British Gas admits undercharging for electricity and now want us to pay them £2k+

money_queen

Hello there,

Got a letter from Britsh Gas admiting due to their computer error they have been undercharging us for electricity units and now want us to pay £2k+ back. Has anyone been UNDERCHARGED and been asked to pay for error caused by the company? Period in question is from 2008-2013.

Please answer my questions much appreciated:

1. I read somewhere there is a legal time set in which they can demand payment for underpayment, is it within the last two years?

2. Also if they admit its their fault can I argue against payment? It seems really unfair as it is ok for companies to make a mistake but we have to suffer.

3. Any other copmments/thouughts much appreciated.

3.

molerat

In law they can chase money owed for 6 years but there is an agreement with the regulator that they should not back bill for their errors beyond 12 months, what exactly is the cause of the problem.

Wywth

money_queen wrote: »

Hello there,

Got a letter from Britsh Gas admiting due to their computer error they have been undercharging us for electricity units and now want us to pay £2k+ back. Has anyone been UNDERCHARGED and been asked to pay for error caused by the company? Period in question is from 2008-2013.

Please answer my questions much appreciated:

1. I read somewhere there is a legal time set in which they can demand payment for underpayment, is it within the last two years?

2. Also if they admit its their fault can I argue against payment? It seems really unfair as it is ok for companies to make a mistake but we have to suffer.

3. Any other copmments/thouughts much appreciated.

3.

Computers don't make errors, ... especially when it is so simple as multiplying the units consumed by the cost per unit, ... humans make errors.

If you give us the full story you can get appropriate advice, Otherwise people can guess the answer and you can choose the one you prefer

money_queen

Thanks for your time. Reply to your questions.

1. BG say computer system did not update unit prices as they went up between 2008-2013. I have bills which have been paid clearly stating correct unit prices matching the contract prices for each year!

2. Also BG said they only charged for one unit as opposed to two units (day/night). But again I have bills to prove.

So if worse comes to worse can I argue to only pay last 12 months as commented by Molerat who pointed out they are bound by regulator to chase last 12 months period.

3. Who are these companies regulated by? Is is the Financial Obudsman.

Thank you

vuvuzela

Regulator is OFGEM.
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers

Wywth

money_queen wrote: »

Thanks for your time. Reply to your questions.

1. BG say computer system did not update unit prices as they went up between 2008-2013. I have bills which have been paid clearly stating correct unit prices matching the contract prices for each year!

2. Also BG said they only charged for one unit as opposed to two units (day/night). But again I have bills to prove.

So if worse comes to worse can I argue to only pay last 12 months as commented by Molerat who pointed out they are bound by regulator to chase last 12 months period.

3. Who are these companies regulated by? Is is the Financial Obudsman.

Thank you

Please post a legible image of the bill showing the alleged errors. I think that with almost 16 million customers, it would definitiely be getting into the realms of fantasy that the computer only made such an error on your bill.

Cardew

People are making the assumption that this is for a domestic account.

British Gas are fully aware of the billing code that restricts them to 12 months back-billing where they are at fault.

So I would be really surprised if they have admitted fault and are still trying to back-bill you for 5 years.

However no such provision exists for business accounts. If a company have made a mistake(any company) they can correct that mistake back 6 years.

Cardew

Bump!

OP is this a business account?

Cardew

So the answer is that you were referring to a business account; see

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4748303

cymru_71

Thank you for posting about this - we have had exactly the same thing, same time period. Apparently they 'failed to apply the correct tariff to our bill' .....and now want £14,000 but have reduced it to £9,500 to just cover the previous 3 years!!! It's not like our bills were cheap, just doesn't seem right.

Would love to hear if you have any luck/further advice

money_queen wrote: »

Hello there,

Got a letter from Britsh Gas admiting due to their computer error they have been undercharging us for electricity units and now want us to pay £2k+ back. Has anyone been UNDERCHARGED and been asked to pay for error caused by the company? Period in question is from 2008-2013.

Please answer my questions much appreciated:

1. I read somewhere there is a legal time set in which they can demand payment for underpayment, is it within the last two years?

2. Also if they admit its their fault can I argue against payment? It seems really unfair as it is ok for companies to make a mistake but we have to suffer.

3. Any other copmments/thouughts much appreciated.

3.