British Gas - Letter 'To Occupier'

LauraMay

Hi there, I wonder if anyone can shed some light on this?

I recently moved into a property with my partner which we bought, and moved in on 19th Dec 2014. On 20th Dec 14 we arranged our gas and electric with NPower and got a really good tariff. They explained that we would be billed by the current supplier between the date we moved in and the date of the switch.

We have just recieved a bill from British Gas requesting £75 for 3 weeks of gas & electric, dated up until 9th Jan 2015. Now, I thought this to be a bit cheeky because we didn't want to pay the British Gas tariff which is why we took up with NPower straight away - it's not our responsibility to switch the power over so we shouldn't have to pay more, especially when it took so long (we pay only £47 per month & they were asking for £75 for 3 weeks). I called them. Up to discuss, hoping that I could perhaps haggle them down so that we paid the bill at the same rate we are receiving from NPower which would amount to about £37 but upon calling British Gas I had this discussion instead:
Upon explaining the above, the lady asked who the letter was addressed to. It is addressed to The Occupier. She then asked what my name was and shortly afterwards read out the names of the previous owners which I confirmed did live here before Dec 19th 2014. She asked if we had set up an account with British Gas and I said we hadn't because the price was better with NPower so our names were never on a British Gas contract.
She then said that because it isn't addressed to us, we shouldn't pay it and that she would put a note on the account to explain that she had given us this advice!

Now, I'm not one to turn down an offer like that but I am wondering what the catch is!! Has anyone else has an experience like this? The lady said they have calls like this every day, and every day they forward the people onto the authorities who tel them exactly the same as what she had just told me. Should I trust this information?!

System

Hi. Whether you like it or not you were on a Deemed Contract with the existing supplier from the day of final completion. This is enshrined in law to ensure that new owners/tenants have a working energy supply and do not have to wait for a new supply to be established. You should have contacted the supplier when you moved in but you decided just to switch. The original supplier has a contractual right to bill you for the energy that you have consumed at its standard variable rate. I am afraid that there is no negotiation to be had. You appear to have been given incorrect advice. British Gas has 5/6 years to pursue this debt. Personally, I would just settle to avoid future credit issues.

lvf

Wow. If you were told that by one of their staff, then just, wow.

When you move into the property, you 'inherit' the supplier for the property, and from the day you take responsibilty for the property, you enter into a deemed contract with the inherited supplier. If this wasn't the case you wouldn't be able to flick on the lights when you move in!

Regardless of which supplier you choose, you will still be under the deemed contract with the current supplier until the switchover is complete, in your case up to the 9th Jan. Switching takes '14 + 3' at the moment, 14 calendar days as cooling off and a further 3 working days for registration.

Simple matter is this, check the opening meter reads on the account and the closing or switchover reads, and if you have taken these compare to your own reads to ensure the bill is correct. If the reads match up, then you will have to pay the bill, if not get it revised first.

LauraMay

'Wow' is definitely the word, isn't it?
I completely agree that we do need to pay the difference and knew we would have to, so that's not really the issue. However we didn't know who the previous supplier was so wouldn't have known who to contact to inform. We also didn't ask it to take so long, or were we advised that it would take so long.
A few days at that rate wouldn't have been an issue but I did want to dispute a bill that is almost double what we currently pay, and which was out of our control. To hear that we weren't obliged to pay ANYTHING from the customer advisor though was needless to say, a little peculiar. I even kept reiterating to her thinking she may have got the wrong end of the stick and I think I actually annoyed her with my persistence because she started getting irritable and just kept saying the same thing until I accepted it!

PETIE

Ring up and speak to someone else, if they say the same thing, then ask for it in writing

Cardew

British Gas record all conversations of their call centre staff with customers; so it would be easy to find out if that is exactly what the OP has stated.

Not that it matters too much as she was wrong and as stated above you were on a deemed contract with BG from the day you owned the house.

I am also surprised that NPower didn't tell you the same. They are fully aware that they have to agree meter readings with BG on a takeover date.

However we didn't know who the previous supplier was so wouldn't have known who to contact to inform. We also didn't ask it to take so long, or were we advised that it would take so long.

Npower could have told you the previous supplier(BG)

You are also very lucky that the switching period has just been reduced to about 3 weeks; a few months ago it took about 8 weeks.

Again as stated above, I would pay the bill as it is valid.

LauraMay

I must admit I'm not best pleased about the accusatory & self indulgent nature of a couple of these replies, but thanks all the same for them.

System

LauraMay wrote: »

I must admit I'm not best pleased about the accusatory & self indulgent nature of a couple of these replies, but thanks all the same for them.

LM - having moved home 23 times, I know from experience how stressful this can be. You think that you have all expenses covered and then another bill drops on the mat behind the front door. You have been badly advised by BG but I suspect that you knew this when you posted - or you wouldn't have done so. A £75 bill for 3 weeks usage is by no means excessive given that it is Winter, and you really cannot compare a monthly DD of £47 with a £75 winter bill. The reason that you received a letter addressed to the occupier is because your new supplier will have told BG about the switch. They would not have passed on your name.

The problem that you now have is that BG will now look to the old occupier to cover the bill. He/she will tell BG that the property was sold to you on the 19th December and BG will then send you a further demand for payment. In other words, the problem may have gone away for a few weeks but it will return. If you are happy with the meter reading for the 19th December, and the closing read with BG agrees with the opening read with your new supplier then my advice is as before: pay the bill and enjoy your new home.

brewerdave

Did you actually read the meters on 19th Dec. when you moved in ...and if so, do they agree with the opening readings used by BG on this final bill ?
Was the date of completion the 19th Dec. ? If you completed earlier but didn't move in til 19th you will be responsible for all bills from date of completion.

Cardew

If you feel the matter of the obviously incorrect advice from BG is worth pursuing, then contact BG with the date, and if possible an approximate time, and ask them to listen to the recording of the conversation.


That doesn't mean that any incorrect advice invalidates the bill, but they will possibly reduce, or even write off, the £75 as a 'goodwill' measure.


However the correct advice, patronising or not, is to get it sorted and confirmed in writing ASAP or it will simply be passed to a Debt Collection Agency(DCA) which could affect your credit rating.

macman

A quick Google search would have told you exactly how to identify the existing supplier...
I don't understand how your switch has gone through (if indeed it has, which you haven't told us), because since you were not already registered with BG, you had no one to switch from. Normally this results in the outgoing supplier rejecting the switch request.
Is the bill you now have from BG actually a closing bill? Have you supplied opening reads to NPower?
Quite how you think a bill addressed to 'The Occupier' might not be valid is beyond me. It was addressed to the occupier because you failed to register or attempt to identify the supplier, which is your responsibility alone.
The initial advice given to you by BG is frankly bizzare, because you were in a deemed contract with them from 19/12. No signature is ever required.