British Gas Data Protection Issues

[chris1977]

Quick question folks, re: Data Protection......

 

British Gas appear to have sent Gas and Electricity bills to my estranged wife in her name at her new address (an address that I have NEVER lived at), relating to an account that was in my name whilst we were married.

 

I received this response when I questioned the possible breach of the Data Protection Act:

 

"Also in the previous email you addressed concerns with data protection, I have spoken to our data protection team and they have told me that in changing the name on the account in relation to the proof that you sent to us that you had moved out and your wife was still there, we have not broken data protection"

I moved out in Feb 07, but I kept the account in my name until my wife moved out in April 07. My wife never agreed to take the account on at any time.

Is this a beach of Data Protection according to the act? I have looked at the act and can't find anything relevant. Any advice would be appreciated

Cheers

Chris

[freakyleaky]

It looks like they have made a mistake in thinking that your wife was taking over the account. make this clear to them and let them know that the account has been changed to her name in error and that you, or she, had never authorised this.

Not sure if DP has been breached as they had all the details concerned anyway.

[dpick]

Hi if the account was in your name only then they had no right to pass info to your wife/exwife/partner etc. My wife had account with creditor in her name only and they would not talk to me until I got power of attorney for her she was ill at the time (this was approx 4 to s years ago but I have noticed that bank and credit card companies(all in my name) wont talk to my wife due to DPA so I would say that unless you gave permission they are in the dog Pooh.

 

all the best dpick:)

[renegotiation]

Wrong message.

[chris1977]

Hmmm interesting...... Thanks for your responses gents. The account was solely in my name and the response I had from BG was that they had not breached the DPA due to the fact that they had proof from me that I had changed address

 

Here's the thing - I did move out in Feb 07 and notified them of this, however the account was to remain in my name and at no point did my wife nor I request that this be changed. So my opinion is that they have breached DP by sharing MY account information with my wife without my consent. I just can't find the relevant section of the DPA to throw at them In the meantime I have written up a SAR and will post tomorrrow.

 

Any help would be appreciated

 

Cheers, Chris

[chris1977]

I never got around to sending off the SAR for this account in the end, but I did escalate the complaint via Energywatch who, verbally at least, agreed that there seemed to be a breach of the DPA. They have agreed to follow this up with British Gas so I'll wait for the outcome. They also advised that they would ensure that any collection activity is placed on hold in the mean time.

 

I'll update when Energywatch / British Gas come back to me.

[chris1977]

Continued to receive letters from DCAs regarding this debt so decided to send off a S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) in the end to see what they've got on me.

 

Also sent the following letter to Energywatch who are still investigating this on my behalf. I'd be grateful if anyone with a bit of knowledge of Data Protection Act could have a butcher's and let me know if they think I've got a case or if I'm flogging a dead horse. Also if anyone has any knowledge of Utilities Companies' obligations to follow up on a disputed meter reading, that would also be helpful.

 

Anyway, here's the letter. Just to clarify, during our 19 month tenancy we were paying approximately £40 pcm for Electricity and the same for Gas. When the final bills were received we owed them approximately £800 for each account as we had apparently been "underpaying" for the entire tenancy period:

Dear Wendy,

 

Further to our conversation on 31st March 2008, I enclose as discussed, copies of all correspondence I have relating to the above accounts. Unfortunately, due to moving home twice in the last 12 months, some of the paperwork relating to these accounts has gone astray, however, I believe that all of the relevant information relating to my complaint can be gathered from the letters and emails I have enclosed.

 

For clarification, I would like to highlight the particulars of my complaint:

 

1. Despite being advised numerous times via telephone, letter and email, British Gas have sent my correspondence to the incorrect address (es) on several occasions, and continue to do so. For a long period my estranged wife was receiving correspondence in my name, at her address in ******. I have never lived at that address. Currently I am receiving correspondence from British Gas addressed to myself as well as correspondence addressed to my wife, at my own address, an address at which my wife has never lived. This incompetence on the part of British Gas has not only caused unnecessary delays, but has made it increasingly difficult to get closure on my complaint and is causing substantial stress for both my wife and I, during what is already a very stressful time.

