Help : Gas bills have been estimated for the last 4 years leaving me with a £5000 debt

[MJWP]

Can anyone help me?

 

I have recently done a customer reading for my gas account

and it appears that I have not been billed correctly for the last 4 years due to estimated reading.

 

We currently pay all of our bills on time on receipt of a bill

but it appears that no meter readings have been used to provide an accurate bill for over 4 years.

 

I am sure that we have supplied meter readings in the past

but as we have an online account I cant seem to find any record to support this

and I know that our meter has been read over that period by meter readers.

 

Please can anyone advise us on our rights before I submit the reading

as this is a great shock and we do not have the funds available to pay this.

[Peterbard]

Not with Npower by any chance are you ?

[MJWP]

No British Gas why does it make a difference?

[Peterbard]

No sorry Npower have had problems with the billing for the last twelve months and crated all kinds of debt, I thought this may be related.

 

I should give the CAB a ring, they will want paying if you have used the gas, however they should put you an a repayment plan for your arrears CAB will be able to advise you of your best course of action and who to contact at British gas.

[dx100uk]

so your present correct reading is miles higher than what the estimates think it should be?

 

by LAW they must read your meter better than once in 24mts

so yo've got them there if they have not.

 

I don't think they can retro charge all the way back.

 

dx

[MJWP]

Thanks for your advise. I thought all energy companies had to have an official reading every 2 year to avoid this kind of situation. Isn't that the case?

[MJWP]

Is it the law or is it just best practice? Does anyone know?

[dx100uk]

its the law under act of par'l for safety reasons.

 

dx

[MJWP]

I think they have read the meter but they don't appear to have used the readings which is why we appear to be in the situation. If we can prove that they have received reading but not used them will we still have to pay the whole amount?

[caro]

If you've been paying regularly that is a massive shortfall. How many live in the house and how many rooms do you have?

[MJWP]

Three live in the house and we pay all of our bills regularly. We have a gas boiler and it is only used to heat the house in the morning and evening as we are at work. It is a very old house and very draughty but we also have a log burner to supplement the heat. I agree that this is a very large shortfall and that's why I am worried.

[caro]

Were you in the house more than 4 years ago? Was wondering if you had anything to compare.

[caro]

Take a look at this. Page 5

http://www.energy-uk.org.uk/publication/finish/43/412.html

[dx100uk]

as I said if its their error

which it is

they cant backbill more than 12mts

 

as yet they dont know this issue I take it?

 

dx

[MJWP]

No they don't know yet. I wanted to understand my rights before I contacted them.

[MJWP]

We have been in the house for 7 years but they changed the metre in 2009 and since then it appears to have been estimated bills. When we had the old metre the bills were high but we thought that they were billing us wrongly as it was an imperial metre and they were billing us as a metric customer. I think that's why they changed the meter.

 

 

But since then the bills have appeared normal. We did a metre reading yesterday and it appears the numbers have moved by 16 in one day. Not sure how that measures in real money, but we are monitoring it each day to find out what we use daily. As I mention all we have on is the central heating, we don't have a gas fire but we do have a gas hob but we don't use it excessively.

[caro]

So it's possible they weren't billing you wrong in the first place?

 

If you look at your bill it should explain how it's calculated per unit.

 

I know old houses can be very hard to insulate and this can make a huge difference.

[caro]

As a test you could try reading the gas at say 8pm in the evening and at 8 am next morning, making sure you use no gas during that period. Ok there will be a pilot light but that shouldn't impact overnight. Obviously 24 hours with no use would be better but may not be practical.

[nottslad]

if they've had actual reads but ignored them and used estimates, without investigating, then they are at fault and the billing code applies.

 

It wouldn't surprise me if they hadn't updated the meter details after the meter exchange, so the reads that came through then didn't fit in with what they were receiving. This should prompt investigation and if they haven't been in contact to check the reads or ask you for reads then they can only charge 12 months back from the date of the first correct bill.

 

16 units per day on a metric meter isn't that bad, there should be a calculation on your bill so you can go through how to work it out in terms of £

[Surfer01]

The amount £5000 in 4 years is a bit high for gas only. I would think that the most you would spend on gas in a year is about £600 and that includes heating. If the meter was changed from an analogue to a digital, more than likely they are using the digital figures and doing an analogue calculation. For example the digital meter reads 10 units, but the equivalent analogue is only 6 units as the digital unit is less than an analogue unit.

[mattlamb]

I suspect your latest bill is not correct.

 

I agree with nottslad. It is likely BG didn't process a meter change on your computer records. Therefore, when a meter reader came out to read your meter, the computer system would have rejected his readings and just billed you an estimated amount of usage (based upon your old meter still being in your home).

 

Also, I suspect you may have been billed based upon your old gas meter calculating your usage on an imperial meter, when really your new gas meter is a metric one (this results in hugely inaccurate bills as the usage is calculated differently).

 

On your latest bill for the massive amount, does the bill show a meter change?

 

If it does, is the final reading used on the bill for your old meter correct?

And is the starting reading used for the new meter that was fitted, also correct?

You can check this by looking at your gas meter. It should have a yellow sticker on it. This should tell you the final meter reading on the old meter and the start reading on your new meter.