I owe british gas money, but i am not a BG customer

Mike85

hi,

British gas wants me to pay £56 as they think that i owe them for the gas someone used in this rent before me. The problem is in this current rent i have never been a British gas costumer and even the previous place i had an octopus account for going back to 2018-19 or so. This time they threat to pass the debt to a debt collector for an additional £28 on top. How can i tell them once and for all that this is not my debt?

Thanks

Brie

You need to get them to explain why they think you owe the money.

I suspect that it may be if you moved to a new place and immediately switched to octopus or whomever but BG was responsible for your supply for a couple of weeks or something.  

You may need to provide them with a copy of your tenancy if they are looking at a period when you didn't actually rent the place to prove your point.  

BarelySentientAI

Mike85 said:

The problem is in this current rent i have never been a British gas costumer 

If the supply was by British Gas when you moved in, then you were a British Gas customer in that rent until you switched away.

In that case, the old tenant would have given a closing reading, and you should have given an opening reading (with the bit in between covered by the landlord).  Otherwise, they would have started billing you from the old tenant's last reading until the point you switched away.

Mike85

The agency have set me up with octopus energy from day 1 and i gave them a meter reading 2nd day i have moved in.

BarelySentientAI

Might sound like a silly question, but who did you plan to pay the 1st day's electricity to if you hadn't given Octopus a reading yet?

As Brie said - if the debt refers to time before you moved in then your tenancy agreement will prove it.  Who cares if they add £28 to the debt if it isn't yours to pay?

Mike85

i have the documents, with images from the meters before i moved in, and i just checked my 1st bill with octopus from 2020 december and indeed my 1st meter reading was identical with the number from the image, and 56 quid was more than a month worth of gas back then.

Reed_Richards

So do the final readings on the British Gas bill correspond with the images from your meters?  

Mike85

Reed_Richards said:

So do the final readings on the British Gas bill correspond with the images from your meters?  

there is no final bill attached, and i haven't been a british gas costumer for over 7 years, and never had a BG account on this address. this is only an email from no-reply@britishgas.co.uk with a link with payment details bank account and a phone number. i need to get my name off this, but some say it is a pain to phone them as they just want you to pay, if you contact them they will automatically take it as you are the debtor etc.

Scot_39

Normally if you handled the move to Octopus yourself you may well have been a British Gas customer if they were the existing supplier - who would automatically become your "deemed" supplier - for the initial few days or so - until any move dates and readings agreed with new and old supllier.


As you would normally have needed an account in your name at the deemed supplier to transfer from the deemed supplier to Octopus.



It is unclear who "owned" the supply, whether previous tennants or the landlord (agents?) the day before you moved in (more strictly the day your tenancy so legal liability started)  and trusting any of the above  to take readings and make these changes is fraught with potential dangers.


If you are sure of those day 1 readings - that they were taken on the day and have the dates and readings from Octopus billing you shouldn't be billed twice - as upto Octopus as new supplier and the old supllier to agree dates and readings and bill accordingly.

Have you talked to Octopus CS re what was agreed with old deemed supplier ( assuming that was BG)

But even if readings were taken - and reported correctly by the old tennant / landlord or agent if a void period etc  - BG may have reissued a final bill with corrections - as final bill corrections can be issued months after the event - e.g. if the previous responsible person had been previously billed on estimated readings for many months there could be a large catch up debt. 

That of course isn't really your responsibility - but the billing systems aren't always that intelligent - so can go to occupier or new occupant.


Once it is in their debt systems in your name - you - and only you - need to challenge  formally or risk escalation and credit file markers.

Now is not the time to not be engaging with them.

I'd go straight to formal complaint if still internal to BG - normal customer service might be able to issue you with the info they can see - but may be powerless to stop existing or further escalation.

If you have no bill for the £56 - who did BG send it to and at which address - former tennant, agent or landlord etc - have you asked the latter 2 if seen anything ?

You really need to contact BG - to get the details and to register with them a clear statement of your tenancy dates and day 1 readings - with your formal responsibility i.e. tenancy start dates (you are aware of course that may be different from day you moved in ) and day 1 readings.

Or make a formal "prove it" request from debt agency if gone to debt processing - especially if gone external to provide you with the evidence you actually owe that debt.

There are templates for "prove it" letters posted in the debt section of forum and other on line resources. 

leonj

The landlord owes if from the gap between tenancies so tell them