Being taking to court for extortionate Gas and Electric bill - please help.

BarelySentientAI

born_again said:

Scot_39 said:

LuisDiaz said:

I've managed to speak to my bank.

They have said the DD to BG was cancelled in May 2023 and it wasn't by the bank (nor myself), which leaves BG - which points to the system transfer BG carried out last year - I've asked the Bank if they can send something in writing to prove it was not either of us cancelling it (which I know it wasn't).

The new DD was setup in Jan 2024 and 6 payments have been taken since then totalling over 1k.

I've managed to get online and the last payment taken by BG was in May 2023 but there looks to also be what is showing as a ''reversal'' what does that mean ?


Prior to that, monthly DD have been taken on a regular basis, as far back as 2020.

If the DD payments to BG stopped in May 2023 and restarted in Jan 2024 (they began retaking DD payments this year, which the Bank statements clearly show),  BG are charging close to 5k for services between May 2023 - Dec 2023 ? (There maybe some overlap on either side ?) - that doesn't seem correct, does it ??

And, if the DD with BG, started again in Jan 2024, why have they issued court proceedings ?
It doesn't make any sense ?

Good.

But your total debt is not only the period they stopped taking payments (May 23 to Jan 24) but that added to any debt or credit before that date - and any debt due to the amount of the new direct debit being too low afterwards - edit which as warned above it appears to be.

So compare that 6 total Jan to now c£1000 DD vs the end Jan to Aug actual readings - my fag packet estimates above - suggest £100-£150 per month too low - lets say £100 and the 1Feb24 gas reading was correct..

And the date on the debt notice is for service until 14/08/24  - so goes beyond the last to Jun23, 2024 bill posted on page 3.

And @BarelySentientAI estimate based on June bill and estimates so includes more by nearly 2 months.  

Regarding the BG numbers.

On DD there was already something looking strange in May 2023  - the two DD attempts taken and refunded (see your image with red ring on 2440 image post)? - c 15th and c30th were those refused by your bank  - did the £391 go to and from your bank twice - or some internal BG glitch ?

If they "lost" the bank account details of bilking account - would their attempts be shown as such ?

Re you cannot see any payments since on BG  - can you confirm that's on both old and new accounts ?

AND/OR As one of my posts above can you supply opening and closing balances (and for * total energy usage charges) for the bills ending Jun 2024 and possibly Mar 2024(*)

For Jun It should be easy to spot if the DDs - 2 or 3 at c£170 are offsetting the c£970 usage charge - on the difference in  opening and closing balances.

It will either have increased by the c£970 - or less by n DD payments credited properly.

And that new DD at c£170 (£1000/6=166) were the 6 dates Feb to July  - so all consecutive - and taken before or after 23rd month ?

And remind me - exactly when did you move to new account system from old ?

No, as with no account details, BG have no way to request any payments from a bank.

DD's are requested by retailer, not sent by the bank 👍

Do you think if two payments were taken and then reversed, this might cause the DD to be cancelled by someone's system?

jimjames

LuisDiaz said:

I just don't understand how they have made such a huge bill and taken this to court...especially when they set me up on a new payment plan earlier this year... and which was because they had moved to me to a new system which cancelled the previous plan and DD. 

Another question, have you not had any communication from BG until that court letter? It seems very unusual to get to that stage without any attempt at collections or contact to advise next steps

LuisDiaz

jimjames said:

LuisDiaz said:

I just don't understand how they have made such a huge bill and taken this to court...especially when they set me up on a new payment plan earlier this year... and which was because they had moved to me to a new system which cancelled the previous plan and DD. 

Another question, have you not had any communication from BG until that court letter? It seems very unusual to get to that stage without any attempt at collections or contact to advise next steps

Yes, in January this year, I contacted them and that's when they informed me they had moved me to a new system which they said had cancelled the DD automatically.

