Beware of British Gas back-billing - know your rights

loopholer · 24 February at 2:48PM

British Gas emailed me today (24th Feb 2026): Pay your outstanding balance of £106.14 or face a debt collection agency and debt collection fees.

I ceased to be a British Gas customer in December 2023, I paid my final bill and received a refund of £61.07 bringing the account to a complete close with balance of zero, job done.

I am also aware of Ofgem's 12-month back-billing rule. They did eventually cancel the debt, but note how they tried to trick me into not believing my correct interpretation of the 12-month rule.

Know your rights fellow money savers!

Agent (24/02/2026 12:01:44 PM): Good afternoon,

Brian (24/02/2026 12:01:47 PM): British Gas sent me £61.07 on 4th Jan 2024 to square up the account, I left in December 2023.

Brian (24/02/2026 12:02:05 PM): Today they emailed me threatening debt collection for a debt of £106.14.

Agent (24/02/2026 12:02:08 PM): Thanks for waiting while I got up to speed. I can see you're here about your final bill which I can help you with today. Can I just confirm your name please?

Brian (24/02/2026 12:02:17 PM): Brian <redacted>

Agent (24/02/2026 12:02:35 PM): I’m going to be in another window working on this for you. This should only take about 4-5 minutes and I’ll still be here if you need me.

Brian (24/02/2026 12:02:55 PM): okay, I can wait, no problem.

Agent (24/02/2026 12:06:43 PM): I appreciate your patience.

Agent (24/02/2026 12:06:50 PM): I’m sorry that you’re not entirely happy with the service you've received. At the end of this conversation, we can come back to this and discuss raising this as a complaint. But in the meantime, let's see if we can work together to resolve this today.

Brian (24/02/2026 12:07:01 PM): no worries. did you access my account okay

Brian (24/02/2026 12:07:13 PM): I don't have a complaint

Agent (24/02/2026 12:07:26 PM): I am sorry for any inconvenience this has caused. To explain, I can see that an earlier final bill was issued on 31st December 2023, and based on that, a refund of £61.07 was processed. However, we later realised that the final bill was incorrect, and a revised final bill for £106.14 was issued on 17th January 2026.

Brian (24/02/2026 12:07:28 PM): I just need you to correct the billing

Agent (24/02/2026 12:08:09 PM): If you review the bill issued on 31st December 2023, you’ll notice that no electricity charges were included.

Brian (24/02/2026 12:08:34 PM): yes, I see that. Can you confirm the debt relates to gas or electricity used more than 12-months ago that was not correctly billed at the time.

Agent (24/02/2026 12:09:34 PM): I can see that the supply was changed at that time, and we received the final meter readings from the current supplier. Based on this, a revised final bill was issued.

Brian (24/02/2026 12:10:05 PM): was the revised bill within 12-months ?

Agent (24/02/2026 12:11:12 PM): I sincerely apologise for the delay in issuing the final bill, which should have been provided earlier. Please accept my apologies for this oversight.

Brian (24/02/2026 12:11:37 PM): can you please confirm you are aware of the Ofgem 12‑month back‑billing rule

Agent (24/02/2026 12:12:59 PM): This is not considered back billing; it is solely due to incorrect meter reading information. According to Ofgem guidelines, if you are our customer and we have not issued a bill for over 12 months, we are required to provide compensation for the delay.

Brian (24/02/2026 12:13:49 PM): who is responsible for ensuring the accuracy of that information?

Agent (24/02/2026 12:14:44 PM): Yes, we take full responsibility for this and have already acknowledged that it was our mistake.

Brian (24/02/2026 12:14:46 PM): can you please confirm if I am a British Gas customer?

Brian (24/02/2026 12:15:44 PM): my records show I've not been a customer since December 2023

Agent (24/02/2026 12:16:16 PM): The account is already closed, and we are no longer the supplier for that property. This is the final bill amount that needs to be paid. Once this payment is made, you will not receive any further communication from our end.

Brian (24/02/2026 12:17:48 PM): I've paid all my bills on time and I have not been a customer of British gas since December 2023. I have not made any errors.

Brian (24/02/2026 12:18:35 PM): Ofgem states that you cannot be charged for energy used more than 12 months ago if you haven’t had an accurate bill for it before.

Agent (24/02/2026 12:18:38 PM): Yes, it was an error on our part that an incorrect bill was issued earlier, but we have now provided the accurate bill.

Brian (24/02/2026 12:19:03 PM): It's taken more you more than 12-months.

Brian (24/02/2026 12:19:21 PM): Are you disputing the definition of back billing?

Agent (24/02/2026 12:19:41 PM): I understand that you’re dissatisfied. Would you like me to file a complaint on your behalf? This will take about 4-5 minutes.

