British Gas messed up with our bills

fluffypinkgoat

Hello,

First time poster, long time lurker here!

I'm hoping someone would be able to give me some advice. Three weeks ago we received a bill from British Gas asking for £521. We pay our bills every month as soon as they come, so we were very surprised to be asked for such a large amount of money. We called the British Gas customer service line and discovered that we had not been billed for our electricity since we had moved into the property (August 2012).

My partner and I decided to write a letter to the customer services, and we explained that we did not have £521 to give to them and that we are on a very low income (we’re both students). We also pointed out that it was their fault for not billing us properly.

We received a response after waiting for over two weeks. It came across as quite sarcastic and even had the sentence “I'm glad we've been able to get to the bottom of this” without offering any resolution!

We decided to call the customer service line again, only to find out that our case had been closed. An 11 month payment scheme was proposed to us at the cost of £155 per calendar month – this apparently would also include our gas and electric usage each month – but I think it is quite a bit over what we actually owe British Gas and is over what we can realistically afford.

Is there anything else we can do other than accept this payment plan?

Thanks in advance!!!

TIMMY85

Hi

You say that you had been paying bills and I assume that these payments have been received and show against your account with BG. It sounds as though the bills have been estimated and now BG have an accurate meter reading and that this is a 'catch up bill'.

I would suggest (if you haven't already) that you check the meter reading on the bill and the reading on the meter...it should be higher now than on the bill. Check that the serial number on your bill matches what is on the meter. With the gas meter check that your meter is an imperial or metric and then check that this matches what BG say you have.

If you have used the energy then you will need to pay for it but if any of the above details do not seem to match what BG say you have then you need to get back on the phone with BG as something may be wrong. You may be able to agree a longer repayment period but will need to ensure that you more than cover your average monthly usage.

I would also suggest that the future bills are accurate by you providing accurate meter readings.

You could consider applying to the British Gas energy trust for some help with the debt. https://www.britishgasenergytrust.org.uk

dogshome

The £155 a month payment plan covers your normal usage, plus an amount to pay off the debt - BG are probably looking to get the debt cleared over 12 months

However £155 is a lot of money for Students, so WRITE to BG heading the letter Complaint, pointing out that is they who have created the debt situatuon and you can afford no more than £xxx a month the clear the debt - Be sensible about this figure - You are after all getting an Interest Free loan.

It's imortant that once you have agreed a figure with BG, that you get the arrangement confirmed in writing
Be aware that if you miss a payment BG will immediately go into wolverine collection mode

Pineapple88

dogshome wrote: »

However £155 is a lot of money for Students, so WRITE to BG heading the letter Complaint, pointing out that is they who have created the debt situatuon and you can afford no more than £xxx a month the clear the debt - Be sensible about this figure - You are after all getting an Interest Free loan.

Not necessarily, if BG have been sending quarterly bills which show estimated usage or no billing for electricity they may argue that Flyffypinkgoat also has some responsibiliy for the debt.

The first thing to do is provide an up to date meter reading to make sure the amount billed is correct. As Dogshome has said BG are probably trying to clear the debt within 12 months which would mean repaying £43 per month towards the debt. This would mean that they are expecting you to use an average of £112 gas and electricty per month going forward. The lions's share of the payment would be going towards your ongoing usage. If this is what you are using then even if BG were to spread the debt over 24 months you would have to pay £133 per month (£112 for usage and £21 pm towards the debt). I'd suggest that the first thing to check is that they have predicted your usage correctly- provide them with up to date meter readings and ask them what they predict your annual usage to be in KWH. TIMMY85 has provided a good guide to what the check. Rough average for annual consumption would be 3000/3500 kwh per year for electricty and 14000 kwh for gas.

StuC75

How much were you originally paying for just the Gas per month?

The difference between the £155 proposed and that amount is what they think you need to be paying to cover both the debt built up..

By my reckoning..

£521 over 10 months in the property = £52.10 per month usage..
£521 debt repaid over next 12 months = £43.40 to the debt

So thats accounting for £95.50 of the amount that they are requesting you pay.

Add on £60 per month for budgeted gas usage - which is a very realistic amount, and the £155 per month doesnt seem so extortionate..

As your minimum payment before you pay a penny of the debt is circa £110.. (I pay £96 per month combined for 3 bedroom house)..