Back-Billing Rule, No Gas bill from British Gas for 3 years

gj373

dave77238u38 said:

Cardew said:

dave77238u38 said:

Feelings don’t come in to it, morally yes, I should inform BS to their error. But legally there is nothing written into law or any statue compelling me to do so.

So, relying solely on the law/statue in place I personally believe that the Back-Billing Rule would apply putting all feeling and morals to the side.

I understand your argument, however IMO it is not a 'law/statute' but a code of conduct.

Should BG - or a Debt collection Agency(DCA)  - ever take the matter to court I suspect you would lose.

It would never get that far,  

First of all I would negotiate with BS around The Back-Billing Rule and see if an agreement can be made.

Second, before any party steps a foot into a civil court, ether party can request mediation, which would likely happen in this case anyway, considering the circumstances  surrounding it  

Then why do you even care? Just continue to enjoy your "free" gas.

dave77238u38

deano2099 said:

MWT said:

dave77238u38 said:

Wilfully avoided payment.

I cannot wilfully avoid payment, as there is no bill to pay. I have not refused or wilfully neglected to pay the bill as it does not exist at present.

Seems like a pretty clear case of wilfully avoiding payment, you know you are using the energy, you know you should pay for it, you know there is a problem with your account but you are doing nothing to get it fixed...

You don't need a bill to know there is payment due...

Once again, these rules are not there to protect you from paying for what you know you should be paying for, they are there to prevent bill-shock, this is not that.

Morally, the fact this thread exists demonstrates the OP knows he should be paying but isn't. But in reality, unless his posts are somehow traced back, it'd be down to BG to prove that he was doing this wilfully which would seem to be challenging. Especially as presumably he's paying BG for electric, so he's paying for energy, he could argue that he'd assumed he was paying for both. I know that's a mistake no-one here would make but it's not entirely unreasonable.

I think people are are under something of a misapprehension about why the OP is asking this. It sounds to me like he has absolutely no intention of notifying BG at any point about this. It also sounds like he's been saving an amount of money to cover his usage should BG come calling at any point. It feels like he's basically asking "should I hang on to all of it, or just twelve months' worth?"

Thank you,
That's exactly the point I was making.  
I have no intention of notifying BG.
If / When BG come calling and there is a chance that I would only have to pay 12 months for Gas, then sorry I'm going to take that chance.
I do have funds to cover the cost, But I would also fight my corner when it comes to the Back- Billing Rule.
Morally some people here may not agree with this attitude, but as everyone here is aware these company's make billions in profit, and If I can save some money to put towards other cost's, I will.
   

Mstty

Just had a quick read, putting the morality aside I do believe once they notice you will just have to pay 12 months.

JohnPo

I am no expert, but if you send a letter by post simply asking for an up to date bill simply quoting your name and address, and assuming nothing happens, and you do that every quarter, then job done in terms of your responsibility.

Probably worth also getting a free certificate of posting at a post office for you records.

SAC2334

dave77238u38 said:

Let me be clear here. 

I have never obstructed British gas from requiring a meter reading.  They have never asked or sent anyone around to take a reading. There is no legal requirement for the consumer to send readings to their supplier voluntarily,   

But saying that, It is a legal requirement to let a meter reader in if the supplier has requested a reading to be taken at least once a year.
If the supplier demands meter readings more than once within a one year period you have a right to refuse entry.

I have not been Unreasonable either, Once I was aware that the gas meter was not requesting payment to be topped up, I called British Gas to inform them, "I was told that the new Gas meter was installed and set-up as a standard meter (no longer pre-pay), I was asked "if I was ok with this, and I would now be receiving a gas bill every quarter, "  to which I agreed.

I have never received a bill or refused to pay a bill, They have not sent me a statement of account, or told me that moneys are overdue/owed or to be paid. 

British gas is a multi-billion-pound company, it’s not down to me to sort out their database or billing system.

As far as I can see I have not been obstructive, Unreasonable, refused to pay on request or refused entry to a meter reader.


If, and when they manage to sort their error out I will pay the bill, But only under the terms of the Back-Billing Rule.