They eventually put me through to someone who eventually put me on a new traffif and which we have been paying for ever since, we have paid over 1k.

That's the other thing, when they cancelled my DD, did they put me on a expensive traffif ? 
I don't know. I know posters here have said my consumption is high, I don't know that would be possible as we haven't added anything new to the house. But that's a side issue for now. All I know is something has gone terribly wrong. I need to check the numbers but it sounds like I could have been billed close to 7-8k worth of services for under 2 years from BG...

Thank you

BarelySentientAI

LuisDiaz said:

jimjames said:

LuisDiaz said:

I just don't understand how they have made such a huge bill and taken this to court...especially when they set me up on a new payment plan earlier this year... and which was because they had moved to me to a new system which cancelled the previous plan and DD. 

Another question, have you not had any communication from BG until that court letter? It seems very unusual to get to that stage without any attempt at collections or contact to advise next steps

Yes, in January I contacted them and that's when they informed me they had moved me to a new system which they said had cancelled the DD automatically. They put me on a new traffif which we have been paying for ever since. 

That's the other thing, when they cancelled my DD, did they put me on a expensive traffif.

I don't know. 

Your tariff looks pretty normal.

LuisDiaz

BarelySentientAI said:

born_again said:

Scot_39 said:

LuisDiaz said:

I've managed to speak to my bank.

They have said the DD to BG was cancelled in May 2023 and it wasn't by the bank (nor myself), which leaves BG - which points to the system transfer BG carried out last year - I've asked the Bank if they can send something in writing to prove it was not either of us cancelling it (which I know it wasn't).

The new DD was setup in Jan 2024 and 6 payments have been taken since then totalling over 1k.

I've managed to get online and the last payment taken by BG was in May 2023 but there looks to also be what is showing as a ''reversal'' what does that mean ?


Prior to that, monthly DD have been taken on a regular basis, as far back as 2020.

If the DD payments to BG stopped in May 2023 and restarted in Jan 2024 (they began retaking DD payments this year, which the Bank statements clearly show),  BG are charging close to 5k for services between May 2023 - Dec 2023 ? (There maybe some overlap on either side ?) - that doesn't seem correct, does it ??

And, if the DD with BG, started again in Jan 2024, why have they issued court proceedings ?
It doesn't make any sense ?

Good.

But your total debt is not only the period they stopped taking payments (May 23 to Jan 24) but that added to any debt or credit before that date - and any debt due to the amount of the new direct debit being too low afterwards - edit which as warned above it appears to be.

So compare that 6 total Jan to now c£1000 DD vs the end Jan to Aug actual readings - my fag packet estimates above - suggest £100-£150 per month too low - lets say £100 and the 1Feb24 gas reading was correct..

And the date on the debt notice is for service until 14/08/24  - so goes beyond the last to Jun23, 2024 bill posted on page 3.

And @BarelySentientAI estimate based on June bill and estimates so includes more by nearly 2 months.  

Regarding the BG numbers.

On DD there was already something looking strange in May 2023  - the two DD attempts taken and refunded (see your image with red ring on 2440 image post)? - c 15th and c30th were those refused by your bank  - did the £391 go to and from your bank twice - or some internal BG glitch ?

If they "lost" the bank account details of bilking account - would their attempts be shown as such ?

Re you cannot see any payments since on BG  - can you confirm that's on both old and new accounts ?

AND/OR As one of my posts above can you supply opening and closing balances (and for * total energy usage charges) for the bills ending Jun 2024 and possibly Mar 2024(*)

For Jun It should be easy to spot if the DDs - 2 or 3 at c£170 are offsetting the c£970 usage charge - on the difference in  opening and closing balances.

It will either have increased by the c£970 - or less by n DD payments credited properly.

And that new DD at c£170 (£1000/6=166) were the 6 dates Feb to July  - so all consecutive - and taken before or after 23rd month ?

And remind me - exactly when did you move to new account system from old ?

