Spark took over my mothers gas supply without her consent

Matty36

have 2 issues I hope you can help me with, so Ill start with the long one.

My mum moved address in February and did the norm of contacting British Gas to inform them of this. She is a duel fuel customer and is one of those that wont switch for some reason. A gas engineer scheduled by the Housing Association she is with for over 30 years arrived a week or so before she moved in to turn on the gas (which we later realise was a spark engineer after conversations with British Gas. This engineer never said he was from spark and neither did the housing association )

Then my mum starts receiving sorry your leaving us letters from British Gas and Welcome to Spark letters from Spark. After my mum comtacted british gas, they informed her they were still supplying the gas to the property but her online account did not reflect this. A week or so passes and she is being spammed with letters from spark telling her to contact them. I told her not to contact them as I've read online about how shady they can be.

I then speak to British Gas online through there online chat portal on my mums behalf and after half an hour of telling me everything is fine, they then tell me OVO had taken over her gas supply. British Gas still supply the electric. They told me that their "senior specialists" are on the case and will sort it out. I contact them again a week later for an update and they just told me the same and the same again a week later with nothing actually happening.

So I went to Citizens advice website and downloaded their erroneous transfer template, filled it in and sent it off to British Gas as my mum never consented to this switch. Then last week British Gas send my mum a letter telling her they are looking into it and today they send my mum a text saying there is nothing they can do as Spark have rejected the erroneous transfer on the grounds that the contract stands.

How can this so called contract stand if it was between my housing Association and Spark? The contract was not between my mum and spark as she never consented to it

Where does my mum stand here? And what can she do (or I do)

And the second issue, since my mum moved is that British Gas keep billing her for a 5 day period of gas usage from when the gas was not even connected. The housing association had it disconnected since the prior tenant moved out weeks before. Everytime I contact them, they agree that it is a bill sent in error and remove it from my mums account. But the next day they add the bill back to her account again. This bill has been added and removed about 6 times now and after speaking to the complaints department on her behalf yesterday, they say the bill has been removed permanently and have added a £1 credit. But surprise suprise, they have added the bill back to her account today. I'm going around in circles and getting really clapped off

It just seems I'm dealing with complete idiots as I'm getting nowhere with them. What else could I do? As its stressing my mum out and It's really getting on my wick!!

Thanks for your time

[Deleted User]

You need to read the CAB advice about moving into a new property. (Linked below)

Basically EVERY property has an energy supplier, it is the last company to supply the address. When you move in, you have to contact them and get setup as a new customer on their DEEMED contract. Once you have a welcome letter then you are free to switch to any energy supplier of your choice.

So Spark are the property's supplier and your mother should have notified them on becoming legally responsible for the property.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/energy/energy-supply/moving-home-your-energy-supply/moving-home-dealing-with-your-energy-supply/

Matty36

Surely if that was the case then they would have taken the electric too? Besides, after informing British gas of the change of address, my mum recieved a welcome to british gas letter at ner new address for both gas and electric. Was only after the engineer turned on the gas, that spark took the gas which was not consented too.

PennineAcute

WHen #2 protocol is not heeded, this is when things go to pot, like it has for your mother.

dj1471

If the gas was capped off then there won't have been a supplier. The HA restored the gas supply before your mother moved in, at this point they are responsible for the gas and free to choose any supplier they wish.

Upon moving in your mother entered into a deemed contract with Spark. She needs to register with them and pay for her usage. Once registered she's free to switch to another supplier.

Presumably the electricity remained connected and happened to be supplied by British Gas, so there were no issues with this.

When you move you close any existing energy accounts and open new ones with the incumbent supplier(s) at the new property.

[Deleted User]

As pointed out by dj1471, a property can have multiple energy suppliers. Gas and electricity can be supplied by the same or different companies. Mine home is.
So there are multiple deemed contracts in place. One per fuel, with different companies.
My answer should have been clearer on that point.

And just because British Gas sent out a letter, if they were not the legal suppliers of one or more of the fuels, then the letter has no power for that fuel. Hence Spark is the gas supplier and BG cannot help. They did make a mistake though so cannot charge for any gas used/gas standing charges as your mother is going to be paying Spark for that.

[Deleted User]

Given what has happened I would also check which companies are listed as supplying gas and electricity on the national databases. Just in case British Gas got 2 things wrong.
Details of how to do this can be found at https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/energy/energy-supply/moving-home-your-energy-supply/find-out-who-your-gas-or-electricity-supplier-is/

Matty36

Thanks for the advice guys Think i understand what your saying now.

As for the second issue. My mum collected keys to the property on the 8th of feb so was responsible from this date... But the gas engineer didnt turn on the gas until the 13th as it was capped off. So my mum cannot be responsible for gas until the 13th. Is that correct? As british gas keep trying to bill her from the 8th to the 12th for £50 with massively incorrect gas readings. So while they agree its incorrect but still keep billing her for it, are you saying spark will bill her for that 5 day period? According to your last sentence?

Thanks

[Deleted User]

Only the named supplier of the gas supply can charge for it.
So the answer is given by "Who was the gas supplier from 8th to 13th"?
If the supply was capped as stated then there is zero energy used and zero days standing charges applicable. No supply possible, no charges.
So zero payable to whoever was the legal supplier.

As the HA were the party responsible for the property prior to the 8th and they arranged for the gas to be uncapped then the firm they chose(Spark) is the only party who could claim. But it would be a zero amount claim for those 5 days.
The delay between Spark taking over and the engineer visit to uncap is just one of those things. A timing issue where the supplier takes the supply and arranges for work to be done which is later than the HA would have ideally liked. Spark will still be claiming the supply as their own.

So use the British Gas official complaints procedure. In writing only and spell it out to them in plain simple language that you reject any billing for the gas supply and the reasons why.

Thomas_Edison

So the posters above are aware, Spark have contracts with housing associations/ estate agents which means that when someone starts a new rental agreement it is agreed that the property is switched to Spark.

As in this and many other cases the person renting the property (Your poor mum) won't have been aware or made aware of this and it creates tons of bureaucracy to manage.

Spark however do have a valid contract due to the contract they signed with estate agents and the contract the renter then signs with the estate agent.

So when your moved in she did the right thing and contacted BG who were the deemed supplier to set up an account.

And then legitimately (but very shadily) switched to Spark, who are now owned by Ovo, which is how they factor in.

All you can do is switch as normal to whoever you prefer making sure you've set up an account with Spark/Ovo.

Thomas_Edison

Now for the gas capping.

This will have been done by a gas safe engineer, they have no connection to energy suppliers, but do these sort of jobs at the request of estate agents/landlords/ housing associations.

This is why BG won't have known about the engineer or capping. It can't have been a spark engineer as they can't attend until they're actually the supplier.

Billing wise what this means is there should be a reading on the date you took responsibility and another when it was uncapped which should be exactly the same, so no consumption charge.

However there would still be a standing charge for this time as the meter was still at the property and connected to the grid.

Suppliers won't have any knowledge of the housing associations actions.