EDF and British Gas - Wrong Meter/Incorrect Bill

MWT

So piecing all the bits together, instead of following the 'normal' process, EDF were supposed to handle the transfer for you, but somehow they didn't complete it correctly and although they were billing you the meter was still registered to BG.

So once the problem was raised by BG, EDF offered you a refund sufficient to cover the bill from BG? ... or was it just a refund of what you had paid to them which would not have been sufficient to pay BG?

konn1ch1ha

The latter. A refund of what we had already paid them. Alas, it was not enough to cover BG's bill. 

MWT

konn1ch1ha said:

The latter. A refund of what we had already paid them. Alas, it was not enough to cover BG's bill. 

OK, then yes, you should have continued with the complaint to the ombudsman.

You relied upon the incorrect assertion by EDF that they were your supplier to your detriment.

EDF should have offered to cover the whole BG bill and completed the switch properly this time so you could continue with them.

From the ombudsman's perspective the risk is that they could take the view that you made no effort to discover the current supplier at the point you moved in, nor did you query this with EDF when they failed to tell you who the current supplier was, you just assumed they would sort it out...

So as to the choices you have now, are you sure the email you recently received was actually 'fake' or is it likely that given the history it really is genuine and BG are still looking for their payment?

konn1ch1ha

I'm fairly confident it's fake for the following reasons:
1. There was no sender's email address. 
2. The amount was for £18.41, which it has been reported this figure has been used for fishing to other emails recently. And £18.41 for where and when?
3. I haven't had an account with BG in five years. 
4. Apparently, BG address the customer as "Dear customer". The email did not.
5. There are typos. 

As it's been three years, what are the chances Ombudsman, EDF and BG will consider reopening this? The address has been converted, I believe, into several occupancies. I live across the road and have not seen or heard anything of this from the LL or EA. 

MWT

konn1ch1ha said:

As it's been three years, what are the chances Ombudsman, EDF and BG will consider reopening this? The address has been converted, I believe, into several occupancies. I live across the road and have not seen or heard anything of this from the LL or EA. 

On the basis that the email is fake and the facts you've given, I'd say it was reasonable to forget all about it and move on.

I'd just make sure you've saved all the documentation showing your payments to EDF and if it ever comes up again you'll have what you need to reopen matters at that time.

konn1ch1ha

Saved all of it in a subfolder in my emails. And have all DD payments on bank statements, along with receipt emails. Thanks for your feedback.

dogshome

As you have surmised, the £18.41 Email may well be a fishing scam.

BUT

You cannot transfer the energy provider in one home to another - When leaving a property you give a closing reading to the supplier of that dwelling, and must contact the  existing supplier, ( BG ?), of the new property, giving your details, move in date and meter readings - you remain with that supplier until they have established an account for you, and only then can you move to a new supplier.

If EDF had not made an error when setting up your account, you most certainly would have heard from BG as the Switch took place, so you do have a cause for complaint against EDF

However, in these circumstances the usual procedure is that the new supplier, (EDF), returns all the monies paid to them, and the customer pays the original suppliers bill

You have a choice:

On the assumption that the £18.41 is a scam - You keep silent in the hope that as the parties have forgotten this for 3 years, they won't resurect it for another 3 years, and after 6 years they will be too late make any claim.

However if the Email isn't a scam, they have made claim well within the 6 year rule, and being BG, they will pursue the debt in spades

MWT

dogshome said:

As you have surmised, the £18.41 Email may well be a fishing scam.

BUT

You cannot transfer the energy provider in one home to another - When leaving a property you give a closing reading to the supplier of that dwelling, and must contact the  existing supplier, ( BG ?), of the new property, giving your details, move in date and meter readings - you remain with that supplier until they have established an account for you, and only then can you move to a new supplier.

Unfortunately, EDF give the impression at least that it is not necessary to do that.

As you can see, they give the impression that you can even do it before you have taken control of the new property...

Nothing you have written is incorrect, but you can see how the OP firmly and reasonably believed they had done what was required by following the instructions that EDF give...

I cannot find anywhere within EDF's guide to house moving where it tells their customers that they need to contact the existing supplier at the new house.

konn1ch1ha

dogshome said:

As you have surmised, the £18.41 Email may well be a fishing scam.

BUT

You cannot transfer the energy provider in one home to another - When leaving a property you give a closing reading to the supplier of that dwelling, and must contact the  existing supplier, ( BG ?), of the new property, giving your details, move in date and meter readings - you remain with that supplier until they have established an account for you, and only then can you move to a new supplier.

If EDF had not made an error when setting up your account, you most certainly would have heard from BG as the Switch took place, so you do have a cause for complaint against EDF

However, in these circumstances the usual procedure is that the new supplier, (EDF), returns all the monies paid to them, and the customer pays the original suppliers bill

You have a choice:

On the assumption that the £18.41 is a scam - You keep silent in the hope that as the parties have forgotten this for 3 years, they won't resurect it for another 3 years, and after 6 years they will be too late make any claim.

However if the Email isn't a scam, they have made claim well within the 6 year rule, and being BG, they will pursue the debt in spades

When you say “in spades”, do you mean they’ll give very little time to settle the debt if they find who the occupiers are? Or the bill would have accumulated to £30k?!

When ‘the occupier’ is billed, can court cases/bailiffs arise?