Unexpected Gas Bill from old supplier (Advice needed)

G_Freebody

Hello all,

Apologies if this is the wrong place to post this.

With the help of MSE and the Energy Club I switched Gas supplier at the end of January when my current tariff was coming to an end. The last bill from British Gas (previous supplier) was £22 odd.

I've just seen a 'final warning' email from British Gas saying that I owe £334.89 for 3rd Jan-11 Feb 2019. This is extortionate and despite always finding them pricey since living in my current property, their bills have never been this high.

If I don't pay it by the 7th May 2019, it is going to a debt collection agency.

I plan on calling them in the morning but I suspect the person I reach on the phone will be trained into providing me with no solution other than to pay this bill.

MSE Forum, please help!? What can I do to fight this bill as I believe it is incorrect and feel like they are punishing me for switching supplier.

I can supply more details if you need.

D_M_E

Does the bill state final readings and do they agree with what you gave the new supplier or what the new supplier are using as their opening read?

Is it based on the tariff which you were on with BG?

Your best bet is to stay off the phone and write them a letter headed COMPLAINT in big bold letters detailing your concern at the size of the bill and ask for a detailed breakdown of how they arrived at their final figure, and demand that it not be passed to a debt collector as it is in dispute.

If you do phone, be polite and tell them any further communication on the matter will be by post only, back this up by email as well.

Make sure, if you can, that you download any previous bills from your account so that you can check anything which they send.

Thomas_Edison

Bills are a calculation of
standing charge * number of days
&
Unit rate * consumption (as in the number of units you've used)

When was the last time you gave your old supplier a reading did you give your new supplier a reading?

Take a look at the bill and check the readings used. You should be able to calculate this for yourself.

lopsyfa

G_Freebody wrote: »

Hello all,

Apologies if this is the wrong place to post this.

With the help of MSE and the Energy Club I switched Gas supplier at the end of January when my current tariff was coming to an end. The last bill from British Gas (previous supplier) was £22 odd.

I've just seen a 'final warning' email from British Gas saying that I owe £334.89 for 3rd Jan-11 Feb 2019. This is extortionate and despite always finding them pricey since living in my current property, their bills have never been this high.

If I don't pay it by the 7th May 2019, it is going to a debt collection agency.

I plan on calling them in the morning but I suspect the person I reach on the phone will be trained into providing me with no solution other than to pay this bill.

MSE Forum, please help!? What can I do to fight this bill as I believe it is incorrect and feel like they are punishing me for switching supplier.

I can supply more details if you need.

As mentioned already, you need to check they have accurate reading and if they have been using estimated readings for you, that may result in high final bills. This is probably because you have been underpaying before.

The other thing to check is that the unit of the gas readings is correct. So if your gas meter is in m^3, check that they haven't taken it as ft^3 and vice versa. This has happened to me with British Gas (via Sainsbury) before and it resulted in an almost 3x higher bill.

If you have been correctly billed, then you may need to pay.

Cardew

Look at the closing meter reading for your £22 bill; it will probably be estimated - denoted by 'E'



Then look at the closing meter reading for 11 Feb 2019 - which should be the same as the opening meter reading for your new supplier.


Deducting thr earlier meter reading from the 11 Feb 2019 reading will give you the gas units and kWh that you have used.


If you post both readings on this forum someone will do the arithmetic for you.

G_Freebody

Thank you for the replies.

I have e-mailed to dispute the bill because I believe it is incorrect based on the meter readings submitted, previous bills and the tariff I was on.

My online account has a number of errors since January which looks suspicious.

I found an email in my junk folder dated 13th March for a bill of £7.67 for the same period.

I have included screenshots of both of these and included them in my email to British Gas.

This morning, I spoke to British Gas Live Chat and explained all of the above. They could not help me although he has put my complaint on the account so that I have until 11th May to respond before it goes towards the debt collectors agency.

I switched to Ebico for Gas on 22nd January 2019 and it was official from 12th February 2019. I submitted the meter reading to them as requested that they then sent to British Gas. This does appear on the bill. However, there are 'estimated' readings on the bill as far back as January 2018 (when I took over the account in my name) after a flatmate had moved out.

The Live Chat worker kept asking me for my first meter reading I would have submitted when I set up the account in my name which would have been in January 2018. I explained I submitted the meter reading to them as requested at the time but I do not have a record of this.

It feels very convenient that they can't find any of my submitted meter readings in 2018 despite doing it on a monthly basis.

I just called the number the Live Chat gave me so their "Specialist team" can help resolve my issues. I got through to a human after 12 minutes and upon giving my account number and brief explanation of the above I was put on hold for 4:13. The worker on the phone explained he can't access my account and has his mananager with him to help. He said he will have to put me on hold again which I protested against as it is costing me money (mobile network) and asked if he can call me back. He has agreed.

I don't feel confident they will call back or resolve the issue here.

Streaky_Bacon

You can ignore the issue of the debt collection agency, until the supplier have resolved the complaint. Once there is a formal complaint open, the supplier should ensure that you are not chased for payment until it is resolved.

I previously had a very similar issue with another supplier (I submitted original readings, and then regular readings, but they continued to use estimated readings, and then claimed to have never received readings from me).

It is not clear from your post whether you have copies of all the bills that they have issued. What do you have in writing (bills or anything else)?

If you have a history of meter readings (estimated or otherwise) from the bills, then post them here (just reading + date + whether estimated/actual)

You will need to put a formal complaint in writing to them.

First step, post the readings from the bills here (if you have them).