British Gas not been taking my DD

GuitarPlayer1

After a couple months of not submitting a meter reading I did so end of June. I get my bill this morning and instead of the expected £250-300 I suddenly have a bill for £2200. 

My immediate thought is this is a mistake in the meter reading so I ring up to query it. 

The call handler first tells me I haven’t submitted a reading since October last year. I tell her this definitely isn’t the case but even so the monies still can’t be right.
After about half an hour on the phone we then ascertain that British Gas changed their billing system last year and were no longer able to take variable DD’s and since October they haven’t taken a payment from me, something I genuinely hadn’t realised. 
They have offered me “support” which amounts to dividing the amount I owe by a number of months and adding it to the standard monthly bill but my argument is their system changes and lack of contact have caused this oversight. Not once have they chased me for this money over the 8 months, whilst still providing the service, and if they had it would have been much easier to sort out. And it was me who made the call this morning so who knows when they would have highlighted it!

My question, before I escalate this to Ofgem, is does anyone else have experience of this situation and where do I stand?

EssexHebridean

First things first - does the bill tie up with the actual reading you have given this time - do the figures match, and is the amount of energy used within the period the bill covers correct when you look back at the last bill you did receive. 

Second thing - and I appreciate that hindsight is marvellous, but it suggests that you should probably have a bit of an overhaul of your finances generally. Even a cursory once a month run-through of your bank account would have confirmed that the DD wasn't being taken (as you would have realised your balance was £x higher than it should have been) and the situation could have been resolved a lot earlier, and without you receiving the shock that you have done now. Allowing that the DD was NOT being taken, is the money not still sitting in your bank ready to be able to pay the bill once you have checked it? 

Although you can certainly raise a formal complaint for them not having taken the DD, and not having notified you that they had been unable to take it, and you may well get some form of goodwill payment from them on that basis (don't expect a fortune for this, though) if the billed use matches the actual use, then you are going to need to pay for the energy you have used, I think. 

It might also be a good idea to think about getting smart meters installed if providing regular monthly readings is a bit of an issue - this really is a bit of a requirement for successfully using variable DD as a payment method, along with being able to budget to ensure that the "higher use months" through the winter are payable from money set aside against the purpose. 

Hoenir

GuitarPlayer1 said:

My question, before I escalate this to Ofgem, is does anyone else have experience of this situation and where do I stand?

To achieve what? In future be wise to check your bank statements more frequently. Given the amount involved surprising you didn't realise something was amiss. As that's a lot of extra money sitting in the bank account. 

PRAISETHESUN

Where do you stand? If you've used the energy then you need to pay for it. Check that the meter readings you've been billed for are accurate first, but then ultimately you need to make arrangements to pay the bill. What about the money you've saved by not having to pay for energy for the past 9 months? Can you use that to pay off your energy bill? IMO, BG have offered a fair solution to allow you to pay it off by installments. Yes their system changing may have contributed to the problem, but you also contributed by not checking that your bills were being paid on time.

As for escalating to Ofgem, they won't help. You need to exhaust the complaints process with BG first, and then escalate it to the Energy Ombudsman. Not sure how receptive they will be to your issue, but that's the process

https://www.britishgas.co.uk/complaints.html

Mark_d

Based on your expected monthly bill, £2200 sounds like a reasonable figure for the 8-9 months where your direct debit has not been taken.  Whilst the issue was caused by BG, I think you should just pay up for the energy you've used over the past 9 months.

My concern would be the credit reports.  What are your Experian/Equifax credit reports show in respect of your account with BG?

In terms of your complaint, are you just claiming that BG didn't take the DD and therefore allowed you to earn interest on the money for the last 8-9 months?  You could make a formal complaint to BG but it sounds like you haven't really lost out, so I'd expect the best you'd get is a very small goodwill gesture.

If BG don't handle your complaint correctly then you could escalate to the Energy Ombudsman.  Ofgem would not get involved in this small issue affecting a single customer.

tim_p

GuitarPlayer1 said:

<snip>

My question, before I escalate this to Ofgem, is does anyone else have experience of this situation and where do I stand?

you don’t deal with Ofgem, you deal with the energy ombudsman   

can you post some meter readings so we can see what’s going on please. 

MeteredOut

Once its confirmed the bill is correct based on your usage, if you do want to complain, make it solely about BG's incompetence in not stopping taking your DD, and you'll likely get £30-50 compensation/credit either from them directly wen you complain, or via the Ombudsman if they don't offer you enough.

You'll legally have to pay for the energy you used over those 8 months. BG have done the right thing in offering a repayment plan that works with your finances.

Ectophile

Ofgem's back billing rule allows a supplier to bill you up to 1 year after the gas or electricity was used.  BG are well within that year, so you don't have any grounds to get the bill written off.

HarryIb

As noted above, a major concern should be that BG have not reported you to the CRAs as being in arrears, and thereby - effectively - blacklisted you for future credit from any provider. If they have, note that fact in your complaint to the ombudsman.