No gas or electricity bills for 3-years - new build

lautpaix

Me and my wife moved into a new build property about 3 years ago. We notified British Gas a few months after we moved and we received an email from the Managing Director of Customer Operations, David Kirwan (probably at the time), to thank us for letting BG know of our move and that they will a separate email with the account details, see text from email below;

Thanks for letting us know about your move.

We’re working on setting up your account in your new home. If we need anything else from you we’ll let you know. 

We’ll send a separate email letting you know how you can get started with your online account.

Thanks

Dave Kirwan
Managing Director, Customer Operations

As I never received the account details I subsequently replied to the email and I never received a response, this was in February 2019. Since then, we have been in touch via chat and phone with BG periodically to ask them to sort our our account and bill us. Notwithstanding the constant calls etc, we never received a bill until finally on the 4th of October 2021 we received a bill addressed to "The Occupier" with stratospheric charges dated as far as 2019.

My understanding is that;

1. I fulfilled my obligations by notifying BG that I moved into my new build property (the email is evidence of that) and tried to set-up an account.
2. The fact that the account I have not been billed is a customer services related issue.
3. Under OFGEMs back-billing ban they can only charge me for energy used in the past year and thats all.

After hours and hours on the phone and multiple calls to BG I think we know managed to sort the issue. We are scared we are about to get hit with a massive bill. I would be very grateful if anyone could help me with some advice or suggestions to deal with this issue.

Many thanks!

peter_the_piper

Were you able to supply meter readings to BG at any time since 2019?

MWT

Just to be clear, was British Gas the existing supplier at your new build property?

lautpaix said:

Me and my wife moved into a new build property about 3 years ago. We notified British Gas a few months after we moved ...

This bit suggests that perhaps BG were your previous supplier, rather than the existing supplier at your new address?

peter_the_piper

Details ofthe timeline to the original post would help as well.

BobT36

Also you should have been putting money away into an account, in-case they finally got it set up and you got landed with a "stratospheric bill". 

Only once fully cleared (by Ofgem's rules or something else) and up & running properly, would I then free up that money to be used.. 

tim_p

Assuming a meter would be at or around zero on a new build, what’s the reading(s) today?  You should be able to work out a worst case scenario of what you might owe. 

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.

When you moved into your new build, your gas/electricity would have been supplied by a company arranged by the builder or developer; and they normally pay that company for any energy used prior to you moving in.

The moment you moved in you are on a legally binding 'deemed contract' with that supplier. The procedure should be that you take meter readings the day you moved in and contact that supplier to set up an account. Then, and only then, can you switch to a supplier of your choice.

The important point is that you are liable for all your gas and electricity from the day you moved in; and on the 'deemed contract' you will be placed on that company's standard variable tariff - which is usually their most expensive tariff.

There have been many cases where there has been confusion between the developer, energy company and house occupant often means that the energy company are unaware the property exists.

It is not clear why you contacted BG ' a few months after you moved in'. Who told you BG were your supplier? and when? The letter you quote seems like the standard letter sent to customers who ask to join British Gas. The fact that you have just received a letter addressed to 'The Occupier' indicates that no action was taken after your earlier email; this is usually because they couldn't find your property by meter serial number.

It is possible that once they found out your house existed they sent a bill to the developer, who then told them it was sold on xxx date.

You are correct about back-billing for the past 12 months and the rules are here with the steps you should take:

  https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/check-energy-back-billing-rules

There is an important caveat shown in that link:

'The rules apply to household and small business energy customers.

They may not apply if you have behaved obstructively or unreasonably, preventing accurate billing.'

I suspect BG will take the position that either you or the developer are at fault and they have supplied energy since xxxxx. If that is the case it will be for the Ombudsman to make a ruling.

On the other hand BG might decide it is not worth the trouble and simply back-bill you for the last 12 months.

lautpaix

peter_the_piper said:

Were you able to supply meter readings to BG at any time since 2019?

Yes. I went through the process with them via their chat service. I gave them the meter readings taken at completion as well as serial numbers for both my meters.

lautpaix

MWT said:

Just to be clear, was British Gas the existing supplier at your new build property?

lautpaix said:

Me and my wife moved into a new build property about 3 years ago. We notified British Gas a few months after we moved ...

This bit suggests that perhaps BG were your previous supplier, rather than the existing supplier at your new address?

Sorry. British Gas is the existing supplier and we inherited from the builder.

lautpaix

Cardew said:

Welcome to the forum.

When you moved into your new build, your gas/electricity would have been supplied by a company arranged by the builder or developer; and they normally pay that company for any energy used prior to you moving in.

The moment you moved in you are on a legally binding 'deemed contract' with that supplier. The procedure should be that you take meter readings the day you moved in and contact that supplier to set up an account. Then, and only then, can you switch to a supplier of your choice.

The important point is that you are liable for all your gas and electricity from the day you moved in; and on the 'deemed contract' you will be placed on that company's standard variable tariff - which is usually their most expensive tariff.

There have been many cases where there has been confusion between the developer, energy company and house occupant often means that the energy company are unaware the property exists.

It is not clear why you contacted BG ' a few months after you moved in'. Who told you BG were your supplier? and when? The letter you quote seems like the standard letter sent to customers who ask to join British Gas. The fact that you have just received a letter addressed to 'The Occupier' indicates that no action was taken after your earlier email; this is usually because they couldn't find your property by meter serial number.

It is possible that once they found out your house existed they sent a bill to the developer, who then told them it was sold on xxx date.

You are correct about back-billing for the past 12 months and the rules are here with the steps you should take:

 

There is an important caveat shown in that link:

'The rules apply to household and small business energy customers.

They may not apply if you have behaved obstructively or unreasonably, preventing accurate billing.'

I suspect BG will take the position that either you or the developer are at fault and they have supplied energy since xxxxx. If that is the case it will be for the Ombudsman to make a ruling.

On the other hand BG might decide it is not worth the trouble and simply back-bill you for the last 12 months.

Thank you for your reply and the information. 

The developer made me aware that BG were the supplier at completion. I moved into my property in October 2018 and I seem to remember I contacted BG shortly after I moved in. Problem is that I have no evidence of that communication, the earliest I have is the email (which was sent to me in February 2019) that is actually addressed to my name. I tried contacting them a number of times through the years and I kept getting the same response "You will get an account number and a welcome letter in 7 days through the post" and nothing ever arrived. In hindsight I should've been more tenacious in getting this resolved, but i got fed up with it and start putting money on the side for the time the big bill arrived. I can see now that my lack of tenacity is probably going to cost me quite a lot more if back-billing rules dont apply.

I think we have behaved very forthcoming to them. Before I started looking into this issue recently (and learned about back-billing rules) I contacted them to say that the bills I received addressed to the occupier were lower than I was expecting, and that I just wanted to get the account under my name and the amounts right, so I can pay them what I know I owe. It is worth noting that I have I received 3no bills dated 4 Oct 2021, 5 of Nov 2021, 3 of Dec 2021, all with different amounts covering similar time periods, and different customer number references. When I made them aware of this they told me not to pay because it could potentially be a scam. I have not received any other bills apart from those since I moved in to my home in 2018. In every conversation I had with them I have given them the correct meter serial numbers and my completion meter readings.

Sea_Shell

lautpaix said:

peter_the_piper said:

Were you able to supply meter readings to BG at any time since 2019?

Yes. I went through the process with them via their chat service. I gave them the meter readings taken at completion as well as serial numbers for both my meters.

What do your meters read now?