Don't know my gas supplier

TheFifiMachine

Half of this story is my own fault - first time having to deal with all of this so I missed out on some important things!

I moved to a converted property (old building turned into townhouses) in June last year and right away changed my gas and electricity supplier. We never got a final bill from the old supplier despite using it for approximately 2 1/2 weeks before the switch over could happen. I did find it quite strange that our bills were so low and as it transpired we were only actually paying for electricity. This came to light properly yesterday when our letting agents emailed us to say there would be a gas inspection this week.

I then got on to our energy supplier to discuss the matter and they asked for the serial number of our meter - nothing came up from their searches so they said by default it would be British Gas supplying us so I rang them to get a Meter Point Reference Number. I gave them all the information from our gas meter and they said they couldn't find anything either and in fact only one property from the block was found. I spoke to neighbour to highlight this and they said they were having the same issue as us in the sense that they don't know who is supplying their/our gas and have been through the save avenues as us and have all but given up.

I called the letting agent today to try and find out as British Gas advised to do that and they were about as useless as a chocolate fire guard and couldn't provide any information other than where the gas meter was located - which it transpires I thought was the electric meter - yes, I am foolish but luckily we had been paying over each month and our account is quite a bit in credit so hopefully that should cover the potential underpayment.

I've checked on the who's my supplier website and there is no information as to who is supplying the gas to the property.

Is there anything else I can do to try and find this out bar asking the landlord as I have to go through the letting agents rather than being able to speak directly with him.

dj1471

Does each property have it's own gas meter or is there just one for the block?

It's not uncommon in converted properties to just have one meter with all gas being paid for by the landlord / freeholder as it's expensive to split the supply and have individual meters installed.

Probably best to check with the landlord directly if you can, don't expect the letting agent to know anything.

TheFifiMachine

Each house has its own gas meter outside but British Gas could only find one which is the house next door, so they're paying for gas and the other 4 houses aren't.

Would that mean that the one that actually turned up on the database is paying for gas for everyone? I'm so novice when it comes to household!

dj1471

It may be that the other house has the original meter for the property and the new ones haven't been registered correctly. The landlord would need to chase that up with whoever installed them.

There's only so much you can do. Keep a record of your meter readings so you can pay for your actual usage when possible. I would also send a letter to the landlord requesting details of the gas supplier, if only so you have evidence that you've tried to sort this out.

TheFifiMachine

Fingers crossed! I actually have all the readings as I stupidly submitted these instead of my electric. Complete novice!

macman

Which means that you may get a big catch up bill for your electricity once you submit correct readings.

TheFifiMachine

macman wrote: »

Which means that you may get a big catch up bill for your electricity once you submit correct readings.

Most definitely! Luckily our account is in credit by quite a bit so hopefully the sting won't be so bad!

I just want to know who is supplying our gas as no one seems to be able to give us an answer!

Thomas_Edison

It's possible but rare not to have a supplier at all. Honestly you could get away with doing absolutely nothing but if there were any problems with your gas it would be a nightmare to fix.

Or you can contact a big 6 supplier and they can set up your supply as if it was brand new

nigelbb

macman wrote: »

Which means that you may get a big catch up bill for your electricity once you submit correct readings.

The OP is paying their electricity bill. It's the gas supplier that is unknown. Presumably the previous tenant wasn't paying for gas either just like 4/5 of the neighbours. Some money should be put aside but If & when the supplier does make themselves known they can only back bill 12 months.

Alleywoman

Hi
Who is your energy supplier, i am not being billed for my electricity though my provider has confirmed i set up a dual fuel account with them.
This is despite submitting meter readings emails and phone calls to their billing sections.
AW