British Gas Bill Demand from April 2021

deftonepea

Morning all. I’ve received a letter today from a debt collection agency for an amount of £200 that British Gas state I owe them from Feb to April 2021. I have received some emails from them over the past few months but
because I am not supplied by them I assumed they were a phishing scam. Obviously we are outside of the 12 months of back billing but am I able to use that consumer protection as a reason to push back at BG? The charge appears to come from when my previous supplier went bust. 

luvchocolate

Were you supplied by BG or a supplier who went out of business and transferred to BG during that period?

molerat

If it is from your previous failed supplier then back billing does not apply.  Do you owe the money ?

deftonepea

luvchocolate said:

Were you supplied by BG or a supplier who went out of business and transferred to BG during that period?

Yes that’s correct. I am sure a payment was made with them but my internet banking doesn’t go that far back to check annoyingly. Does seem odd that it’s taken them this long to decide to bill me for that usage and since then my meters have been changed. Guessing I have no legal right not to be charged this

deftonepea

molerat said:

If it is from your previous failed supplier then back billing does not apply.  Do you owe the money ?

We were transferred to BG after Simplicity went bust. 

deftonepea

So after digging deeper into this BG allegedly sent me a bill on 22nd April 2021. This was never sent via email or letter to myself. I only know this as I’ve re-registered my old BG Evolve account and found the information online. I find this very odd as it has taken them
17 months to come asking for that money from me.

EssexHebridean

deftonepea said:

Morning all. I’ve received a letter today from a debt collection agency for an amount of £200 that British Gas state I owe them from Feb to April 2021. I have received some emails from them over the past few months but
because I am not supplied by them I assumed they were a phishing scam. Obviously we are outside of the 12 months of back billing but am I able to use that consumer protection as a reason to push back at BG? The charge appears to come from when my previous supplier went bust. 

One for the debt free wannabe board. If you head over there you will find a "sticky" post at the top of the board which has letter templates in it - the one you want is a "prove it" letter. If it IS a fishing trip then that will likely mean you never hear anything more from them - if it's genuine then they'll get back to you with more information which will help to inform your next steps. Don't be tempted to add additional information to the letter by the way - leave THEM to provide YOU with the info - don't give them anything that might help them build a backstory!

It sounds as though it might turn out that you could owe money, but equally, there have been a lot of cases of DCA's just sending out correspondance because they know that if you fling enough mud at the wall, some will stick - ie, send out 100 letters and probably 5 people will just pay up because they're frightened not to/think it's easier/don't realise they can challenge it. If it's legitimate, then they will be able to send you the paperwork that confirms things. 

ariarnia

completely agree with @EssexHebridean about going to the debt free board. this is the letter. https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2607247/letter-when-you-know-nothing-about-about-the-debt-aka-prove-it-letter or you can start a thread over there to keep the letter and any response you get together if you need help or have questions. there a friendly bunch  

i also wanted to say that your banking app might not go back that far but they might be on the web portal if you know your log in details. or you can contact your bank by phone or call into a branch who will have records back at least 5 years (if you had the account that long) and should be able to send you pdfs or paper copies of the right time (they used to be able to charge a postage fee of a couple of quid but i just had a quick look at barclays and it looks like they at least dont charge anymore).  

deftonepea

EssexHebridean said:

deftonepea said:

Morning all. I’ve received a letter today from a debt collection agency for an amount of £200 that British Gas state I owe them from Feb to April 2021. I have received some emails from them over the past few months but
because I am not supplied by them I assumed they were a phishing scam. Obviously we are outside of the 12 months of back billing but am I able to use that consumer protection as a reason to push back at BG? The charge appears to come from when my previous supplier went bust. 

One for the debt free wannabe board. If you head over there you will find a "sticky" post at the top of the board which has letter templates in it - the one you want is a "prove it" letter. If it IS a fishing trip then that will likely mean you never hear anything more from them - if it's genuine then they'll get back to you with more information which will help to inform your next steps. Don't be tempted to add additional information to the letter by the way - leave THEM to provide YOU with the info - don't give them anything that might help them build a backstory!

It sounds as though it might turn out that you could owe money, but equally, there have been a lot of cases of DCA's just sending out correspondance because they know that if you fling enough mud at the wall, some will stick - ie, send out 100 letters and probably 5 people will just pay up because they're frightened not to/think it's easier/don't realise they can challenge it. If it's legitimate, then they will be able to send you the paperwork that confirms things. 

Thank you for that advice.