Final Invoice from British Gas - Twice

[Stethomas]

Hi,

I wonder if somebody could help us.

In June 2007 we, my partner and I received a final invoice from British Gas for our electric as we changed supplier. Unfortunately we owed money for the Gas supply so had to keep this one going. We received a final bill of around £35 from British Gas for the electric which covered June 07 - Sep 07. We continued paying the excess for Gas until June 2008 and immediately switched suppliers to a fixed rate till 2009 jobby.

A few days after cancelling with British Gas for gas we received ANOTHER final invoice for electric (not gas as we were now in credit with gas payments) for the months up to June (it was made out exactly as the original final invoice for electric) but this one was for £210 ! £175, taking into account the payment of £35 we had already made. Are British Gas allowed to do this, invoice you for a service one year later? We have already paid them off a year ago as per the received final invoice for the months stated, so surely all dealings with them are done. Secondly £175+£35 is ludicrously high for such a small period of service as quarterly payments with our current supplied had never been more than £70. We only use gas for cooking and very partial heating and only two of us live in the house . The bill says this is an estimated reading so we can get this reduced, but should we have to pay this bill at all, and how can we let them know what our reading was in June 2007! I call and spoke to some who asked us to provide him with a reading and to call back in one weeks time with another reading and that they will re-issue a final invoice based on our average usage, however regardless of me doing this, I continue to receive phone call, tx messages and letters telling me to pay the full amount of £175.

Any help would be MUCH appreciated, I'm sick to the back teeth of being let down by companies, it just isn't on and trying to speak to someone is a nightmare especially with British Gas.
Thank you in advance!!!

[ATD]

I take it that the original bill you received from British Gas clearly stated it was a final bill. If so then this could just be an admin error and it would be worth you sending a copy of that bill and a copy of proof of payment to British Gas.

It is also possible that there has been some confusion when your new company took over the supply of your property. For example if they have taken over the wrong meter number, they could have been billing you whilst in reality British gas still held the supply - although you would have expected to get bills from BG in this time as well.

Firstly, check the MPAN or Supply number on the bills from both British Gas and your current supplier to make sure that they are the same. If they are not, then you will need to find out exactly which one relates to your property.

Call your local Electricity distributor to confirm that your MPAN/Supply number is correct, and also who is registered as the supplier and from what date.

Once you know for sure who has been registered as your supplier for the time in question, you can sort things out with the other company from there.