Was hoping someone could offer advice - I've owned my flat for 4 years and originally had gas/elec with British Gas and EDF, the original suppliers. After a year or so I switched both to BG and assumed all was fine, got regular bills (that admittedly I only glanced at) and paid by direct debit. However, there are 2 flats in my building and 2 meters in the communal hall. Last August I switched both elec and gas to Eon, which has been pretty straightforward until recently I got a huge electricity bill. It turns out they took my initial (correct) meter 1 reading (50,000+) as the starting point and then estimated it based on the (wrong) meter 2 reading now (70,000+), saying I owed them £2500 for estimated electricity usage. The other owner said I had given Eon her meter details by mistake, that she was on meter 1, but when I checked the supply I was definitely giving them the correct one. I've now confirmed this with Eon, given them my actual meter 1 reading and my bill is about £30 - much more reasonable!
However- unbeknownst to me the other owner received a bill for £600+ unpaid electricity from BG earlier this year, and has had debt collectors on her case about it. She said she has repeatedly spoken to BG and proved she's not liable as she has up to date accounts from EDF for her electricity supply. She's just told me about this and when I told her about the meters being the opposite way round from what she thought, she then said 'oh, that's the meter that BG are chasing this unpaid bill for'.
So, alarms bells loudly ringing, I checked my old bills from BG and sure enough, they only mention gas supply, not electricity. So now I'm fully expecting them to start chasing me for this unpaid bill, and am worried as to how I can pay it. I admit this is partly my fault for not checking my BG bills properly and not querying the lack of any mention of electricity - but surely if I had an up-to-date gas account with them at the same address and had switched my electricity to them in good faith, only for them to never actually charge me or send me a bill for it, they must share some of the blame? After all they've only seemed to notice the mistake and start chasing the bill AFTER I switched supply to Eon, so (hopefully!) it's obvious that I've not been trying to pull a fast one here, otherwise I would have just stayed with BG and kept schtum!
What is my best course of action here - I can't afford to pay £600+ quid in cash for electricity I assumed I had been paying for. They haven't been in touch as yet - should I contact them or wait to do so? Would really appreciate any helpful advice on this, thanks.
