British Gas

gbu_2

Hi there

I received a 'gas bill' statement from British gas in March for £26.
This was the first bill we've had off them as we have no gas services in our house since we have been living here approx 12 years.

When we contacted them they said they have started to implement a standing charge whether you have gas appliances or not because we have a gas meter.
Our meters are read regularly and always 0000 so they can see obviously no gas is being consumed by us.

We was told the only way to stop getting this charge was to have the meter removed which we have now had done by British Gas in May.

However the demands for the original bill still keep coming and 2-3 phone calls a week from customer services asking us to pay.

Every time we have asked for someone in authority to contact us as we want to take this to a higher level but no one ever does as the managers always seem to be busy or in a meeting.

The charge has now doubled and im guessing will continue to do so.

Where do we we stand on this as we have had no notice from them that this new standing charge was to be set in place.

All we got from one customer service was "it was all over the news and newspapers so we must of heard about it"

Do we/should we pay for something we never had use of (i'm obviously hoping the answer is no) or can this end in higher charges court fines etc?

Many thanks

molerat

WRITE a LETTER headed COMPLAINT stating that as you did not use any energy you never entered into a contract, deemed or otherwise, with them and as such you are not responsible for any charges. OFGEM accept that is the case but the energy companies think the presence of a meter forms a contract. It has not been tested in court and I doubt the suppliers want to go there so a strongly worded complaint will probably make them go away.

Joyful

If you do not use gas you can arrange to have the meter removed free of charge. While the meter is in place the energy supplier gets charged so why should it not be passed onto the owner of a property?

GingerBob_3

Joyful wrote: »

If you do not use gas you can arrange to have the meter removed free of charge. While the meter is in place the energy supplier gets charged so why should it not be passed onto the owner of a property?

Because they don't own the meter, they don't take gas, they've never taken gas. If BG wants to stop paying the charges they should remove the meter.

OP, be careful with BG. They report you to the credit reference agencies (not all energy companies do) and may well have put a default against you for this. If they have, you need to take action against them to get it removed. Hopefully BG don't know your full name and DoB so they may not have been able to post defaults, but I'd check this out.

PS: never give your full name and DoB to energy suppliers.

tinkerbell28

GingerBob wrote: »

Because they don't own the meter, they don't take gas, they've never taken gas. If BG wants to stop paying the charges they should remove the meter.

OP, be careful with BG. They report you to the credit reference agencies (not all energy companies do) and may well have put a default against you for this. If they have, you need to take action against them to get it removed. Hopefully BG don't know your full name and DoB so they may not have been able to post defaults, but I'd check this out.

PS: never give your full name and DoB to energy suppliers.

Ridiculous advice. As much as I don't think energy companies should necessarily report to CRA's. As they aren't know for being accurate. They do and not giving correct information, false information. Will at best see you with an alias or at worst a fraud marker and see you declined for everything.

GingerBob_3

tinkerbell28 wrote: »

Ridiculous advice. As much as I don't think energy companies should necessarily report to CRA's. As they aren't know for being accurate. They do and not giving correct information, false information. Will at best see you with an alias or at worst a fraud marker and see you declined for everything.

Rubbish. I said don't give it to them in the first place. My supplier doesn't know mine and only has my first initial. They don't need my DoB or full name to flog me electric. Having said that, I have a boiler maintenance contact with BG and last time I rang them up the cheeky gits asked if I could give them my DoB. I gave them one that makes me 106 years old. I don't know whether they recorded it, and I don't care.

ollski

GingerBob wrote: »

Because they don't own the meter, they don't take gas, they've never taken gas. If BG wants to stop paying the charges they should remove the meter.

Lol, I'm sure removing meters after bill payers move house and then having to charge hundreds of pounds to install new meters for new homeowners who required them is the logical solution and would instantly stop people moaning about energy providers.

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

GingerBob wrote: »

Rubbish. I said don't give it to them in the first place. My supplier doesn't know mine and only has my first initial. They don't need my DoB or full name to flog me electric. Having said that, I have a boiler maintenance contact with BG and last time I rang them up the cheeky gits asked if I could give them my DoB. I gave them one that makes me 106 years old. I don't know whether they recorded it, and I don't care.

And when I create Bluebirdman of Alcathays energy, customers like you would have a PPM slapped in their house.

GingerBob_3

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays wrote: »

And when I create Bluebirdman of Alcathays energy, customers like you would have a PPM slapped in their house.

Ha, ha, ha, but that's never going to happen. But if it did, I'd change supplier.

GingerBob_3

ollski wrote: »

Lol, I'm sure removing meters after bill payers move house and then having to charge hundreds of pounds to install new meters for new homeowners who required them is the logical solution and would instantly stop people moaning about energy providers.

Er, that's not quite what I was suggesting. If a householder decides not to take gas, then the previous supplier (e.g. BG), if not wanting to incur charges could offer the new householder the option to have the meter removed, or leave it and pay a standing charge. That would be reasonable, wouldn't it? But no, good old (i.e. bad old) British Gas don't contact the occupier, they just put a notice in the press and assume the whole population has read it. Then they levy a scandalous charge regardless, and if it's not paid they shaft the occupier by rubbishing his credit rating.

ollski

Well they all send a welcome letter to say they are your new supplier to which I imagine a sensible response might be to ring the number given to tell them you dont want a supply and ask your options.