Absolute nightmare trying to leave British Gas PAYG, how do I make them stop?

gersonswhistle

I've spent the past six months having British Gas outright lie to me every single time I contact them. I bought my first property in March, which has PAYG meters installed that are registered to British Gas, and I've been trying to get rid of them due to the insanely high tariff and general inconvenience associated with PAYG ever since. British Gas simply won't let me go, and have told me an outright lie every single time I've contacted them about it.

At my old property I was with E.ON, so applied to have them take over the bills at the new place. However, British Gas rejected the switchover, saying there was debt on the previous owner's account and the property's energy supply couldn't be taken over until it was cleared. They then said because of the pandemic they were only servicing vulnerable customers, and hung up on me. I wasn't sure what to do, so just carried on topping up the meter at the shop for a few months, occasionally trying to call British Gas to see if they'd help me, but each time an automated message told me they were only helping vulnerable customers. I was finally able to get through to a human being in June, and explained that I wanted a credit energy account, not PAYG. She said that the team of engineers that install credit meters weren't working because of the pandemic, but that smart meter team were (idk why), and that if I chose to get a smart meter installed I could ring up and get it switched over to a credit account remotely after a month. I got the smart meters installed (as a sidenote, the engineer unlocked my kitchen window and immediately lost the key, so I can't lock my window any more), dutifully waited for a month, only to be told my Experian credit score was too low and they wouldn't approve my application, and I had to remain a British Gas PAYG customer. When I said I'd checked my credit score the other day and it was high (my only debt in the world is my mortgage), the guy on the phone changed track completely and said it was nothing to do with Experian score and was based on an "internal metric", and they couldn't disclose why the rejection had happened, only that it had and I was stuck but could re-apply in 60 days. I'd been assured I was fine to go onto a credit account only 28 days before.

Going slightly mad at this point, I rang E.ON and asked them if they could try and do another switchover, now that British Gas had actually let me make my own account instead of leaving me stuck in limbo. They said yes, I passed their credit check with flying colours, and they arranged to take over my energy supply on August 15th. I got a bunch of "sorry you're leaving us" emails and letters from British Gas, and assumed that was the end of it.

This morning, British Gas cancelled my switchover, saying that I was £56 in debt to them and had to pay that off before I could leave. They claimed I'd called them twice in the past few months and said I'd told them I couldn't afford to top up my meter, and that they'd needed put emergency credit on my account that I could pay off later so that my energy wasn't cut off. I never made these calls. It took me half an hour on the phone to convince the customer service rep to look into it further, after which there was mysteriously "no record of the calls" and the debt was wiped. Obviously, my switchover is already cancelled, so I'm back at square one again. I think I'm essentially being gaslighted by British Gas, lied to and lied to over and over with the express intention of trapping me as a customer on their highest possible tariff, always coming up with reasons why I can't stop being their customer.

Has anyone else had experiences like this, of British Gas just lying and lying and lying? I've now re-applied for a switchover to E.ON, who have approved everything all over again no problem, but I'm so worried this is going to happen again and British Gas are going to come up with another reason not to let me leave. I'm losing so much money on this insane tariff and I've read horror stories online about people leaving British Gas only for them to break into the house and re-install their own PAYG meters. How do I get them to stop this?

RelievedSheff

It sounds very much like you did not set up your own account with British Gas when you moved to this property so you have essentially been paying someone elses debt. It also sounds like there have been other wires crossed at BG with the old account holder.

Now that you have set up your own account with BG provided that you don't owe them anything then the switch to EON should go through no problem. You will probably also find that you would pass the BG credit check now that the account is set up in your own name.

The problems you have encountered appear to be due to you not setting up your own account as soon as you moved into the property.

frederick1950

So just so we understand ...how long was it after you moved in was it until you registered with them and gave them youre opening meters readings?
( This should have been done the first day you took over the house.)
By leaving it any longer you would cause confusion because they would not know the meter readings on your first day. So you would end up paying for the previous tennants debt.

macman

I agree with the above: you've tried to jump from BG PAYG in the previous owner's name, to credit meters in your own name, which they've probably interpreted as a scam to avoid paying the Outgoing PAYG debts (i.e. you re-register as a 'new' occupier, which of course you genuinely are).
A lot of FTB's fall foul of not understanding the deemed contract system, but not usually with such dire consequences.

Robin9

macman said:

I agree with the above: you've tried to jump from BG PAYG in the previous owner's name, to credit meters in your own name, which they've probably interpreted as a scam to avoid paying the Outgoing PAYG debts (i.e. you re-register as a 'new' occupier, which of course you genuinely are).
A lot of FTB's fall foul of not understanding the deemed contract system, but not usually with such dire consequences.

I agree with the general principles here but both E.on and BG are to blame

@gersonswhistle the correct procedure
@gersonswhistle the correct proceedure

This sort of incident has happened several times on here - is it simply due to lack of training ?

gersonswhistle

British Gas have assured me I wasn't paying anyone's debt off myself, as the previous account had been closed, but that the debt still remained and needed to be paid before anything else could be done. As I expressed to them that I didn't really want to be a PAYG customer, they told me to just wait until the engineers were working again. I see now that that's completely stupid, but I just believed what I was told 

Talldave

How does a new account on PAYG accrue a debt??

gersonswhistle

All that time on the phone yesterday and I’ve just seen another email from 9pm last night telling me they’ve cancelled my switchover due to my debt to them. Can’t even call them to try and fix it as it’s a Saturday. Genuinely prepared to just smash my electric meters to bits and go without at this point. They’re just going to tell me another lie when I can get through to them on Monday. I’m so angry I don’t know what to do.

MovingForwards

Lodge a formal complaint with BG.

Did you tell them when you had purchased the property? 
As said above, the account needed to be set up in your name when you first completed the purchase, if you didn't do that and just used the key provided that was the start of your problem.

Gerry1

Forget the phone, submit a formal complaint via Royal Mail to start the clock ticking so that you can go to the ombudsman.  You could also email it to their CEO whose info you can find on the Ceoemail website (search for it).

Keep it short and simple, bullet points are best.

macman

gersonswhistle said:

British Gas have assured me I wasn't paying anyone's debt off myself, as the previous account had been closed, but that the debt still remained and needed to be paid before anything else could be done. As I expressed to them that I didn't really want to be a PAYG customer, they told me to just wait until the engineers were working again. I see now that that's completely stupid, but I just believed what I was told 

There is a debt, and it needs to be paid. But not by you...how can they keep insisting that you are liable for the existing debt on the old account on the meter?