Money Moral Dilemma: Should I tell my gas and electricity supplier I'm underpaying?

Raxiel

BBH123 wrote: »

I havent had my metre read for 9 yrs. Its like we are invisible to them, we have had a catalog of problems and now I've given up. We have had no paper bills from the day dot and use estimated readings on line.

It was a new supply to a property which was delayed for 4 days whilst they finished another job,

The meter box is outside and no-one knew who had the key to access it, apparently they are supplied by the contractor who the electric company asked to do the work.

The key seemed to be a different fit to the standard one so couldnt be bought or supplied. Various engineers were asked to call us / visit and no-one did. We offered to ' gemmy' the door open but were told no as that would be criminal damage.

We rang to register the lady who lives there disabled so not only was the key a problem but she couldnt get to the box to read the meter, but as we couldn't access it this wasnt the main problem.

Various ' we missed you' metre reader cards were put through the front gate and everytime they were given it gave a mobile phone number to either a voicemail to which noone responded or a dead line. If they were aware she was disabledwhy didnt they come in or knock.

Then one year some sort of box up a pole caught fire and we had to call the emergency electricians who were diverted from another local job to sort it. Whatever happened there blew our electric and we lost an old tv and kettle, lights etc. The guys doing the work said it would take a full day to get sorted and they'd be in touch, they weren't. We just replaced a few items we lost, they werent high value and an electrician from my dads work got us sorted.

When you ring the call centre they can't help and need to get someone to call back, speak to engineers etc or another department and no-one does.

I have just taken the view that I pay above the estimated bills and increased it another 15% as its gone up in the news, in the hope one day they will HELP US.

I'm not holding my breath,

I think you need to make a written complaint, and then refer it to the ombudsman when they inevitably fail to resolve it in 8 weeks.

jgallcash

Does this back billing only extend to gas and electricity or water companies too?

In terms of proof would the time and date of a call be sufficient? I'd be paranoid they couldn't verify the call via their records

hellokitty08

I had a similar issue, after 6 years they finally came chasing, I told them to jog on. i have numerous letters over the years they has sent me opening and closing the account, so I had proof that I had tried to contact them, as well as a records of the emails and phone calls I had made to them about the issue. I used the back pay details on them and paid for 1 years worth, but spread the cost over the next year. I only used about £20 a month of gas anyway, so it wasn't to bad, just the principle for me of not paying it all at once after their error.

zebedy

Call the ombudsman and get their advice. I had a similar problem and the ombudsman negotiated such that I didn't end up having to pay the full amount

Cardew

Krzysj wrote: »

The answer to this is no.

Welcome to the forum.

There is no 'answer' to the question posed; it is a matter of opinion for every individual - that is why it is called a 'dilemma'.

The position on liability to pay is not in doubt; and laid down in the back-billing code; Note, code not regulation.

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/consumers/household-gas-and-electricity-guide/who-contact-if-its-difficult-paying-energy-bills/energy-back-billing-your-rights

Kogvos

I moved into a new build house a number of years ago & same situation applied - charged for electricity but not gas. Must admit it worried me lest I should suddenly get a huge bill for unpaid gas. So, I contacted all the major suppliers to that estate and queried it. None could identify who was supplying. A little digging around suggested that due to an admin error my house wasn't registered with whoever supplied gas there when it was initially connected up. Presumably an error by the builders etc. Anyway after trying my best I never found who the supplier was. I lived on free gas for a number of years & took the view that 'ethically' I'd tried to correct the error to no avail so this wasn't something I should burden my conscience with. Result ;-)

fudge7000

I'd keep quiet, as long as you can prove you contacted them about this. However I'd open an account and pay the amount in each month, so you don't get a shock when they do bill you. Also argue if they try to make you pay more than a year's worth

crmism

From what you say, you are clearly not on pre-payment, in which case the gas meter you have is clocking up your consumption all the time.

Just because you're not being billed doesn't mean you won't have to pay for all the gas you've used since switching supplier. You should keep pressing away until you get an intelligent response, otherwise you'll land yourself with a bill that's getting bigger day by day.

If, when it arrives, the gas bill is for a sum greater than you can afford, get the supplier to agree to payment by instalments. By the sound of things, it wasn't your fault that this problem has arisen. If your supplier refuses to accommodate you in that way, take your case to Ofgem.;)

peeza

You should tell them if you are concerned that you do not want a large final bill but by letter or email when you phone even recorded ones are less prone to be acted on.It seems a lot of people use the law of 12 month back billing to avoid paying what they owe ,it was to protect the people who unknowingly where not being billed for large unaffordable bills.I am sure some who are waiting for the 12 months are bright enough to work out how much they owe or have the sense to change supplier so that they are not (stealing) getting services free.Morals ?

db2016

this is one of reasons i make a name / date / time log, and also have an app on mobile phone to record calls.

im aware that some may say "yes but your not allowed to do that", i have told companies i have logs of calls and they have bent over when they know i could take it firther and have recordings.

and worse i've found out is that the recordings cant be used in some cases as evidence, but i can listen to the calls and transcribe them into a document (aka taking speaking into text) and then its fine! go figure!