billing

dekker100

I am a sole trader and moved into a rented unit in Dec 2018 I didn't get any bills from the gas or electricity supplier. Come July 2019 the electricity supplier took the landlord to court which they paid the bill. At that point I decided to look for a electricity supplier of my own. While searching on line I came across Opus electricity who offered a good deal so I accepted the deal. He then said we also do gas can I quote you. I agreed and it was a direct debit account setup in August. When the first bill a month later came through for the gas it was £721.00. When I queried the bill they said it was from Dec18 and had removed £721.00 from my bank. I did manage to get my bank to reverse the payment. The period from Dec 2018 to JULY 2019  was charged at out of contract rate which is very high. During this period I didn't have a single monthly bill and when I asked for them they said they could not supply them and could not explain why. I thought the bills had gone to the landlord as the electricity ones had. In discussions with them I suggested that I was prepared to have the contract backdated to cover the period from Dec to July on the contract rate as I have never denied using some of the gas. I didn't move in till Jan 2019 as I was abroad till 10 Jan 2019. I went to the ombudsman and was awarded £30 off the bill. The out of contract money they took out of my account was from the gas contract deal account. I am not sure whether this is an illegal thing to do or not. To me it is the same as going to somebodies bank account and removing money without permission. This gas supply has a  smart meter so they would have a daily reading of usage. I would think that they could from that present a monthly bill, and also would have known activity starting in the unit and post a bill to the unit. I think they know it would cost me more to use a solicitor to fight my corner than the total £721 they want.
look forward to the replies.

Talldave

So many questions! If you'd arranged a different rate in Dec 2018 it would have cost you less. You decided not to do that and now seem upset at the extra cost you've incurred.  You used the out of contract rate gas, why should you not pay for it?   How did you expect the energy company(ies) to bill you if they didn't know who you were? Did you expect the landlord to pay for your energy costs (was that in the rental agreement?)? You've "never denied using some of the gas", but are you denying using all of it (you are the tenant after all)?  If you weren't using it, where did it go, did someone else steal it?  Why did the ombudsman award you £30? (Out of interest, how many hours effort did you put into getting £30?).