British Gas : Switch of Energy Supplier

HEADRAT · 19 Jun 2014 at 14:10

Hi,

So we switched away from British Gas as moved to SSE as they were much cheaper.

Just had a phonecall from "her indoors" and British Gas has taken £2.5K our of our account as they said they'd been undercharging us for the last 3 years!

We've had been on a variable Direct Debit so I just don't understand why if we were underpaying that they just didn't put of the DD?

They seem to be sticking to their guns and saying they're allowed to do this, just doesn't seem right :eek:

Cheers

HEADRAT

BDEE · 19 Jun 2014 at 14:14

You never thought to provide meter readings and make sure you were paying the right amount? I check at least once every six months.

If you were just relying on estimates for three years then it really is your own fault and BG are totally justified in charging you for what you have used.

Just make sure they have the right readings to confirm either way....

Sliver · 19 Jun 2014 at 14:14

Ouchies !

I'd be on the phone to the energy ombudsman if I were you.

Rotty · 19 Jun 2014 at 14:15

check your past bills, were they all estimated ?

ci_newman · 19 Jun 2014 at 14:16

What does your bill actually say?

Richdog · 19 Jun 2014 at 14:17

HEADRAT said:
Hi,

So we switched away from British Gas as moved to SSE as they were much cheaper.

Just had a phonecall from "her indoors" and British Gas has taken £2.5K our of our account as they said they'd been undercharging us for the last 3 years!

We've had been on a variable Direct Debit so I just don't understand why if we were underpaying that they just didn't put of the DD?

They seem to be sticking to their guns and saying they're allowed to do this, just doesn't seem right

Cheers

HEADRAT

It wouldn't surprise me if they undercharge a little as a matter of course, and then hit you at the end to penalise you for switching suppliers.

ci_newman · 19 Jun 2014 at 14:22

Richdog said:
It wouldn't surprise me if they undercharge a little as a matter of course, and then hit you at the end to penalise you for switching suppliers.

Anyone with any ounce of good housekeeping will keep an eye on their meter readings and their credit / debit on the account to make sure that they are being billed properly (not implying that is the case for OP).

w00dy85 · 19 Jun 2014 at 14:23

I thought energy suppliers had to take at least 1 meter reading a year by law?

ci_newman · 19 Jun 2014 at 14:27

w00dy85 said:
I thought energy suppliers had to take at least 1 meter reading a year by law?

I've lived at my address for 12 months and they've never once manually read my meter.

fornowagain · 19 Jun 2014 at 14:27

w00dy85 said:
I thought energy suppliers had to take at least 1 meter reading a year by law?

Surprised me, but every two years according to the Gov page.

Gas meter accuracy and billing disputes

Suppliers are required to read and inspect your meter(s) at least once every two years, although some suppliers may visit more frequently.

Where bills are issued more frequently than actual meter readings are recorded, suppliers can use estimates of energy used, based mainly on past consumption, as the basis of the charges. As there can be a lengthy period between supplier readings, it is important you ensure that the estimated reading is close to that actually recorded by the meter. You can do this by recording the reading on the meter yourself and comparing this reading against the estimate soon after you receive your bill. If a large difference is found, contact your supplier who should make adjustments to your account. If your actual consumption is not similar to that estimated by your supplier the gap will need to be closed at the time the meter is actually read. This may mean that your supplier will require more money for the energy actually used or will arrange some form of refund where use is less than estimated.

Reading this article from a couple of years ago.

Back-billing could be a gas or electric shock

The rule about back-billing is simple: you are obliged to pay for energy you have used but suppliers must follow certain rules about how far back they can bill you.

In short, they are not allowed to charge you for energy used more than 12 months ago if "the supplier was at fault for not having sent a bill to the customer". But the time limit only applies if you have made efforts to contact your supplier or provide them with correct meter readings.

"It is important for customers to know that, depending on the circumstances, you might not have to pay the full bill, for example if you've not received a bill or request for a meter reading but have been asking your energy company to send one," said Ms Guy. "And if you can't afford to pay the catch-up bill suppliers should offer you a payment plan that allows you to repay any debt over the same length of time that it has built up."

antijoke · 19 Jun 2014 at 14:28

£2.5k?

That's a crazy sum of money, did they send any previous correspondence to you saying what the final bill (which I assume this is) was?

I've just switched from SSE because their prices were getting stupid, switched to OVO Energy where I submit metre readings online every month.

bazzabear · 19 Jun 2014 at 14:30

Even if they were entitled, taking such a massive sum without any prior warning is a scummy trick to play on anyone.

HEADRAT · 19 Jun 2014 at 14:34

BDEE said:
If you were just relying on estimates for three years then it really is your own fault and BG are totally justified in charging you for what you have used.

We have provider meter reading both over the phone and letting in BG to read the meter, they are saying they don't have any record of them, how do I prove that we have!

wordy · 19 Jun 2014 at 14:36

Check your bills, if British Gas are wrong go to the bank and get an indemnity and contact the energy ombudsman.

When we were with them it took 8 months for them to sort out our bills and they sent out numerous statements with us owing from £800 to them owing us £140.

Pestilence · 19 Jun 2014 at 14:37

bazzabear said:
Even if they were entitled, taking such a massive sum without any prior warning is a scummy trick to play on anyone.

Indeed. That number disappearing without warnng from our account would be catastrophic for us. Words can't describe how angry I would be, and I wouldn't be letting them get away with it.

w00dy85 · 19 Jun 2014 at 14:38

fornowagain said:
Surprised me, but every two years according to the Gov page.

Gas meter accuracy and billing disputes

2 years! Thats along time between readings, thats not very good.

bazzabear said:
Even if they were entitled, taking such a massive sum without any prior warning is a scummy trick to play on anyone.

Total agree.

I'm with British Gas and use their app for doing meter reading, they send me an email every quarter to submit a reading.

HEADRAT · 19 Jun 2014 at 14:38

Update, British Gas are going to put the £2.5K back in our account in the short term while we're in dispute (which seems fair enough).

fornowagain · 19 Jun 2014 at 14:38

HEADRAT said:
We have provider meter reading both over the phone and letting in BG to read the meter, they are saying they don't have any record of them, how do I prove that we have!

Sounds more like an error that needs reviewing. You must have bills with readings on them, do they all say estimated or actual?

Pestilence · 19 Jun 2014 at 14:38

HEADRAT said:
We have provider meter reading both over the phone and letting in BG to read the meter, they are saying they don't have any record of them, how do I prove that we have!

You need to pull out your old bills and start looking at the readings over time, both estimated and actual, to see if it leads up to the current reading that you (well, your final reading with them) and that all seems fine and paid for.

I really do hope it is, as if they've messed up here you're in a position to really put the hurt on them.

HEADRAT · 19 Jun 2014 at 14:40

I will be checking the bills when I get in, we're weren't sent a final bill from BG, the first we knew about it was when the money was taken out of our account.