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

GingerTim

Another consideration is that the longer this goes unresolved amid price rises, the more expensive the last 12 months' worth of usage becomes.

I would certainly rather have paid 12 months at 3p/kwh than, say, 15p/kwh.

k_man

GingerTim said:

Another consideration is that the longer this goes unresolved amid price rises, the more expensive the last 12 months' worth of usage becomes.

I would certainly rather have paid 12 months at 3p/kwh than, say, 15p/kwh.

 Back billing would normally be pro rated at the prevailing rates. So should cost the same as if paid/billed normally.
 So, while not advocating this approach, doing it sooner rather than later just means playing more in total (assuming back billing applies).

MWT

GingerTim said:

Another consideration is that the longer this goes unresolved amid price rises, the more expensive the last 12 months' worth of usage becomes.

I would certainly rather have paid 12 months at 3p/kwh than, say, 15p/kwh.

... except the OP has no intention of reporting the problem to BG, so from their point of view there is no advantage to paying it now as they would then have to pay for future years, where staying quiet and continuing to use energy they have no intention of paying for results in a lower overall cost...

This whole thread is not about identifying the liability of getting it sorted out, it is all about the risk of saying nothing, and the preponderance of answers says the risk is low, so saying nothing will be the result...

Mobtr

wild666 said:

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.

Wasn’t sure how it worked with BG as never been supplied by them. So us it obvious there is more than one account on there? 

dave77238u38

The Gas meter is recording daily readings, logging that data and sending it to BG (this can be seen on my online account)

I also receive " every year", a yearly "Annual Summary" from BG which shows the amount of Gas consumed for that period and the amount in £s. But these summary’s state “Don’t worry - this isn’t a bill. It’s Just for your information".   

The period for Aug 2021 to Aug 2022 is £823.99  @  7.490p  per Kwh

So, I do have the current data for a 12-month period to assist with back billing.

BG have all the data they need to bill me. They have meter readings which are uploaded daily via the gas smart meter.

Clearly the issue is their end, (not mine).

I believe, BG will have a hard time proving I have acted unreasonable, as all the information they need to correctly bill me is being recorded and sent to BG.    

in_my_bumble_opinion

Mobtr said:

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 

BG employs about 30,000 people and uses advanced systems to monitor and bill accounts. They have obviously failed to provide a proper service in this instance. If Energy providers were allowed to get away with such poor service scot-free it would be a bad thing for all of us in the end.

How much time/effort an individual account-holder is willing to spend trying to fix this kind of scenario is a little bit 'how long is a piece of string'. The fundamental fault lies with the provider and the 12 month rule will almost certainly apply (as it should).

pochase

dave77238u38 said:

The Gas meter is recording daily readings, logging that data and sending it to BG (this can be seen on my online account)

I also receive " every year", a yearly "Annual Summary" from BG which shows the amount of Gas consumed for that period and the amount in £s. But these summary’s state “Don’t worry - this isn’t a bill. It’s Just for your information".   

The period for Aug 2021 to Aug 2022 is £823.99  @  7.490p  per Kwh

So, I do have the current data for a 12-month period to assist with back billing.

BG have all the data they need to bill me. They have meter readings which are uploaded daily via the gas smart meter.

Clearly the issue is their end, (not mine).

I believe, BG will have a hard time proving I have acted unreasonable, as all the information they need to correctly bill me is being recorded and sent to BG.    

So they have informed you how much you (would) owe, they just gave not send the bill.

If you follow the arguments of those here who say that back billing is to avoid the shock of sudden high bills, that will not be the case for you, as you have been made aware of what you owe.

peter_the_piper

Just my 2 pennyworth.

Had BG not sent me a bill I would wonder why not. Is the OP on a DDebit or payment on bill? Anyway it does not matter how the payment was set up I would have been onto them so often they would send me a bill just to get rid of me. Its obvious the OP owes the money so why not push for the bills.