I owe British Gas but First Utility owe me!

Tinkywinks108

To cut a very very long story short...this refers to my gas supply over the course of 3 months.

I switched to First Utility for gas/electricity.

British Gas (suppliers of previous tenant) continue to send me bills.

First Utility and British Gas are then in dispute over who is actually supplying my gas.

First Utility finally concede they were not supplying my gas after all. They promise to refund me all gas charges.

After lots of chasing, promises etc. First Utility are yet to refund me. Meanwhile British Gas want their money.

I understand I owe British Gas as they supplied me. But I do not want to pay for my gas twice and cannot pay them until First Utility have refunded me.

Am I right to hold off British Gas until I get my refund from First Utility? I know BG are not at fault, but then neither am I.

If FU don't respond soon, would contacting the Ombudsman or getting a solicitor friend to write a letter help at all?

naedanger

Tinkywinks108 wrote: »

Am I right to hold off British Gas until I get my refund from First Utility? I know BG are not at fault, but then neither am I.

Unfortunately you are not really right. While you may have a problem (through no fault of your own) with FU, you cannot legally make it BG's problem. (You can try stalling, or asking BG to be patient, but legally they are within their rights saying that your problem with FU is not their problem.)

If FU don't respond soon, would contacting the Ombudsman or getting a solicitor friend to write a letter help at all?

The earliest the Ombudsman will consider a complaint sent to them is 8 weeks from the date of your first complaint to FU regarding this matter (or earlier if FU say the matter is deadlocked). As soon as the 8 weeks is up go to the Ombudsman. I also suggest you put your complaint to FU in writing (referring to earlier phone calls if applicable) if you have not done so already. Having a written record makes it easier to show the Ombudsman what has happened.

If you have a solicitor friend it is certainly worth getting their help. One point to note, though, is that if you start any legal action then you can no longer use the Ombudsman service - they will not even look at the complaint from that point onwards, regardless of how you get on with the legal action. (However the opposite is not the case. You can wait to hear the outcome of any Ombudsman investigation, and if you are unhappy with the final outcome you can then still start legal action.)

Also tell FU you will hold them liable for any extra costs you incur as a result of their delay e.g. if you need to borrow money to pay BG or if BG charge any late payment penalties. (You will likely need to provide evidence of any costs.) Also highlight that if they do nor deal with this matter efficiently you will further be seeking redress for any inconvenience caused to you.

GingerBob_3

Don't forget also that BG are one of the country's worst credit reference agency warriors. So if you're late with just a single small payment by just a short amount of time they'll be blacklisting you at the CRAs - be careful on this one.

[Deleted User]

You sound as if you committed the cardinal sin by moving in, totally ignoring the supplier to the property and going your own way by choosing the supplier of your fancy. New customers are in a deemed contract with the present supplier. The routine is to register first with the supplier then initiate a switch at your convenience.Now you have joined a lot of people trying to squeeze money out of First Utility..good luck. Personally I would jump on the MSE BG 2016 Collective..Its better than anything Futility can come up with and BG wont mess you about with holding money owed

Joyful

If I was you I would ask BG for a payment plan. You can then pay it off once you get the money back. Don't ignore BG or your credit rating could be affected.

Tinkywinks108

naedanger wrote: »

Unfortunately you are not really right. While you may have a problem (through no fault of your own) with FU, you cannot legally make it BG's problem. (You can try stalling, or asking BG to be patient, but legally they are within their rights saying that your problem with FU is not their problem.)


The earliest the Ombudsman will consider a complaint sent to them is 8 weeks from the date of your first complaint to FU regarding this matter (or earlier if FU say the matter is deadlocked). As soon as the 8 weeks is up go to the Ombudsman. I also suggest you put your complaint to FU in writing (referring to earlier phone calls if applicable) if you have not done so already. Having a written record makes it easier to show the Ombudsman what has happened.

