft limit and see what happens, let alone £1800. If BG want me to do the job of accounts manager for them, they can pay me an account manager's salary.

NOTHING absolves them from a duty of care

macman

It cannot be a business tariff if you are only being charged 5% VAT. What is the name of your tariff?
How often have you been submitting meter readings? Were all your bills estimated?

spiro

Plus there is 5% Climate Charge Levy.

rtbcomp

macman wrote: »

It cannot be a business tariff if you are only being charged 5% VAT. What is the name of your tariff?
How often have you been submitting meter readings? Were all your bills estimated?

I can't find what the tariff is called on the bill, it does say, however, "Contact us britishgas.co.uk/business/support........".

My meter has been read by BG several times a year. There are only two actual readings shown on the bill since 2009, but this wrong, I don't keep a diary but I'm sure they've been monthly, perhaps bi-monthly.

rtbcomp

spiro wrote: »

Plus there is 5% Climate Charge Levy.

That doesn't appear as a separate item.