housing association signed tenant upto new supplier without permission?

[unbornshaitan]

I have a rather unusual case that i am hoping someone can help me with.

 

In 2011 i was being supplied electricity by British Gas when

one day i received a letter saying sorry you are leaving.

This was news to me so i called up to find out what was going on.

 

We discovered that my account had been switched to Total gas & electricity.

i am not a business but a domestic customer.

 

It turns out that my electricity meter was logged as something called a multi-occupancy meter (still not sure what this is)

and even though i had a bill in my name, when my housing association changed their commercial electricity supply my meter was switched alongside the rest.

Whats more the bill was no longer in my name.

 

i immediately contacted both the supplier and the housing association to sort this out which both said they would (done on the phone so no actual record).

 

forward 3 months

i still get no bill

i again contact my housing association who said they would sort it out.

After about a year of this i give up (how long is reasonable to chase this up).

 

i am well aware that i am using electricity and as such should be liable for the bills.

 

Today i receive a bill for the period 12/06/11 to 21/02/12 and i assume that more bills will follow which will total an awful lot of money.

 

Total are a supplier of electricity to businesses

i am not sure if they are signed up to Code of Practice for Accurate Bills (back billing) so where would this leave me.

 

Also i have never agreed a contract with Total and as my supplier was British Gas

and i did not simply inherit an electricity supply will Total be able to claim that i inherited the supply.

 

at the time British Gas did put in an erroneous transfer request but it was deemed that it was a legitimate transfer due to the meter being multi-occupancy.

 

the earliest email evidence i have is dated 13/12/11 from my housing association stating that they contacted Total

asking them to put the account back in my name (on reflection i do not like the wording of that email)

 

Where do i stand on this matter.

What can i do going forward. would like some advice before contacting Total.

Don't want to risk being cut off with 2 children and 1 due.

 

As i final bit of info i noted on the bill that Total refer to me as a domestic customer (does this matter) also the amount per unit looks very high and they have a standing charge.

 

Sorry if this is a bit long winded.

[dx100uk]

have you YOUR own individual meter?

 

dx

[unbornshaitan]

yes. The meter is only for my property

[unbornshaitan]

The only thing i can find from Total with regards back billing only refers to non domestic and micro business customers (won't let me post link)

[dx100uk]

sorry but they are talking bowlarks

 

as far as I know, a housing association, cannot, en-mass make all their client

change supplier

 

you are being had

 

you are with bg

 

that's the end of it

 

i'll get someone to pop in.

 

dx

[stu007]

Hi

 

You need to put this in writing to the housing association (always keep a copy and get proof of posting) and title the letter 'Formal Complaint' and give a brief as in your post and that you require a full explanation as to why the housing association has erroneous transferred your energy provider from British Gas to Total.

 

You also require a full explanation as to how the housing association is going to rectify this erroneous transfer carried out without the tenants consent/knowledge.

[45002]

I have a rather unusual case that i am hoping someone can help me with.

 

In 2011 i was being supplied electricity by British Gas when

one day i received a letter saying sorry you are leaving.

This was news to me so i called up to find out what was going on.

 

We discovered that my account had been switched to Total gas & electricity.

i am not a business but a domestic customer.

 

It turns out that my electricity meter was logged as something called a multi-occupancy meter (still not sure what this is)

and even though i had a bill in my name, when my housing association changed their commercial electricity supply my meter was switched alongside the rest.

Whats more the bill was no longer in my name.

 

i immediately contacted both the supplier and the housing association to sort this out which both said they would (done on the phone so no actual record).

 

forward 3 months

i still get no bill

i again contact my housing association who said they would sort it out.

After about a year of this i give up (how long is reasonable to chase this up).

 

i am well aware that i am using electricity and as such should be liable for the bills.

 

Today i receive a bill for the period 12/06/11 to 21/02/12 and i assume that more bills will follow which will total an awful lot of money.