No, as with no account details, BG have no way to request any payments from a bank.

DD's are requested by retailer, not sent by the bank 👍

Do you think if two payments were taken and then reversed, this might cause the DD to be cancelled by someone's system?

Hi
Just to add here, my bank statement clearly shows BG taking payments from my bank for the last 6 or so months and BG advisors have seen the bank statements now and accept this now (they apologised) but now they can't get hold of the appropriate BG department to transfer the amount paid to the account it should be on.

They said the payments have gone to a BG business account, they spoke to the BG business team who said they can't do anything, as not with them and they can't help.

The BG Advisor has escalated it to a "billing specialist".

EssexHebridean

BarelySentientAI said:

LuisDiaz said:

jimjames said:

LuisDiaz said:

I just don't understand how they have made such a huge bill and taken this to court...especially when they set me up on a new payment plan earlier this year... and which was because they had moved to me to a new system which cancelled the previous plan and DD. 

Another question, have you not had any communication from BG until that court letter? It seems very unusual to get to that stage without any attempt at collections or contact to advise next steps

Yes, in January I contacted them and that's when they informed me they had moved me to a new system which they said had cancelled the DD automatically. They put me on a new traffif which we have been paying for ever since. 

That's the other thing, when they cancelled my DD, did they put me on a expensive traffif.

I don't know. 

Your tariff looks pretty normal.

Would the OP have been put onto “payment on receipt of bill” when the DD was cancelled though? That could be what is being referred to here? 

BarelySentientAI

EssexHebridean said:

BarelySentientAI said:

LuisDiaz said:

jimjames said:

LuisDiaz said:

I just don't understand how they have made such a huge bill and taken this to court...especially when they set me up on a new payment plan earlier this year... and which was because they had moved to me to a new system which cancelled the previous plan and DD. 

Another question, have you not had any communication from BG until that court letter? It seems very unusual to get to that stage without any attempt at collections or contact to advise next steps

Yes, in January I contacted them and that's when they informed me they had moved me to a new system which they said had cancelled the DD automatically. They put me on a new traffif which we have been paying for ever since. 

That's the other thing, when they cancelled my DD, did they put me on a expensive traffif.

I don't know. 

Your tariff looks pretty normal.

Would the OP have been put onto “payment on receipt of bill” when the DD was cancelled though? That could be what is being referred to here? 

That's quite plausible - I wouldn't describe that as being "put on an expensive tariff", but perhaps others would.

Reed_Richards

Is there such a thing as an "expensive tariff"?  If you had signed-up for a fixed rate tariff at the wrong time you might be paying more now that if you hadn't but that could reverse in October or January.

Scot_39

The OP notes from Jan - do refer to total annual costs for a couple of fixes - but not sure what plan was selected.

As above though - if prior to that since the May 23 DD problems - there is a possible risk - they may have ended up Standard Credit (they cancel, you cancel, its still no active DD on account) - has been more expensive than DD under the cap - but tge percentages have varied.

Right now it's 1568 vs 1668 - so 6%+.

But given OPs past DD when cancelled was £391 - even 5% near £20 a month - over the c7-8 months of non payment - say adding £135-£155.

[I still struggle to understand what went on for BG to set the new DD in the £175 range - against those past DD rates - but then cannot see the balance on bill with corrections for Jan readings (23 Mar 24 ) - after the 7-8m of non payment.]

And at 7m actual readings rate  rather than months of estimates - £290 Feb reading - £340pm Jan  - still pushing £100-135 (low over 7m, high over 8m) extra on bills at 5%.

It's not massive in scale of debt.

But it's £100+ reduction worth asking for.

MP1995

@LuisDiaz

Please follow up your complaint summarising everything that British Gas had said on the phone calls in an email to then. Also ask them to save those phones calls if needed for a later date.

Phone calls are OK but emails give you the proof you need and chase them for a response and that it has been added to your complaint.