british gas nightmare..any advice?

[thenewsensibleme]

hello - I'll try and bullet what has happened to keep it simple:

1. moved to new address sep 2005 advised to keep direct debit as is until next estimate, we hear nothing for approx 12 months carrying on assuming that eventually it would increase a bit.
2. following an actual meter reading last year the direct debit suddenly increased to TRIPLE the amount accounted for thus making my account overdrawn
3. BG claim they have the right to increase the DD based on estimates at any item they wish and they had put it in writing (overlooked by myself)
4. consequently incurred bank charges and increase in bill amounting to £750 for combined gas/electric
5. over next three months the DD increases more incurring further overdrawing and further bank charges, cancelled direct debit agreement and loss of discount plus final demand for full amount and only alternative being gas pAG meter.
6. found a number for some big wig on a forum who reversed all final demands, reinstated DD and settled at payments amounting to £200 p month with the intention of the surplus amount reducing excess costs over longer term.
7. we have continued like this until last month when I recieved a further bill increase- on top of it this time (when I thought we had been reducing it with the hefty monthly payments), I called and requested they didn't increase DD and the call operator agreed a fixed amount at a lower rate.
8. checked bank and they had taken the higher amount, again resulting in bank charges, unagreed O/D etc.
9. claimed indemnity and got money back
10. CO-OP BANK CLOSES MY ACCOUNT BECAUSE OF THIS BG mistake
11. called idiots at BG (many times/useless) - issued them a letter requesting bank charges (recorded delivery four weeks ago) still no reply, cant get a letter from them owning responsibility so still on last warning with co-op who granted to re-open account if I could get a letter from BG (not a chance.)

So, if you managed to take all that in -we are moving house in less than one month. The BG DD is cancelled by the bank so they cant take any more money from us without me doing it manually over the phone.

THEY OWE ME BANK CHARGES and have not honored it, on top of all this grief. I dont even know how we clocked up such a huge bill, we dont use that much electricity.My husband doesnt believe that the extra cash he gave me to 'reduce the gas bill' has literally disappeared since the bill has increased. He thinks I've been on a jolly with it! AS IF

The next bill is due the first week August, we move out the 2nd wk. What would you do? Who the hell am I supposed to contact about this shambles? We owe them money and still will when we move - we have signed up with eon already at our new property, but just want to get out of this farse wth BG unscathed.

its long (two years of nonsense, but any advice and a bit of time would be greatly valued. thanks

[pelham9]

1) did you record the meter readings when you moved in?

2) did they inform you that the direct debit amount was tripled last year or did it just hit your account? They say they informed you in writing and you say you overlooked it. Do not take their word for it.

3) Did they inform you of the subsequent changes in the amount taken by direct debits.

If you are allowing variable direct debits they still must inform you in writing of the anount if it changes.

You can ask your bank to reverse direct debits if they have taken an incorrect or uninformed amount.

You can cancel direct debit mandates at your bank at any time.

I would certainly cancel the direct debit mandate until all this is sorted. BG's systems are in such disarray at present that it is unsafe to to allow them to raid your bank account at will. Pay your bill by cheque in future.

Put in a complaint through their complaints procedure. Seek advice from Energywatch. Pay nothing further until your complaint is sorted

Do not phone them - get everything in writing. I they phone you request further contact in writing. Keep all correspondence filed away cfarefully.

Male a S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) request to get from them all information that they hold on you.
-costs £10.

Check all your bills - calculate them out and satisfy yourself that they are correct. Do not accept that the amount you owe is as they say- check it yourself.

Make sure you read the meters when you move out and tell BG what they are in writing.

NB BG are sueing the programming firm who put their computer systems in because they do not work!! - it is a total muddle.

[thenewsensibleme]

^ thankyou for your reply, it is extremely useful and directive and I am glad to have somewhere to go with this. I think I can dig out all the relevant paperwork and I believe we are in a position to go to battle as we are out of this address in a few weeks.

I'm not paying them another cent until they pull their finger out. It's disgusting a nation this way and get away with it.

[ATD]

Some very sensible advice above from pelham9.

When you say:

moved to new address sep 2005 advised to keep direct debit as is until next estimate, we hear nothing for approx 12 months carrying on assuming that eventually it would increase a bit.

Do you mean that in the 12 months you were paying your DD, you did not ever receive a bill/statement, even if based on an estimated reading?

There are any number of reasons why your usage at your new property could be higher than at your last address, likewise there are any number of factors that could be wrong with the account causing it to be incorrect.

Are your meters internal to your property – if not, are they in a common services room or located next to what appears to be your neighbours meter? There could be confusion with the reads, the meters could be crossed (i.e. you being billed for a neighbouring property)

You need to confirm that the meter that is actually supplying your property is the one you are being billed for.

Do you still have the meter readings from the time you moved in, and do they match the readings being used to open your account. One possible reason for not hearing anything for a long time regarding the bill, would be that a previous tenant/owner disputed the closing readings (which are in effect your opening readings) and these may have been amended.

