Hi, I'm hoping someone can offer some help! (and sorry it is so long - I don't want to dripfeed) In January, I moved into a new build property. I contacted my previous suppliers (SSE) and asked them to move my account over to my new property - a simple process, I hoped. I was wrong! In March they came back to me to say that they couldn't take over my account, as British Gas had me classified as a business address. I then spoke to British Gas Business - advised them that the house is indeed residential, that I wanted it corrected to show this and a bill so I can pay my balance with them before moving back to SSE. They also updated my address, which they had completely wrong. They advised it would take 6-8 weeks in order to change the profile of my address, and for a specialist team to recalculate my bill. Also, that they would freeze my account, and to ignore anything that came through the post from British Gas Business, as the residential team would be taking over. During this time, the letters starting rolling in - a bill of £1500 for 4 months electricity, and letters advising that debt collectors would be coming to the property; that they were disconnecting me in 7 days, that they were adding £100's of charges on my account in late payment fees. During this period, I called BGB, who advised that it was still in process, and that there was a backlog. When I got the letter advising of disconnection, my partner got quite worried, so I called BGB. This time their adviser said that they tried to call me twice on my mobile to advise that I needed to sign a contract before I could be moved over to a domestic profile. As I hadn't answered their calls, they had cancelled my switch. (No letters, emails or voicemails left to advise of this) - the reason I didn't answer is because I work! During this call, I was told I now needed to pay £1750, or they would be continuing with their threats of disconnection and bailiffs etc - despite the fact they were still billing me for business tariffs. When I mentioned that residential prices would leave my bill to be less than half of this, I was told that "You can make an estimate of your bill and pay us that" - surely it's their job to bill me correctly, but never mind! Finally, after asking for escalation to a manager to lodge a complaint, I was told that they would again freeze my account, and pass this to a complaints team to handle - this is when I requested that everything was to be conducted through email only. Over the last couple of days, I have had an email from their complaints team regarding this. They have now moved my profile over to domestic; however will not recalculate my bill unless I sign up to a contract for Electricity with them. Also, they admitted to me that they were informed in February that the property was domestic, but just continued to bill me as a business. What else can I do to get this resolved, other than signing a contract with them? I feel it is grossly unfair to be expected to pay double the amount for my electricity supply, because their systems incorrectly had me assigned as a business. Equally, I don't want to be tied into a contract with a company who have treated me so appallingly.

Problem with British gas. Thinking of sending this letter to BG any thoughts / advice appreciated I have owned this property for approximately 12 years and it has never been habitable for this time. I received bills from Npower for £0 for electric and British Gas for £0 for gas. Because these bills were for £0 I used to simply throw them away. The bills were always addressed to 'The Occupier' My problem is with British Gas. The meter is situated in an outside cabinet, I have no gas appliances and no gas piping, the gas pipes terminate in the meter cabinet. I received a bill from BG on the 31st August 2013 which showed that the actual meter reading was 1412 (same as 10 years ago) and that no gas was used and the bill came to zero (no standing charges ). The next bill I got was dated the 5th August 2015 Which was an estimated reading of 1413 with a total to pay of £176.63. I immediately phoned BG and explained the situation and was clearly told that I should change my supplier to one that didn't have a standing charge and that this bill would be cancelled as I had never had a contract with BG. I did this immediately but then got a letter from BG to say that they had blocked the transfer as I owed them the £176.63. I again phoned BG and spoke with a lady who was extremely rude and told me in no uncertain terms that I was responsible for the bill and should honor my commitments, not being happy with this I asked to be transferred to a supervisor, no supervisor was available but I was assured that a supervisor would ring me back. (I am still awaiting that phone call). Since that time I have Had standing charges added to my account Had extra charges added to my account for a debt visit (£36.00) and an administration charge (£13.00) Been notified that a legal warrant of entry had been obtained and a visit was to be made on the 25th April 2016 to fit a prepayment meter. - No visit was made Been notified that a legal warrant of entry had been obtained and a visit was to be made on the 30th June 2016 to fit a prepayment meter. - No visit was made Threatened again that a legal warrant of entry will be obtained to fit a prepayment meter Questions that I have of BG From the last 10 years bills (2004 to 2013) you should have known that no gas was ever used why didn't you inform 'The Occupier' that you were going to introduce a standing charge. Why do you persist in wanting to fit a prepayment meter when no gas is consumed. Why haven't you looked at my notes and made that phone call that you promised. Why have you blocked my transfer (you could still have pursued me for the debt) instead heaping as much pressure as possible. Why have you escalated the debt from £176.63 (4th August 2015) to £304.25 (8th June 2016)

