British Gas want me to settle final bill based on estimated reading??

molerat

BG billing even made BBC Breakfast this morning threatening debt collectors on a pensioner over incorrect bills.

wild666

When you give final readings take photo's of the readings and save them as final reading(DATE) , when I left one supplier I gave readings at 23:58 on the last day I was with that supplier. The supplier tried to claim that the reading was different to the one I gave them so I went to the ombudsman and submitted my info and the two photo's I had taken at the time of taking the readings, they found in my favour. 
Sometimes readings cannot be taken as close to midnight for reasons like working shifts and the person is on a shift that finishes at 02:00 on the day of the move.

FreeBear

Swipe said:

I'd just ask for a deadlock letter and then go straight to the ombudsman and open a case with them. Not worth the hassle trying to reason with them as they won't back down easily even though you raising it with the ombudsman will cost them money.

No need for a deadlock letter - The complaint has been ongoing since January, so considerably more than the 8 weeks that the ombudsman stipulates. So go start a case with the EO now.

itm2

FreeBear said:

Swipe said:

I'd just ask for a deadlock letter and then go straight to the ombudsman and open a case with them. Not worth the hassle trying to reason with them as they won't back down easily even though you raising it with the ombudsman will cost them money.

No need for a deadlock letter - The complaint has been ongoing since January, so considerably more than the 8 weeks that the ombudsman stipulates. So go start a case with the EO now.

Yes I think I will have to....

I sent another email a couple of days ago, repeating for the 3rd/4th/5th time Ofgem's back-billing rules, and the case handler has simply asked me again to provide 2 meter readings, 7 days apart, so that they can estimate my final bill. I can't work out whether my case handler is not reading my emails, not understanding my emails, or is actually an exceptionally poor AI chatbot.

FreeBear

itm2 said:

FreeBear said:

Swipe said:

I'd just ask for a deadlock letter and then go straight to the ombudsman and open a case with them. Not worth the hassle trying to reason with them as they won't back down easily even though you raising it with the ombudsman will cost them money.

No need for a deadlock letter - The complaint has been ongoing since January, so considerably more than the 8 weeks that the ombudsman stipulates. So go start a case with the EO now.

Yes I think I will have to....

I sent another email a couple of days ago, repeating for the 3rd/4th/5th time Ofgem's back-billing rules

Back billing rules do not come in to it. Simply, the closing readings used by BG must match the opening readings with the new supplier.

itm2

FreeBear said:

itm2 said:

FreeBear said:

Swipe said:

I'd just ask for a deadlock letter and then go straight to the ombudsman and open a case with them. Not worth the hassle trying to reason with them as they won't back down easily even though you raising it with the ombudsman will cost them money.

No need for a deadlock letter - The complaint has been ongoing since January, so considerably more than the 8 weeks that the ombudsman stipulates. So go start a case with the EO now.

Yes I think I will have to....

I sent another email a couple of days ago, repeating for the 3rd/4th/5th time Ofgem's back-billing rules

Back billing rules do not come in to it. Simply, the closing readings used by BG must match the opening readings with the new supplier.

I think the back-billing rules apply because, even if British Gas finally manage to send me a correct bill which uses the actual readings supplied at the time, I am not obliged to pay it if the bill was raised more than 12 months after the energy was consumed?

BarelySentientAI

itm2 said:

FreeBear said:

itm2 said:

FreeBear said:

Swipe said:

I'd just ask for a deadlock letter and then go straight to the ombudsman and open a case with them. Not worth the hassle trying to reason with them as they won't back down easily even though you raising it with the ombudsman will cost them money.

No need for a deadlock letter - The complaint has been ongoing since January, so considerably more than the 8 weeks that the ombudsman stipulates. So go start a case with the EO now.

Yes I think I will have to....

I sent another email a couple of days ago, repeating for the 3rd/4th/5th time Ofgem's back-billing rules

Back billing rules do not come in to it. Simply, the closing readings used by BG must match the opening readings with the new supplier.

I think the back-billing rules apply because, even if British Gas finally manage to send me a correct bill which uses the actual readings supplied at the time, I am not obliged to pay it if the bill was raised more than 12 months after the energy was consumed?

You're not obliged to pay for anything that had not already been billed, if more than 12 months ago, but any payments made or credit balances held can be used against it.  Sort of - it's actually quite complex where and how it applies.

As far as I can see, you're trying to get them to use a lower number, so they have already billed you for everything that you agree should have been paid - so BB doesn't help you.

If you keep repeating rules that don't apply, it's unlikely to help your case progress.

As FreeBear says, this is entirely about matching up the closing/opening readings (which should happen through the Mysterious Third Party).

itm2

This is from the Ofgem website (https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/what-do-if-you-get-back-bill):

These rules set out when a supplier can charge you for any shortfalls in payment for energy you’ve used.

You cannot be charged for energy used more than 12 months ago if:

• you have not had an accurate bill for it before, even though you asked for one
• you have not been informed about any charges due via a statement of account before
• your Direct Debit amount was previously set too low to cover any charges due

Suppliers must make these rules clear in their contract terms and conditions.

When you say that I am quoting rules that don't apply, what do you mean?

BarelySentientAI

itm2 said:

This is from the Ofgem website (https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/what-do-if-you-get-back-bill):

These rules set out when a supplier can charge you for any shortfalls in payment for energy you’ve used.

You cannot be charged for energy used more than 12 months ago if:

• you have not had an accurate bill for it before, even though you asked for one
• you have not been informed about any charges due via a statement of account before
• your Direct Debit amount was previously set too low to cover any charges due

Suppliers must make these rules clear in their contract terms and conditions.

You have been informed about charges due.  This is not a "bill shock" which is what the back billing rules are designed to mitigate.

itm2

BarelySentientAI said:

itm2 said:

This is from the Ofgem website (https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/what-do-if-you-get-back-bill):

These rules set out when a supplier can charge you for any shortfalls in payment for energy you’ve used.

You cannot be charged for energy used more than 12 months ago if:

• you have not had an accurate bill for it before, even though you asked for one
• you have not been informed about any charges due via a statement of account before
• your Direct Debit amount was previously set too low to cover any charges due

Suppliers must make these rules clear in their contract terms and conditions.

You have been informed about charges due.  This is not a "bill shock" which is what the back billing rules are designed to mitigate.

BG didn't bill me anything for gas usage from December 14th 2022 to the end of my contract on June 14th 2023. I was paying a monthly fixed direct debit the whole time. I then heard nothing until January 2024, when they sent me a £700 bill for gas usage (based on a wildly inaccurate estimate). If that isn't bill shock then I'm really not sure what "bill shock" means.
What am I missing here?