  

You appear to have done your homework on how often suppliers can come and ask to  enter  to both check the meter for tampers or check the meter for faults or take readings .
. 
You are wrong that it is only once a year

OFGEM kept changing these rules but as former BG meter reader for 20 years , *( now retired ), when I left it was all changed to "when the supplier deems it necessary  " and not to any particular time limit .

They can call once a month if they think its necessary or once every 10 years and that is why  many people don t see a meter reader in 10 years or more  . Their  accounts are in good order with normal usage for the size of the property and they either obtain a smart meter reading or customers supply at least 4 readings a year. 

If you look through the small print of the Terms and Conditions of Supply you will see these conditions which every supplier has to adhere to ,and one to look for is where they say that they or their agents can inspect their equipment at a reasonable time on demand .
You are also obliged to make a "reasonable " attempt to inform of a faulty meter. One call to customer service in three years is not what I would call reasonable .

Personally  I don t think they will back bill mainly because it does nt look good on them for a property to go 3 years without establishing what is faulty with the meter or do a safety check IF the case gets elevated to an Ombudsman decision .

I have seen hundreds of prepayment meters do what your s has done and malfunction and allow unpaid for energy and mostly they get away with no back billing and many are much longer than 3 years  . Suppliers seem happy to just scrap what they are owed 

in_my_bumble_opinion

BG have failed to provide you with accurate billing (or indeed any billing). 

A lot of people in this thread focusing on the customer's responsibility to sort this out. What about BG's responsibilities here? They have failed to provide a proper service (part of which is ensuring customers are billed correctly). Their obligations don't end with just supplying the gas. Doubtless some here (including me) might have made more of an effort to sort this, but the fact remains that BG have made no effort to sort it.

Highly unlikely you'll have to pay for more than 12 months when this gets cleared up.

Mobtr

in_my_bumble_opinion said:

BG have failed to provide you with accurate billing (or indeed any billing). 

A lot of people in this thread focusing on the customer's responsibility to sort this out. What about BG's responsibilities here? They have failed to provide a proper service (part of which is ensuring customers are billed correctly). Their obligations don't end with just supplying the gas. Doubtless some here (including me) might have made more of an effort to sort this, but the fact remains that BG have made no effort to sort it.

Highly unlikely you'll have to pay for more than 12 months when this gets cleared up.

The flip side is the BG have millions of accounts to maintain, the OP has 1. It’s a lot easier for the OP to know he’s not getting billed than BG 

wild666

I think the OP said that BG told them that the meter was a credit meter and BG haven't raised a bill so IMHO back billing rules will apply as it's solely BG fault in not billing the customer every month/quarter/ 6 months whichever is the case. 
I hope the OP has a 12 month old reading that they can challenge BG with regards back billing and that the reading they give is all the gas they should pay for.
If it's smart meters then BG might try for the full amount but complain saying that they had access to the readings at any time because of the smart meters and it's their fault that they never produced a bill, even escalate it to the ombudsman after 8 weeks. BG could even try the back billing at the present rates and not account for October 21 bill at the April 2022 rates which if you won a back-billing case they would have to work out at the rates using the 12months/ 6 months rates.

Mstty

This is all down to BG, the OP should collect the data from the new meter to work out his 12 month use and put that away. Adding to it as we move through the price cap rises to match.

Then when it comes to BG finally finishing their job the OP can arrange to pay back the debt over a number of months. Until then enjoy the interest as it returns to saving accounts👍

wild666

Mobtr said:

Usually when a PP meter is exchanged & set up as credit, the PP account is closed and a new account with a new account number is set up.

You say you logged onto your online account, but is that under your old PP number? . 

Due to the pandemic no one was coming round to read meters or to do much else so that will be why no meter reader has been round.  

Could be that a new account has been set up but you can’t see it on your online account - not sure how it works with BG, whether you can see all accounts under one log in or not- and bills have been produced, you just haven’t seen them or could be there’s been an issue in updating the account which has stopped the billing process. More likely the latter as I would have expected someone knocking on your door by now if you haven’t paid for 3 years. 

You need to ring them & try to speak to someone who’s experienced & knows what they’re doing to get it sorted out. Good luck & let us know how you get on. 

Old accounts should be available under the login details. When I was with BG my old account was available on the same login details from an old address and when I changed to smart meters in 2015. Water bills are the same you can see old address accounts when logging in.