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

BarelySentientAI

LuisDiaz said:

LuisDiaz said:

I've been looking around the BG site and found some transaction history (it is limited) but it does show a colossal amount of ''2440.87'', which looks to have been added onto the account with no explanation ? What could this lump sum charge be ? Is this an error ?

And looking through some of my BS statements I've found, the DDs show my bills as, costs have creeped up towards end of 2022, though my usage levels have not changed, so I am not sure where the consumption would be coming from ? 

119 Nov 2021
119 Jan 2022
119 May 2022
266 Nov 2022
391 Dec 2022

I was thinking there should be a breakdown of such a large figure, the ''energy charges'' didn't explain enough for me, but maybe its the way I am reading it - so does that mean this amount has already been paid (and how has it been paid) - you're right, it is confusing.

There is a breakdown of the figure - the bill that you posted earlier.

wild666

If you can take daily or weekly reading from both meters and work out the kWh used even if both meters are reading in M3 it should be a simple calculation to work out the usage into pounds and pence eack week. There could be days where the electric and gas readings spike, for example one person uses a games console for hours or you have loads of washing to do, try using eco mode to use less electricity, or the gas needs to be on because of the cold weather. 
I do my electric usage daily as I have smart meters but the gas is weekly. 

LuisDiaz

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 ?

BarelySentientAI

LuisDiaz said:

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 ??

That isn't what it means.  I have explained to you where the £4000+ comes from.  It is not between May & Dec 2023.  Starting to take a DD does not mean no changes in account balance.

LuisDiaz said:

And, if the DD with BG, started again in Jan 2024, why have they issued court proceedings ?

Because there is a debt that they think you are not paying towards.  See next.

LuisDiaz said:

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

None of those payments are shown on the bills you posted.  As far as the bills you have shown us go, you have used nearly £4500 of energy without paying anything towards it.

Even if those payments are suddenly found and allocated correctly, you will still have nearly £3500 of debt according to your bills.

Robin9

If no DD was taken June 23 to Dec 24  then you should have 6 month's still sat in your bank  -  say £1000


I may have missed it but have you very recently given BG some readings ?   That will generate a new bill which may well be confusing as they cancel and reissue estimating what the readings were every time the tariff changes. 

MP1995

Robin9 said:

If no DD was taken June 23 to Dec 24  then you should have 6 month's still sat in your bank  -  say £1000


I may have missed it but have you very recently given BG some readings ?   That will generate a new bill which may well be confusing as they cancel and reissue estimating what the readings were every time the tariff changes. 

I would suggest the OP's initial post about the stress of being made redundant, keeping things together that they won't have that excess in the bank.

That's a bit.......ermmmmm

Scot_39

BarelySentientAI said:

So, very simply, to try and stop you distracting yourself.  Ignore every reading, every payment, and every bill before September 2023.

Your balance on 23 September 2023 was -£539.  Electricity reading 99909, gas reading 19948.

On 23 June 2024 (267 days later), your electricity reading was 07764, gas reading 21476.  No payments are recorded between September 2023 and June 2024.

267 days of standing charge is about £215.
7855 units of electricity is about £2350.
1528 m3 of gas is about 17000kWh, and costs about £1200

That makes your debt on 23 June 2024 about £4300.

Thanks, but am I missing some data here - as I cannot see the final sections of reissued Mar 24 or Jun 24 - showing payments section or even final balances- like on page 3 -  to confirm no payments ? 
(Perhaps deleted as not sufficiently redacted - as I came little late in evening into discussion).

And whilst I can see your rationale from those June estimates - and that is certainly very close to final demand from debt agency.

I see conflicts.

The OP has to be careful to defend the debt action - as it stands - i hope can access help in time to do so if needed.

But would it stand - and simply be adjusted for any amount corrections (like I suspect on electric) or account processing error - say on those DD taken - see it cancelled in some way - and process reset.

I have never gotten this far down the line but I assume OP will be given opportunity to challenge ?

BarelySentientAI

Scot_39 said:

BarelySentientAI said:

So, very simply, to try and stop you distracting yourself.  Ignore every reading, every payment, and every bill before September 2023.

Your balance on 23 September 2023 was -£539.  Electricity reading 99909, gas reading 19948.

On 23 June 2024 (267 days later), your electricity reading was 07764, gas reading 21476.  No payments are recorded between September 2023 and June 2024.

267 days of standing charge is about £215.
7855 units of electricity is about £2350.
1528 m3 of gas is about 17000kWh, and costs about £1200

That makes your debt on 23 June 2024 about £4300.

Thanks, but am I missing some data here - as I cannot see the final sections of reissued Mar 24 or Jun 24 - showing payments section or even final balances- like on page 3 -  to confirm no payments ? 
(Perhaps deleted as not sufficiently redacted - as I came little late in evening into discussion).

And whilst I can see your rationale from those June estimates - and that is certainly very close to final demand from debt agency.

I see conflicts.

The OP has to be careful to defend the debt action - as it stands - i hope can access help in time to do so if needed.

But would it stand - and simply be adjusted for any amount corrections (like I suspect on electric) or account processing error - say on those DD taken - see it cancelled in some way - and process reset.

I have never gotten this far down the line but I assume OP will be given opportunity to challenge ?

I'm assuming - based on the fact that the OP hasn't suggested anywhere that there is a balance that disagrees or direct debits noted.  Plus that it matches the debt amount so well.  And the later comment that says no DDs were taken from May 2023 to January 2024, with those after that not seeming to appear anywhere.

The OP can submit a defence, sure, which (based on what they have later said) might state "I think I have paid £1000 of this, and here are the direct debits listed on my bank to prove it".  Still leaves the £3500 of usage from May - Dec 2023 and underpayment from Jan -June 2024 though.

Suppliers often go with "it's out of my hands, it's with the debt recovery lawyers now" when asked to postpone recovery efforts.  And the timeline is too short for an Ombudsman response.

Scot_39

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 ?

LuisDiaz

Thanks everyone for your input, suggestions and advice...
this is all stressful for me. I'm calling BG now.

Thank you