 

2. British Gas appear to have transferred my accounts to my wife’s name on 2nd February 2007. Neither my wife nor I requested this and by passing details of my account to my estranged wife, I believe this to be a breach of the Data Protection Act. British Gas have thus far failed to substantiate their claim that they have not committed an offence under said Act.

 

3. British Gas have passed accounts to various Debt Collection Agencies whilst the accounts have been in dispute, despite Energywatch requesting, on my behalf, that they place a hold on all collection activity until the dispute is resolved.

 

4. By passing my personal & financial details to third party Debt Collection Agencies without my prior consent to share said information, I believe this to be an offence under the Data Protection Act and challenge British Gas to provide a copy of any agreement showing my consent and which affords them the right to share my data. Alternatively, I challenge them to substantiate any claim by them that they are legally permitted to share said data.

 

5. British Gas have thus fair failed to even acknowledge the possibility that the meter(s) may have been faulty, or the opening meter readings, which were provided by the Letting Agents, were incorrect. Given the apparent unusually high energy consumption over this period, surely these possible explanations would be considered, rather than immediately dismissed.

 

6. Having looked again at the enclosed statements, it appears that over a period of 608 days (4th June 2005 – 1st February 2007) we used a total of 12165 KwH in electricity (see replacement electricity bill dated 10th January 2008). This equates to an average yearly consumption of 7284KwH. Having conducted some research, I have found that the national average consumption is believed to be around 3300KwH, taking into account seasonal variations. This means that in a 2 bedroom, gas central heated house with 2 occupants, our electricity consumption was more than twice the national average! British Gas claim to be unable to provide average consumption figures. I find this extremely difficult to believe, considering I, as a lay man, have been able to find this information easily. Furthermore, using the enclosed electricity bill annotated “Final” in blue ink, it is clear that there was an actual meter reading taken on 2nd February 2007, then again on 24th April 2007. Surely these readings could be used to produce a bill based on average consumption? I have not had the time to look into the Gas consumption but I suspect the results may be similar.

 

7. On 5th November 2007 I paid £17.21 to British Gas, following receipt of a “final bill”. This does not appear to be reflected in any of the subsequent “final bills”.

 

It is now over 1 year since I left the above property and approximately 11 months since my wife left the property. I have spent more time on this than I care to think about and the stress that it has caused, and continues to cause, is immeasurable. To that end, I would be extremely grateful if you would continue to pursue this matter on my behalf with a view to achieving closure.

 

Thank you for your help so far and please feel free to contact me if you require any further information.

 

Yours faithfully

[chris1977]

OK, an update (not that I think anyone is actually viewing this thread anyway ).

 

Received a response from BG to my most recent letter, stating in no uncertain terms that they would not be pursuing my complaint further. Advised by Energywatch to contact the Ombudsman, which I have done, and have drafted the following letter in anticipation of a letter from the Ombudsman providing BG's head of complaints' address:

 

Dear Head of Complaints Lady

 

I have been advised by the Energy Ombudsman to forward to you the details of my ongoing complaint against your company, in the hope that you may be able to provide a prompt resolution.

 

I have been pursuing this complaint for almost 9 months, with correspondence between myself and the British Gas Billing Department, various Debt Collection Agencies, Solicitors, Energywatch and, most recently, British Gas Customer Relations. However, due to varying degrees of incompetence, repeated failure to follow the most simple instructions (i.e. change of a customer’s address), inability to comply with the most basic requests, despite re-iteration (I have repeatedly requested that your company substantiate their claims that they have acted fairly and lawfully, even providing specific examples of where I believe they have acted unlawfully and are at fault, for ease of reference), complete disregard for their legal obligations (compliance with Data Protection Act 1998 and the Billing Code) and inability to accept responsibility or to listen to sound reason, I find myself in the position I am now in, and have been left with no choice but to escalate this complaint to your regulatory body.

