Back Billing - my rights

tetleyted

Hi, I used to live in a rented flat and decided to change suppliers from B Gas back in June 2017 - I'd been with them for 18 months. In August 2017 I received an additional bill from them for a further £700 (I'd been paying £80 pcm up to that point). All my bills were based on estimated readings as my gas meter was rarely accessible as it was in a neighbours garden. I called their customer services to say I didn't understand how I could have consumed so much energy. I heard nothing back from them until September 2018, 15 months after the account was closed. I am no longer in that flat but they are insisting I pay the additional money as they say they were not at fault. Is there something I can do, perhaps in relation to back billing (I can 't just pull £700 out of thin air) as I know B Gas abide by the code of conduct.

matelodave

They sent you a bill in 2017 which they can still chase for up to six years.

Back billing is only applicable if they hadn't sent you a bill. You should have tried a lot harder to sort it out then as it's going to be nigh on impossible now if you don't have the previous bills or any other information with ACTUAL meter readings.

The advice is, as always, never accept an estimated bill. Always check the meter readings and get the bill corrected to save grief in the future

System

tetleyted wrote: »

Hi, I used to live in a rented flat and decided to change suppliers from B Gas back in June 2017 - I'd been with them for 18 months. In August 2017 I received an additional bill from them for a further £700 (I'd been paying £80 pcm up to that point). All my bills were based on estimated readings as my gas meter was rarely accessible as it was in a neighbours garden. I called their customer services to say I didn't understand how I could have consumed so much energy. I heard nothing back from them until September 2018, 15 months after the account was closed. I am no longer in that flat but they are insisting I pay the additional money as they say they were not at fault. Is there something I can do, perhaps in relation to back billing (I can 't just pull £700 out of thin air) as I know B Gas abide by the code of conduct.

I am not sure that your situation is covered by The Back Billing Code. On a transfer of supply, an independent industry partner (a Data Collector) will either assess the readings that you gave to your new supplier or it will determine what it considers are fair readings on transfer. The verified readings are used to open and close your accounts to ensure that you do not pay for the same energy twice.

Some things to check:

1. Have British gas and your new supplier used the same readings to open and close your accounts?

2. When were the meters last read? This is usually shown on your bill with either an 'A' or 'C' annotation.

The problem that you now have is that you don't actually know whether £80 ppm was actually covering your usage as you admit that you rarely take meter readings. My guess is that you now have a catch up bill. Your only hope is that the meter readings used to open and close your accounts are different. If they are, then ask your present supplier to open an Agreed Readings Dispute with British Gas.

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.


From what you state above, the back billing provision has no relevance for your case.


It seems a simple case of you receiving bills based on under-estimated meter readings that you didn't check and correct.


When you switched from BG in June 2017 did you give actual meter readings to your new supplier? If so, were those meter readings used for BG's final bill(for £700) and as the start meter reading for your new supplier.?

tetleyted

Ok so in summary it seems i'm stuffed. Thanks for the replies. I'll go back to B Gas and learn the lessons referred to above