british Gas ( electricity)

steiff1

We have recently moved from BGas to Npower.

the final statement said we owe them £219. I pay by direct debit monthly.
we changed to BGas in FEB 2006. the direct debit total was £35 a month from march onwards

howeevr, since that time, their customer service peeps told me yeaterday that I have been under estimated regarding meter reading each month since then.
so that £35 I was paying, actually works out that I should have been paying £70+ per month for eledctricity.
I explained that this must be a mistake, as :

I work full time
my wife is a full time student at college 5 days a week
the 2 children are full time school

so our house stands empty all day until an evening. yet the bills remained so high.
they had no answer when I questioned why, if this is the case that they had not previously picked up on the fact that our house was only paying for half the amount of power it was using.

they had no answer when I questioned a meter fault or problems their end, and how they can charge so much. as everyone we know on BGAS pays around £40, no way near £70 as they say we should have been paying.

I explained we are only a 3 bed end terrace, NOT a 1000 room hotel. and until they can prove to me that the meter is not at fault, their billing is not infault, and that we have indeed somehow managed to use so much power inthe short space of time we are in the house, they will not receive a penny of it, I will see them in court first.

On top of this, the customer service number charge is £2 PER MINUTE!!!!!!
absolutely outrageous, is that even legal? I made them call me back.

anyhoo, they phoned back asking me if I would be willing to accept a good will gesture from them. thias in my experience is unheard of from BGAS, so are they admitting a mistake by offering me this??

What more can I do, as this is definitely an error, there is no way we have used so much electricity each month when we are never in the house!!!

Oh, and the last statement also said for the period of 27th july - 8th august the bill was £25 for electricity.

we were on holiday for 2 weeks during that time and didnt get home until the 10th august, so the house remained empty the whole time. the only appliances on were the fridge/freezer.

ALL tv's etc were turned off at the sockets.

anyone else been through similar. I have cancelled the direct debit so they cannot take the money from my bank now.

what more can I do??

Cardew

If your meter is faulty then your bills with NPower will also be high.

It is very rare for meters to become faulty. However you can have it tested and if it is faulty it will be changed and compensation given. If it turns out not to be faulty you will be required to pay for the inspection - normally about £60+.

BG are not admitting a mistake by offering you a goodwill gesture. It is standard practice to save them the bother of legal action to recover a debt.

You really need more evidence than a subjective opinion that "there is no way we could have used so much electricity".

Could your meter reading have been wrong when BG took over the account?
Could you have left on an immersion heater?

If you paid £35 and BG say you should have paid £70+ that would have meant a debit balance of well over £600 over the 18 months. Yet you 'only' owe £219. That would suggest an underpayment of approx £12 a month. less as as you started in Feb and started paying in March.

So it would appear that your bills have been a little over £40 and not the £70 that you are using as the basis of your complaint.

If you do take this matter to court and lose, and it is difficult to see what defence you have!, it will have an effect on your credit rating.

Terrylw1

Get your readings checked first before you go down the faulty meter route. Npower do that anyway as it 99.9% of cases it's a reading/billing issue, not a meter problem.

Look at the reading on your meter, does it tie in with your change of supply reading. Change of supply has always been a big complaint generator to Energywatch.

Make sure there are no meter changes at your property that haven't been updated or any areas of your bills where the readings don't look anything like they should be.

Also, be aware that change of supply readings are estimated if you don't provide one. So, if dodgy readings could hav entered the process for CoS rdg estimation so worth making sure there is nothing anywhere in your billking history such as a reading you were billed for that was from next door (even if yo resolved it on your bill, did your supplier with the local collector? If not, they can use it in their CoS estimation)

It is always suggested that in these situations with your new supplier that you are paying at least what you expect or get lumbered with a nasty bill later but for your old supplier, the dispute could be resolved first.

Try and sort it this way with a manager or complaints dept first, then Energywatch if no result.

tripled

What mythical number was this that cost you #2 per minute? Or are you calling them from Australia?

You would need to get nPower to test the meter, if it fails you would then need to send the report to British Gas to have them adjust your bills. As pointed out by Cardew, this is chargeable and your meter is unlikely to be faulty. British Gas does not have to prove the meter is not faulty, you have to prove it is.

Also consider bills went up by well over 20% in 2006 which probably accounts for a good chunk of the arrears.

If the transfer to nPower went through on the 8th and you got back on the 10th, then your final bill is almost certainly estimated unless nPower came out and read the meter. You need to take a reading today and if it is lower than the final reading on your BG account, ask nPower to raise a dispute.

steiff1

to clarify,

it was customer service agent who told me ( from working out and viewing all my statements) that I should have paid nearly £70 per month instead of the £35

and it was also the customer service agent who told me this calls was costing me £2 per minute.

it is the 0845 number at the top of your statement that I called.

Cardew

steiff1 wrote: »

to clarify,

it was customer service agent who told me ( from working out and viewing all my statements) that I should have paid nearly £70 per month instead of the £35

and it was also the customer service agent who told me this calls was costing me £2 per minute.

it is the 0845 number at the top of your statement that I called.

0845 numbers cost a maximum of 4p per minute.

Presumably the same person who told you the telephone call cost £2 a minute also told you you should be paying £70 per month instead of £35?

You were with BG for 18 months. If your shortfall was £35 a month(£70-£35) you would have owed £630 instead of £219.

Even if £35 a month was sufficient to cover your Electricity in February 2006, as ponted out above there were some big rises in 2006.

So your bills have averaged in the £40s a month which "as everyone we know on BGAS pays around £40," seems to be normal.

Go to court if you wish, but basing your defence on an unsubstantiated phone call saying your bills were £70 would be a mistake IMO.