 

I have written numerous letters and emails, made more telephone calls than I care to remember and spent a great deal of my own time and money on this matter and it is for those reasons that, rather than reproduce the particulars of my complaint again here, I request that you review the enclosures to this letter, numbered for ease of reference, which should give you an appreciation of all of the issues. Enclosure 1 is a copy of my most recent letter to your Company’s Customer Relations department and summarises the particulars of my complaint, with Enclosure 2 being their most recent response.

 

Incidentally, since my most recent letter, I have received two further items of correspondence in relation to my accounts; one of these was from a Debt Collection Agency and was addressed to my estranged wife at my address and the other from a solicitor acting on behalf of your company, addressed to me and demanding payment of a sum which does not appear to reflect the balance on either of my accounts.

 

To clarify my position, I do not intend to avoid any debt that may be owed to British Gas in relation to energy consumed by my wife and I during our tenancy at the above property, however, I do believe that British Gas are at fault for the reasons summarised in Enclosure 1 and, through their negligence, incompetence, avoidance and repeated harassment they have caused my estranged wife and I very high levels of stress during an already difficult period.

 

I believe I have a very strong cause of action against British Gas for damages under, but not limited to, the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, and I am fully prepared to commence litigation proceedings should a satisfactory resolution to my complaint not be forthcoming. I also believe that I have a very strong defence to any claim that British Gas may choose to make in attempt to recover the alleged balances on my accounts through the court system and I am fully prepared to defend any such action. Needless to say, this would not be my preferred method of resolution and one which I assume British Gas would also be keen to avoid, therefore, I will reconsider my position if, as a gesture of good will and compromise, British Gas agree to recalculate both energy bills for the full duration of our tenancy at the above address, based on reasonable estimates in line with current average consumption figures (for a 2 bedroom terraced property, with 2 occupants in full time employment).

 

Please feel free to contact me, in writing only, if you require copies of any previous correspondence I have sent to your company and which may assist in clarifying any of the points made in Enclosure 1.

 

I trust you will take the time to read this letter and the enclosures and I look forward to your response within 14 days of receipt.

 

Yours faithfully

And Enclosure 1:

 

 

Dear Customer Relations Bloke,

 

I refer to your letter dated 9th April 2008 and do not accept this as resolution to my complaint. In fact, not only have you failed to substantiate any of your claims that British Gas have acted lawfully in sharing my data with third parties, but you have also completely ignored my complaint that, despite numerous emails, letters and telephone calls, correspondence has been, and continues to be, sent to the wrong address and the wrong addressees.

 

For ease of reference, I will reproduce in italics below, the particulars of my complaint dated 1st April 2008. I will clarify and provide further comment in bold type following each point.

 

· Despite being advised numerous times via telephone, letter and email, British Gas has sent my correspondence to the incorrect address (es) on several occasions, and continue to do so. For a long period my estranged wife was receiving correspondence in my name, at her address in Ropley. I have never lived at that address. Currently I am receiving correspondence in my own, and my wife’s name, at my address. My wife has never lived at my address. This incompetence on the part of British Gas has not only caused unnecessary delays, but has made it increasingly difficult to get closure on my complaint and is causing substantial stress for both my wife and I, during what is already a very stressful time. – British Gas continue to send correspondence addressed to my wife at my address, relating to completely different amounts to that quoted in the correspondence I have received in my name. You state that my wife and I are jointly responsible for the gas and electricity accounts. If this is the case, then why do we owe different amounts? Furthermore, a letter from Westcott Credit Services in the last 2 weeks, addressed to Mrs ******, at MY address and warning of court action. When my wife attempted to contact British Gas to discuss this account, she was met with refusal as the account was “in dispute”.

