British Gas bill

bazza_uk

Hi all, I need some help! I recently moved out of a property, after not recieving a closing bill from BG, 9 months later a letter came through from a debt recovert agency saying owe BG £1800. The worse part is, it was a building converted into flats so they have mixed up the meter somehow and i owe nowhere near this. I have taken this up with BG and they have said i need to provide evidence that this is not mine and the bill still stands unless i do so. I can't even get into this property as it has been empty since i moved out.

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.


Did you send BG your closing meter readings when you left? If so how?


How do you know they have mixed up the meters? If you knew the meters were incorrect(mixed up), why did you not deal with the problem before, or immediately after you left?


Did you give a forwarding address?


If the property has been empty since you moved out - then it is reasonable for BG to charge you for the gas/electricity consumed, although you shouldn't have to pay the daily standing charge element from the date you moved out.


Your post gives the impression that you thought you had got away without paying your bill, and it has backfired.

macman

Did you register for the supply with BG when you moved in? If so, did you receive any bills during your tenancy? If you did, why was the meter issue not picked up earlier, rather than after you left? The meter transposition cannot really have happened between bills, it must have been like that for some time beforehand?
Your tenancy agreement will serve to prove the dates of your occupation, should you have been billed for a different period.
How do you know how much you actually owe, if you dispute the £1800? Do you have opening and closing reads?

fierystormcloud

A perfect argument for pre-pay! I know quite a number of people who have had monstrous bills; not just from BG, but from First Utility, EON, Scottish Power, and SSE too. I even know someone who signed with First Utility 18 months ago, and they still haven't been given a bill yet! THAT'S going to be a monster when it comes in!

Can't give any more advice than you have already had really. Maybe the Energy Ombudsman?

How stupid are they though? I mean as if anyone could have a bill this big! Nobody would let an energy bill build up to nearly 2 grand FGS. Moreover, why would the energy company not have chased it when it got to several hundred?!

Daft.

I hope you get it sorted.

Cardew

fierystormcloud wrote: »

How stupid are they though? I mean as if anyone could have a bill this big! Nobody would let an energy bill build up to nearly 2 grand FGS. Moreover, why would the energy company not have chased it when it got to several hundred?!

Daft.


.

Although we don't have the facts of the OP's case, it can happen very easily without it being the fault of the energy company.


Tenants often move in to flats without informing the energy company they are in residence, and move out again without informing the energy company.


You will note that 9 months after vacating the flat the OP has been contacted by a Debt Collection Agency(DCA) and not BG, which implies BG doesn't have his new address.


The OP's post acknowledges that he owes BG money, but is now disputing the amount.

bazza_uk

Hi, Thanks for the replies


When I informed BG of change of address, they told me that they would send me a closing bill which should of been for a period of about 6 weeks as all my bills were paid DD an were fully up to date.


It was a stressful move at the time and in my haste, forgot to take a final meter reading which I fully hold my hands up tp.


I know they've mixed up the meters because they done it before and it's impossible to produce that amount of gas in that time frame.


The problem I've got is the flat was bought by a housing agency which I have no contact details for apart from an address I have wrote to asking if I can access the property but have had no reply.


I have contacted the ombudsman and they have said I have to wait another 4 weeks until they can deal with the complaint.


I will not be bullied by BG into paying this

macman

The fact that you were paying on monthly DD does not mean that your bills were 'up to date'. Your DD may have been set too low, and therefore your final bill will include any 'catch-up' amount. This is even more likely if you did not submit regular reads during your tenancy. How long did your tenancy last and what was the amount of your monthly DD?
£2K is a huge arrears but it would be possible if you were in occupation for a few years on estimated billing, which is why you need to give more info. Unfortunately if you did not give a final reading then the billing amount has to be estimated. Have you asked BG why they failed to send the final bill to your new address?
The Ombudsman will not be interested until you have been through the supplier's own complaints procedure.

naedanger

bazza_uk wrote: »

Hi, Thanks for the replies


When I informed BG of change of address, they told me that they would send me a closing bill which should of been for a period of about 6 weeks as all my bills were paid DD an were fully up to date.


It was a stressful move at the time and in my haste, forgot to take a final meter reading which I fully hold my hands up tp.


I know they've mixed up the meters because they done it before and it's impossible to produce that amount of gas in that time frame.


The problem I've got is the flat was bought by a housing agency which I have no contact details for apart from an address I have wrote to asking if I can access the property but have had no reply.


I have contacted the ombudsman and they have said I have to wait another 4 weeks until they can deal with the complaint.


I will not be bullied by BG into paying this

My suggestion is you draft an email of complaint that sets out the full situation clearly. Try and put a clear summary at the start with supporting information and detail in an appendix. (It should include details of your typical usage or charges, and the history of when your meter has previously been mixed up with another, and when you believe there last was an accurate reading.) State, with your justification, what you consider a reasonable estimate for your final bill.

Ensure that your email starts by cross referencing your original complaint e.g. "I am writing this email of complaint further to my telephone complaint of xx in order to set out a permanent record of my complaint." [This is to ensure the time period for your complaint runs from the date of your earlier telephone call.]

Then either reflect on your draft overnight or post here for comments. Once you are happy it sets out the situation clearly and comprehensively send it to the supplier.

After 8 weeks from your original telephone complaint you can escalate the matter to the Ombudsman.

The Ombudsman will decide based on the balance of probability. So your complaint and account of the matter needs to be more believable than your supplier's version. Hence the need for your complaint to be well set out.

Also if you set out your complaint clearly in one email then you can refer back to that if your complaint is ignored e.g. if you are chased for payment simply respond that the matter is in dispute and refer to your email and insist they cease chasing until they have responded fully to that dispute. Similarly if the matter needs to be escalated to the Ombudsman you can refer to your email to the supplier rather than repeating all the detail.

Cardew

Post above is excellent advice.

However it unclear from your two posts if you have had any correspondence with BG in the 9 months since you moved out and why the bill has been passed to a DCA.

You seem to mainly base your case on the mixed up meters, however this statement you made hardly supports your contention.

I know they've mixed up the meters because they done it before

You really must give some facts about the meters and support your case. e.g.
When/what was the last actual meter reading(s) by a meter reader on a bill before you moved. If bills were based on under-estimated meter readings you could have been building up a debit balance that only came to light when the meters were finally read.

You don't even say if you have received a final bill - just a letter from the DCA.