British gas sent huge bill

grn99

Largs said:

It sounds like you have been moved to their new billing system.  You are given a new account number - mines began "A" rather than "85" on the old system and it did show as first payment on my bank staement too. 

It is a complete mess.  I lost online access to the new bills and could only see old bills from last year.  I left the company to stop any more problems as they were causing me nothing but stress.  The only advice I can offer is make a complaint, British Gas staff will be able to see all your history but it's unlikely you will.  Be very careful as British Gas report to the credit reference places and clearly they cannot take £4000 from your bank.  It will not be easy dealing with them.  Good luck.

Even those of us who were not on the old billing system experience the pain of BG sending out incorrect bills over and over. It's not just migrated accounts. Agree with formal complaint ASAP...We are now using the ombudsman after moving to another supplier...and still they bill us after final bills settled.

grn99

witchwood said:

So... Last night got a call from hubby working a night shift to say that he cant buy his 'lunch' as there is no money in the account. He checked and saw this DD due to go out for near on 4k from BG. 
We have been on variable DD with BG for 3 years. They used our smart meter for readings and all was fine. 
I have just checked bank statements etc and found they haven't been taking our DD since last November 2023!!!!
Now before all you holier than though, never miss a penny etc start going on about checking... YES! Maybe we should have checked, but as a hugely busy family with 5 kids, loads of DD's going out, refunds for kids clubs etc etc going in our bank statement has 100's lines a month, and tbh when you set up a DD you expect it to be hassle free as that is pretty much their whole purpose. So yes, we probably do owe the money and not disputing that. However what A HUGE muck up!!!! HOW can they not take payment, when my statement etc says MONTHLY DD? Why just stop??? And why do they now say we dont have a smart meter?? Absolute shower of poo. Now I have to work out how to pay a 4K bill at xmas! 

I don't know what the options are for you, but maybe a call to Citizens Advice? You may have missed spotting the absent payments, but so have BG! And taking it all in go seems a bit unfair. I hope you can find a way of spreading this 12 months debt beyond the single payment.

Not sure if this can apply with a DD already taken, but from the CA website... 

If you can’t afford to pay

If you’re sent a bill but you can’t afford to pay it, you can ask your supplier for a payment plan that allows you to repay any debt over the same length of time that the debt has built up. For example, if you've not had a bill from your supplier for 8 months, you should be able to spread the repayments over 8 months.

If the monthly payments are still too high for you, tell the supplier how much you can afford. They might let you spread the repayments over a longer period.

witchwood

So... speaking to BG apparently a glitch with the smart meter not sending readings... for a year?!!! Miraculously it is working now and sending readings and so they are going to reinstate the monthly DD. Seems VERY suspect that the day they moved us to the new account (which we knew nothing about either) was the day the readings stopped. Also according to them they have given us £500 compensation which is included in this 4k bill! When I asked why we knew nothing about it, apparently they are 'looking into lack of communication' as he can see we have not been informed. Put in an official complaint. Going to call in a couple of days to set up a payment plan for the outstanding, as we reversed the DD last night. If they weren't the cheapest for us would move. And I suspect all the companies are as bad as each other anyway. 

Tucosalamanca

If BG haven't been taking payments each month, then your current account should have be increasing in value.

If you've ended up with a £4k bill and there's nothing in the current account to pay it, that might be an indicator of other financial issues.

BG will now restart taking monthly payments, that's going to be a noticeable drain on your finances.
Maybe time to sit down and do a SOA to check that you're living within your means, or at least establish how much you're overspending each month. Although not ideal, this bill might be a blessing...

QrizB

Let's go back to the beginning.

witchwood said:

We are all electric and with British Gas. We have a smart meter, in place for over 5 years, and pay by monthly variable direct debit, which suits us.

During those five years, have you been receiving bills from British Gas?

Have those bills had meter readings on them?

Have those readings been Smart or Actual readings, or have they been Estimated ones?

witchwood said:

Last week they sent a representative out to read our old meter. I queried it and said we have a smart meter, but he said they just have to make sure they tally up.

This is routine. Even smart meters get ready manually every few years. It's as much a safety and security check as it is anything else.

witchwood

Tucosalamanca said:

If BG haven't been taking payments each month, then your current account should have be increasing in value.

If you've ended up with a £4k bill and there's nothing in the current account to pay it, that might be an indicator of other financial issues.

BG will now restart taking monthly payments, that's going to be a noticeable drain on your finances.
Maybe time to sit down and do a SOA to check that you're living within your means, or at least establish how much you're overspending each month. Although not ideal, this bill might be a blessing...

Our current account is fine thank you. And with our usual 400 set aside for BG ticks along well. We dont have an overdraft set up (personal choice, same as we don't have loans, credit cards or even a mortgage anymore... all paid off) nor want these things. Our current account usually has anywhere between 200- 800 at the end of the month... not 4k. With such a large family, and LOTS of ins and outs it varies from month to month, depending on clubs, hobbies, vet bills for our animals (horses, dogs, cats) insurances for all these, food shops, kids birthdays and friends birthdays etc etc. Our BG DD is variable and can be 150 in summer or 500 in winter again depending. So no. I wasn't watching the fluctuations as that is perfectly for us. 

witchwood

Tucosalamanca said:

If BG haven't been taking payments each month, then your current account should have be increasing in value.

If you've ended up with a £4k bill and there's nothing in the current account to pay it, that might be an indicator of other financial issues.

BG will now restart taking monthly payments, that's going to be a noticeable drain on your finances.
Maybe time to sit down and do a SOA to check that you're living within your means, or at least establish how much you're overspending each month. Although not ideal, this bill might be a blessing...

Do YOU have 4k sitting in your current account? I am very unsure anyone just has 4k in their current account. 

Tucosalamanca

witchwood said:

Tucosalamanca said:

If BG haven't been taking payments each month, then your current account should have be increasing in value.

If you've ended up with a £4k bill and there's nothing in the current account to pay it, that might be an indicator of other financial issues.

BG will now restart taking monthly payments, that's going to be a noticeable drain on your finances.
Maybe time to sit down and do a SOA to check that you're living within your means, or at least establish how much you're overspending each month. Although not ideal, this bill might be a blessing...

Do YOU have 4k sitting in your current account? I am very unsure anyone just has 4k in their current account. 

Yes and if my BG direct debit wasn't going out each month it would very quickly increase...

ButterCheese

Ring them and explain, it's their mistake and they should be able to fofer you a repayment plan i.e. add the 4k balance and increase your DD to start paying off the 4k

QrizB

QrizB said:

Let's go back to the beginning.

witchwood said:

We are all electric and with British Gas. We have a smart meter, in place for over 5 years, and pay by monthly variable direct debit, which suits us.

During those five years, have you been receiving bills from British Gas?

Have those bills had meter readings on them?

Have those readings been Smart or Actual readings, or have they been Estimated ones?

witchwood said:

Last week they sent a representative out to read our old meter. I queried it and said we have a smart meter, but he said they just have to make sure they tally up.

This is routine. Even smart meters get ready manually every few years. It's as much a safety and security check as it is anything else.

@witchwood you might've missed these questions?