British Gas have billed me for the previous occupant

Fus Ro Dah · 13 Feb 2013 at 19:20

Back in October I moved into my own place for the very first time. Not knowing how things worked exactly, I called British gas to see if they were the current provider for the house, they said they were, so I agreed to stick with them. They asked me for the electricity meter readings which I found straight away then they asked me for the gas reading which I couldn't find. They then asked me if the previous occupant left me with any information and I said I don't think he'd been living there for a while but he does come back every now and again (I know this because I bought the house next door to my older brother and had been eyeing it up for a while)

So 4 months down the line I found the gas meter on the outside of my house (needed to buy a key because it was in a box I couldn't open without one), so I noted down the meter readings and added them to the account section of the website. The next day I get a bill for £465!!! They had claimed that I had used £566 worth of gas in 88 days and only £150 worth of electric (which is accurate because I read it myself on the day I moved in).

The guy on the phone then told me they used the meter reading the previous occupant 6 months prier to me moving in. This is absolutely crazy, I've had the heating on a timer that comes on an hour a day. So £566/88 days = £6.43!!! £6.43 for one measly hour of heating! Evidently he had been using gas in the months prier to me moving in and I've been billed for his usage. British gas said they will call me back in a week after working out how much I use gas I use per week and eventually re-assess weather or not I am to blame.

Has anyone else had issues like this and did it resolve itself well?
p.s thanks for reading the wall of text.

atpbx · 13 Feb 2013 at 19:24

Tell them you are not paying, give them the date you moved into the house and tell them that is an end to it.

muon · 13 Feb 2013 at 19:34

You have proof of your first gas meter reading? Surely this is something you would do rather than kick it 4 months down the line?

British Gas sound like they are being reasonable having to try and calculate what your first meter reading would have been. Lucky.

The meter reading 6 months before you moving in could very well be your first meter reading if no one used gas in the interim. In fact this is what you made it sound like when you said "I said I don't think he'd been living there for a while" and didn't provide a reading.

Glaucus · 13 Feb 2013 at 19:37

It's your issue by the sounds of it, by not giving a starting usage.
As said if you didnt give an initial reading, they are all ready being very reasonable indeed.

It's your duty to supply the start reading when you move in.

Surveyor · 13 Feb 2013 at 19:39

It took you four months to find the gas meter on the outside of the house?

I'd have thought you could have found that pretty easily and given British Gas the meter reading almost immediately after you moved in.

Edrof · 13 Feb 2013 at 19:56

Surveyor said:
It took you four months to find the gas meter on the outside of the house?

I'd have thought you could have found that pretty easily and given British Gas the meter reading almost immediately after you moved in.

Or asked them to come around and help you find it. I'm sure they must offer that service for disabled, elderly or otherwise clueless customers.

darael · 13 Feb 2013 at 20:04

HAUNTH3R said:
So 4 months down the line I found the gas meter on the outside of my house

You're done for. Four months to find a gas meter is not an excuse. The generic locks can be opened with a pair of tweezers.

If you have no proof of readings from when you moved in, or during the four months prior to billing, I would hold no hope.

MrMoonX · 13 Feb 2013 at 20:18

just make up a reading that would bring your bill down to what it should be and say oh yeah I did write down a meter reading when i moved in, job done!

RJC · 13 Feb 2013 at 20:32

When I got my place I phoned the utilities companies to pass on the meter readings within a week of owning the property.

Are you on a Water meter?

cjgardens · 13 Feb 2013 at 20:34

MrMoonX said:
just make up a reading that would bring your bill down to what it should be and say oh yeah I did write down a meter reading when i moved in, job done!

This

Just say the wife did it

It is possible to use that much gas. I use around 4-5 quid b day when the weather was bad. So if you have the heating on high it could be right

Fus Ro Dah · 13 Feb 2013 at 21:41

I see what you guys are saying but it completely slipped my mind to find the correct meter reading after our phone conversation. But it's hardly fair to say that I'm now responsible for a £500 bill because of it. Surely British Gas should given me advise to find the meter because of things like this, I'm new to being a home owner and it didn't even cross my mind at the time that this kind of thing could happen.

p.s I haven't got any high or low settings on my control panel for my heating. :-\

*Moangroan* · 13 Feb 2013 at 21:46

What I dont get is when you originally rang up and told them you did not have the gas reading (u had the leccy reading like u said). Why did they not send someone out to read the meter ???

