British gas bullies!!!! Help?

S12JJT

Hi,

My father, brother and I run a small property rental business. British has are the gas supplier. When we purchased the property in October we did not check the meter. We did not hear from bitish gas until March when a large bill showed up. I immediately called them to find out what it was all about. They said there had been an error and they would get back to me. They never did.

I arrived at the property today and there was a notice of disconnection and a £1200 bill. The house has been unoccupied for the entire time we have owned it and has not had anything that could use gas in it for 5 of the 6 months. Having called BG tonight they have said because we didn't provide them with a meter reading when we moved in we either have to get the previous owner to pay the bill or settle it ourselves.

We have not used this gas!!! I am not going to pay a £1200 to the occupier bill. Can anyone please help with this situation?

Gingernutty

You know, for businessmen, you come across as complete [STRIKE]morons[/STRIKE] incompetents [There, better now?].

On buying any property, the first thing, after getting the keys, is to check the utilities.

Get in touch with the vendor and see if they took final readings and, if they have, use those to calculate how much you owe.

If you can't - then you have to pay.

S12JJT

Morons? That's helpful in a thread asking for help. We don't doubt that the meter reading should have been checked however they weren't. The issue is that there is a £1200 difference between the meter now and what BG are saying it should be. I

ollski

I'm not sure there's much you can do. Either someone has been to the property and used the gas or left something on a timer etc or the previous owner lied on his final reading. If you didnt take an initial reading you have pretty much accepted whatever reading was given when the left as correct. If it is going down the disconnection route you will be picking up huge charges / prepayment meters / credit file defaults etc. I would pay up put it down as an oversight and then try to appeal.

wannabe_credit_free

Calling people morons who are here for help is tantamount to abuse and out of line...

lstar337

Disagree with the use of the term morons, but there is a level of incompetency here.

S12JJT wrote: »

When we purchased the property in October we did not check the meter.

First mistake.

S12JJT wrote: »

I immediately called them to find out what it was all about. They said there had been an error and they would get back to me. They never did.

And you never chased them up. Second mistake.

S12JJT wrote: »

I arrived at the property today and there was a notice of disconnection and a £1200 bill. The house has been unoccupied for the entire time we have owned it and has not had anything that could use gas in it for 5 of the 6 months.

What about the standard charge for the meter and connection?

S12JJT wrote: »

I am not going to pay a £1200 to the occupier bill. Can anyone please help with this situation?

The bill is the cost of your mistakes.

I don't mean to be harsh, but as a businessperson you should know about how to keep an eye on things. This is the price of ignoring and/or brushing under the carpet.

macman

Even if you used no gas, you would still be accumulating standing charges on Standard tariff, curently around 26p per day plus VAT. That alone over 9m would be around £90. Without an opening read you have little evidence to support your case.
Why didn't you switch to an NSC tarif as son as you took ownership?

Richie-from-the-Boro

chris.martin wrote: »

Hey guys,, you may contact me, for any guidance regarding your Electricity and Gas proplems.. JUST PM me with your problem, I will try to guide you,,,

Never message anyone - particularly complete strangers off board and away from the protection of forum users and the forum team with very private information such as that contained in your energy bills. If in doubt report the issue to a member of the forum team on the TRHS of the page.