Recently (in the last two months, June 2016 ) Equifax started recording the payment states of utility companies including British Gas, I have both gas and electric with them. They added a two BG accounts for Gas and Electric going back to August 2014 in June 2016. From August - October 2014, british gas recorded three detrimental months on my file which have had a detrimental impact on my score. I've requested information during this period as I do no recall ever agreeing to pay monthly during this time, I didn't start a direct debit until 2015. They have stated they have no data available that far back or an agreement with me? How can they report detrimental historic information without an agreement or without my knowledge and worst still, no ability to prove why?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-36674221 But.... and

I am having problems with British Gas. To explain they sent me a bill one month after I moved in that was grossly wrong based on three weeks of use. I sent them a letter correcting this and complaining. I pointed out in this letter too that I was deaf. The response of me being deaf was for them to ask me for a mobile phone number so they could discuss it with me. I paid the bill even though it was out by a huge amount because well,.... it wasn't that much as it related to not much use - about £200 for three weeks use! They failed to adjust the meter readings for the property though despite being supplied them with them in writing, failed to credit my account with the overpayment. Now they have sent me another gas and electricity bill which is even more wrong. They want me to pay £718 on the basis of my meter readings they have guessed as being 24339 for electricity and 14545 for gas. In reality my meter readings are 24073 for electricity and 14038 for gas. How can I actually deal with overcharging where basically they consistently over estimate my use by 100% and fail to adjust even when informed? They won't adjust the previous bill not because I am wrong or because they provide any reason. They don't... it's like it goes in one ear and out of the other. They won't correct the meter readings even though I have supplied them with the correct ones and seem eager to simply overcharge as much as possible.

READ MORE HERE: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/british-battle-of-jutland-sailor-killed-100-years-ago-is-finally-honoured-after-his-grave-site-is-identified

Hello. I am involved in a long running dispute with British Gas over standing charges. I wanted to see if anyone can clarify the position on what can be done by them to enforce payment. The situation we have is that we have only one gas appliance, a gas fire, that it never used as it is boxed in by stuff, in a very cluttered front room. I cannot remember the last time it was used. British Gas insist that they are obliged to levy standing charges even when we never use gas. They have also seen fit to send a debt collection company to visit me. I should mention that I am a vulnerable customer insofar as I suffered a stroke 3 years ago and my ability to earn has been affected by this. I have explained all this to British Gas several times and they won't budge. The current bill for these charges is around £100. Is there anything I can do to get these people off my back? I have retained the supply as a standby for years but I think it's time to have the supply disconnected once and for all and put an end to all this grief. Any advice would be very welcome. Thanks.

I am trying to close my dad british gas account as he has moved into a care home since my mum died in january, he has a council tenancy and I have cleared the house and elec and gas I have turned off as theres nothing that needs to be run, and the tenancy is about to be ended. I send BG an online enquiry to ask about closing the account, they have said I need a "Court Of Protection" letter, I have no such thing - cant I just write them a letter and my dad to sign it, and include the final meter readings?

Took out a British Gas homecare agreement a few months back and paid a £99 initial call out charge where they come out and inspect/fix your boiler and then you pay £22 a month for a minimum of 12 months. If they don't want to take on a boiler they reserve the right to not take on the agreement after the initial inspection. They took on my boiler and 4 months down the boiler has broken down again. The engineer came out today and advised that the boiler is not worth throwing more money at and cancelled my agreement. When I spoke with British Gas they said that the Ferroli no longer supply the parts but I just got off the phone with them and they have plenty in stock. I think its due to the fact that its gonna cost them £400 for the part. (combustion box) Can they do that mid way through a policy as it doesn't suit them?

