British Gas bill, but supplied by Southern Electric.

stevedb11

I've just recieved a British Gas bill for Gas supplied since Feb 2007 for the sum of £599.
:eek::eek: :eek: and I've been with Southern electric since March 2007!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Its says please pay now, estimated units =1875:eek::eek: :eek: no readings have been taken.
Anyway I've only used 560 units in 18months, so I,ve just been fuming on the phone, I am not worried by this, as its probably to do with the pipeline company.
But what does worry me is British gas sending out estimated bills willy nilly, what if it had been opened by a OAP who was stuggling to pay there bills, they would have been sick with worry:mad::mad: :mad: :mad:
Shame on you Britsh Gas

SwanJon

There's a few reasons why you might end up with a bill form another company.
The postman put it in the wrong door.
The supplier got the address wrong.
A neighbour signed up and they got the details wrong
The supply number was typed wrong at some point in the process.

The other side is, are you sure Southern are really your supplier? You can check with your local MPAS (see FAQ thread). They can tell you who supplies you defintiavely (sp?). Give them the serial number from your meter to be sure they get the right one.

As to the estimated bill, if the meter is in the house, and they couldn't see it, how else should they produce a bill?

If this is the first bill since Feb 2007, they should only charge you for the last 12 months (?Apr 2007). If other bills have been posted, then it doens't count.

stevedb11

Regarding the Meter, its in our car park and they could have read it, also the Bill was addressed to me in person.
Yes I have given Southern Electric my meter number, they are calling me back on monday, as the Pipeline company "SSE" don't work at weekends.
The point is I have a letter from Southern electric dated Feb 2007, informing me they are now supplying my gas.
I have been paying them by direct debit since they started supplying me.
We moved into this New build in Aug 2006 and were supplied by British gas, although the Builders said they had written to Southern Electric informing them of our completion date.
When I eventually found out British gas had been supplying our Gas I switched to Southern electric, hence the Welcome letter.

SwanJon

As it is a neww build, it is quite possible for there to have been confusion when Southern (part of SSE, so a sister company to SSE Pipelines) took over. Plot numbers end up having little to do with house numbers, and these can take time to update.
As SSE Pipelines is an Independent Gas Transporter, (and the smallest one), this can slow things down.
You need to check the serial number of your meter against supply numbers registered with both BG & Southern. I take it the meter can't be confused with a neighbours?

stevedb11

Hi SwanJon,
We have a separate meter box which has our flat number on the Lid,so I don't think that should have confused them, also I found out yesterday the lady in the flat below us(who switched like we did last year) has also recieved a giant estimated bill from British gas.
Oh well I will post the outcome when I hear from Southern electric.;)

tobykim

My friend has just moved into a rented house and the gas is supplied by BG as is the electric, they have sent her a letter (to the occupier) to call them to arrange payments however when she called they cannot find the property on the system, she gives them the postcode and it's coming up as somewhere else, funnily enough with the postcode they can find the electricity, this has been going on for over a week I think they're crackers, I've told her to swap to another company

stevedb11

Update: Southern Electric rang me this morning to inform me they are my Gas supplier, they have intructed British gas to issue a cease billing instruction.;)