I like it also when they say they will asses if u are to blame......rofl....naughty boy....

Cupra · 13 Feb 2013 at 21:54

darael said:
You're done for. Four months to find a gas meter is not an excuse. The generic locks can be opened with a pair of tweezers.

If you have no proof of readings from when you moved in, or during the four months prior to billing, I would hold no hope.

They will need to prove he used the gas not the other way around.
They also log where the meters are so they could have come out and checked it.

mo9204 · 13 Feb 2013 at 23:12

send your copy of tenancy agreement, JOB DONE, unless is more them 4 months

muon · 13 Feb 2013 at 23:22

Cupra said:
They will need to prove he used the gas not the other way around.
They also log where the meters are so they could have come out and checked it.

Last tenant's/owner's final meter reading was x. Your meter reading is y.

y - x is what you used. Evidence.

The gas was used and is being billed to the owner/landlord/tenant of the property.

As far as I see it, it's like buying a business and then telling all the people owed debt to go and ask the previous owners. Might be some consumer protection aspects in the OPs scenario, but there may also be none.

Someone has to pay for the difference. Good luck asking your landlord if you are renting.

mo9204 said:
send your copy of tenancy agreement, JOB DONE, unless is more them 4 months

Depends when their first meter reading is.

lordhughes · 13 Feb 2013 at 23:23

RJC said:
When I got my place I phoned the utilities companies to pass on the meter readings within a week of owning the property.

Are you on a Water meter?

same, once 90% of the unpacking was done this was the first thing I did with my place.

Absolutely no excuse for leaving it, should imagine at some point you rang them up and organised your account, they ask you then if you have a reading and if not to submit one. If however they do come after you for it, try that freeman of the land crap, could do with a laugh.

lemzip · 14 Feb 2013 at 00:36

real life skills == null

Fus Ro Dah · 14 Feb 2013 at 18:57

It's a mortgage I'm not a tenant or anything. Litterally about 10 minutes after moving I rang them and they took the electricity meter reading and I said I couldn't find the gas one but they didn't seem at all bothered so I just trusted them and didn't think anything of it. If they would have said to me "it's important to give us your gas reading overwise you could be paying for the previous tenant" then I obviously wouldn't have left it 4 months and I would have gotten on it right away lol

djshauny1 · 14 Feb 2013 at 18:59

Send the bill back lol

Andrew@Home · 14 Feb 2013 at 20:32

Oh British Gas... they love doing this. Had thd exact problem as the OP when I moved into a flat for the first time too.

Then when I moved out, and into a house (staying with BG) I notified them instantly, yet they tried to bill me for the 2 month period between me moving out of the flat, and the next tenants moving in. Even got threatening letters from a debt collector demanding money for BG. Sent debt company and BG a copy of the tenancy agreement for my new home to prove I no longer lived in the flat and they soon backed off. It is obviously the landlord's job to pay when there are no tenants!

Then it cropped up again this morning. Got what I believe to be a phishing email, allegedly from BG, had similar formatting but I noticed that some of the wording was unusual and all links went to the same address at trackerbox.com. Did a whois, no mention of BG although the IP went to a company located on a business park in Hunslet, Leeds (some 10 miles from me). The odd thing was they knew my correct account number from my former address, as well as name, the former address itself, the actual correct amount we supposedly owed BG, and obviously had found my email too. Not sure how this would come about, unless a stray letter went there months ago during the aforementioned debt dispute, and was binned by new tenants, then found by sifting through bins, etc. but then they wouldn't know my email from that, which makes me wonder if it's a crooked BG employee.

Phoned BG up to alert them to this, and the minority that I spoke to didn't seem to grasp the concept of a phishing email and then went on to dispute the debt again, even though there should be a note on the account saying it has been settled with the landlord. Ugh. So after explaining and arguing all that again they just told me to ignore the email as we don't owe them anything (they still thought the email was from then but I had given up hope of humanity at this point so didn't try to explain what phishing is and argue this further). Still puzzled to hell where the email came from and how they got my credentials.