Today I received my British Gas Bill (Estimated as always) which said they were doubling my payments from £130 to £260 per month - not cheap I know. I didn't have to worry about it as they were going to adjust my direct debit. - how kind. I phone and ask to speak to the person that thought this one up and and was told there wasn't a person as it was all fully automated - I did point out that even automated systems had to be programmed by people but this seemed to be beyond her scope of understanding. I was assured that it wasn't personal and that more than likely this will have happened to all direct debit users with estimated bills - most reassuring I think not. When I gave my gas usage reading I was told my bill had actually gone up by £1. 50p per month. I asked who I could complain to was told I could only complain to British Gas and I have now apparently been assigned someone to look into it who will contact me in due course. I can not imagine the stress this is going to cause to people struggling to pay their bills up and down the land. It is just wrong - they (British Gas) can not be bothered sending out meter readers and can not even make a phone call to ask for one and yet they can double a bill without even blinking an eyelid. And I and others can not complain to outside bodies about this. I wonder just how long it will take them to contact me?

British Summer Time So less than a week after spring has officially sprung and we suddenly find ourselves in British Summer Time. Of course this is nothing to do with the seasonal situation, it's the annual clock change that takes us into Daylight Saving Time. How did this come about and why? http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2016-03-24/simons-blog-british-summer-time/ Everything you need to know about 100 years of British Summer Time http://www.irishexaminer.com//examviral/fun-times/everything-you-need-to-know-about-100-years-of-british-summer-time-389281.html … In 1947 they actually changed the clocks four times – twice forward and twice back. British Summer Time: When do the clocks go forward? Why is this done? | Home News | News | The Independent http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/daylight-savings-time-clocks-spring-forward-british-summer-time-when-why-what-a6928911.html … Drat i was so excited for a moment-we lose an hour of sleep.

Hi all Whilst I have praised British gas , I am not happy wit there repairs etc department. I am a tennant and my Boiler has broken down, My Land lady has not had any joy, sorting this out for the last week. I spoke to BG and found out that even thou I live 30 minutes from the M25 she would have to pay their London prices. I wish some one could explain why the London prices ????

Hi all I have been having a lot of financial problems for the last few years, Things got on top of me, and I have let things slip. Well as I have said I am with British Gas, I recently looked at my on line account, and was horrified at the amount of charges. £413 in total. I investigated, to find out that they were for warrant fees, and Debt collection visits. All but 3 I was not aware of. So I challenged B G over this, I am pleased to say that I have now had just over £300 credited back to my accounts So please keep a check and challange everything it is worth doing. Leakie

British Gas Smart Meters have issued a safety warning regarding the Power Adaptor for their Smart Energy Meter. The letter states the following; It goes on to say, that the actual Energy Smart Meter is NOT affected & you are to keep that aside. A replacement adaptor will be sent out within the next 8/9 weeks, along with a envelope for you to send back the old adaptor. Once the new adaptor arrives, plug the Energy Smart Meter back in. The letter does not state any kind of serial/part number or area, I live in Essex, so I've no idea who may be affected or not by this. Contact 08009806121 Mon - Fri 8am - 8pm. Sat 8am - 6pm.

Hi CAGgers, Since having left BG early 2015, I seem to have had a charge added toy account. Prior to moving I confirmed that my account was up to date (bar about £20 usage for the 2 weeks before I left). After leaving, I was initially bombarded with calls from foreign call centres chasing a new debt for £140. Despite disputing this and reminding them that there's an open dispute from a few years earlier I was blatantly ignored. In short: Every call I made to BG was logged (transcribed against a date and time with persons name etc...). At some point in 2013, it was noted that I was quoted one set of unit rates, but when I checked my bills a year or so later, I was getting a whole other set of rates (about 70% more expensive). The actual call dating the unit quotes, reference number and persons name is logged... As at the time I was a user of theirs, and had some debt, the relied on that to pursue the debt rather than address the issue at hand. The temporary outcome for the price dispute came to a £50 refund (which is about £200 short of what I was missing). I contacted BG's CEO thanks to ceoemail's website and got a fairly friendly person to approach the situation. Despite trying he still insisted that £140 was outstanding. I contacted him again after discussing this after leaving, (sept 2015, also logged with the rest), I literally get no replied further from them... As it stands, They've put a nasty marker on my new squeaky clean credit record which I managed to get back to health and no matter what I do i.e. call them, contact the CRA's, nobody is budging. What's the best way to approach this? I was hoping that my clear and concise logging of each and every call, email and letter would clear the way for an easy transition but things still seem a bit grim. It was suggested that i send the CEO a daily email to literally bother them into resolving the situation, but I feel that this could amount to harassment. Any ideas as to how to dig my way out of their hole? Cheers, A