 

 

· British Gas appear to have transferred my accounts to my wife’s name on 2nd February 2007. Neither my wife nor I requested this and by passing details of my account to my estranged wife, I believe this to be a breach of the Data Protection Act. British Gas have thus far failed to substantiate their claim that they have not committed an offence under said Act. – You state in your response that my wife “is seen as the second account holder” yet when questioned are unable to tell me on what authority. I did not ask for my wife to be made a second account holder, nor did my wife, and I require you to provide a copy of your authority for carrying out this action. I also requested here that you substantiate your claim that British Gas have not committed an offence under the Data Protection Act 1998 by sharing my information with third parties without my consent. Your response in no way satisifies my request and is merely a matter of your opinion. To help clarify my complaint, I will reproduce below an extract from the Data Protection Act 1998 and invite you to substantiate your previous claim, quoting the relevant legislation exempting British Gas from the requirements of this Act:

“SCHEDULE 1 The data protection principles

Part I The principles

1 Personal data shall be processed fairly and lawfully and, in particular, shall not be processed unless—

(a) at least one of the conditions in Schedule 2 is met, and

(b) in the case of sensitive personal data, at least one of the conditions in Schedule 3 is also met.

2 Personal data shall be obtained only for one or more specified and lawful purposes, and shall not be further processed in any manner incompatible with that purpose or those purposes.

3 Personal data shall be adequate, relevant and not excessive in relation to the purpose or purposes for which they are processed.

4 Personal data shall be accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date.

5 Personal data processed for any purpose or purposes shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose or those purposes.

6 Personal data shall be processed in accordance with the rights of data subjects under this Act.

7 Appropriate technical and organisational measures shall be taken against unauthorised or unlawful processing of personal data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, personal data.

8 Personal data shall not be transferred to a country or territory outside the European Economic Area unless that country or territory ensures an adequate level of protection for the rights and freedoms of data subjects in relation to the processing of personal data.

SCHEDULE 2 Conditions relevant for purposes of the first principle: processing of any personal data

 

1 The data subject has given his consent to the processing.

2 The processing is necessary—

(a) for the performance of a contract to which the data subject is a party, or

(b) for the taking of steps at the request of the data subject with a view to entering into a contract.

3 The processing is necessary for compliance with any legal obligation to which the data controller is subject, other than an obligation imposed by contract.

4 The processing is necessary in order to protect the vital interests of the data subject.

5 The processing is necessary—

(a) for the administration of justice,

(b) for the exercise of any functions conferred on any person by or under any enactment,

© for the exercise of any functions of the Crown, a Minister of the Crown or a government department, or

(d) for the exercise of any other functions of a public nature exercised in the public interest by any person.

6 (1) The processing is necessary for the purposes of legitimate interests pursued by the data controller or by the third party or parties to whom the data are disclosed, except where the processing is unwarranted in any particular case by reason of prejudice to the rights and freedoms or legitimate interests of the data subject.

(2) The Secretary of State may by order specify particular circumstances in which this condition is, or is not, to be taken to be satisfied.

· British Gas have passed accounts to various Debt Collection Agencies whilst the accounts have been in dispute, despite Energywatch requesting, on my behalf, that they place a hold on all collection activity until the dispute is resolved. - My comments above are also relevant here and I require you to substantiate your claim, quoting relevant legislation that allows you to share my personal data with third party Debt Collection Agencies. Alternatively, I require you to provide a copy of any agreement showing my consent and which affords British Gas the right to share my data. Furthermore, on recently checking my credit file I discovered that Westcott Credit Services have conducted 2 searches on my credit record in relation to this account, this has caused a reduction in my credit rating and is a direct consequence of British Gas unlawfully sharing my personal data. This action reserves me the right to seek redress for damages as per the remit of the Data Protection Act, this including (but not being limited to) damage as a result of defamation of my character and damage as a result of having to pay higher rates of interest on loans and credit cards as a direct result of incorrectly recorded financial information due to British Gas’ negligence. I will also be sending a copy of this letter to Westcott Credit Services.

