The reason I ask is I received a shock bill of £354 for gas yesterday and quite rightly was a little shocked, which is not strictly true I was very shocked. I am with Daligas and in December 2013 moved from British Gas to them on a fixed rate until December 2014 paying via direct debit a monthly amount,
I have been trying for the last couple of months to clarify exactly what the current tariff I was on but this information was slow to be delivered such is there rather limited customer service department. That said I managed to get through via the phone yesterday, a rare occurrence, and asked where £354 debt had come from to which she replied it was partly the difference in the gas that we actually used and what we had paid for over the year. Unlike the bigger companies the smaller suppliers tend to keep there fixed prices lower but that means you are not building up credit during the months when less gas is used. Which is Ok but it was what she said next that rather blew me away. She told me that they had stopped taking the amount agreed by direct debit for the past 5 months and as yet has not really explained why. She also could not explain why the company had not pursued me for any payment either for monies due or current gas use. This she could not explain either.
When asked why the company had not got in touch at the end of the contract to get a meter reading to help ascertain whether I was in credit or debit she said they had. I pointed out that I received the metre reading request on the 20 of this month and could she send me a copy of the original meter reading request of last December to which she replied she could not find it.
I have submitted a formal complaint but unsure what the legal position is. I certainly have no issue in paying any monies due but I feel Daligas have exacerbated the overall debt by som£193 because for some reason they stopped taking money via direct debit.
Any thoughts on how to proceed?
Edit:
Been in touch with Ofgem, waste of time, C A B who were more helpful and the Energy Ombudsman's office and both the latter agree that there is no business reason for ceasing to take agreed payments via direct debit. In fact the ombudsman office feels sure that they are not actually allowed to do it. But they cannot act for me until I have gone through the initial complaints procedure.
As I have said I have submitted a formal complaint which as yet has not been acknowledged though I phoned the company concerned and requested they do so as a matter of urgency.
I have been trying for the last couple of months to clarify exactly what the current tariff I was on but this information was slow to be delivered such is there rather limited customer service department. That said I managed to get through via the phone yesterday, a rare occurrence, and asked where £354 debt had come from to which she replied it was partly the difference in the gas that we actually used and what we had paid for over the year. Unlike the bigger companies the smaller suppliers tend to keep there fixed prices lower but that means you are not building up credit during the months when less gas is used. Which is Ok but it was what she said next that rather blew me away. She told me that they had stopped taking the amount agreed by direct debit for the past 5 months and as yet has not really explained why. She also could not explain why the company had not pursued me for any payment either for monies due or current gas use. This she could not explain either.
When asked why the company had not got in touch at the end of the contract to get a meter reading to help ascertain whether I was in credit or debit she said they had. I pointed out that I received the metre reading request on the 20 of this month and could she send me a copy of the original meter reading request of last December to which she replied she could not find it.
I have submitted a formal complaint but unsure what the legal position is. I certainly have no issue in paying any monies due but I feel Daligas have exacerbated the overall debt by som£193 because for some reason they stopped taking money via direct debit.
Any thoughts on how to proceed?
Edit:
Been in touch with Ofgem, waste of time, C A B who were more helpful and the Energy Ombudsman's office and both the latter agree that there is no business reason for ceasing to take agreed payments via direct debit. In fact the ombudsman office feels sure that they are not actually allowed to do it. But they cannot act for me until I have gone through the initial complaints procedure.
As I have said I have submitted a formal complaint which as yet has not been acknowledged though I phoned the company concerned and requested they do so as a matter of urgency.