Hi Folks, I notice that I have a mark on my credit file for circa £250 from British Gas! The default was posted Mid 2013. I have had a couple of emails from some DCA saying that if I pay they will reduce by 50% and update my credit file etc, however as a current British Gas customer (and have always paid my utilities) I thought I would contact them direct to discuss this because I am pretty sire that I don't owe this or even know about the £250 alleged outstanding. Normally when you move / change address they update internally blah blah. So.... I email British Gas and they tell me it's for a previous property back in 2011, however this is when it gets confusing:- Bill date December to March 2012 and invoiced to the wrong address and wrong postal code (property around the corner) I was in a new build. Bill date was January 2013 when I had been moved away from the property for over 6 months. They are telling me that it don't matter that the address is wrong because the bill matches the property's Gas Meter Point. I said I understand that, however how can I know about a bill if it's years ago, invoiced to the wrong address and a property that I don't reside at anyway? I explained I am still a British gas customer and in no arrears, however we are still going round in circles... I said that I will pay the alleged bill and dispute later if I feel it's invoiced wrong (I need to dig back and see what provider I was with etc) on the basis that they remove default from my credit file (they manage to get that address right!) and then invoice me at my current address for the consumption at the correct old address. Do you think this is fair? Should I take this further? Thanks, Flappy

The Great British Benefits Handout: Outrage as family buys PLAYSTATION after £26k freebie Next episode Tuesday, 16th February 2016 http://www.express.co.uk/showbiz/tv-radio/642660/The-Great-British-Benefits-Handout-Outrage Now did Channel 5 choose people who would make the most of this opportunity or did it deliberately choose people who would squander the funds in order to provide further fuel for those who criticise Benefit recipients ?

So the report is out and as expected it puts the blame on Putin. Home Secretary Theresa May said the murder was a "blatant and unacceptable" breach of international law. But does Russia or Putin give a damn, of course not, they lie and cheat all over the world and don't give a damn about anyone, not even their own subjects.

Hello Everyone, On completion of my house purchase I arranged to change gas and electric supply from British Gas to Eon. When I moved in I called BG to advise of meter readings and that I didnt need the tarriff info etc as I had already instructed Eon to arrange transfer. BG advised they hadnt received the transfer notification so I contacted Eon. They advised that they had no record of transfer but I could set it up again online- which I of course did. A month or so later I received a letter from Eon stating BG had refused my transfer. A call to BG was made and they stated this was because I had a debit on the account for the first month - I set up a dd to cover this and any time in between transfer. I then set up a supplier transfer for a third time. I didnt receive any letters from either supplier and BG cancelled my DD so I presumed I was in the midst of the transfer process. Move forward several months later (today) and I come home to what I initially thought was a burglary. My dogs had been let loose and my internal doors were open. There was a letter placed on my sofa with an incorrect date 08/01/2015 stating BG had entered my property after obtaining a warrant and fitted a prepayment meter to recover non payment. The electric supply was in the room that my four small dogs were in and they decided to let my dogs roam free to get access and my sofa and kitchen were subsequently damaged severely by my very upset dogs. We had not received any letters from BG or given the opportunity to contest the warrant .I can not believe that this has happened. Can you please advise if this is legal and offer any advice how to proceed with a complaint. Your advice would be hugely appreciated. Thanks

