Cadent invoiced us for 6 Years of gas

Kb0301

We couldn’t enter into a supply contract as someone along the line failed to register the pipework / a meter . Who is responsible for this ? Who maintains the database ?Our responsibility is to source a supply but no one seemed to understand the MPRN process and they still don’t. When we contacted Transco in 2000 they informed us nothing was on their database and an independent transporter must have installed pipework which is common on new developments ??? To fair gas isn’t our main energy source . Our gas fire was condemned in 2006 and paperwork completed by a gas safe engineer . National grid received a copy of this but no one contacted us regarding a gas supply ?

Cardew

Whilst things obviously went wrong in 1999, or probably 1996, the position is that you have been presented with a bill of £3,200 and despite your protestations the Energy Ombudsman has declared the bill is valid.

What is your aim now?

1. You agree that the gas for the last 6 years (of the 18 years)should not be free, but seemingly are objecting to the bill of £3,200. Would you accept a lower figure? if so how much?

I suggest if you offer/solicit a lower sum you are admitting liability.

2. If you default on the £3,200 bill you are likely to be taken to court. If you defend the action and lose, the bill with costs is likely to be considerably higher.

3. You, or your lawyer, can put forward the points you have made above in contesting the case. However the decision of the Energy Ombudsman will doubtless be taken into account.

4. You can put in a pre-emptive strike and attempt to get the bill squashed in the small claims court. That way you are safe from picking up the defendants costs; unless the judge considers your case frivolous.

brewerdave

I would suspect that £3200 for 6 years(£533 ave. pa) assumes that you are using gas for heating /hot water. Do you have a gas fired central heating boiler? Otherwise,what are you actually using the gas for ??
If only cooking ,then you should be able to negotiate a massive reduction in the amount.

Kb0301

Gas for heating hot water only , cooking is electric and we have a wood burner . Our personal circumstances don’t really come into it however we are not high energy users . To be honest our gas bill since British Gas finally accepted us as a customer in May 2017 is so far £50 up to November 1st. All this is irrelevant . My point is we are very disappointed in the Ombudsman investigation . We feel we are not the only guilty party in this investigation . The gas industry system has failed us . In 1996 someone was responsible for registering and tagging the pipework and registering a meter supplying to our property . The whole process of trying relentlessly to set up a supply contract was very frustrating to the point no one seemed to want our money .

The truth is we will probably accept their findings on the basis we are exhausted with the whole process . Yes we would like to stand up in front of a judge and defend ourselves over the gas industry protocols and processes . I’m sure there is a flaw somewhere in the system and some there must be some legal terminology in the gas act that favours us somewhere . We are not the only ones deemed responsible in this act. However we haven’t the time and energy to do so . It has caused a lot of unhappiness over the years. We believe defending ourselves in court would only add further anxiety to us and our family .

jackandcoke

I suspect even if they only asked you to pay for 1 year (meaning you had 17 years of free gas) you would still kick up a stink. Just pay and move on. Life's too short and you've had 12 years free gas!

Kb0301

It’s got nothing to do with how much we should we pay ! We’ve saved the money in a special account so that’s not the issue . It’s about what’s right and wrong and why this happened in the first place !! We never signed up to a property with the situation it presented . Some people may find receiving free gas fantastic . Personally I’m shocked that this can ever happen ? We tried our best to give people our money but no one wanted it . We didn’t feel comfortable with this process it seems you obviously see things differently !

JJ_Egan

Whats right and whats wrong .
the Ombudsman's verdict was wrong in your opinion as basically it found against you .
Any complaints should be made against the Ombudsman .
The only advice you get on this forum will vary from person to person .Hence the initial post saying you need Legal Advice .Bit pointless continually posting when you disagree with the replies given .

spiro

Kb0301 wrote: »

We have written evidence with British Gas that we tried to register a supply with them back in 2000. We have evidence on our title deeds British Gas is our supplier plus there is photographic evidence of British Gas stickers installation on the gas meter buried underground . The reading is 8792.

Is the meter reading the final reading from the old meter or the initial reading of the new meter?
If it is the initial reading for the new meter (unlikely) you can reading the meter now and determine who much gas has been used since the meter was installed. This will allow you to calculate an annual average and use this to negotiate with Cadent.
If it was the final reading from the old meter (more likely) you will have to assume the meter was installed with a reading of zero. Again use this to see how much gas has been used to work out an annual average.

brewerdave

Whilst I would be prepared to pay ,I would not pay £3200 !! If you only use gas for hot water then the amount will be considerably less than that -I would suspect about 20% of the £3200 is fair for 6 years worth. Try negotiating a substantial reduction on those grounds.

LewisHamilton

It appears your gas supply was shipperless from the date you moved into the property and probably from the date the meter was installed. As the gas supply was shipperless, there was no registered gas supply for your property on the national database and there was no gas supplier.

You were not at fault for this issue and the root cause of the issue is due to British Gas not taking steps to register an MPR for your property when the meter was originally installed. This meant British Gas did not register as the supplier for your property, which is why your gas supply was shipperless and your property did not exist on the national database.

However, it is likely that you did not fulfil your own obligations. If you had of fulfilled your own obligations, your supply would have been registered on the national database much earlier. It is very unlikely that you have been proactively trying to resolve this issue. You state you made attempts in 2000 and then it was finally resolved in May 2017. What did you do between 2000 and 2017? It is likely you took very few steps to resolve the issue. This is reasonable to conclude because it is not too difficult for a customer with a shipperless supply to get the supply registered if all reasonable steps are taken and this is why the energy ombudsman has probably concluded that the distributor can seek payment going back six years in line with the Statue of Limitations.

However, the estimated gas usage billed for the last six years has to be reasonable. Therefore, you are within your rights to question the estimated usage going back six years and how this has been calculated. Your best paying the bill (under dispute) and then looking at the usage again in a year when there is more data on your actual gas usage that you can go back with. Once this new evidence comes to light, review the estimated usage Cadent has billed you again. Difficult to question the estimated usage at this point with the limited data on your actual usage.

If I was you, I would be happy. It is likely you have had a significant financial benefit as a result of this issue.