British Gas has wrongly billed me for a period when I was supplied by EDF

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This discussion was created from comments split from: british gas standing charges.

fullofhotair

Could somebody please clarify: I transferred from BG to EDF in July of 2022 and have paid my dues each time. BG have decided to charge me an estimated usage from July 2022 with a reading that overlaps with EDF. When I have been challenging their ethics, they have finally come back with a phone call requesting payment of the standing charges for the period of time from July 2022 to December 2022, which I have paid EDF already. My question is, WHY SHOULD I PAY TWO DIFFERENT COMPANIES THE STANDING CHARGE FOR THE SAME TIMELINE? Is this legal?

MeteredOut

fullofhotair said:

Could somebody please clarify: I transferred from BG to EDF in July of 2022 and have paid my dues each time. BG have decided to charge me an estimated usage from July 2022 with a reading that overlaps with EDF. When I have been challenging their ethics, they have finally come back with a phone call requesting payment of the standing charges for the period of time from July 2022 to December 2022, which I have paid EDF already. My question is, WHY SHOULD I PAY TWO DIFFERENT COMPANIES THE STANDING CHARGE FOR THE SAME TIMELINE? Is this legal?

YOU SHOULD NOT.


Are BG suggesting they still supplied you after July 2022? If not, why do they think you should pay the Standing Charge for that period. Did you get a final bill from BG in July 2022?

Raise a complaint, and if not resolved, escalate it to the energy ombudsman.

Be ready with evidence that you've already paid EDF for all energy and standing charges since July 2022 - the ombudsman make a decision based on your evidence and evidence from the supplier, they do not support you in getting your evidence together.

Don't accept phone calls from BG. Ask them to put everything in writing.

Gerry1

fullofhotair said:

I transferred from BG to EDF in July of 2022 and have paid my dues each time.  BG have decided to charge me an estimated usage from July 2022 with a reading that overlaps with EDF.

Welcome to the forum.

Were you ever with a supplier that went bust and BG were then appointed as the Supplier of Last Resort?  They include Breeze, Simplicity, PFP, People's Energy, Zebra, Neon Reef and Together Energy.

BG have form in this area.  They never told me, the only clue was a new bill that showed a start date that was several month earlier than had been the case.  Fortunately I have paper copies of all my BG bills and I download new ones as soon as they are issued, but I suspect thousands of others wouldn't have noticed or no longer had the evidence to prove it (BG have a habit of deleting all historical bills and replacing then with one new bill).

To cut a very long story short, after I complained (very difficult, some calls were cut off without reaching a human after two hours, emails were ignored) they issued a corrected bill, only for the computer to make the same mistake all over again.  This happened four times.  Eventually they had to admit that they couldn't stop this cycle repeating endlessly, so they had to make a one-off payment equivalent to the overcharge.  They offer £50 compo, but in view of all the aggro and many hours of wasted time I held out for £100 and got it.

You need to download every new bill immediately and make a formal written complaint.  Go to the Ombudsman upon receipt of a deadlock letter or after eight weeks if they don't send one.

Remember to come back and tell us the result !

Scot_39

fullofhotair said:

Could somebody please clarify: I transferred from BG to EDF in July of 2022 and have paid my dues each time. BG have decided to charge me an estimated usage from July 2022 with a reading that overlaps with EDF. When I have been challenging their ethics, they have finally come back with a phone call requesting payment of the standing charges for the period of time from July 2022 to December 2022, which I have paid EDF already. My question is, WHY SHOULD I PAY TWO DIFFERENT COMPANIES THE STANDING CHARGE FOR THE SAME TIMELINE? Is this legal?

You should never pay 2 companies for the same supply - units or standing charges.

When you switched to EDF you should have submitted readings and they EDF - should have agreed those and switching date with BG and then BG should have sent you a final bill up to the switch date and those readings - within iirc c6 weeks (or again compensated you if did not these days).

Do you have the BG final bill ?

BG have a right to challenge - if you were in debt - or if there are problems with the reading(s).

From the switch date forward EDF should have been your supplier.

But switches don't always work - and more confusingly sometimes they kind of only half work for dual fuel homes - so gas or electric switch and you get bills - but you might not notice not for both fuels. But may have cancelled DD etc at old suppliers - so not paying at all.

I know it's a bit of a stretch given 2 years ago - but if you can find the bills.  

If don't have them - does the EDF online account / portal keep a billing history that far back ?

Sadly energy companies are not infallible - and when they make a mistake - they are often quite aggressive in pursuing customers being billed in error as a result.  The only thing driving them is that they think they are owed money.

The only legitimate reason based on what you have said that BG could bill you is if in fact the switch of one or both fuels was delayed for the 5 months they are claiming for - and you and EDF missed that. 

If don't have bills - or access online to 2 year old ones at EDF - see if EDF can confirm in writing your billing start dates for each fuel in question - and in particular that they were your active supplier for 1 or both fuels BG now claiming for - from July switch to Dec 2022 in dispute.

Assuming you have or get that proof - send BG a polite but still strongly worded complaint that makes clear you were in fact paying EDF from xx July 2022

And if you feel that they havent justified their claim for 5m of standing charges - you could maybe send a variation on a so called prove it letter (as some would send to debt collection agencies) - assuming this is an ongoing complaint that isn't going anywhere

MSE_ForumTeam5

Hi @fullofhotair - we've split your question into a new thread