eshea:

Hi eshea

Its good that you have some documents. BG can't have it both ways. On the basis of the readings you quote its not confusing to me at all. The final actual reading is lower than the estimated statement reading therefore you are due a refund! though the difference is so large it probably requires a different explanation which it's up to BG to satisfactorily provide.

My position would be refund or satisfactory explanation and a formal complaint if no satisfactory explanation is forthcoming.

That may or may not be the explanation of course. You should also look at the opening reading on both bills, whether estimated or actual and particularly the date of the final reading on the final bill. You cannot be held to an actual reading significantly after you left.

Normally when moving the supplier would be informed a few days in advance. Usually a customer final reading is accepted but some suppliers may make a particular effort to take a reading. Obviously not BG. Do BG accept that your service was terminated on a particular day? Did you provide a customer final reading? Are there any bills or statements in the 18 months which contain either a customer reading or a meter reader reading?

Regarding you consumption, £1450 over 18 months (£80/month) seems excessive. More than 3 times our consumption though we don't cook electric. I think your eventual £30/month would be about right and less before the price increases kicked in.

thankyou jalexa.

i do have the final electricity statement from when i moved out of that flat and into my current address. it bills me with an estimated reading of 27511 on the 12th dec 08 from meter number FF98---. The bill they sent me the other day has listed the final reading ACTUAL at 14958 from the same meter FF98---. this whole business is getting more and more confusing as these 2 numbers dont seem to correspond with each other at all as the final, lower figure has ended up costing me more than an estimated higher figure!

i shall request the documentation from british gas you have suggested.

from looking at what the new statement says it seems they have changed the meter at some point.

i have a horrible feeling this is going to an issue of a wrong reading being given at some point (due to the previously mentioned mislabelling of meters on the part of the landlord).

eshea:

the bank reversed the charge by british gas but they have still charged me for the reversal.

I think the bank must have rejected the DD (hardly surprising given the amount) as AFAIK there should not have been a charge for recalling a DD under the Direct. Contrary to what the bank told you it is their responsibility to recall collections (if no notice was given). Demand a refund. You will need to stress that you alledge bank error because "unfair charges" are currently not being actively refunded.

My advice is still to give "no quarter" and complain strictly in accordance with the bank's complaints procedure alledging failure to implement the Direct Debit Guarantee.

Regarding the charge, £1450 over 18 months seems hugely excessive for a modest flat heated by gas. You should not be asked to pay any sum unless it has appeared on a bill. Did you provide a "Final Reading" and get a "Final Bill"? Have you still got it? Did you get a subsequent bill showing consumption and arrears coming to £1100?

British Gas are notoriously difficult to deal with. You really need to obtain as many bills as possible. Something BG can't do is back-bill more than a year if they did not issue a bill. If they issued an estimated bill which you didn't check that might be different. Google for the "Code of Practice for Accurate Billing" and go through it with a fine tooth comb.

If you feel the situation is getting difficult I would strongly recommend making a Subject Access Request of BG clearly stating you want all your records for the flat in question, in particular meter details, readings, all bills and all correspondence and telephone contacts including tapes of conversations since. This will cost you £10 (BG a lot more) but will let you see what records BG have. They cannot use records to bill you that they have not shared with you.

This is tough but almost certainly there is something wrong but you will need historical bills to find out what.

the bank reversed the charge by british gas but they have still charged me for the reversal. the bank say this is not there problem and i need to sort it out with the energy supplier. british gas, however, have been very unhelpful about this, saying that first i need to arrange payment on the rest of my energy bill.

eshea:

this week british gas took just over £1100 from my account

I want to deal with the £1100 first. Are you saying that you had a Direct Debit arrangement with British Gas and they just took the money without notice? If so require your bank to refund the money.

Under the terms of the Direct Debit Guarantee the bank is required to make an "immediate" refund if any of the DD terms (such as notice) are not complied with by the Originator (British Gas). The bank must make an immediate refund pending investigation if you claim you did not receive notice from British Gas.

If your bank refuses to do so at the first time of asking, raise a formal complaint strictly in accordance with your bank's complaints procedure.

Off to think about the numbers now.

hello, i stumbled across this forum through google while trying to find answers to a major problem im having with british gas:

this week british gas took just over £1100 from my account in what they explain as being unpaid electric charges on a flat i lived in 6 months ago. when i moved into the flat and set up the account they took all the details from me (size of property, appliances etc) so they could work out what my approximate electricity bill would be. they worked it out as £15 per month (whic later changed to £30) which i happily paid.
in total then, when i had moved out of the flat i had paid them approximately £350 and they told me that account had been finalised and i thought nothing more of it.

now i lived in a 1 room, 1 person bedsit. i did not use any electric appliances except the fridge, occasional stereo use, my laptop computer and an electric hob. i do not own a tv or washing machine, dishwasher etc and my heating was done by gas.

over the 18 months i lived in this property british have somehow come to a figure of over £1450 in total just for electricity usage. does this not seem like an excessive amount to you?

they have not been very forthcoming about acknowledging that there may be an anomaly. one of their advisors told me that the figure is based on estimates only. this is because they apparently have never gained access to the meters because they are in another tennants flat. after gaining acess to the flat this week through the landlord it seems that there are 2 different meters that are labelled to my old flat, one of which has since been relabelled in a very confusing manner. this makes me think that maybe a wrong reading has been taken over the years at some point.

i dont see how i could possibly have used this amount of electricity in this amount of time! does this seem unreasonable? and also, how do i go about sorting this out? british gas have already attempted to charge me the excess £1100 which has resulted in my bank charging me a large fee for going over my limit!

any help at all would be very much appreciated as this is causing me no end of stress

eshea