Gas and Electric Mess Up Beyond Comprehension

P24601

**ISSUE RESOLVED** - An admin error had BG stating they were our supplier over Avro. Currently sorting out both companies but will be leaving both after this. 

Hi 

This is going to be a long one.

Context: 
Moved out of home 1 (owned) to a rented property, home 2, in Feb 19 whilst we waited on completion for our house, home 3. In Aug 19, we moved into home 3 (owned). 

During our time at home 2, we switched our bills so our suppliers came with us. British Gas was our supplier at Home 1 for over a decade so we switch home 2 to them. There was a human error and they switched the wrong house meaning we had to fight two companies. Now, this was eventually resolved in July 19, whilst I was in my third trimester suffering with preeclampsia, which was made a lot worse by the stress and constant threats. It took a Subject Access Request to find out that the mistake was a human error on British Gas side. This was resolved and a new account for our new owned property (home 3) was set up as a fresh start with British Gas.

TODAY'S PROBLEM:
So, everyone is feeling pretty low and jilted one way or another in this lockdown. I understand that it is difficult and there are financial worries. After several months in our home, we saw it as an opportunity to maybe reduce some bills. When reviewing our bank account, we noticed that our Gas and Electric bill did not leave the account on the expected date. As it was Sunday evening, we called first thing Monday morning.
We discovered that British Gas had royally messed up again. So, we are still digging to the bottom of this but here is what we know as facts so far:
August 1st - BG have confirmed that Home 3 was switched to them starting this date and that there was transitional period whereby the old supplier was phased out and paid appropriately. 
September 28th - British Gas officially switched Home 3 to them.
September 29th - It was uncovered in the telephone conversation today (27th April 2020) that another company, Avro, took over the gas/elec supply to Home 3 without the consent of any occupier. 
September to present - We have been paying a DD to British Gas! We had no correspondence from Avro or British Gas about this and now there is wide dispute as to who we owe what to.
Avro claim we owe them over £700 for gas and electric despite a) not reading our meters, b) not sending letters, calling or emails c) not being able to produce any contract of agreement for our address and said (and i quote) "it is a standard of the mortgage clause that you agreed to when you got your mortgage". No, its really not as I have my mortgage agreement in writing. It has nothing to do with my Gas and Electric supplier and leads me to believe this is not an 'erroneous transfer'.
British Gas are playing dumb and offered to refund all we owe them but I believe there is more to it and they have made yet another mistake as they confirmed today (27th April 2020) that we officially switched Home 3 to them last year and that we had been paying them. 

Something really doesn't add up to me and I honestly have no idea how to approach this mess. To top it off, my partner is being shielded due to having AutoImmune and I am on furlough with an infant! 

I think it's a given that we will not be continuing with either supplier (i've heard good things about Eon), but any other advice on what caused this issue is much appreciated.  


Stay safe! x

Cardew

P24601 It has nothing to do with my Gas and Electric supplier and leads me to believe this is not an 'erroneous transfer'.
British Gas are playing dumb and offered to refund all we owe them but I believe there is more to it and they have made yet another mistake as they confirmed today (27th April 2020) that we officially switched Home 3 to them last year and that we had been paying them.

I don't understand what you mean by 'and offered to refund all we owe them'.

Which company was supplying Home 3 when you moved in, and before you transferred to British Gas(BG)?

If you have it in writing that you are a customer of BG; then BG have to sort it out.

There have been cases reported on MSE where doorstep salesmen have 'forged' applications to join a energy company, however the normally need the meter serial numbers.

You need to file a complaint with BG and take it to the Ombudsman if it isn't sorted.

P24601

We don't give out details to doorstep salesmen for fraud reasons and not without checking companies out on Trustpilot etc. first. 

Home 3 was supplied by Avro apparently. And BG have confirmed in writing that they switched Home 3 in September then the day after it was taken over by another company, which is all very odd to me. BG have offered to refund the money we have paid to them since August 2019 as our account is in credit exponentially! 

Avro claim it was never switched over and refuse to show evidence they have contacted us. . . BG claim they switched us over but then were switched again and have sent us confirmation letters via email. 

Gerry1

You can't take your supplier with you when you move.  You will have an expensive 'deemed' contract with the existing supplier of the new property as soon as you exchange contracts.

You have to find out the name of the company and register with them.  You are then free to choose another supplier if you wish to do so.  That's what seems to have happened here.

matelodave

It does seem as though you are not actually registering with the existing supplier before you try to transfer to another and, on top of that, you also don't seem to be checking bills, sending readings or checking your bank accounts often enough to be able to recognise that summat isn't quite right.

You must register with the existing supplier when you take possession of a property 9even if you dont actually move in on that day) You must open an account with them and give them the meter readings. Only when you've done that can you initiate a change of supplier. In the meantime you will have to pay the existing company for the energy that you use until you transfer to your chose supplier (to whom you must also give a reading as near the transfer days as possible.

Then you should make sure that your direct debits are being taken from your bank account, that they are being credited to your energy account (by checking your energy bills) You should also be making sure that you are taking monthly meter readings and either sending them into your supplier or checking that they are similar to the readings being sent by your smart meter (if you've got one). Try downloading all the bills that you can and checking what readings were used and when and who was paid.

