British Gas chasing a paid bill

harryy94

Hi. We recently moved house and took on the supply which was British Gas. We would have liked to have switched but going to wait out the energy crisis. However, we are now in a situation where they have started chasing me for non-payment of a bill that I have actually now paid twice. I've called twice and they have both said my account is in credit, never had a missed/late payment and not to worry, but they didn't seem to know why I was being chased so haven't filled me with confidence, and I am getting worried it will end up with debt collectors and I will take a big hit on my credit score (which is currently very good). Here is a timeline:

20/08/21 - We move into our new house.

Around 10/09/2021 - We receive our "Dear Occupier" letter asking us to register

20/09/2021 - I ring up and register our account, submit our meter readings and create a direct debit.

21/09/2021 - A bill is issued covering us from moving in until 21st for £138

25/09/2021 - I go online and make a debit card payment. I received an email confirming my payment and my balance is now 0.

06/10/2021 - I receive an email advising my account is now overdue. I panic a bit so pay using their link. I receive another email advising me the bill is now paid and fine. My balance is now in credit at £138. I have no reason to believe the email was a phishing attempt. The email address was genuine, they had my account details and the link was a valid British Gas link.

07/10/201 - I ring up to ask what had happened. She advised me she had no record of the email and confirmed payment for the bill was received on 25th September and there were no overdue payments or later markers. She offered to refund my 2nd payment but I declined thinking it would be good for some winter credit. 

25/10/2021 - I receive a letter dated 18th October threatening to pass my account over to a debt collection agency and charge me £13. My balance now sits at £126. I ring immediately and she assured me that my account was not in arrears and payment was confirmed 25th. She refunded my £13 so the balance is back at £138 and has raised a complaint. But she could not speak to why I am getting letters and has no knowledge or visibility of their debt collection. I asked for it in writing but the best I got was an SMS confirming everything we spoke about.

Has anybody had anything similar happen, and what was the result? I might just be over-worrying but I am scared now of my credit score taking a big hit. And this is the last thing I need just after purchasing a house. I am tempted to wait this week out and see if this complaint gets anywhere but looking for any advice on what I should do now. Thanks in advance.

MWT

Are the debt chasing letters addressed to you in your name?

Given the different amount being chased is it possible that they relate to a period before you took possession of the property?

Only other question, do you own your current property, or is it rented?

Reason I ask is that if it is owned and there was a gap between your purchase date and the moving in date, you are responsible for the charges from the date of purchase, not the moving in date.

harryy94

Yes, they are addressed to me and the account number matches my account number on the app and the amount matches the bill on my account. 

We own the house. We took meter readings on completion day (20th August). When we rang up, they said the owner before submitted the closing meter readings on 21st August but that our opening meter reads matched her closing meter reads so our billing began from those readings on the 21st. The bill covers 22nd August-19th September and said all future usage will be covered by Direct Debit.

Swipe

I'd make a formal complain and say if it's not resolved within 8 weeks you'll be going to the ombudsman. 

FreeBear

Swipe said: I'd make a formal complain and say if it's not resolved within 8 weeks you'll be going to the ombudsman. 

And do it in writing so that there is a paper trail. Phone calls are not enough.

harryy94

Thanks for your replies. Do you believe I should wait as planned to see if the existing complaint that the woman on the phone raised comes to any fruition? Or should I act straight away and raise a new complaint? Would you suggest emailing them somehow or should I write and post a letter to their head office?

FreeBear

Email or letter headed "Formal Complaint". You can tell them that the issue had already been raised via phone, but the response has been unsatisfactory to date.. Email is probably quicker, although doing both (email & letter) would be a belt'n'braces approach.

harryy94

Thanks for your advice. I have submitted an email complaint and will report back the outcome. I've had an auto-reply specifying I should hear back within 3 working days.

harryy94

So timeline update for today:

I had not received any correspondence back on my written complaint. I then received an email and text saying my account details are now passed to a debt collection agency and this is my very last chance to pay. Extremely frustrated now, I call again and try to talk to the complaints team, I end up being passed to the debt collections team. I explained the whole story and after a few minutes of silence and "hmming", she finally exclaims she knows what has happened. When my account was set up, the original bill should have been transferred into my new account and come out of my balance. However, the account creator did not do this so the bill sat outside my account. Whenever I made a payment, the payment was routed to my balance rather than the bill which then set off their debt chasing service. To remedy this, she closed my direct debit, paid the bill manually on her system and then re-created the direct debit. She now assures me the bill no longer exists. She also checked and confirmed that there haven't been any late markers sent to the CRAs and is confident it won't do it in the future, although assured me I can ring and have them recall them if it does happen.

I am cautiously optimistic this time as she definitely seemed to know what she was talking about and was able to fix the issue herself while on the phone, rather than having to pass it to another team. 

I will update this thread if anything else happens. And anybody reading this in the same situation, I would advise you to try to get in touch with the debt collection department rather than accounts as they seem to have more access and knowledge.