Fuming at British Gas.

bylromarha

Mum died 2nd Nov. Rung 6th Nov with meter reads and informing of mums death.

Paid bill as requested.

Statement received February 2013 no charge on the account.

Said goodbye to the house for the last time in March - locking the door for the last time was awful and was in bits just walking in. Taking a meter reading was the last thing on my mond.

House sold 23rd April. Didn't cross my mind to ring BG that day to tell them as I was in bits that my family home of over 30 years was no longer my home and the place I grew up was no longer a threshold I could cross.

Letter received today informing me that they're closing the account and I'll be receiving a final bill. They'll need the name of the new owner if the house is sold and date of sale.

I ring them up to inform them of new owner. Asked for meter readings. Told them it wasn't on my mind when I went there for the last time. Ever so sorry.

Am then informed that I will be billed up to the date of sale on an estimate generated based on consumption last year :eek::eek::eek:

An empty house. BG man kept going round and round and round - what more can they do, they can only base it on the factual information they have? I told them the factual information they had was that a woman had died, her house had been empty and she wasn't watching the TV, or cooking her dinner, or having the heating on.

The guy was adament and asked what I thought they should do. I told them they had 2 options - as a national power supplier, they should have generated enough data to calculate monthly consumption on an empty 3 bed property with no one living in it - lights being turned on occasionally and such. Alternatively, they could ring the new owner and ask for his OMRs - which I was told they couldn't do as if they hadn't taken OMRs , then we shouldn't be billed based on their consumption since they moved in.

But it's fine to bill us based on a dead womans usage last year?! On an empty house?!

I cannot tell you how furious I am. If you're dealing with British Gas, then just lie. Make up a meter reading and go with that.

fluffymuffy

Have you asked the new residents if they read the meter when they moved in? Most people do.

Dan-Dan

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4521045


!!!!!!

fluffnutter

Write to a national newspaper. The Observer gets good results when they take up cases like this. When the press office is involved it's amazing how quickly companies become more sympathetic.

Errata

Mum died 2nd Nov. Rung 6th Nov with meter reads and informing of mums death.

Paid bill as requested.

Statement received February 2013 no charge on the account.

If no gas has been used since 6th November and completion date of sale, then surely the meter reading given on 6 November will be the same for the 23rd of April.?

bylromarha

fluffymuffy wrote: »

Have you asked the new residents if they read the meter when they moved in? Most people do.

British gas won't accept them, even if we do get them from the new owners, as those reads could only be taken from the day we ask, not completition day. When I said on the phone that those reads would be better to be billed to than mums annual consumption the previous year, I was told that they were sorry, but they couldn't do that as the dates overlap.

bylromarha

Errata wrote: »

If no gas has been used since 6th November and completion date of sale, then surely the meter reading given on 6 November will be the same for the 23rd of April.?

You'd think so, wouldn't you? But no, as we haven't got a reading from the meter showing zero consumption, we have to be billed based on the annual consumption last year.

bylromarha

fluffnutter wrote: »

Write to a national newspaper. The Observer gets good results when they take up cases like this. When the press office is involved it's amazing how quickly companies become more sympathetic.

Awaiting a printed bill. Then I shall. How many other people do they do this to? Meter readings are really not on the list of to dos on the last day in the house. Brain is not straight on the last day in the house. At anytime in the house TBH.

bylromarha

Bill now arrived.

£571 to pay :rotfl:

I appreciate that it was a computer generated bill as the conversation only happened yesterday, but if this is what they're expecting me to pay, they can go jump.

Also remembered today that BG phoned me in February prior to issuing the February statement to ask where the estate had got to - as that would have been the probate dept, surely that would have been a good time to say "Please give us up to date meter readings so we can accurately calculate the bill when we close the account."

Having to deal with grieving relatives every day, you'd have thought they'd have more of an idea than I how my brain would be functioning as I locked up for the last time. And prompt me to get a february reading so they could make an accurate final bill in case I didn't get the meter reads...but no. Bill me £571 instead.

pauletruth

remember its not your bill. did your mum leave any assets.

bylromarha

pauletruth wrote: »

remember its not your bill. did your mum leave any assets.

No, I appreciate the final bill will come out of the house sale money, but paying a bill of £571 without question or challenge is something which I'm not prepared to do.