When is it too late to correct an estimated bill?

alsa1

I moved into a new property on January 1st this year and called British Gas, as soon as their letter to the occupier arrived, to set up my new account. I gave them the opening meter readings and started to pay by Direct Debit.

In April I received the quarterly statement, but completely forgot to check the opening reads. Just recently I received the next quarter's statement and opened the April one again, noticing that they used estimated reads when opening my account that have meant I have been overcharged on both gas & electric. I tried online chat but the agent said I would have to call, which always has a long wait. But is it generally too late to challenge the opening reads even though I received statements rather than a bill? I do have photos of both meters on the day I moved in.

sienew

It isn't too late. You have proof so if you submit that they should adjust your bill accordingly.  I believe British Gas have decent customer service through twitter.

[Deleted User]

alsa1 said:

I moved into a new property on January 1st this year and called British Gas, as soon as their letter to the occupier arrived, to set up my new account. I gave them the opening meter readings and started to pay by Direct Debit.

In April I received the quarterly statement, but completely forgot to check the opening reads. Just recently I received the next quarter's statement and opened the April one again, noticing that they used estimated reads when opening my account that have meant I have been overcharged on both gas & electric. I tried online chat but the agent said I would have to call, which always has a long wait. But is it generally too late to challenge the opening reads even though I received statements rather than a bill? I do have photos of both meters on the day I moved in.

Your post is confusing. When you contacted BG, did you provide them with the readings? Were the readings that you provided when you received a letter to the occupier (which you shouldn’t have responded to) the readings taken on the 1st January: did you make it clear to BG that the readings were for the 1st January? If not, BG would have assumed that the readings were for the day of submission - hence, estimated readings for the 1st January.

Letters to Occupiers are normally sent out when the new occupier hasn’t made contact with the deemed supplier. 

alsa1

Dolor said:

alsa1 said:

I moved into a new property on January 1st this year and called British Gas, as soon as their letter to the occupier arrived, to set up my new account. I gave them the opening meter readings and started to pay by Direct Debit.

In April I received the quarterly statement, but completely forgot to check the opening reads. Just recently I received the next quarter's statement and opened the April one again, noticing that they used estimated reads when opening my account that have meant I have been overcharged on both gas & electric. I tried online chat but the agent said I would have to call, which always has a long wait. But is it generally too late to challenge the opening reads even though I received statements rather than a bill? I do have photos of both meters on the day I moved in.

Your post is confusing. When you contacted BG, did you provide them with the readings? Were the readings that you provided when you received a letter to the occupier (which you shouldn’t have responded to) the readings taken on the 1st January: did you make it clear to BG that the readings were for the 1st January? If not, BG would have assumed that the readings were for the day of submission - hence, estimated readings for the 1st January.

Letters to Occupiers are normally sent out when the new occupier hasn’t made contact with the deemed supplier. 

Yes, I didn’t move in proper till later in the month and contacted them to tell them I was the new occupier, but I took photos on the first day of the month and was clear that these were the opening meter readings on the 1st of January

The operator also pretty clearly said on the call when she summarised at the end ‘that you have provided opening readings  for the 1st Jan’

So that’s why I don’t understand why they still estimated, and whether its too late to correct an opening read from 8 months ago

[Deleted User]

It is not too late to correct the readings. Was this a new property (that is, one you purchased from the builder) or a property that you took over from A N Other?

If the latter, then it is possible that the previous occupant provided a low reading (it happens) when they moved out. This is what the supplier has to resolve. Refer them back to your earlier conversation (they should have it on tape) and send them a photo of the readings (it would helpful if there was photo exif data). 

pochase

What are the readings been used by BG for the 1st of January, and what are the readings you submitted?