Brian (24/02/2026 12:21:09 PM): I would need to charge for my time if a complains process was required. Do you accept these charges?

Agent (24/02/2026 12:23:48 PM): Sure, I'll raise a complaint for you today, and this will remain open until you're happy that all issues have been fully resolved.

Agent (24/02/2026 12:24:09 PM): Could you please assist me with the resolution that you are seeking in order to close this complaint?

Brian (24/02/2026 12:24:39 PM): do whatever you need to do. it appears you have been instructed to ignore questions around ofgem and back billing

Brian (24/02/2026 12:27:11 PM): are you allow to state that this is categorically not back billing?

Brian (24/02/2026 12:27:51 PM): seems a bit off they would make you deceive people into thinking this is not back billing.

Agent (24/02/2026 12:27:54 PM): As mentioned earlier, this is not a back-billing case, as we have only issued the bill at the account’s final readings. However, we acknowledge that it was our mistake to issue the final bill after two years, which is not our usual practice. Just to confirm, are you unhappy make payment for corrected final bill?

Brian (24/02/2026 12:28:49 PM): what does account’s final readings mean?

Agent (24/02/2026 12:29:48 PM): We have issued the final bill based on the final meter readings received from the current supplier.

Brian (24/02/2026 12:30:20 PM): From Ofgem: A back bill is issued “to cover a period where you’ve used energy but have not been charged for it, because you have not been accurately billed for energy you’ve used.”

Agent (24/02/2026 12:31:45 PM): Just to confirm, are you unwilling to pay this bill, and are you seeking a resolution from our end?

Brian (24/02/2026 12:32:34 PM): Correct. I want you to acknowledge the reality of the situation and amend the bill to zero owed.

Agent (24/02/2026 12:33:11 PM): I’m going to be in another window working on this for you. This should only take about 4-5 minutes and I’ll still be here if you need me.

Agent (24/02/2026 12:36:27 PM): I appreciate your patience.

Agent (24/02/2026 12:36:31 PM): Thank you for your patience. I will apply a compensation of £106.14 to the account, so you won’t need to make this payment. This compensation has been added due to our failure to issue the bill within the appropriate timeframe.

Brian (24/02/2026 12:36:59 PM): Thank you.

Agent (24/02/2026 12:37:11 PM): I'm really sorry about the experience that you've had with us. I know it’s not nice when things don’t work, so thank you for taking the time to contact us. I've raised a complaint on your account so that I can feed this back for you. Can you please confirm whether you're happy this matter is resolved?

Brian (24/02/2026 12:38:07 PM): I am happy that it's resolved.

Agent (24/02/2026 12:38:19 PM): I am sorry for any inconvenience this has caused.

Brian (24/02/2026 12:38:25 PM): Out of interest, are you allow to state that this is categorically not back billing?

Agent (24/02/2026 12:39:11 PM): Certainly, I will share this feedback with my team and ensure that this does not happen again to anyone.

Agent (24/02/2026 12:40:14 PM): Have I covered everything you needed today, Brian?

Brian (24/02/2026 12:40:25 PM): Definitely is back billing then?

Agent (24/02/2026 12:41:21 PM): Certainly, I will share this feedback with my team and ensure that this does not happen again to anyone. I have also applied compensation to your account, so you no longer need to make any payment.

Agent (24/02/2026 12:41:52 PM): Have I covered everything you needed today, Brian?

Brian (24/02/2026 12:43:26 PM): all good. thank you for your time.

Agent (24/02/2026 12:43:38 PM): Thank you for contacting British Gas today. Have a great day ahead.

gpman · 24 February at 2:53PM

A very interesting and illuminative thread on back billing here.

Back billing - but in credit so Energy Ombudsman found in favour of supplier - Page 9 — MoneySavingExpert Forum

Well worth a read for anyone unsure of the rules, or believes there are any loopholes (other than the stated exceptions within the SLC) ;)

TheMilkmansDad · 24 February at 5:03PM

Initial thoughts - the debt was correct (they can rebill using corrected readings going back 6 years) but they've cleared the account to on Goodwill based on you're argument.

Take the win.

gpman · 24 February at 10:40PM

For those who consider the OP is TLDR, here's a brief summary.

The OP was supplied by BG. That supply agreement ceased in Dec 2023
BG issued a final bill shortly thereafter and the OP received the credit balance refund of £61.07.
On 17th January 2026 BG issued a revised final bill which demanded £106.14
The OP today challenged the revised bill invoking the back billing regulations and as a result, BG effectively wiped the alleged debt. (although BG did not admit that is why they did so)

I would be interested to hear an explanation as to why anyone would think the OP was not 100% correct in their interpretation of the back billing regulations.

As a reminder: