In limbo, need help!!!

Ed18278

Last year we did a supplier change for Gas via one of the switching sites. In January we had a letter from Npower confirming that we would be moved across from British Gas in about 6 weeks.
That didn't happen, raised complaint after complaint, took it to the ombudsman which eventually got us to the point in September where npower confirmed that they had had a change in systems earlier in the year which had wrecked loads of customer accounts causing them problems with adding new customers onto their supply.
They advised that the best course of action was to cancel and to go back to British Gas because they didn't think it would be resolved in the near future, even setting us up again from scratch.
The problem we are faced with, is that we are moving house in the next 3 weeks and haven't had a bill this year for our supply, which needs to be resolved before we move. We seem to be in complete limbo, im surprised we haven't been cut off to be honest as nobody seems to be chasing for any kind of payment as nobody will take ownership.
Is there any legal support/knowledge in terms of bill generation out there i.e. if nobody bills you for the use of gas, is there a time limit that they have before its written off?
Alternatively how can we force a supplier to take us on and also charge us for the gas usage - that's pretty much what we need so that we can leave the house with a clean slate.


Thanks in Advance

Nada666

Why does moving house create a problem? If anything it solves a problem - new house, new account, not beholden to npower. You will be free to take the incumbent supplier on the deemed contract then choose whoever you like.

Yes, you still have to pay npower (limited to just twelve months at most) but you can pay them interest free with your terms. (Of course, knowing something was up you really ought to have put some money aside so that you could more quickly settle things once they were sorted out.)

Ed18278

Because we don't have a supplier now, Npower have closed the account because they couldn't see the matter ever being resolved, so have never generated a bill - the account never got past the welcome letter stage and British gas closed the account last year when we switched.
To switch to a new supplier we need an old supplier (for the new occupiers) otherwise they will face the same problem they wont be billed for gas usage.
The money is set aside for the bill, hasn't been spent, but with all these price hikes its likely to come in more expensive at some point.

macman

It's not your job to provide a supplier for the new owners. Tell them the situation, it's then up to them as to how to resolve it. The supply is live, that's all that should concern them initially.

undaunted

You clearly do have a supplier - you have energy so someone is supplying it even if not billing it.

I agree with Nada666 on this occasion, move house, do whatever you wish to do in the new house & then sort out any bill with Npower (or whoever else) as & when they get around to accurately billing you.

The back billing code of practice / 12 month scenario mentioned can be found here should you subsequently need it http://www.energy-uk.org.uk/publication/finish/43/412.html

I wouldn't entirely go with macman on this one as whilst what he (/ she) appears to make sense I suspect the new owner / occupier would refuse to complete & expect you to sort it out rather than leave them to do so if you just drew it to their attention as a problem like that. You may be able to find out who is registered as supplier and tell them that by contacting the local distribution co. or looking at their website eg http://www.northernpowergrid.com/ gives a facility to check who is currently registered as supplier. That & each of you supplying closing & opening readings should be enough to ensure you each get an accurate bill in the future, regardless of how long they may take to do so.

Ed18278

Is there one to check Gas supply, to see if it is still with Npower or whether they have moved it back to British Gas etc cheers

undaunted

Try the relevant numbers for your area from here http://www.uswitch.com/gas-electricity/guides/who-supplies-my-electricity-and-gas/

nPower

Ed18278 wrote: »

Last year we did a supplier change for Gas via one of the switching sites. In January we had a letter from Npower confirming that we would be moved across from British Gas in about 6 weeks.
That didn't happen, raised complaint after complaint, took it to the ombudsman which eventually got us to the point in September where npower confirmed that they had had a change in systems earlier in the year which had wrecked loads of customer accounts causing them problems with adding new customers onto their supply.
They advised that the best course of action was to cancel and to go back to British Gas because they didn't think it would be resolved in the near future, even setting us up again from scratch.
The problem we are faced with, is that we are moving house in the next 3 weeks and haven't had a bill this year for our supply, which needs to be resolved before we move. We seem to be in complete limbo, im surprised we haven't been cut off to be honest as nobody seems to be chasing for any kind of payment as nobody will take ownership.
Is there any legal support/knowledge in terms of bill generation out there i.e. if nobody bills you for the use of gas, is there a time limit that they have before its written off?
Alternatively how can we force a supplier to take us on and also charge us for the gas usage - that's pretty much what we need so that we can leave the house with a clean slate.


Thanks in Advance

Hi Ed18278,

Thanks for your post and I'm sorry to learn of the difficulties you have encountered trying to transfer your gas supply to us.

As we have advised that we are unable to transfer your supply to us then British Gas should be your registered supplier. However, if you would like me to check this for you please can you email me your details using the address in my profile page.

Thanks

Leigh

Ed18278

Actually, despite Npower saying that this would be passed back to British Gas, they have removed our account and left the supply as still being with Npower. We have chased this numerous times and been promised call backs to resolve. But the matter is still unresolved.
It wont be long now until 1 year will have passed since trying to switch to Npower and we can prove that we have tried to resolve this with no help from Npower, so as I understand it the previous usage will be written off if no attempt from Npower has been made to resolve the situation?