Hi Please can someone offer me some advice on this matter. I have been living in my Housing Association property since 2011 which I rent through my LA. I have been receiving letters from British Gas addressed to "The Occupier" saying that money is owed for gas supply to the property. I have called them on several occasions informing them that I do not have a gas supply to my property, I only have an electric cooker and the heating is included in the rent. Despite me calling them several times to let them know this, I am still receiving letters addressed to "The Occupier" saying that £301 is owed. I have just come to know about the 26p standing charge for just having a meter, when I called them this evening and I even had to force this information out of them as I am not the registered occupier (according to them) I had no idea about this and it was not made known to me when I took on the tenancy nor when I have called BG, I have always been told it was for gas supply to the property. My main concern is that they have sent a letter saying that they have a warrant to gain access to my property, they will change the locks and I will have to contact them for access. I just want to know if they can do this, do I need to prepare myself and take the day off work. I have not seen any warrant. Will they send this to me?

Hi, I have a very long ongoing problem with British Gas regarding my electricity account & I was now wondering if I can take them to court, so I'm hoping I might get some advice. Here's the problem..... For many years (at least 6yrs) I have been receiving large electricity bills, which I have queried with BG, as I kept getting bills with multiple readings & charges for my single electric metre. The problems started after BG wanted to change our old meter for a newer up to date metre back in 2009. We had an engineer turn up on the agreed morning, but he wasn't qualified to change it, so he came back in the afternoon with another engineer, who again was not qualified, so a third engineer came the next day & he did change the meter. So we had 3 engineers come out but only only one metre was replaced, by one engineer, but it turns out that the other 2 engineers, who were unable to change the metre, were logged as having changed the metre, so according to BG we had 3 electricity meters, but only actually had 1. We never noticed that our bills were wrong at first, but we had a G4S metre reader ask to read the metre, which we allowed, but he then asked where were our other 2 meter's, just to then say they all had the same metre number, so just put the reading in 3 times. He then suggested that we check our bills as he thought we would be getting billed too much, which we were. I rang BG at the time but I kept getting told that they had sorted the problem & our future bills would be correct, but they never were. I rang back at one point & spoke to a Customer Service Manager, who went on to call me a liar & told me I was 'Sub-letting' our property & that we did have 3 meters, this was even after him seeing photo's of our metre, he even told me to 'f-off' at one point & refused to take my calls. So I have kept on for years calling & emailing BG regarding the problem & I eventually got speaking to someone, back in July this year, who admitted I was being wrongly billed & that also admitted I was being billed for 3 meters not just the one. This person has now after a couple of months got our bills showing as just having a single supply, after having 2 removed from the National Database, which is great. However BG are still dragging there feet about confirming how much they owe us & are telling me I shouldn't expect much in the way of compensation. I was told by this person in an email that they would have the figure sorted out by 21st September 2015, but it wasn't, they decided they needed it confirmed by G4S that we did indeed only have 1 metre & that someone would be out to confirm this on the 30th Sept, so I said ok.....the person never turned up. I spoke rang again on the 2nd Oct, when I was told they never got the confirmation, so they had to again arrange for someone to come out on the 23rd Oct & they did indeed turn up this time. I had to ring back on the 30th Oct., a date confirmed via email, but the person who made the appointment, the person I had been dealing with for months, wasn't there, he was on holiday & wasn't due back until 9th Nov., so I saw red & was furious & ended up getting his manager involved. The manager tried to dodge helping me by saying he was unable to access details of my problem & could not get the confirmation email regarding my single metre, but I kept on at him & he ended up finding a way of getting the information after a couple of days. I was told by him that they had the confirmation & now they needed to workout the over payments, less VAT (which I have overpaid), so asked if I could ring back on 9th Nov., when they should have the amount......still no figure when rang. I was asked to ring again today, 20th Nov. & was told they would have the figure sorted, but also said I was only able to expect £20 compensation, for calls not resolved & that I shouldn't expect anything else. Now I know that's all long winded, but in all the time this has been going on I have been called a liar, been told to 'f-off', I have had to change all our phone numbers as BG passed my account on to Lowell's debt collectors, who rang loads & also sold our ex-directory number to others & they would not accept the account was in dispute. I have had someone from the courts out threatening to cut off 'ALL 3' electricity supplies, but who only found 1 & couldn't disconnect as I am disabled & so is one of my children. BG have destroyed my credit rating so much I couldn't get credit anywhere, so I have to save to buy anything we need. they have also said that any money owed is repaid less the VAT we paid at the time & we cannot have any interest on the money, even though we would have gained some interest over the years. So back to my main question, Can I take British Gas to court? I'll try to answer any questions that might help you give better advice, if you have any questions that is. Any help or advice would be appreciated. Thanks