 

Total are a supplier of electricity to businesses

i am not sure if they are signed up to Code of Practice for Accurate Bills (back billing) so where would this leave me.

 

Also i have never agreed a contract with Total and as my supplier was British Gas

and i did not simply inherit an electricity supply will Total be able to claim that i inherited the supply.

 

at the time British Gas did put in an erroneous transfer request but it was deemed that it was a legitimate transfer due to the meter being multi-occupancy.

 

the earliest email evidence i have is dated 13/12/11 from my housing association stating that they contacted Total

asking them to put the account back in my name (on reflection i do not like the wording of that email)

 

Where do i stand on this matter.

What can i do going forward. would like some advice before contacting Total.

Don't want to risk being cut off with 2 children and 1 due.

 

As i final bit of info i noted on the bill that Total refer to me as a domestic customer (does this matter) also the amount per unit looks very high and they have a standing charge.

 

Sorry if this is a bit long winded.

 

Out of interest,where you live

 

Is your home fully Self contained flat ?

 

or do you share anything ?

 

Do you pay council Tax ?

[caro]

They can't charge you for more than 12 months if they haven't billed you. See link. http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/domestic-consumers/Pages/Back-billing.aspx

[caro]

Oh and I've no idea how they'd work out what you've used in the last 12 months so I'd be inclined to question any bill you get now.

[caro]

Oh and I've no idea how they'd work out what you've used in the last 12 months so I'd be inclined to question any bill you get now if they estimate your usage,

[unbornshaitan]

Thanks for the responses. To clarify my property is completely self contained and i pay all my own bills including council tax. Also i do not know of any of my neighbors this happened to just me. When the account was moved the name on the account changed to the name of the housing association. This made it difficult because Total would not speak to me claiming data protection.

 

The meter being labeled as multi-occupancy is apparently something to do with the property being used as temporary accommodation many years ago. As far as i am concerened this should be simply a case of an erroneous transfer. My landlord had no right to move my account and Total have no right to bill me.

 

Anyway moving forward i got a second bill today for 22/02/12 to 31/03/12. I expect more in the coming days. I am not going to do anything until the weekend so i can work out exactly what i am going to say to Total (i have a bad habit of writing things in anger which can prove quite unproductive).

 

Should i send a letter via the post recorded delivery or would an email exchange at this stage be sufficient. I am basically thinking of saying that i dispute the account in its entirety as my account was taken away from me without my knowledge or consent. I have no contract with them verbal or otherwise They have not sent me a bill or contacted me in the 2 odd years they have had the account. Also (although i will work out the precise figures later) i would not consent to paying the rates they are charging as they appear very high (a quick comparison with 2 other suppliers using their standard rates). Is this the right approach.

 

Also, Total are not signed up to the guidelines for domestic back billing as they don't supply domestic customers. This worries me.

[45002]

 

 

 

forward 3 months

i still get no bill

i again contact my housing association who said they would sort it out.

After about a year of this i give up (how long is reasonable to chase this up).

 

 

Approximate when was the date you give up chasing them !

[unbornshaitan]

I gave up chasing about June or July last year

[45002]

I gave up chasing about June or July last year

 

And there lies one of your problems

 

Leaving it and doing nothing for 12 months !

 

I would have kept chasing them until I got it resolved...

Edited June 22, 2013 by 45002

[caro]

forward 3 months

i still get no bill

i again contact my housing association who said they would sort it out.

After about a year of this i give up (how long is reasonable to chase this up).

 

I hardly call a year of chasing it up leaving it! I'd say the HA and Total are where the problem lie.

 

I would suggest that your rights as a domestic consumer have been compromised if they aren't meant to supply domestic customers, especially if you have never had a contract with them.

 

I suggest that you write to total and ask them for proof that you owe them this money as you are not aware that you have agreed for them to supply you.

[ericsbrother]

Tell total that you are a BG customer. Get on to BG and tell tham that your account has been fraudulently migrated to a commercial company that you have never heard of and you want them to investigate.

Let BG sort it out with total if they can