wescot and british gas

[fullofdebt]

hello everyone!

 

me and my wife moved house in march this year and gave British gas a final meter reading to close the account when we left and expected a bill to be sent out in due course.

 

we had our mail re-directed to our new, current address for 3 months and never received a bill from them.

 

we have now received a final notice letter out of the blue from Wescot demanding we pay £460 within 10 days or further collection activity

will be taken to recover the full outstanding balance.

 

this was sent to our new address, my wife rang up British gas as it is in her name to find out why it has been passed on to a collection company and to clarify the amount.

 

British gas then told us to deal with Wescot?

 

British gas would not send out a bill.

we are not sure what the original final bill amount was

 

we have not had any contact with Wescot other than this letter,

but my wife has mentioned that her mother is getting repeat phone calls on her land-line from a company looking for my wife.

She just ignored them and hung up thinking it was just another cold call.

Turns out its Wescot after asking which company they were ringing from.

 

So my wife has called Wescot to tell them she she wants her parents telephone number taken off the system,

they were happy to do so, she then said that she will pay the full balance off in 1 weeks time much to my disappointment,

but i wasn't on the phone i would have contacted them via E-mail.

 

i would like to know where we stand with this,

its as if we haven't got a choice but to pay through Wescot?

and we never received the final bill so cant verify if that amount is for the energy used, or plucked out of thin air

 

Thanks

 

FullOfDebt

[citizenB]

You must ask Wescot to ask "their client" for an itemised bill. You are entitled to this. Point out to them, if they follow through with any litigation, they will be obliged to provide this information.

 

It might be best to do this either by letter or email.

 

I would be inclined also to send a Formal Complaint to British Gas via their Head office.

 

Let them know how unhappy you are about all this - confirm that you have had your mail redirected so you know darn full well a bill has not been sent out.

[fullofdebt]

If I ask for itemised bill, will they carry on with the collection projedure? She really does not want them contacting her parents or her work number. I will be contacting them via E-mail.

 

Is there a set email to send them asking for telephone numbers to be removed/not called. Only contact us via email and to request a itemised bill?

 

My wife just wants to pay it, but I know that its not the true amount.

[citizenB]

They have no right to be contacting your Wife's family or her work number. Just demand they are removed.

 

You have the legal right to communicate in writing only and they must abide by this wish.

 

You are entitled to an itemised bill.

 

Ask them to put any collection activity on hold whilst they are obtaining this information. If they don't, then I think you need to let the OFT know and it might even be worth making a complaint to the Energy regulator.

[fullofdebt]

ok, i will get that sent off in the morning from her email.

 

Once we recieve the bill, if it is less than what wescott state what should my next step be?

 

thanks

 

FullOfDebt

[citizenB]

If and when you receive a proper bill and you are happy that is the correct amount, then I guess you would need to make arrangements to pay it.

[Surfer01]

Tell Westcot that the bill is being disputed and that they need to return it to BGAS. They are obliged to do this!

[Geordie Joe]

If and when you receive a proper bill and you are happy that is the correct amount, then I guess you would need to make arrangements to pay it.

 

I think fullofdebt meant what if wescott have added fees. e.g. the original bill is for, say, £200 and wescott are now demanding £470 because they have added £270 in fees.

 

In other words, fullofdebt only wants to pay the original bill and not dca fees.

[dx100uk]

can this not be done by looking online at the BG site?

that will have the bills

dx

[Geordie Joe]

Their web site says you can manage/access your bills online so it may be doable. Although if fullofdebt actually left bgas when they moved house their account may not be there now.

[dx100uk]

I've known them not to disable accounts several times.

 

though ofcourse that's assuming it was a registered online account in the first place!

 

dx