British Gas Complaint. Backbilling, 2 years no bill and then £2000! HELP

ackelly

Ok I have a little update:

Spoke to British gas yesterday (after calling them twice and not getting back to me so I had to call them again!)and they aren't willing to do anything else, they are still trying to send me the phone call recordings but it won't send in an email.

They have given me 3 options:

1: Pay in full (which I don't have and don't believe I would be able to pay on a credit card )

2: Part payment with payment plan- If you pay £830.29 we can include the remaining balance into the Direct Debit which would leave your monthly payment over the next 12 months of £235.00 ( which I cannot afford this much a month)

3: No payment but Direct Debit over 12 months - This will spread the current balance over a period of time, as well as contributing towards your ongoing usage.

The optimal payment to clear your balance and ongoing usage would be around £317.00 a month over the next 12 months. We’ll continue to monitor the scheme and issue statements monthly (via Energy Smart) or quarterly, depending on how frequently you require them.

(As above cannot afford £317.00 per month!)

4: We can also offer a prepayment meter to be fitted, free of charge, which would enable you to spread the amount over a much longer period of time, whilst only paying for the gas and electricity you use.

(Which I have flashbacks of my uni days being half way through cooking or getting ready and then everything going!)

When asked about spreading the payments put for as long as the debt was collected ie 24 months they said that isn't something they would do!

Do you think it's worth me going to the Ombudsman about the service I have had?

Or can anyone suggest what they would do!

Thanks again in advance!

Cardew

dogshome wrote: »

It's all very well slapping the OP for not chaseing down the supplier as a matter of urgency, but it's a first house and there are no classes or crib notes as to the in's and out's finding/dealing with Utility suppliers



There a three Big Questions in my mind
1) Why is that if BG became the first supplier to a new build sometime in early 2010, why did they not produced a single bill until well over 2 years later, and even then still have not read the meters ?

2) If they had not been notified of the Bill responsiblity change from Builder to first householder, why have they not been billng the builder for these 2+years

3) How is it when BG are claiming no one bothered to contact them, that the first bill is not a addressed to the "Occupier", but to the householder by name?

Most certainly the OP was ill advised to let the builder do the legwork and listen to advice from the friend of a friend, but there is a distinct smell of old fish around BG's actions - A couple of years ago I dealt with almost the same scenario where BG haveing had all the right notices, went into total silence for 15 months, and then put up a fight not to award back-billing

I think the OP should write a letter headed Complaint, listing the contradictory information she has had, and specifically asking the 3 questions above

A probable explanation is that the builder has given the name of the OP to BG. hence the 'welcome to your new home' letter.

It is not unknown for new builds that there are problems between Utility supplier and builder/developer. Don't forget that back-billing does not apply to commercial accounts(i.e. builder)

Could it be the outcome of any problems over payment between BG and builder resulted in the builder giving names of owners?

The bottom line is still that the OP did not take steps to determine their supplier.

For OP.

I can't see what the grounds of your complaint to ombudsman would be.

From what you say it doesn't appear BG have done much wrong. The builder and yourself seem to be at fault.

I would attempt to strike a better deal with BG.

[Deleted User]

Usually in new builds, the whole of the estate is with one supplier only. They do a deal with the builders presumably. Larger estates can be 2 or 3 suppliers sharing sections, but always the neighbours either side will be with the same supplier in the first few weeks at least. There is always some mess up somewhere in new builds, plot numbers and meter numbers usually. so thats how to find your supplier, ask the next door neighbour

Kayalana99

ackelly wrote: »

They have given me 3 options:

1: Pay in full (which I don't have and don't believe I would be able to pay on a credit card )

2: Part payment with payment plan- If you pay £830.29 we can include the remaining balance into the Direct Debit which would leave your monthly payment over the next 12 months of £235.00 ( which I cannot afford this much a month)

3: No payment but Direct Debit over 12 months - This will spread the current balance over a period of time, as well as contributing towards your ongoing usage.

4: We can also offer a prepayment meter to be fitted, free of charge, which would enable you to spread the amount over a much longer period of time, whilst only paying for the gas and electricity you use.


Thanks again in advance!

