The Bunch

misterbarlow

Anyone had dealing with some outfit called "The Bunch"??

My daughter and her bf rented their first place together in April last year, a small 1 bed flat, and the letting agent basically said it was a condition of rental that they HAD to use this outfit the Bunch or he would not even let them the flat.

Probably on some sort of kick back from them, and since then its transpired on local facebook, that the agent has recently closed up his business and vanished with tens of thousands in deposits and rent, so he was obv a grifter!
Anyway...

So back then they agreed and moved in and set it up.
They had smets2 meters, and Bunch told them for Gas, Electric and Water they wanted £230pm..
Come 12 months later, they had paid the agreed £2760 and moved out.
FOUR months after that, Bunch then email them out of the blue in August this year, saying they have underpaid over the year, despite having working sm2 meters there,
and are demanding an extra £800.
Bunch made no effort to contact them about underpaying, or adjust their payments.

The water was £900 for the year, and the electric looks about right, but they are claiming they used 1700kwh of gas in a year.
For a 1 bed flat with just a combi. I checked our own bill for a 3bed semi, and we used about 800kwh in the same period.
They are in a 1 bed flat. Seems excessive. Also their standing charges are 3x what you would expect. Probably where they make their money!!

They disputed the gas bill, and Bunch said no its correct, based on actual reads and you owe it.

So they accepted it, but replied they cannot pay them £800 in one go, and can start a payment plan of £50pm.
They heard nothing back, until another email again a month later demanding immediate payment.
They replied again with the same offer of £50pm, and heard nothing again until today, with another email, stating they have now incurred two £15 late payment fees,
they have arranged a home visit with a debt recovery agent to discuss the debt, which will cost them £60, and are preparing to go to court and get a CCJ..
They seem to be just ignoring them, and they are getting nowhere!

QrizB

Anyone had dealing with some outfit called "The Bunch"??

There are previous threads, yes. See for example here or here or here.

Probably on some sort of kick back from them

Almost certainly. Hopefully daughter has learned not to deal with such chancers again!

Come 12 months later, they had paid the agreed £2760 and moved out.

Was daughter receiving monthly bills during that period? Were they checking them?

Did they submit closing meter readings and receive a final bill?

But they are claiming they used 1700kwh of gas in a year. For a 1 bed flat with just a combi. I checked our own bill for a 3bed semi, and we used about 800kwh in the same period.

Have you missed some zeroes in that? The average dual-fuel household uses over 10,000kWh of gas in a year. 1700 might just about be possible for a flat but 800 seems incredibly low for a 3-bed semi.

Or are you counting cubic metres rather than kWh? One cubic metre is about 11kWh.

They disputed the gas bill, and Bunch said no its correct, based on actual reads and you owe it.

Whether or not the bill is correct is a matter of fact, not opinion. Have you seen the bill? And any other bills for the period? Does it look correct to you, and if not can you be specific about what's wrong?

misterbarlow

Sorry typo there, yes should be 17000kwh of gas for the year not 1700, they claim they used that for a 1 bed flat with just a new combi and they both work full time and half the year the heating would be off..

They did not take start rdgs that was done by agent, i did tell them to take final reads the agent also took those. The final reads do match the bill, but the start reads were submitted by agent, they disputed start reads said maybe they are incorrect, and bunch just said they were submitted by agent and the meter and are correct.

Scot_39

There are many such "inclusive" tied deals around - very common with student lets - where unconnected young adults first live together - and become bill payers.

1700kWh woulndt be £800 let alone £800 extra.

Likewise 800 sounds more like m3 than kWh

Have they actually tried contacting their energy supplier - the EOns, BG etc of this world - and not rely on the agent - for smart readings over the year ?

(or was everything kept in Bunch's name - via some business provider - and they held the account)

My supplier has smart readings on my online portal going back maybe 5 years now since registered for access.

Without proof of the first readings - although the number sounds pretty unreasonable - I suspect there is now little option but to pay.

And chalk it up as a valuable lesson - never ever trust anyone to do essentials for you - including record keeping of all meter readings - at beginning and end - and to hold onto them for 6 years min.

QrizB

They did not take start rdgs that was done by agent, i did tell them to take final reads the agent also took those.

Without starting or closing readings, you don't have many grounds to challenge.

You say they had a smart meter. Did they receive monthly (or quarterly) bills during the year? Were the meter readings on those bills actual "smart" readings, or were they estimates? Are they consistent with the agent's opening and closing readings?

It's also possible they had a crossed meter and were being charged for someone else's gas. Without access to the property that's almost impossible to investigate.