 

· British Gas have thus fair failed to even acknowledge the possibility that the meter(s) may have been faulty, or the opening meter readings, which were provided by the Letting Agents, were incorrect. Given the apparent unusually high energy consumption over this period, surely these possible explanations would be considered, rather than immediately dismissed. – You state in your response that the high balance only accrued as a result of an accurate reading that was taken which confirmed that the previous estimated readings had been under-estimated. This does not address my question in any way shape or form and, in fact I put it to you that the high balance is due to the previous under-estimates being inaccurate and NOT due to an accurate meter reading. I would like to draw your attention to the following extract from the Billing Code, a Code to which I am aware that British Gas subscribe and are obliged to comply with:

 

“For customers on credit payment arrangements, suppliers will not be at fault where they

can demonstrate that they have taken all of the following four actions:

a) Attempted to read the meter at the customer’s premises within the last 15

months

b) Provided opportunities for the customer to submit their own meter reading at

any time on any day

c) Ensured that it was clear on the bill that energy consumption had been

estimated

d) Used a system to ensure estimated bills relate to foreseeable actual

consumption (that is, the estimate was based on previous history, where

available, or on average energy consumption for a similar type of property)

 

Where the customer pays by direct debit, in addition to a) and b) above, the supplier

must be able to demonstrate that it has taken all of the following actions:

• the customer has been correctly set up on their billing system by both taking

deductions from the customer’s bank account and sending statements to them

• within the last 15 months it has re-assessed the customer’s direct debit payment

to ensure that the payments are sufficient to meet (either the actual or a

reasonable estimate of) the customer’s energy usage.

The requirement will not apply where a supplier can demonstrate that it has

made written contact with the customer telling them that the supplier needs to

reassess their payments and asking them to provide readings to enable the

supplier to do this, as access has not been possible (although this does not

preclude a reassessment based on a reasonable estimate of consumption)

• it has ensured that it was clear on statements sent to the customer that direct

debit payments were based on an estimate of energy consumption”

 

I therefore require you to provide evidence, in the form of copies of correspondence and / or information on my account record, that British Gas have carried out all of the above actions and are, therefore, not at fault. Of particular note are sub-paragraphs (a) & (d) above.

 

· Having looked again at the enclosed statements, it appears that over a period of 608 days (4th June 2005 – 1st February 2007) we used a total of 12165 KwH in electricity (see replacement electricity bill dated 10th January 2008). This equates to an average yearly consumption of 7284KwH. Having conducted some research, I have found that the national average consumption is believed to be around 3300KwH, taking into account seasonal variations. This means that in a 2 bedroom, gas central heated house with 2 occupants, our electricity consumption was more than twice the national average! British Gas claim to be unable to provide average consumption figures. I find this extremely difficult to believe, considering I, as a lay man, have been able to find this information easily. Furthermore, using the enclosed electricity bill annotated “Final” in blue ink, it is clear that there was an actual meter reading taken on 2nd February 2007, then again on 24th April 2007. Surely these readings could be used to produce a bill based on average consumption? I have not had the time to look into the Gas consumption but I suspect the results may be similar. – You state in your response that the account had been opened and closed on actual meter readings. This is not strictly true. Actual meter readings were provided to British Gas by the letting agents at the beginning of our tenancy (please refer to the bundle of paperwork provided to Energywatch in my previous correspondence for evidence of this), yet British Gas continued to use an estimated opening reading for both Gas and Electricity accounts for the remainder of our tenancy. The actual meter readings were only applied to my account a few months ago, at my request and after providing copies of the relevant correspondence from the letting agents. Furthermore, I provided several actual meter readings during my tenancy yet none of these appear to have been recorded, and apparently inaccurate estimates have been used instead.

· On 5th November 2007 I paid £17.21 to British Gas, following receipt of a “final bill”. This does not appear to be reflected in any of the subsequent “final bills”. – You appear to have completely ignored this comment in your reply.

 

To summarise, your response in no way satisfies my complaint, nor does it satisfy my request for information and substantiation of British Gas’ claims that they have acted lawfully and reasonably. For this reason I will not be making any payments to settle this account, without court order, until all of my points have been addressed to satisfaction. Furthermore, I respect a full and comprehensive response within 14 days of this letter. If no response is received I will take up my complaint with the Energy Ombudsman and the Office of the Information Commissioner and will also seek financial redress.

 

I trust this makes my position clear and I await your response.

