British Gas are not my supplier but are sending me bills

RockyNine

Hi, we moved in to our new property in February. From day 1 we had Octopus energy supplying our gas and electricity and have been paying them monthly. We have received 2 bills since from British Gas saying that we owe them money. I haven’t had an account ever with British Gas, so not sure why they have our name and address and even more confused as to why the letters/bills are arriving.

Before I call them, could there be a reason that as they supplied the previous occupant that they can then demand money from us? It’s also an extortionate amount, 4 times the price of Octopus.

While they won’t be getting a penny, I’m annoyed they have my details on record despite me never having given them any. Isn’t this a breach of GDPR?

Anyone experienced this before and have any advice?

Thanks.

molerat

If the property was supplied by BG before you moved in then they are the legal supplier under acts of parliament until you contact them, set up an account then switch away.  Did you do that or did you contact your previous supplier and ask them to supply you ?  If so you have made a costly mistake and need to get it sorted now.  Check here to find out who is supplying your gas https://www.findmysupplier.energy/webapp/index.html  Also Google who is my electricity supplier, many of the DNOs have a web search.  If BG are the legal supplier then you owe them the money, as simple as that. As for not giving them a penny, if they are the incumbent supplier they can and will take you to court for the debt or get a court order to break in and fit a pre pay meter.

Hasbeen

Who was the deemed supplier when you moved in?

When you moved in you were automatically supplied by the current supplier.

If you switch to another it takes about 3 weeks?

It looks like BG were the supplier and you owe money to them as they are supplying your energy and Octopus are supplying nothing but taking your money?

You appear?  to made a really basic expensive mistake. Sorry.

You now need to contact BG ASAP register with them and supply your opening readings.

Ask them to put you on a tariff with no exit fees, So no problems when you switch away.

Pay them what you legally owe. Before you find yourself in legal proceedings.

You will have to pay for what you have used. However any payments to Octopus will be refunded.

You are on an initial expensive standard tariff with BG as a new customer. They will have cheaper ones.  But once all is settled you will be free to switch to an other supplier perhaps even Octopus?

I would use the CAB and Switch with Which sites  for a FULL comparison of suppliers using kWh per annum

Were they your old supplier and you told them the moving in date before actually moving in?

There is no breach of GDPR as they probably got your name from previous owners and they knew the address as they are the ones legally supplying it.

MWT

RockyNine said:

Hi, we moved in to our new property in February. From day 1 we had Octopus energy supplying our gas and electricity and have been paying them monthly.

That isn't actually possible.

When you move into a new house and start to use energy you enter a deemed contract with the existing supplier.

Only after you have registered a new account with that supplier can you switch to your preferred supplier...

So yes, if BG were the existing supplier you do have a contract with them and you do most likely owe them money...

Reed_Richards

RockyNine said:

Hi, we moved in to our new property in February. From day 1 we had Octopus energy supplying our gas and electricity and have been paying them monthly. 

If you look at the first bill you got from Octopus, it should state the date on which they started as your supplier and it won't be the day you moved in.  

MWT

Octopus are one of the suppliers who tries to buck the system though:

https://octopus.energy/blog/moving-house-heres-what-you-need-know/

It can work but also can fail with messy results.

I would suggest the OP checks who is actually registered as his supplier as this approach can result is a failed switch...

Gerry1

MWT said:

Octopus are one of the suppliers who tries to buck the system though:

https://octopus.energy/blog/moving-house-heres-what-you-need-know/

It can work but also can fail with messy results.

Seems a bit dodgy because the new owner will not yet have obtained possession and therefore Octopus will be trying to take over the supply of a third party.

If Ofgem were any good they'd have instigated a system that switched over by the end of the next working day and backdated it to the time of the request having been submitted.  The 14-day cooling off period would also be retrospective.

bagand96

Wonder if the OP had Octopus at their previous property and has fallen for their confusing "take us with you" process?

As others have pointed out, you can't take a supplier with you as such, if British Gas were the supplier at the time.yiu became responsible for the bills then you had a deemed contract with them. The bill is likely for the time between you becoming responsible for the property, and Octopus taking over the supply. 

It is worth sense checking the bills against the readings at your move in date and what reads Octopus have started billing from. Could get a bit complicated if you've already payed octopus for the energy BG are billing for!

Hasbeen

bagand96 said:

Wonder if the OP had Octopus at their previous property and has fallen for their confusing "take us with you" process?

As others have pointed out, you can't take a supplier with you as such, if British Gas were the supplier at the time.yiu became responsible for the bills then you had a deemed contract with them. The bill is likely for the time between you becoming responsible for the property, and Octopus taking over the supply. 

It is worth sense checking the bills against the readings at your move in date and what reads Octopus have started billing from. Could get a bit complicated if you've already payed octopus for the energy BG are billing for!

Hopefully the OP will come back with details. 

 As suggested perhaps confused by Octopus wording and did not understand you have to register with incumbent supplier first?

Details below Octopus:

First thing to remember when moving house is that you won't lose supply. The existing provider will keep supplying the property until you tell them otherwise.

If you're moving out of a house we supply

Let us know you're moving house online, whether you want to take us with you to your new property or not. This will help us close your current account, and start switching the supply at your new place if you want too.

Ideally, we'd like to know 17 days before you move, so we can start supplying your new place from the day you move in. But giving less notice or telling us after you've already moved is fine, too. There's loads more information on our blog.