British Gas - Electric - Unexpected bill for £2000 plus wrong meter

[tillyfunk]

Hello all,

 

Thanks in advance for reading.

 

Back in November I received a bill from British Gas (electric) for £1943.14. This came to me as a bit of a shock as I pay everything my DD and really had no cause to believe things were out of control. Then I noticed that the bill was a "Your First Electricity Bill". I have lived here for years. Then I looked into it a little. Apparently they had been charging me for Gas and not electricity since 14th Nov 2008. Now blow me down for not noticing this, I feel like a bit of a fool but even so, my bills used to be £25.50 a month and this is for a period of 12 months, the numbers dont add up.

 

Now I have another problem in that the council won't give me a key for the meter cupboard for the building I live in. To gain access I have to call my landlady and arrange an appointment. I am away ALOT and this can sometimes take three weeks to work out.

 

So I finally get into the meter room, photograph every meter in there and call BG. None of the meters match the serial number BG have on record for this flat. Furthermore, the only 'actual' meter reading on the bill is for 17th March and is for '00000'. The bill for that month is 5712 units (£656.35).

 

When I first spoke to them they said they would drop about £500 and updated the bill. I said this was not good enough. Now they want me to read my meter whilst turning everything in the flat on then off so I can figure out which meter is mine, then they want me to read it again in two weeks so I can get an estimation of usage. All this whilst maintaining they will cut me off in that two week period. (when I will be abroad anyway)

 

I am refusing to pay until I get a sensible bill as the one I have seems to be based on completely in-accurate information.

 

Any helpful advice appreciated!!!!

 

Thanks

 

P

[nottslad]

Firstly, write or email them to complain and state that the debt is in dispute. This will therefore call off any debt collection action in line with OFT and Ofgem guidelines.

 

Ask them to arrange for one of their field reps to come out and do a load test (by turning the meter off and then on basically) to establish which meter is yours - not fair on you having to do all this leg work!

 

By taking readings a week or two apart this will therefore make a good estimate of what your opening meter read should be (use as little electricity in this period as you can).

 

BG cannot charge for anymore consumption than one year before the date of the first bill, under the Energy Retail Association Code of Practice for Accurate Bills. They should then offer you a further year to repay this amount and cover your ongoing consumption at the same time.

 

Hope this helps

[nottslad]

oops - mistake above there... They can only bill you for one year prior to the first amended bill. They are now aware that they have the incorrect meter details, they were advised that you moved into the property as they set up your gas account, this just "screams" billing code. Get a letter/email sent to them straight away and keep a copy for yourself

[tillyfunk]

I just had the council round so I took the opportunity.

 

I've done the burn test and figured out which meter is mine. The serial number and reading seemed to cause a hell of allot of confusion at BG. With that information they have put a stop on the account (not going to send me any red letters or cut me off) and will contact me in five working days. (oh any they actually admitted something had gone drastically wrong for the first time to date)

 

The one year thing is interesting and will be useful information when the time comes!! Thanks for that Nottslad.

[nottslad]

No worries, it is one year back from the date of the first bill with the correct details on it.

 

Is it a fairly new property? As new builds can often suffer from what is known as a "crossed meter" which is basically where the wrong meter details are registered to the wrong address, often a problem when the plot address becomes the postal address.

 

More information on the one year policy can be found on the ERA website, The Energy Retail Association - Customer Billing

[tillyfunk]

Strangely, its an old South London Mansion Block with an old, wheel style meter. How they have managed to c0(k this us is beyond me!

[nottslad]

That is very odd! If the meter had been changed and information not been received or something then fair enough, these things can happen but that is a bit strange!

 

Any idea as well as to why you were not billed? Bewilders me how BG get it so very very wrong sometimes!

[tillyfunk]

The lack of bills stops everyone there in their tracks when ever its mentioned. Nobody can give me an answer and I've been asking the question on every phone call with them since November, either they don't know or wont tell me.

[tillyfunk]

Well its taken six months but I finally have contact again (so much for getting in touch in five working days).

 

After putting the account on hold it was apparently passed to an account handler who was then demoted back to the call centre, did no further work on it and refused to get back to me. One day the case got marked as resolved (still with the wrong meter serial number) and I got a bill. At the same time as the bill, and before the due date on the bill I got a phone call from a debt collection agency. Two weeks and several hours on the phone later I am again making progress. Please see emails below...

 

--------------------------

Thank you for your prompt email. Based on the readings and photos you have provided I have worked out and average usage between March and October of 5.59 units per day. I have used this in the calculation to work out a new start meter readings which I wish to agree with you as we have no actual reading.

 

Working back 2 and half years to 2008 when the account opened it gives a start reading of 64560 which is a difference of 5,100 units. To put this in to more perspective at the moment we are charging you for almost 16,000 units which as you can clearly see is quite a difference and would mean a large difference in cost.

 

If you are happy with this calculation and you wish for me to proceed with the process please let me know ASAP and I will contact the meter operators to start updating the systems.

 

Thank you for your time.

 

---------------------------

And the email he is replying to:-

 

-----------

Dear xxxxxxxxx,

 

Further to our phone conversation earlier today please find attached three photographs of my electricity meter. The file names refer to the date and time the photo's were taken.

 

The dates and readings are:-

68486 - 31/03/10

69312 - 16/08/10

69660 - 15/10/10

 

The meter serial number is:-

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Regards,

 

-------------------------

 

So any advice on how to reply to this?

 

Thanks in advance.

[2Grumpy]

Not sure that they can go back more than a year on unbilled.

[nottslad]

I would suggest a response that you are happy with the revised estimate however due to the ERA Billing Code you will only pay charges covering the last 12 months