 

Yours faithfully

[Tonka99]

Hello Chris

 

Im reading your thread with interest ,i have sent SAR to BG on account

of my Business they where billing me for three months that we where

not even here, we have a smart meter which in theroy can never be

wrong !!!!!! when we first moved in sent in the meter reading well i didnt

our stock taker did it , things were fine then after a couple of months the

bills got higher and then higher i phoned Bg every month to ask why

then when our bill came in sept it was £795.00 for a months worth

well that did make me a bit mad ! so i called them yet again , same story

"you have a smart meter so it must be right " well i thought im not paying

the DD so stopped it for sept thought that would get them to listen,

during that one week they put DD throu three times and Lloyds bless um

charged us £35.00 a time .

next thing a letter you owe us £795.00 on the 3rd Oct on the 12th oct

you owe us £1899.00 then on the 19th Oct you owe us £3440.00!!!!

Now im really bad mad called them "you have a smart meter cant be wrong " i explained about the three letters and the trebling of cost

only to be told that they had made a mistake with the smart meter

after that i went to the CAB they called them and were told that they would send all our statements so we could see where the three grand

came from , well on them they were billing us from Nov when we didnt move in till Feb its now got to the stage where the Cab have said they

can do no more ,so i have taken it on and am waiting for my SAR to come

back. hope you get better service than i have now have to pay £960.00

a month to clear the so called debt ,

will be watching yours you are not alone

soz to go on a bit but BG are not my best buddies

 

regards and good luck M1

[chris1977]

Thanks for the support M1 - nice to see that somebody is actually reading this thread

 

Looks like you've had an even worse time with BG than I have!

 

Oh, and I wouldn't hold out much hope that you'll get anything back from your SAR. They've got about a week left to respond to mine and I haven't had so much as an acknowledgement from them. I'll give them until the 40 day mark before I send them an LBA then its off to court

 

Just a thought, I know you said you'd been to the CAB but have you tried Energywatch & The Ombudsman yet? In my experience, Energywatch don't really have a lot of clout and seem to play more of an advocacy role but I'm pretty sure the Ombudsman won't entertain a complaint until you've exhausted the other options. The ombudsman do deal with complaints relating to billing issues though, so they may be your best bet. But I would suggest Energywatch first, then British Gas head of complaints - I can give you the name and address if you like - then the Energy Ombudsman.

 

Cheers

 

Chris

[chris1977]

Received a letter today from British Gas Legal & Regulatory department thanking me for my S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) dated 1st April (that's 32 days ago!). In that SAR I specified exactly what I wanted copies of, I included my account numbers and address for identification purposes, yet they have now asked me to complete their Data Protection Act form and provide copies of Identity documents so that they can comply with the requirements of the Data Protection Act. Oh, and their 40 days will apparently start from the date they receive the completed form!!!!

 

This is from Section 7 of the Act:

 

(3) A data controller is not obliged to comply with a request under this section unless he is supplied with such information as he may reasonably require in order to satisfy himself as to the identity of the person making the request and to locate the information which that person seeks.

Now, I would have thought that my account numbers, name and current address (an address which they are currently using to send correspondence to me containing personal data, so are obviously satisfied that I am indeed the data subject!) would have been enough to satisfy the requirements of the Act.

 

I might get in touch with the Information Commissioners Office on this but if anyone has any experience in this matter, with British Gas or otherwise, I would appreciate any advice or comments.

 

Thanks

 

Chris

[chris1977]

Will be sending this letter to them tomorrow:

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

I refer to your letter dated 30th April 2008, which appears to be a response to my Subject Access Request dated 1st April 2008. Your letter states that you require proof of identity in order to comply with the requirements of the above Act, however, said Act only requires that you are able to satisfy yourself as to the identity of the Data Subject. The following is an extract from Section 7 of the Act:

(3) A data controller is not obliged to comply with a request under this section unless he is supplied with such information as he may reasonably require in order to satisfy himself as to the identity of the person making the request and to locate the information which that person seeks.

