Free gas - can't find who my gas supplier is !

[hacka]

Hi everybody,

I'm looking for some advice on this odd situation.

I moved into a brand new house about 3.5 years ago and the original supplier of electricity and gas was Scottish Power. Before I had ever received my first bill for either, an NPower guy knocked on the door and offered me a good deal for both gas and electricity which I signed up for.

About 2 weeks later, I got a letter from NPower saying that they had contacted the previous supplier and they had no record of me so they were not able to continue to migrate the services. They asked for meter numbers which I tried to supply with limited success. Ended up calling Transco and a few other companies but were never able to find the instllation number of the gas meter which apparently installed by United Utilites (who were also unable to help).

After going round the houses with this, I eventually gave up and waited to see what would happen. 6 months later I got a bill from NPower for electricity only. I have been paying Npower for electricity since then but have still (3 years later) never heard anything about about the gas and have never paid a penny to any supplier. I have gas central heating so do use quite a bit of gas (especially in winter).

I tried again to resolve this matter after I had been in the house about 18 months. I rang NPower but they said they couldn't switch me without details from my previous supplier. My previous supplier (Scottish Power) have never heard of me as I don't think the property was ever set up on their system.

My concern is that one of the suppliers is going to realise their mistake and I'm going to get a massive bill for 3.5 yrs of gas usage. Would I be obliged to pay this ? I've heard that they can only charge you for the last 2 yrs of useage - is this true ?

Thanks
Adam

[Glenn UK]

Adam

Not sure about how it works in bonny scotland, but i would suspect they would be able to relciam the cost of the gas based on the mistake elements of the limitations act (sec 32.1.c i think for the english version).

I am not sure how this would work in practice since you could owe somoen a lot of money if they dont work it out soon.

It would be good to find out im wrong, limitations act is normally considered to be about paying money but i dont see the principle any different in that they have supplied you with 'goods and services' for thwich they expect to be paid.

i know you say you have been trying to sort this out, have you written to anyone or has this all been phone work?

if not i would write to the local suppliers and see if you can sort it out. should it all come down on your head, being able to show you had tried to sort things out should provide some mitigation and at least allow you to negotiate from a good position.

JMHO

glenn

[ozzywizard]

They can only charge for the last 2 years of gas useage that is unbilled. From July 2007 this reduces to one year so if not sorted by then they can only go back one year. To find out who your supplier is phone 0845 601 3048 which is an automated service from transco. You need to choose option 2 and you do not speak to anyone and your provider is not informed you have made an enquiry.

[Glenn UK]

Ozzy

thats interesting stuff and make me feel glad im wrong, where does the info you posted come from please?

Glenn

[hacka]

Thanks for the info guys. I tried calling that number and told the automated system my address. It spent a while checking and then said that it was unable to provide information for my address and that I would be passed through to an advisor to assist. I hung up at this point as I'm in work but might give them a call back from home later.

[ozzywizard]

Lol Hacka, forgot to mention it doesnt like accents.

Hiya Glenn, Read below m8.






It is on the code of practise for accurate bills, the code was developed by the energy retail association.

• On 21 October 2005 BSI (British Standards Institute) issued a press release outlining a BSI standard in better billing for all the industries, including utilities and this has received some media coverage.
• Improving billing for our customers is very important and we are working with the Energy Retail Association (ERA) on new initiatives which continue to demonstrate our commitment to better and clearer bills.
• The industry intends to launch a Billing code and aims to have an ombudsman dispute resolution service, in place by July 2006.
• The BSI announcement is a continuation of the industry plans revealed in February and is in line with key actions to emerge from Ofgems recommendations, following the super complaint made against the industry in April 2005.
• The view from the ERA (and therefore the industry view) is that the billing code supersedes and goes over and above the BSI standard requirements.

Ofgems July 2005 response to the super complaint

• In its super-complaint report - ofgrem found no evidence of significant and widespread consumer detriment associated with billing processes

However, energy suppliers were given a year to deliver key steps demanded by Ofgem:

• Suppliers must stop back-billing customers beyond two years, if no bill is issued and supplier is at fault. This falls to one year from 2007 .
• New independent disputes body will be able to award compensation
• No evidence of widespread failure of industry billing processes following super complaint
• Proposals to help customers, particularly the vulnerable

[Glenn UK]

thanks for that, something else to try to remeber for the future

Glenn

[ozzywizard]

No worries Glenn

[familydealz]

hakka hi
i work for national grid so can find out this info for you with out anybody being notified if you would like to pls message me with your house number and postcode,
it would make a nice change for me to be able to help somebody on here and return the favour.
if anybody else has any problems with gas and electric meter exchanges then i would be happy to help out where possible,