British gas have misquoted me and now demand 1300 payment

gem1978_2

macman wrote: »

OP, you say 'now I have switched suppliers'. Have you actually completed your switch through? If not, it will almost certainly be blocked by BG due to the high level of debt on the account.
If you have somehow left them, you certainly won't be given 2 years to pay.

No they have not let the switch over go through! They are demanding hundreds a month. I will not let them get away with treating me like a thief.

keystone

sacsquacco wrote: »

This is just yet another ridiculous situation that Ofgem have allowed to happen

Oh come on you can't shovel all the blame in that direction. If the suppliers wanted to they could read every meter at much shorter intervals irrespective of when the clock is reset. I suspect there is no will to do so as the costs probably outweigh what they lose in "Stolen" leccy. Thats the suppliers decision surely.

Cheers

Cardew

gem1978 wrote: »

No they have not let the switch over go through! They are demanding hundreds a month. I will not let them get away with treating me like a thief.

Can you explain why you think they are treating you like a thief?

It has been explained in detail above that with estimated readings you should check them and notify BG if they were too low. Millions of people do this or pay up when they get a 'catch-up' bill.

You have used the gas/electricity why shouldn't you pay for it?

[Deleted User]

keystone wrote: »

Oh come on you can't shovel all the blame in that direction. If the suppliers wanted to they could read every meter at much shorter intervals irrespective of when the clock is reset. I suspect there is no will to do so as the costs probably outweigh what they lose in "Stolen" leccy. Thats the suppliers decision surely.

Cheers

well its not just me who think Ofgem are weak and not fit for purpose, Ed Milliband was interviewed by Ann Robinson tonight declaring his intentions to clear them out and put in a proper responsible regulator , not one who kowtows to big business. 5 years without an inspection is ludicrous, it may work with smart meters I accept, but with the cannabis farmers and serial bypassers, they will certainly not be accepting smart meters seeing as how this government have allowed them to refuse them.
Never mind how suppliers decide who gets away with thieving electic and gas, with most of them its not even their energy, they are merely billers and customer services. Theft is theft however it is dressed up, and not piddling ammounts neither, many thousands in a year can be stolen by a lad renting a terraced house growing cannabis to sell to our youth and messing their brains up.

macman

gem1978 wrote: »

No they have not let the switch over go through! They are demanding hundreds a month. I will not let them get away with treating me like a thief.

They're not treating you like a thief. They're treating you like a debtor. Once you have reduced the debt to around £200, they will allow you to switch.

matelodave

Self righteous indignation won't solve the problem, you have to sort it out yourself. Why is it someone else's fault when you have failed to keep an eye on your bills - all they are asking for is for you to pay for the energy that you've used because you want to leave.

You have the option of paying them the arrears in one lump or staying with them until you've paid it back in instalments - sounds very fair to me.

Of course they are asking for hundreds a month - it will take £108 a month just to pay off your arrears in a year plus whatever you currently using in gas & electricity, probably at least another £100-120 or so a month. You might be able to negotiate a longer period to pay back the arrears if you ask nicely, but that will mean you have to stay with them longer until it's paid off.

The only other option is for a new supplier to take over the debt that you've racked up and I'd doubt that anyone would want to take you on when they know how much you owe.

kelpie35

How come you did not read your own meter and submit readings monthly?

It is you that is using the service so have to take responsibility for paying what you use.

gem1978_2

matelodave wrote: »

Self righteous indignation won't solve the problem, you have to sort it out yourself. Why is it someone else's fault when you have failed to keep an eye on your bills - all they are asking for is for you to pay for the energy that you've used because you want to leave.

You have the option of paying them the arrears in one lump or staying with them until you've paid it back in instalments - sounds very fair to me.

Of course they are asking for hundreds a month - it will take £108 a month just to pay off your arrears in a year plus whatever you currently using in gas & electricity, probably at least another £100-120 or so a month. You might be able to negotiate a longer period to pay back the arrears if you ask nicely, but that will mean you have to stay with them longer until it's paid off.

The only other option is for a new supplier to take over the debt that you've racked up and I'd doubt that anyone would want to take you on when they know how much you owe.

That is quite rude to me. All i want is to be treated fairly. This is a free country last time I looked.

All the energy company really does is bill and collect money, it is their fault for not checking the meter in over two years. its not like they have much to do.

So far all I have been offered is 40 good will off the bill and the option of having to pay hundreds a month for the next year! I will be talking to the off people!

gem1978_2

sacsquacco wrote: »

well its not just me who think Ofgem are weak and not fit for purpose, Ed Milliband was interviewed by Ann Robinson tonight declaring his intentions to clear them out and put in a proper responsible regulator , not one who kowtows to big business. 5 years without an inspection is ludicrous, it may work with smart meters I accept, but with the cannabis farmers and serial bypassers, they will certainly not be accepting smart meters seeing as how this government have allowed them to refuse them.
Never mind how suppliers decide who gets away with thieving electic and gas, with most of them its not even their energy, they are merely billers and customer services. Theft is theft however it is dressed up, and not piddling ammounts neither, many thousands in a year can be stolen by a lad renting a terraced house growing cannabis to sell to our youth and messing their brains up.

You are very prejudice. You think ganja is grown by thieves and only used by the young! cray!

You have put a sentence with weak, not fit for purpose and Ed Milliband but not put it in the right order!

spiro

gem1978 wrote: »

All the energy company really does is bill and collect money, it is their fault for not checking the meter in over two years. its not like they have much to do.

If you read their T&Cs you are required to submit two meter readings a year. Sorry but this is totally your fault. In two years you will have received multiple estimated bills and could not be bothered to check the readings against you meter and correct their estimate.

Based on the figures posted you have used about £3000 of energy in the last 2 years (£68*24 + £1300) giving an estimated annual bill of £1500. Therefore I would expect them to increase your DD to around £200pm to cover ongoing usage of £125 plus £75 to clear debt. If you dont agree they will almost certainly go down the prepayment meter route.