How long ago was the indemnity claim? I’ve only ever dealt with these in passing so might not be 100% correct here. It is my understanding that the claim is honoured as soon as it is made, and then investigated – if this investigation has happened, then I don’t see that your bank should require a letter at all. Likewise if the investigation has completed and the claim upheld, then BG should refund the bank charges caused by incorrectly taking the DD. Usually they would request a copy of the charges (either in the form a copy statement or letter from the bank)

As said above, it is vital that you record the actual meter readings on the day that you move out. Also record the serial numbers for both meters (just in case there is a crossed meter issue) – and if you haven’t done so already, verify that the MPRN (gas) and MPAN (elect) which you are being billed against are actually registered against your property – and that the serial numbers on your meters match those on the central databases.

[thenewsensibleme]

Originally Posted by ATD

Some very sensible advice above from pelham9.

When you say:
Do you mean that in the 12 months you were paying your DD, you did not ever receive a bill/statement, even if based on an estimated reading?

You need to confirm that the meter that is actually supplying your property is the one you are being billed for.

Do you still have the meter readings from the time you moved in, and do they match the readings being used to open your account.

How long ago was the indemnity claim? I’ve only ever dealt with these in passing so might not be 100% correct here. It is my understanding that the claim is honoured as soon as it is made, and then investigated – if this investigation has happened, then I don’t see that your bank should require a letter at all. Likewise if the investigation has completed and the claim upheld, then BG should refund the bank charges caused by incorrectly taking the DD. Usually they would request a copy of the charges (either in the form a copy statement or letter from the bank)

Thanks - I will be making sure to record the meters, and yes they definitely supply our house.

We did recieve bills, but they did not estimate for six months after moving into our new property-- then we got a large bill and I CALLED THEM (not the other way round as you might expect), to enquire if we should increase the payments. The reply was "No dont worry about it for now, we'll be in touch to advise you", which then they did nothing until a few months later I got the threatening demands because our DD went from £50 a month to £245 and there wasnt enough in the account to cover it. Because we fell behind on the total owed (by now from zero-£800), after I actually read the meter it apparently has continued increasing by these large amounts and every few months I get the same thing happening because I wasnt 'organised' enough to sort out the bill or cover in time before it hit my account. It was also a shock as I was lulled into "dont worry" false snse of security by BG. I just didnt think it was necessary to check the bills with a fine tooth comb.

Strange that it is the electric that is so high, usually its gas during winter, but our last bill estimated we should be paying £214 a month which includes the arrears from when they didnt estimate or bother reading the meter. I knew it would be a bit more because this house is bigger, but not so much as it was.

Anyway - I'm sure I have the paperwork/first reading from when we moved in plus I will request the full file as suggested previously.

Correct - regarding the indemnity, co-op have been unsupportive to say the least stating that because I've overdrawn on that account three times (all as a result of BG), it will remain open but close automatically should i make the same mistake. I explained that it was near impossible to get any letters of acknowledgement from BG, but it made no difference.

I made the indemnity claim approx one month ago -- sent a recorded delivery letter to BG with bank statement showing charges and outlining the issues. Result = nothing.

Its school holidays, we are about to move house to a complete demolition site and we have financial pressure, the last thing I need now is this BS from BG and having to write letters here there and everywhere. I spend half my life pressing a 100 options on the phone or writing complaints on forums LOL

[ATD]

Originally Posted by thenewsensibleme

...the last thing I need now is this BS from BG and having to write letters here there and everywhere. I spend half my life pressing a 100 options on the phone or writing complaints on forums LOL

Totally understand that! Now unless procedures have changed, if you have received the letter in the envelope with the big red writing "Urgent Telemessage", then the account has been passed from the normal billing office to the debt office.

If so, call them and ask to speak to a manager - you should be put through to a Customer Liaison Manager. Their remit is to take personal responsibility for the account and to act as your sole point of contact until the issue is resolved. They may not be able to personally take all the actions required to sort the account out, but it will be down to them to arrange these actions and to make sure that they are carried out. So it saves you all the running around and being passed from pillar to post.

It's important that you get speaking to them quickly, as once you move out and the account is closed, it will be passed to another system - the internal debt recovery team (Central Recoveries) - still in the same office, but a pain in the *ss to make amendments once the account has gone over to that system. Electricity accounts once going to Central Recoveries tended to be sent to DCA's a lot faster than gas accounts, so get a CLM involved now and save the hassle.

[pelham9]

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still in the same office, but a pain in the *ss to make amendments once the account has gone over to that system 


How right you are! This applies to all the utility companies whose programs seem to have been installed by the same rubbish IT firm. You can come to a reasonable agreement with British Gas and pay up but if this has got to collections previously they may well continue to pester you and pass your account to a DCA who is probably also in the same office. Collections are a law unto themselves,

[pelham9]

See British Gas sues Accenture over billing ‘shambles’ - Times Online#