Nearly all the queries and problems on this forum are the result of not doing due diligence over your bank accounts and energy bills and the longer it goes on the harder it is to sort out. Checking bills and saving PDF copies of them once a month is the best way to keep your own records and makes it so much easier to sort out problems. Ideally you should keep bill from previous suppliers and even houses for a couple of years so you can back track if necessary

MWT

Use this link to check who is really registered as your supplier...

https://www.findmysupplier.energy/webapp/index.html

I suspect you are going to find that it is Avro.

This is likely to be yet another case where by not registering with the existing supplier before trying to switch the switch has actually failed but BG didn't notice it failed and proceeded to bill you.

When that happens the supplier who is not actually the registered supplier for that meter point will usually offer to refund all charges and leave you to pay the real supplier and usually that will be on an expensive deemed tariff because you didn't contact them and register with them and change the tariff to something cheaper before you tried to switch...

Cardew

It would appear that in home 2 your suppliers(BG) 'came with us' and that resulted in a problem. You cannot take a supplier with you!

It would also appear that you have not followed the correct procedure in home 3.

Avro were supplying home 3 before your occupation and from the moment you moved in you are on a legally binding 'deemed contract' with Avro and are required to pay them for any gas/electricity used.

In order to switch to BG you have to inform them(BG) that you are on a contract with Avro and wish to switch to BG. It is then up to the gaining company(BG) to contact the losing company(Avro)  and arrange the switch. At this point - usually after a few weeks - you would be asked to supply meter readings and the switch takes place. Avro will then send you a final bill for the few weeks since you moved in.

The statement in your first post is the crux of the issue:

'It was uncovered in the telephone conversation today (27th April 2020) that another company, Avro, took over the gas/elec supply to Home 3 without the consent of any occupier. September to present'

Avro did not 'take over' the gas/elec supply. They were the existing supplier and then you entered into a deemed contract with Avro.

P24601

Gerry1 said:

You can't take your supplier with you when you move.  You will have an expensive 'deemed' contract with the existing supplier of the new property as soon as you exchange contracts.

You have to find out the name of the company and register with them.  You are then free to choose another supplier if you wish to do so.  That's what seems to have happened here.

Yes, we know that. We have moved before, which is why we contact BG to switch over the lines at the earliest date, knowing there would be overlap with a previous supplier, but not by several months.

P24601

MWT said:

Use this link to check who is really registered as your supplier...

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I suspect you are going to find that it is Avro.

This is likely to be yet another case where by not registering with the existing supplier before trying to switch the switch has actually failed but BG didn't notice it failed and proceeded to bill you.

When that happens the supplier who is not actually the registered supplier for that meter point will usually offer to refund all charges and leave you to pay the real supplier and usually that will be on an expensive deemed tariff because you didn't contact them and register with them and change the tariff to something cheaper before you tried to switch...

Unfortunately it is Avro who is our supplier.
BG had taken DD from us for seven months, confirmed over and over yesterday that they were the supplier. No correspondence from Avro though which is another reason we were so bent out of shape about the whole thing.
Turns out, it was an administration mistake at BG. Someone had not filed the paper work to switch it over on their end so as far as we knew, we had taken the correct steps and were in the dark. It wasn't even picked up on BG system.

Avro were not very happy but their customer service has been appalling at trying to get to the bottom of what is what as both companies claimed to have paper work stating they supplied the line. After notifying them BG took liability, we still are having issues with their department and feel this is not going to be easy or with minimal stress. I just want to pay my bill like a normal person and move on.

Unfortunately, we knew one company must have been wrong and it took several hours to get to the bottom of it. Safe to say, we are in extensive credit with one and extensive debit with another! Wish they could just transfer the money themselves. Now is the long drawn out process of transferring payments and leaving both suppliers for good!
How is Eon looking these days?

Please note to all: It isn't always down to people not knowing what to do when moving home. We took every measure correctly and had the paperwork in order. 

P24601

Cardew said:

The statement in your first post is the crux of the issue:

'It was uncovered in the telephone conversation today (27th April 2020) that another company, Avro, took over the gas/elec supply to Home 3 without the consent of any occupier. September to present'

Avro did not 'take over' the gas/elec supply. They were the existing supplier and then you entered into a deemed contract with Avro.

British Gas claimed they took it over officially. So, another agreement with Avro would've had to have been made. But that is by the by now.

MWT

P24601 said:

Please note to all: It isn't always down to people not knowing what to do when moving home. We took every measure correctly and had the paperwork in order. 

With respect, you didn't follow the correct procedure with regards to house #3.

If you had, you would have contacted Avro when you moved in, changed from the deemed tariff to something cheaper and then arranged the switch to BG. 

That switch would have worked, and you would not have got into the mess you are currently in.

Trying to set up a new account with BG without contacting the existing supplier is how you got to where you are now, so there is a lesson to be learned, always contact the existing supplier the moment you move in, do that and things stand a chance of going smoothly...