Backdated charges

Falloch

Can anyone help?


I am on a joint tariff with ScottishGas. Recently I have received a very large bill from them asking for payment for three years worth of gas usage that hasn't been billed properly. Apparently all I have been paying for has been the electricity part of the bill.

They say that although they HAVE been taking meter readings it has not been processed correctly at their end, and they are now wanting the money owed. I have never missed or been late on any other payment to them.


Does anyone know if there is a limit to how far back they can charge me? It's a lot of money, and it's not my fault!

kiden

I'm going through something similar at the moment. I expect to have to pay, but I've at least asked them to spread the unit usage over the full backdated period; currently they're calculating the outstanding bill as if I'd used all the units since August last year (i.e. at higher rates).

molerat

When did you notice you were not being billed for gas, when did you inform them of this ? They can legally back bill you for 6 years but there is an agreement that they will only back bill for one year if the fault is 100% down to them. The answer to my first questions are very relevant to this.

Falloch

Thanks for the replies.

I didn't notice, they did. They had sent a bill last month with a large but different amount and I contacted them. I was told then that it was a system error, to ignore the bill, and I payed over the phone an amount I was told was correct.

I then received another bill last week, double the initial one. When I contacted them I was told that the previous advisor I spoke to was wrong and that I did indeed owe them this new amount. Bear in mind this new amount was double the previous. God knows what's going on.

I'm also intrigued as to how they will charge me, what rate they will use and how they will justify it. They don't seem to have any idea how much gas I used and when, they only know the difference between the two sets of meter readings. I imagine that they will try and use the highest possible rate. How do I combat this?

Wywth

The supplier will usually agree a reasonable amount of time with you to repay what you owe if you ask them.

You won't be able to switch supplier though with that amount of debt.

Only pay bills they send you. If they claim there is an error on any bill, ask/expect a revised one to be sent.
The bill will detail how the amount is made up.
You will be charged at the tariff rate accordiung to when you used the energy. Without actual meter readings, the supplier will estimate them.