BG reported missed payment

kevc1985

In July this year I switched from British Gas to EDF, I had a direct debit set up and BG took my final payment, I have checked my credit report and BG have a missed payment in August.

I called BG and they said I had not missed a payment, then that changed to them saying that I did miss a payment in July as there was still a balance after my direct debit was taken (I had not transferred my supply at this point so it wasnt the final DD), I said the bill didn't say that I owed them £118 (the difference) and they had not contacted me to pay this balance separate balance, either by text/email/letter/phone call.

I asked the person how was I meant to pay a bill when they didn't tell me how much I owed, BG said I should subtract the upcoming direct debit payment from the bill value and get the deficit - surely that isn't right, the bill should clearly state how much I owe but the bill didnt plus the expectation is that I should work out the bill and that I can subtract the totals. I asked why this wasn't taken by DD, my payment plan had changed to a fixed DD amount so the deficit was now payment on demand, again I said there was no communication, nothing on the bill to say I needed to make special arrangements to pay such as online or on the phone and the online bill didn't say I needed to pay or take any action and the bill doesnt say I owe £118.

I asked for the missed payment to be removed from my file and BG said no, after the advisor spoke with his manager then he said he would request it to be removed but there was no guarantee. I have raised a complaint with BG as they said I didn't pay the full balance, there was nothing on the bill to show this, my final DD was taken and the account was settled with nothing owed.

I have never missed a payment before, surely the bill should be easy to understand if I owe them money and if I need to take action to pay. Has anyone experienced a missed payment marker being removed from their account? I'm was looking to go for car finance this week but afraid this will affect it.

electriccactus

Did you cancel the DD after they took the "final" payment?

kevc1985

No, I think I've discovered the issue though. On their website they say on DD they send a statement twice a year but on other payment methods they send a bill. They have sent a statement to me, but treated it like a bill.