My Subject Access Request dated 1st April 2008 provided the following information to allow you to meet the requirements of the Act in satisfying yourself as to my identity:

· Name

· Account Numbers

· Address to which the required billing information relates

· Current address (an address to which you are currently sending mail containing my personal data)

I believe that the information I provided in my original request was sufficient to allow you to satisfy yourself as to my identity and to comply with the requirements of the Data Protection Act. Furthermore, it has taken you 30 days to respond requesting further information.

It is due to the reasons above that I do not accept your claim that you have 40 days from receipt of this additional information to provide me with copies of the data I originally requested. In fact, you have only 5 days to provide said data, being the balance of the 40 day period prescribed by the Data Protection Act 1998. I have enclosed the completed form you requested and provided copies of my identity documentation for your records.

Given that it may now be unreasonable to expect you to provide this information within the prescribed period, I am willing to allow you an extra 5 days to comply with my request, meaning you now have until 15th May 2008. Please be advised that if you fail to comply with my request by this date, I will have no choice but to commence litigation proceedings to request the court order compliance under Section7(9) of the Data Protection Act. I will also include a claim for damages under Section 13(1) of the Act.

I trust this makes my position clear and I look forward to your prompt response.

[Tonka99]

Hello Chris

We seem to have had the very same response from our friends at

BG .

had the exact same letter today by speical delivery we have forty days

from when the documents are in our office wrong , they have cashed the cheque the clock is ticking for them

and have said we dont need to pay again thats big of them .

have photo copys of all the things they have asked for its going back

tomorrow special delivery am keeping the receipt will claim that back,

I will keep you updated may even use your very fine letter if thats ok

 

Also had two letters from them one dated the 7th may stating we owe

£3987.00 and another today dated the 8th may saying we owe £4987.00

god knows how they work that out :? they were from two differant offices.

 

 

cheers for now Tonka 99 x M1

[chris1977]

Hiya Tonka,

 

A quick update that might be worth mentioning considering your last post.... I decided to speak to the Information Commissioner's Office yesterday, before threatening court action (besides, I've already got two court claims on the go and I think that'll be more than enough for me right now!). Anyway, to summarise the advice given by the ICO bloke...... He advised that the ICO would consider BG as having acted within the requirements of the Act and would not uphold my claim that they only have the balance of the 40 days since my original SAR in which to comply. He did say, however, that this was very questionable practice and certainly looked like delay tactics. But, on this alone the ICO would not uphold a complaint. They would take this behaviour into consideration if BG then failed to comply within 40 days after I completed their silly little form, and this would not look good for them at all.

 

He also advised that due to a huge backlog, complaints are currently taking approximately around 3 months to resolve.

 

Personally, I'm gonna give them the benefit of the doubt and allow them another 40 days. This is an aside to my main complaint anyway, which is currently with the Energy Ombudsman. If they still fail to come up with the goods after 40 days I'll be bypassing the ICO and going straight to court.

 

I will keep you updated may even use your very fine letter if thats ok

 

Please do mate, fill your boots!

 

Also had two letters from them one dated the 7th may stating we owe

£3987.00 and another today dated the 8th may saying we owe £4987.00

god knows how they work that out they were from two differant offices.

 

It's just another example of how incompetent some of these companies are. As I've just said in my other thread re: HSBC, it gets to a point where, instead of helping to resolve your complaint, they actually end up confusing you more with every nonsensical letter they write and end up forcing you to court as it's the only way you can get any sense out of them.

 

Good luck anyway, and keep us posted.

 

Cheers

 

Chris

[Tonka99]

Hello Chris

Have tweaked your letter thanks

it went out yesterday so now we WAIT & WAIT

 

speak to you in about 25 years

 

regards T99

[Tonka99]

HI Chris

 

got my relpy back today from BG by special delivery

they must think we were born on a bannana boat ,

have just sent a list of calls ect that have been made

and a statement of account .

 

Well im so very mad ,i have a very thick file of statements

and telephone dates to which they have chosen to ignore.

They should be sending the tarriffs the start read plus all statements

with the readings on them but no. Cant do anything about it as its

weekend but think i will start my own thread here as the more people

looking the better for us .

