Gas Cut Off Notice

mikeouk

i moved into my house in august 2004, it was a new build and when I tried to get both my supply of gas and electric from npower they could only supply my electric because they had no record of a gas point referance (or something like that?) they told me to get intouch with transco and they would be able to tell me who had been supplying the gas upto me taking over the house, transco told me they had no record of my gas meter either, so I just assumed whoever was supplying the gas would send me a bill. I got the first ever bill at the start of december 2007 from british gas, the bill is for gas supply from 4aug 2007 to 2nov 2007, both readings are estimated and miles out on the actual reading, total for gas used is £53 but theres also an amount of £766.02 debit, dont know where they get that figure from. So first of all I rang ofgem who told me its their tough luck for not billing me and im only obligated to pay for the last years supply. Thing is, whos to say how much gas ive used in the last year unless you take the full reading and divide it by 3 and a half???? anyway, I rang britishgas and explained that id never had a bill, the person I spoke to said not to worry, he'd ring me back which he never did. Today I came home and theres a letter saying someone had been round to cut the gas off.....So,I know britishgas are renowned for being totaly disorganised and sending random bills etc,,,what should I do? who do I speak to? I have no problem paying them for a years supply but theyre going to have to come up with a proper bill with my actual reading on before i part with any cash.

crk81

Contact them again see if they can get it sorted while your on the phone, they should be able to advise you what needs to be done and put it in motion, don't accept it being looked into or someone calling you back, unless you can get a direct line or extention so you can ring them back if they dont call you back if no luck I'd contact energywatch and log a complaint, they will only treat it as an enquiry initally but BG will have 10 working days i think it is to act on Engerywatch's case or you can go back to EW & they can esculate it as a complaint. Hopefully that should get things sorted.

whatatwit

Put something in writing also.

Have you taken any readings during the time you have lived in the property,that you can give to try and get an accurate bill.

Cardew

BG have obviously made a stab at estimating your usage for a year; which is reasonable considering they have absolutely no way of ever providing you with a "proper bill"(as you put it)

You need to now start negotiating with them to agree a figure that you consider to be reasonable.

As you have had free gas for three and a half years, I doubt if you will get a sympathetic hearing from BG or indeed the Regulator - and with your gas cut off at least BG have some leverage over you.

They might not be in a hurry to re-connect you as well.

You have obviously enjoyed taking advantage of BG being "totally disorganised and sending [STRIKE]random[/STRIKE] - no bills" - so it would be not be surprising if they continued in that manner

mikeouk

whatatwit wrote: »

Put something in writing also.

Have you taken any readings during the time you have lived in the property,that you can give to try and get an accurate bill.

no but the meter was brand new when i moved in, the builder would have used a little but it wouldnt have been alot

Terrylw1

If Transco can't find your MPRN it may be because of an IGT. However, you do get people with gas meters and no MPRN at all.

It used to happen constantly in the elec industry until July 2000 when the new connection process changed to always register to a Supplier before your new connection could be completed.

Your MPRN will be on your bill now so you can check this further. For instance, since it's so far out - is it even the right address for the MPRN if you contact Transco? It could be based on someone elses meter (or a crossed meter issue) thats needs investigating as you say it doesn't tie in with our actual meters current reading. However, it could also be that you have been under or overestimated so it looks out of synch.

Only BGas will be able to help you understand that.

Ask for a manager to see if they can get you reconnected. If not, Energywatch should be your next port of call.

Elec & Gas utilities get estimated annual consumptions from the agents (EAC's for elec and AQ's for gas) which tell them what they expect you could use. In terms of gas it has always been based on various factors such as height above sea level, region, area etc etc. So, if they have nothing to go on at all, they may have just used that to bill you.