Keep at them, say you can pay £XXXX now (£1000?) and will pay £XX amount, they will probally come back with a lower figure then the £200/£300...if they say they can't offer it any lower ask to speak to a manager (if I recall they are only allowed to go so low then you'll be in limbo untill you speak to someone who can do this) Just remember - if they take you to court you'd only be asked to pay what you can afford and its much easier for them to come to an agreement then go down this road. It just means you wont be able to change suppliers.

Remember to keep the amount higher then your usage, no point building more debt up...personally I think £125-£150 would be about right (assuming you don't keep heating on regularlly.)

No advice on the misleading information tbh, but end day regardless of who didn't contact who you have been using a service and knew this day would come..

HappyMJ

ackelly wrote: »

Ok I have a little update:

Spoke to British gas yesterday (after calling them twice and not getting back to me so I had to call them again!)and they aren't willing to do anything else, they are still trying to send me the phone call recordings but it won't send in an email.

They have given me 3 options:

1: Pay in full (which I don't have and don't believe I would be able to pay on a credit card )

2: Part payment with payment plan- If you pay £830.29 we can include the remaining balance into the Direct Debit which would leave your monthly payment over the next 12 months of £235.00 ( which I cannot afford this much a month)

3: No payment but Direct Debit over 12 months - This will spread the current balance over a period of time, as well as contributing towards your ongoing usage.

The optimal payment to clear your balance and ongoing usage would be around £317.00 a month over the next 12 months. We’ll continue to monitor the scheme and issue statements monthly (via Energy Smart) or quarterly, depending on how frequently you require them.

(As above cannot afford £317.00 per month!)

4: We can also offer a prepayment meter to be fitted, free of charge, which would enable you to spread the amount over a much longer period of time, whilst only paying for the gas and electricity you use.

(Which I have flashbacks of my uni days being half way through cooking or getting ready and then everything going!)

When asked about spreading the payments put for as long as the debt was collected ie 24 months they said that isn't something they would do!

Do you think it's worth me going to the Ombudsman about the service I have had?

Or can anyone suggest what they would do!

Thanks again in advance!

Option 2 looks the best. You will save the most. You said you have saved up £1,000 towards the bill. So you'll have this month and next month sorted. Then the next 10 months you'll have to seriously cut back your general expenditure increase your income and reduce your gas and electricity usage.

Don't take the prepayment option...it will cost you a lot more in the long run.

The ombudsman won't help all options offered are quite good. They have offered you the most affordable option possible being the prepayment meter. 70% of each of your top ups will go towards debt repayment. Top up £300 in a month and £90 will be set aside for ongoing gas usage. Almost the same cost as option 1, 2 and 3 but if you seriously reduce your usage it won't cost you anywhere near as much.

What did they say Option 1's ongoing cost would be? Paying the bill in full and setting up a direct debit for ongoing usage.

Greek

I feel so bad for you- I'm currently dealing with a complaint with British gas- because they owe ME money, and they really must be the most useless company ever. They just haven't got a clue. I would go to o,buds men anyway, because it cannot be right for a huge company like BG to act the way they do.

Cardew

Kayalana99 wrote: »

Just remember - if they take you to court you'd only be asked to pay what you can afford and its much easier for them to come to an agreement then go down this road. It just means you wont be able to change suppliers.

However the OP will have a trashed credit record, which is important to a lot of people.

Also the court would be very likely to authorise a pre-payment meter.

bob_bank_spanker

Greek wrote: »

I feel so bad for you- I'm currently dealing with a complaint with British gas- because they owe ME money, and they really must be the most useless company ever. They just haven't got a clue. I would go to o,buds men anyway, because it cannot be right for a huge company like BG to act the way they do.

Why do you feel "bad" for the OP? They got away with approx £4k worth of energy and only have to pay half back?

I would love it if a huge company showed me such generosity :rotfl:

Kayalana99

Cardew wrote: »

However the OP will have a trashed credit record, which is important to a lot of people.

Also the court would be very likely to authorise a pre-payment meter.

My point was that as long as you co operate with them they will not go down that route as it will end up worse for them with her probally paying less not to actally go to court.

insanegloss

Prepayment probably wouldn't be an option as its likely to be an IGT being a new build.