In May 2009, my old flatmate and I decided to leave our flat at the end of our tenancy agreement due to a falling out. We no longer have any contact. We shared the British Gas electricity bill, however my flatmate was the one who held the online account in her name and we both shared the log-in details to pay our half of the bill whenever it was due.

I have now been living alone in my new flat for just under 2 months and no longer use British Gas as a provider and have never been registered with them. However, on the weekend I received a letter from British Gas at my current address, billing me alone for the period of March - June 2009.

My ex-flatmate has no idea of my current address and we have no mutual friends who could've passed on that sort of information; is there any way British Gas can find out my address if she had provided them with my name?

Even if British Gas had contacted the housing agency of the old flat to find out names, is there any way they could have found my current address?

The reason I ask is just because if it's possible at least I will know it's not my ex-housemate causing trouble as she's known to be a bit of a trouble maker and she's done similar to her ex-housemates too. The bill is for an amount that would've been shared, and I can't afford to pay it alone and I'm worried that because they've just addressed it to me, it's all my responsibility in their eyes. I will happily pay what I owe which, to me, seems like a tiny fraction of the bill - excluding the amount they've included for a period that we no longer lived there.

I hope this makes sense, I'm all in a bit of a panic now! Does anyone know my rights? Thank you for reading if you have gotten this far!

TinyPig:

I received a letter from British Gas at my current address, billing me alone for the period of March - June 2009.

There are all sorts of mechanisms which could enable British Gas to find your new address, including a speculative punt. Wouldn't bother with how they (may) have found out.

You mention "online account" but the real issue is the supply contract unless it is a "deemed contract" in which case you will need to look at the "deemed contract" small print. Regarding the online account, does the British Gas online account have a .pdf bill facility? If so whose name was on the .pdf bill?

On a practical point, regardless of whose name, was the supply agreement terminated and a closing reading provided in May? Possibly not if they are billing until June.

Investigate the contract issues first but I do not think you should worry that your address (may) be known to BG over your address not being known to BG. Stick to the contract issues.

Thank you for your response and your help.

I have no idea of what agreement was entered in the first place, and the name on the bill was that of my ex-housemates. I simply used to log-on to her online bill which I believe was .pdf format, definitely in her name, and would make my half of the payment when it was due. I made payments from my bank account directly to British Gas from her registration account, so that's possibly how my name has come to their attention, although it seems it has been solely passed onto me and suggests I'm liable for the debt, when this is not the case. No other party was mentioned in the letter. It's why I feel I've been maliciously dropped into picking up the debt. I understand that BG wouldn't particularly care for my personal disputes, therefore tackling it may be tricky, perhaps?

The letter doesn't indicate the agreement being terminated or account closed. The reading for June doesn't seem to finalise anything either. It's appears the same as all the other readings...

Perhaps I should contact BG and request a copy of the contact so I have an unstanding of the overall terms and all broken-down payments made during the term...

TinyPig:

Perhaps I should contact BG and request a copy of the contact so I have an unstanding of the overall terms and all broken-down payments made during the term...

I take it the "shared" logon no longer works?

Certainly don't ignore the issue because a consumer search of the internet and possibly this Forum will reveal that BG billing conduct does not have a good record.

I would advice a multi pronged attack. First of all, a nice call to BG in an attempt to determine what is the status of the supply, specifically is the account closed. Make a careful note of who you are speaking to and the time and date of the call. Confirm with them that the call is being recorded and ask about the arrangements for obtaining a copy or a transcript. If you are happy with the conduct of the call ask why they have sent you the account when you do not accept your name was on the contract. See what the reponse is. If they say your name is on the contract cue a request for a copy. This is all speculation because I don't know how the call will develop. If it seems appropriate state that you dispute the bill and state your grounds. Check back with the adviser that the adviser understands what you have said. Then ask what happens next regarding the disputed status and when. Double check what the adviser says particularly with respect to timeframe. Vigourously police any BG failure to keep to the timeframe.

What you are doing is building a case for when/if you have to launch a formal complaint.

In due course you may wish to make a £10 Subject Access Request to obtain all the correspondence, bills, call logs and tapes. This will either reveal why they have contacted you, or not reveal why, in which case they had no grounds. If you ever have to write to them employ a subtly altered sig.

Meanwhile obtain the BG code of conduct on complaints and get ready. Also investigate the energy section on Consumer Focus to see what help is available.

Are you sure that the new flat you are now living in, wasn't previously being supplied by British Gas? If this is the case that would explain why they have billed you for the 3 month period. British gas would bill you on an estimate for three months in advance hence the three month bill.

I hope this helps!

Hi lekalekafirecracker,

Thank you for your response to my post!

I know that it's definitely regarding the previous flat as the address was quoted on the right hand side underneath "copy as requested"... I don't know if that suggests I requested the copy of this bill? I certainly did not!

The shared logon no longer works. When I attempted to log in, it said that I could no longer access the account as it was closed over 6 months ago.

I telephoned BG last night to make a few enquiries before I read the recent post. It transpires that the account was passed on to me, solely, on the 25th of February 2009 (bearing in mind that we had an account with BG since May 2008)

They could not tell me who requested and authorised this transition, so I told them that I would call them back at a later date as I could not proceed at that moment. It's completely baffling as nobody had contacted me or asked for me to confirm that I accept that the account completely in my name with no other party.

I requested a copy of all of the account activity (payments made etc) but they told me that no payment had ever been made on the account (account which started on 25th February according to BG) I know that the last payment I made was mid-April via ex-housemates account. I did not however request a copy of the contract, but I will call them tonight and do as you suggested, Jalexa.

I will keep posting.

Thank you so much for your advice.

I think maybe they may have been able to trace you via a credit check then, if you were helping to pay the bill before... directly to BG, your flat mate could have told them that you were also responsible for paying on previous flat and therefore done a credit check to find where you had moved to. As you have a banking history and I assume you had contacted everyone with a change of address, then you can be traced. It is amazing what a credit report comes up with. I decided to find out my credit score once and I didn't have to give much detail. It goes back for six years and traces every company that has done searches on you, whether you have enquired about applying for credit or taken out loans, even purchasing a contract mobile phone. I might suggest you get one of these free trials for a month, just to find out if BG have searched for you to put your mind at rest

Kind Regards.