British Gas changed the final bill 3 months after closing the account

rebecc279

I moved out my property at the end of July. My Landlady emailed us to say she would transfer the bills back to herself and give them final meter readings. This was not done so I had to close the account myself based on estimates. I was told I owed them £57 and this was sorted. Now I have got a letter from debt collectors saying I owe British Gas about £300! I phone British Gas to find out what on earth is going on and they tell me my landlady has given them a meter reading and they've adjusted my final bill.:mad:

As far as I'm aware I've sorted the final bill and closed the account so British Gas should no longer be my responsibility. All British Gas have said I can do is talk to my landlady about this but I doubt she's going to be co-operative because I've had nothing but problems with her and she's not the one with debt collectors on her case.

naedanger

rebecc279 wrote: »

I moved out my property at the end of July. My Landlady emailed us to say she would transfer the bills back to herself and give them final meter readings. This was not done so I had to close the account myself based on estimates. I was told I owed them £57 and this was sorted. Now I have got a letter from debt collectors saying I owe British Gas about £300! I phone British Gas to find out what on earth is going on and they tell me my landlady has given them a meter reading and they've adjusted my final bill.:mad:

As far as I'm aware I've sorted the final bill and closed the account so British Gas should no longer be my responsibility. All British Gas have said I can do is talk to my landlady about this but I doubt she's going to be co-operative because I've had nothing but problems with her and she's not the one with debt collectors on her case.

Unfortunately British Gas are correct. It is possible you ex landlady tricked you, but that is your problem not BG's.

For the future, it is the account holder's responsibility to submit an accurate final readings. If you rely on someone else to do this and they make a mistake (or don't submit a reading) then that is the account holder's problem and not BG's.

Unless you can prove, on the balance of probability, that the reading BG are using has been inflated then they can pursue you for the debt.

You could alternatively try and purse the excess cost from your landlady. My guess is this may be slightly easier than arguing with BG because you may have other evidence of the landlady's unreasonable behaviour.

Cardew

As said above, BG can only go on the information they have been given, and will not get involved in third party disputes.


If you have some reasonable grounds for proving the landlady has defrauded you by submitting incorrect meter readings you can take her to the Small Claims Court, but I suspect your chances of obtaining such proof are low.