British Gas final bill craziness!

Majik

Bit of help here would be throughly appreciated - but first, the story.

Had a two bedroomed maisonette, electric only, paying £65 per month (yoiks!). Last reading was done in November. Sold the flat and because of my buyers dropping the ball and us having to rush out of the flat as they ended their rental agreement too early, we didn't get another reading done before leaving. Still, £65 a month should more than cover it, right? Wrong.

Got the final bill having phoned them to say we'd left. £425!!!!!! I rang to ask how in the HELL they had got the £425 final bill, but they simply said it was an estimated bill and therefore they would indeed be charging that unless I went back and got a reading myself. This is, to say the least, a no goer (not having the best releationship with our buyers).

So what do I do? They hav already taken the money, and seem to be refusing to budge, even when I explain that it would be night on impossible to use that amount of electricity in a two bedroom flat! Bearing in mind I was paying £65 a month as it was! They either can't or won't explain where this magic number has come from, and won't budge!

Help! That's an enormous amount of money having just moved in, so what can I do? Am I !!!!!!ed?

Thanks,

Majik

olly300

If your electricity fuelled your heating and hot water then you would have been under paying.

Apart from electric heating being expensive, electricity was really expensive last year and I remember a friend of mine (who is hardly ever in) with electric heating and hot water in a small 2 bedroom flat giving me a figure of £75 a month. (This was because I complained about my gas bill.)

Also unless you got a meter reading i'm sorry then you are stuffed.

Rikki

Unless you can get a meter reading the bill will stand.

Try and get in touch with buyers. Grovel if you have to, it is the only way you can get a correct final bill.

You should have taken a reading when you sold the property, just like you should take a reading when you first move into a property.

Cardew

Last reading in Nov.

When did you move out of the flat?

When did you stop paying the £65?

When was your last bill?

Did that bill show a debit balance?

gotnobread

Get the complete reading history from BG - that includes all readings, including the first reading when you moved in to the place you've just sold. This is because you might have had an estimated start reading as well as an estimated final reading... you need to know what accurate meter readings have been taken and when, in order to check the estimated consumption.

tripled

Suppliers are legally able to persue estimated bills. They can generate any figure they want within reason and there is very little you can do about it without getting a reading unfortunately. This is a fairly common problem.

I can only suggest you check all payments have been received on the account, it has been closed to the correct date and that the estimate isn't a long way above your average consumption. Also check if there has been a balance accruing on the account and being carried forward over previous quarters, which may well accuont for a sizeable part of this estimated bill.