British gas, £77 for 2 days

Chris842

Hi,

I recently moved house, and pretty much instantly switched supplier from British Gas to Eon after moving in.

About a month ago, I received a bill from British Gas. The bill said about £77 for a period of two days.

I'd been meaning to ring them and about this but put it off, and then forgot. I've now had a phone call from them today, at work, chasing me for the money.

It sounded like an Indian call centre so it was quite difficult to speak to them. I explained I hadn't paid yet because I wanted to question the bill and she said something like: One of the bills is electric, £66 for two days. The other bill is gas for £11 for about 30 days.

I said "What, £66 for two days of electric, did I hear you right?" and she said "Yes thats right!". This sounds absurd to me! She was then pressurizing me to pay it, and then just to pay the £11 part of it.

I said I had to go back to work which was the truth as I wasn't on a break, and said I would ring them later about it (she continued to try to get me to pay it at this point, I refused, saying I really had to get back to work. I don't like paying for anything over the phone and giving my bank details anyway, and I especially don't want to give them to someone abroad).


Can anyone advise? I will be ringing them back later.

She did say one of the readings was estimated. I have our readings from the day we moved in back at home. Although I don't think I have the readings on the day we switched.

Chris842

Also just noticed something on this web page: http://www.britishgas.co.uk/help-and-advice/Bills-payments/Your-bill/Understanding-your-bill/Why-is-my-bill-so-high.html

Is it an estimated bill? If you haven't given us a meter reading recently, we may have estimated your bill. We will adjust your bill if you call us with a meter reading within 14 days.

As 14 days have passed, is this going to get us into trouble?

I realise I should have dealt with this sooner, but forgot about it as it was over Christmas and I had a lot of things to worry about last month.

System

Hi. Did you contact BG when you moved in as you cannot switch without telling the Deemed Contract supplier first?

Chris842

Hi,

No I didnt, I didn't know that. I switched online using USwitch. I thought Eon would handle it all? (just like when you switch banks and the new bank handles everything).

Is this something else that could get me into trouble then?

System

Whenever to move into a property which has gas and electricity you are automatically placed on a Deemed Contract with the existing supplier - usually at the supplier's high standard variable rates. You need to contact British Gas with the meter readings (taken on the day that you moved in). The sooner that you do this then the sooner you can switch. The switch that you have initiated will have been blocked. It is not a case of being in any trouble: you just need to follow the above. British Gas will bill you for all the energy that you have consumed up until the date that the switch goes through. I hope that this makes sense?

Robin9

Have you had two bills - one for gas and one for electric - and were they using estimated readings and were they in your name or the previous owner or the occupier ?

The bills will show the meter reading and also the number of days.

Chris842

Hengus wrote: »

Whenever to move into a property which has gas and electricity you are automatically placed on a Deemed Contract with the existing supplier - usually at the supplier's high standard variable rates. You need to contact British Gas with the meter readings (taken on the day that you moved in). The sooner that you do this then the sooner you can switch. The switch that you have initiated will have been blocked. It is not a case of being in any trouble: you just need to follow the above. British Gas will bill you for all the energy that you have consumed up until the date that the switch goes through. I hope that this makes sense?

Thanks for this. But the switch appears to have gone through already as I've been paying Eon a monthly direct debit. And I've already received 6 bottles of wine (which was an incentive for switching through USwitch).

I could be paying both companies then? I'll ring them this evening and try to clear it up anyway, will post how it goes.

SwanJon

Chris - although you don't need to inform the old supplier when you move in , it can save a lot of bother later on. It is unlikely that you are being billed by both suppliers based on what you have said, but you can check that the serial numbers on the bills match each other and the meters in your house.

Each bill will be made up of two parts - a daily standing charge and a charge for the energy used.
The energy used is calculated from the old (move in) reading and the new (change supplier) reading. If either of these are estimated then there is a chance the bill will be incorrect.

You can give BG the readings from the day you moved home if they don't match the ones they have estimated. If they have not estimated and used reads from the previous tenant then they are less likely to change them as they'll have two customers giving different information. Who to believe?

BG & Eon will (should) use the same readings for the days you switched. Check that the opening reading on Eon's first bill matches the closing reading on BG's bill. If this needs changed you will need to get both suppliers to change it - telling once should be enough but give them both the information. There is a threshold below which they will not make the changes though.

Eon did handle the switch (just like the banks), and they should have asked you for a reading on the days your supplies switched. However the energy industry is slower than the banks - taking 2-3 weeks normally instead of 7 days. During this time you remain supplied by the current supplier and will need to pay them for any energy used.

If you don't want to talk to anyone, you can write, email or use webchat.

macman

Recheck your bill. You cannot possibly switch in 2 days, or 'nearly instantly'. 3 week minimum is typical. If you took opening reads on day of entry and day of switch, you can easily verify the billing.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Chris842 wrote: »

Hi,

I recently moved house, and pretty much instantly switched supplier from British Gas to Eon after moving in.

Chris842 wrote: »

Hi,

No I didnt, I didn't know that. I switched online using USwitch. I thought Eon would handle it all? (just like when you switch banks and the new bank handles everything).

Is this something else that could get me into trouble then?

Chris842 wrote: »

Thanks for this. But the switch appears to have gone through already as I've been paying Eon a monthly direct debit. And I've already received 6 bottles of wine (which was an incentive for switching through USwitch).

I could be paying both companies then? I'll ring them this evening and try to clear it up anyway, will post how it goes.

Hi Chris

Already some great advice on here. Thanks all. Thought I'd pop on with a bit of information about what happens from our end. As you've switched to us, it's our responsibility as the gaining supplier to let the old supplier have the meter readings we use to start your account. They'll use the same readings to close their account and issue a final bill. This is to stop the same energy from being charged twice.

Are the bills you've received final ones? It takes about two and half weeks for a change of supplier to go through. During this time, the old supplier will continue to provide the energy. It may be they've sent interim bills as they've not received our opening readings yet.

The way it works is that electronic messages pass between the two suppliers and certain third parties like the regional distributors, meter operators, meter reading agents, national databases etc. These messages let all those involved with your energy supply know about the changed circumstances. One of the messages is about the meter readings. These go via a third party who check they're in line with past readings held for the property. Sometimes, there's a delay in receiving this information. Although we may well be supplying, it can take longer for everything to be up and running.

As SwanJon says, once you receive the final bill from the old supplier, make sure their closing readings match our opening ones. If there's a discrepancy or if you've alternative readings, there's an industry wide process used by all suppliers known as an Agreed Reading Dispute (ARD) to put this right. Provided, that is, the difference is above the set thresholds mentioned by SwanJon. These are 250 units (electricity) and 125/45 units (gas) depending on if it's a 5 dial metric/4 dial imperial gas meter. If below these thresholds, an ARD won't be possible and we'll have to stick with the readings used. Either supplier can start an ARD.

If you've registered with our website, there'll be information on there to help. In particular, the 'Track My Switch' tool will let you know where we're at with the switch. The 'Direct Debit Manager' will also help you keep track of your payments to make sure they're covering the usage.

Hope this helps Chris. Let me know if you need any more information as happy to help.

Malc