Are energy companies allowed to send debt collectors/reduce credit score for an estimated bill?

dunstonh

Are energy companies allowed to send debt collectors/reduce credit score for an estimated bill?

Looking at that point solely, as the rest of it is difficult to follow...

Are energy companies allow to send debt collectors:  yes
Are energy companies allowed to reduce credit score:  no.   There is no such thing as a credit score. That is just marketing.    The energy company will have its default recorded on your credit file but its up to each future lender to decide what they make of that information.
Estimated bill is irrelevant to the default process.

  Due to my non payment of this estimated bill I have had my credit score reduced twice for persistent non payment.  

Not quite.
Due to non payment, they have recorded that default information on your credit file.     
The credit score you are seeing is just that particular firms scoring system.     Octopus didn't lower your score.   You going into default gave information that led to that particular firm deciding it didn't like that default and it reduced the score it gives you on its system.

Baffledbybills

Ok so there is no gas arriving at my boiler.  This means that the boiler wont work.  The meter readings are exactly the same as when Octopus took over all of the supplie because I have been unable to use any gas so therefore the meters have not changed. This has been the case since March 2022 when Octopus took over the supply for all of the property.

The property is a semi detached house that has been previously split into 4 flats.  Octopus know this and have already sent their engineer out and taken photos.  I have no idea why they will not send him again to get the supply back on. I am only able to pay for 1 account at a time which has been transfered to flat 4.  Flat 4 has no electric/bathroom fittings as the property is part renovated.  It is not an issue of not being able to afford to pay the bill but rather that they will only allow me to pay for one of the supplies.  I can afford to pay for the gas but I am not getting any (in flat 2 where I live).  I can not get the renovations finished as the builders need both electric and gas supply to finish the work.

Octopus have twice reduced my credit score because I refuse to pay this estimated bill.  I have asked them numerous times to allow me to pay for the gas supply that does come into my flat but I have not so far managed to do this.  I have the money, I have the central heating, I just don't have the gas.  This is now affecting other things such as my car insurance!!!
Octopus have recently fitted a smart electric meter but they also ask for a monthly meter reading which they also seem to not believe.  The gas meters are on the outside of the property so can be read at any time.  

My question is: how can they reduce my credit score and send round balifs on their estimated reading?

QrizB

You own the entire building, which was.formerly four flats?

And you have a live gas supply to Flat 4?

Are all four flats being converted back into a single dwelling? If so, you need your gas engineer to connect your gas appliances to the supply that previously served Flat 4. That is your supply and the others have been discontinued.

If I have misunderstood, please correct me.

masonic

Baffledbybills said:

Ok so there is no gas arriving at my boiler.  This means that the boiler wont work.  The meter readings are exactly the same as when Octopus took over all of the supplie because I have been unable to use any gas so therefore the meters have not changed. This has been the case since March 2022 when Octopus took over the supply for all of the property.

...

The gas meters are on the outside of the property so can be read at any time.

Then take a clear photograph of the meters showing the relevant readings. Then a bill based on the actual reading can be generated.

Baffledbybills said:

My question is: how can they reduce my credit score and send round balifs on their estimated reading?

As others have mentioned, it is not possible for them to reduce your credit score because they are not a credit reference agency. However, in the absence of an actual reading, they are entitled to use an estimate to generate a bill and report the resultant debit balance on your account to the credit reference agencies until such time as it is either paid or an accurate reading is supplied.

born_again

So there will still be standing charge to pay then.

Guessing that you own the whole property 🤷‍♀️

BellaBlondykeTheThird

I suspect if you cannot explain it simply to the very helpful and knowledgeable people here then that could be the issue dealing with Octopus.

You really need to be concise about what you have and what you want.

swingaloo

This gets more confusing with every post. You said your heating and hot water run from the boiler but now you say there is no supply to the boiler????

Ectophile

I get the impression that someone has bungled the conversion of four flats back into one house.  Three of the four gas supplies were disconnected.  But one of those was the supply that feeds to boiler.

So that there's a meter connected to nothing, and a boiler connected to a supply that's been capped.

Am I right?

Ultimately, the gas company isn't responsible for the pipework in your home.  If the boiler is connected to a capped supply, that's not their problem.

markin

QrizB said:

You own the entire building, which was.formerly four flats?

And you have a live gas supply to Flat 4?

Are all four flats being converted back into a single dwelling? If so, you need your gas engineer to connect your gas appliances to the supply that previously served Flat 4. That is your supply and the others have been discontinued.

If I have misunderstood, please correct me.

If this is correct then that is the meter number and reading they need, And its your responsibility to connect the live supply to your boiler, they are not responsible for pipe work after a meter. A 30 min job for your gas safe plumber.

MeteredOut

Ectophile said:

I get the impression that someone has bungled the conversion of four flats back into one house.  Three of the four gas supplies were disconnected.  But one of those was the supply that feeds to boiler.

So that there's a meter connected to nothing, and a boiler connected to a supply that's been capped.

Am I right?

Ultimately, the gas company isn't responsible for the pipework in your home.  If the boiler is connected to a capped supply, that's not their problem.

...and potentially still 4 sets of standing charges being paid if the disconnection was really bungled?