Have you heard from them yet

sorry to rant on

 

Regards and good luck

cheers T99

[chris1977]

Hi Tonka,

 

That was quick! Sounds like they missed a lot of information, but quick nevertheless! I must admit, I haven't even got round to sending off the completed form and ID docs etc but plan to do so on Monday.

 

There's a template for SARs where the organisation has failed to supply all of the data requested of them, it can be found here. Might be worth amending to suit your situation, send it off and see what comes back.

 

If they continue to mess you about, I would then go to the ICO and/or court, depending on how strongly you feel about it That will certainly make them sit up and listen!

 

Cheers

 

Chris

[chris1977]

P.S could you publish the link to your thread so I can keep an eye on your progress mate?

[Tonka99]

Hello Chris 1977

 

How are you doing any news yet

have started my own tread its

British Gas Business v Tonka 99

In it i have refered to you as Chris77 soz to get

it wrong.

thanks for the support

cheers T99

[Dipply75]

just in case, make sure the serial number on your meter matches the one on the bills EXACTLY. Any discrepancy and its not your bill. Ask Enerywatch to check it on the central register also - my meter number was registered at 2 different addresses - potentially double bills!

And good luck, they really are beyond belief

 

Just in case!

[Dipply75]

Hey chris1977, reading and sighing for you. I am fighting with them too. Good piece of advice I was given on here ref the Information comissioners office, try and get them to confirm the advice they gave you in writing - especially if they seem reluctant to stick to the letter of the law and companies a bit of leeway.

 

You can then complain they are not being impartial enough, giving leeway when the law is clear, and will hopefully be a bit harder on BG.

 

Good luck with this shower of muppets

[chris1977]

Hello Chris 1977

 

How are you doing any news yet

have started my own tread its

British Gas Business v Tonka 99

In it i have refered to you as Chris77 soz to get

it wrong.

thanks for the support

cheers T99

 

Hi Tonka,

 

Nothing yet, although I only sent the paperwork off on Monday as I've been a little tied up with my bank claim. I'll let you know as soon as I hear anything.

 

I'll be keeping an eye on your thread also

 

Cheers mate

 

Chris

[chris1977]

just in case, make sure the serial number on your meter matches the one on the bills EXACTLY. Any discrepancy and its not your bill. Ask Enerywatch to check it on the central register also - my meter number was registered at 2 different addresses - potentially double bills!

And good luck, they really are beyond belief

 

Just in case!

 

Hi Dipply, thanks for your post. Unfortunately, I moved out of the property concerned back in February last year and my estranged wife followed suit in April last year, so I wouldn't be able to check this

[chris1977]

Hey chris1977, reading and sighing for you. I am fighting with them too. Good piece of advice I was given on here ref the Information comissioners office, try and get them to confirm the advice they gave you in writing - especially if they seem reluctant to stick to the letter of the law and companies a bit of leeway.

 

You can then complain they are not being impartial enough, giving leeway when the law is clear, and will hopefully be a bit harder on BG.

 

This is a very good point and something I hadn't thought of. Not really sure what I'd do with that information though as I don't feel confident enough (not yet anyway) to start litigation against the ICO

 

Having said that, I may just drop them a line, reiterating my issue and see what they come back with. It might come in handy at a later date.....

 

Good luck with this shower of muppets

 

Haha, thanks mate

[Dipply75]

Hi Chris1977, how are you getting on with the muppets lol? Did you get anymore info from them?

 

Want a laugh, I have had one of those S.A.R. forms from BG asking for ID etc - and my favourite:

 

"If you require a copy of any call recording you believe we may hold you MUST provide the following information: the date and time of each call(s) - without this we are unable to comply with your request"

 

Oh REALLY?! Just so happens I have had loads of calls since Jan 08(years overall) which I have been told were ALL recorded. Am I being silly or - if they hold it and I request it - they have to give me it? Or have I to tell them where their records are or they can't provide them?

 

Deary me.......now how to word this politley ; )