If you have a solicitor friend it is certainly worth getting their help. One point to note, though, is that if you start any legal action then you can no longer use the Ombudsman service - they will not even look at the complaint from that point onwards, regardless of how you get on with the legal action. (However the opposite is not the case. You can wait to hear the outcome of any Ombudsman investigation, and if you are unhappy with the final outcome you can then still start legal action.)

Also tell FU you will hold them liable for any extra costs you incur as a result of their delay e.g. if you need to borrow money to pay BG or if BG charge any late payment penalties. (You will likely need to provide evidence of any costs.) Also highlight that if they do nor deal with this matter efficiently you will further be seeking redress for any inconvenience caused to you.

Thank you. I have now written to BG to explain the problem to them once more (although on some level they are aware - as they were in dispute with FU) to see if they'll give me extra time to pay.

Thanks for the useful info. As BG are charging me more for my gas usage then I would have paid with FU, I have also asked FU to pay the difference - they did agree to that on the phone.

Tinkywinks108

GingerBob wrote: »

Don't forget also that BG are one of the country's worst credit reference agency warriors. So if you're late with just a single small payment by just a short amount of time they'll be blacklisting you at the CRAs - be careful on this one.

I hadn't realised, thanks for this. Do they warn you before they backlist you?

Tinkywinks108

sacsquacco wrote: »

You sound as if you committed the cardinal sin by moving in, totally ignoring the supplier to the property and going your own way by choosing the supplier of your fancy. New customers are in a deemed contract with the present supplier. The routine is to register first with the supplier then initiate a switch at your convenience.Now you have joined a lot of people trying to squeeze money out of First Utility..good luck. Personally I would jump on the MSE BG 2016 Collective..Its better than anything Futility can come up with and BG wont mess you about with holding money owed

I did nothing of the kind! I have moved address and switched supplier many times and am aware of the procedure. I was aware that BG were the suppliers, I switched to FU within three weeks of moving into the property (meaning I was only a BG customer for just under 3 weeks) and FU sent me an email to confirm the switch had gone through.

[Deleted User]

Tinkywinks108 wrote: »

I did nothing of the kind! I have moved address and switched supplier many times and am aware of the procedure. I was aware that BG were the suppliers, I switched to FU within three weeks of moving into the property (meaning I was only a BG customer for just under 3 weeks) and FU sent me an email to confirm the switch had gone through.

I think your comment " British Gas ( supplier of previous tenant) continue to send me bills " gave the impression you had nt registered with them. They were actually your supplier as well as the previous tenant.
Did you take any notice of my top tip ? stay with BG on the MSE BG Collective .very low rates plus £30 cashback and a very reliable supplier unlike FU. In my area the gas MSE deal is 2.65 p/kwh , much better than FU, and electric only 8.25 p/kwh

Tinkywinks108

sacsquacco wrote: »

I think your comment " British Gas ( supplier of previous tenant) continue to send me bills " gave the impression you had nt registered with them. They were actually your supplier as well as the previous tenant.
Did you take any notice of my top tip ? stay with BG on the MSE BG Collective .very low rates plus £30 cashback and a very reliable supplier unlike FU. In my area the gas MSE deal is 2.65 p/kwh , much better than FU, and electric only 8.25 p/kwh

Yes, BG were my supplier for a period of (just under) 3 weeks and I had registered with them. It was only after I switched (or thought I'd switched) that BG 'continued' to send me bills.

Thanks for the tip but I am a member of MSE's Cheap Energy Club and took advantage of the utility sale they had recently, so have just recently switched to EON.

dogshome

There are many posts here regarding FU's tardy record when re-paying due moneys back to customers.

The money you paid was to settle bills from FU, that should never have been issued to you in the first place.
If you were paying FU by Direct Debit you can ask your bank to recall every payment made under the Direct Debit Guarantee Scheme, which will probably get the money back in your bank much faster than waiting for repayment from FU