Hi, I have been receiving annual statements from BG for a couple of years now. Although it shows my annual usage (previous year) and expected usage for the coming year, it does not show any readings they have based this on or the amount of credit put on my meter via my card. I have e-mailed them twice requesting this information and both times they say it is impossible to give me this information. I have now just discovered when going through the screens on my meter, that although there is zero debt showing on screen 27 there is £4 wkly debt recovery showing on screen 26. Does this mean this mean this is being collected? I have never been in debt to BG the meter was in the property when we moved in and just decided to keep, that was 11 yrs ago. I have e-mailed BG 3 days ago regarding both but all i have received is the standard "we have received your query and will get back to you" so much for their 24 hr response. I also read on the BG watchdog sticky something about checking the time on the meter, what problem would the time being wrong on the meter cause as mine is totally wrong? Thanx in advance for any responses x

Hi, I moved into a new house in July 2014 which had BG as the gas and electricity supplier. At the beginning of Sept I changed supply to another company. Shortly afterwards I received my final bill which for July and August amounted to £308 for gas and £90 for Electricity. they wanted £400 for 2 months supply in a new build house. I queried this and they stated the meter readings were correct and somebody had been to our property and manually read the meters. long story cut short, they weren't telling the truth after 7 months of wrangling and speaking to 2x DCA, taking my complaint to Centrica and providing a photo of my meter in February (which was still way below there supposed read) they agreed there was a mistake. All good final bill adjusted to £120 for both + £60 compensation and still ended up with a £35.17 refund! Finally the end of the matter or so I thought... In mid April I contacted the bank to take out a loan for £12k. Over the phone they provisionally approved me based on their internal scoring system but declined me based on my credit score. I queried this and was advised to take a copy of my credit report to the branch. I printed off my Experian credit report and met with the adviser to go through the finer details they couldn't see anything array and eventually agreed to lend the money by turning it into a joint application and at a high interest rate (18.9%!). last night I checked my free credit report with Noddle and saw 4 months missed payment on both of my old BG accounts. whilst I was disputing the final bill with them they logged missed payments on both accounts until I settled in April. So two questions I have: 1) Will BG remove these based on the fact they upheld my complaint? 2) Can I pursue BG with regards to the higher interest rate on the loan? as without the missed payment showing I would have had a lower interest rate. Any help will be really appreciated Thanks,

hi there, looking for some advice, i moved in with my girlfriend recently, when going over her credit file, we have noticed 2 x defaults from British Gas, i was with edf energy and they never reported to my credit file, I didn't think this could be done, is there any way this can be removed?

Hi folks. I'm new here. Hope this is in the right section. In short, I rented a shop and ran a business. I signed a lease for 2 years, commencing April 2012. At this time, I opened an account for supply of gas and electricity with British Gas. By April 2013, I decided to close the shop. My landlord agreed that I could vacate after just 1 year as we came to a financial arrangement. At this time, I contacted British Gas to advise them that I was closing up and asked for my account to be closed. I was issued a final bill in May 2013 and I paid in full. The account was closed. Recently, I've received a DCA letter at an address I now have a new business at, chasing £1400+ on behalf of British Gas. I called British Gas and, apparently, in September 2013 my ex-landlord called them to state that I was actually still occupying the premises and that the account should be re-opened in my name (and not put in to his name by default)! British Gas apparently did as the landlord requested and so from September 2013 until now I've apparently been accruing standing charges for a premises that I vacated a long time ago. British Gas are telling me there's nothing they can do, it's a "third party dispute" between myself and the landlord. I don't understand how an account can be opened in my name without my knowledge, for a property I don't occupy, on the say so of an apparently rogue landlord. Any ideas guys?