Gas supply

Seevin

Hi

For some time now I have been without a gas supply. Originally it started when the whoever was the infrastructure provider decided to "renew" the gas mains. I was away at the time and because they had no access to my house, they just shut off the gas.

I wasn't too bothered at the time as money was tight and being without gas wasn't a major inconvenience. I occasionally called British gas who referred me to Transco. When I called Transco they referred me to British Gas. As I never seemed to have time and money at the same time I let it slide. As I was using no gas and was not getting charged this was not a problem.

Skip forward some time and I find that British Gas are now imposing a standing charge. The first I knew about this was when I started getting a bill.

So my question is this: Can I be subject to a standing charge if I have no gas supplied to my house? It's not that I choose to use no gas but rather I am unable to use gas.

CashStrapped

Normally with works that result in major disruption to supply, you are sent letters informing you of the time and dates in advance. I would have thought these to be a compulsory requirement of such disruptive works being carried out.

You can claim compensation but it depends on certain criteria:

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/energy/energy-supply/problems-with-your-energy-supply/get-compensation-if-you-have-a-power-cut/

How long was the outage for and what is your standing charge?

dogshome

An interesting one

The 'Standing Charge' is levied as fee to pay for the maintenance of the Gas grid, part of which supplies your home. ( Around 25p a day?)
But in your case the supply has not been maintained - Albiet only left switched off at street level

You can WRITE a letter to BG headed Complaint, setting out the saga and refuting the bill - Just say your quiries have been bounced back and forth between BG and Transco, without giving any dates.

Doing this should result in the bill being cancelled, but be aware that BG willprobably be quick off the mark in restoring the supply

[Deleted User]

TransCo has been dead since 2005. Has your supply been off since then! All BG staff would be aware that its now National Grids gas supply.

C_Mababejive

I wonder roughly where you live (closest town/city) and how long ago it was that your supply was chopped? I guess you still have a meter on site? Is it a credit or prepayment meter? Do you actually want to use gas i.e do you have central heating etc?

Seevin

Ok, in no particular order...

I don't recall a letter saying the supply was going to be cut off but it was a very long time ago. Clicking the link gives a 404.

I'm in South Glos so the mains people are West and Wales Utilities. After much pestering they are coming to sort out the mains in March.

To the best of my recollection, my supply has been off since 2006. I was certainly referred to Transco after this. I seem to remember the people I spoke to identified themselves as Transco at the time.

I have complained to BG but their stance is that the charges are rent on the meter and thus they refuse to cancel the charges.

My initial position is that my contract is with BG and if they aren't fulfilling it, they don't get paid. The fact that it is the network company that is slacking is neither here nor there as they are sub contractors to BG as far as our deal is concerned.

What I was hoping to find out is whether there is any legislation saying having a meter counts as having a supply or not. If I have to, I can cough up the £150 or so but I'd rather spend it on beer. (not in one go)

CashStrapped

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/energy/energy-supply/problems-with-your-energy-supply/get-compensation-if-you-have-a-power-cut/

link fixed

scroll down for gas

Seevin

Today BG have mailed me to say they are removing the charges on my account. While it doesn't answer my original question it does mean that I can now go ahead and switch to a zero rated standing charge supplier.

CashStrapped

Remove charges? As in leaving penalty? Or refunding/removing the standing charges?

If the former, and they are waiving the leaving/switching penalty, then yes, switch away!

Ebico is one of the few non-standing charge suppliers that I know of.

Your situation [not having mains gas] since 2006 is very bizarre however. What are your neighbours doing? Is it a private estate? Why has no one been complaining since 2006? That is 10 years!? If I have misunderstood something, please explain. I would most certainly look into what compensation you can claim. Especially if you have been paying a standing charge since that time!

What requires gas in your property if you have got by without it for this long?

Robin9

Seevin wrote: »

Today BG have mailed me to say they are removing the charges on my account. While it doesn't answer my original question it does mean that I can now go ahead and switch to a zero rated standing charge supplier.

If you don't actually have a gas supply to your property why do you want to switch suppliers ?