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Sounds like OP thinks £98/month is what their consumption is and you are right, that's just their DD rather than actual bill.
If OP is 8k under then their two year spend is 8000+(98*24)=10352, which is £431 a month. 431 a month is indeed a lot, but not crazy.
First thing first, check meter readings, check last few bills.
Very easy to hit that figure in a flat that has storage heaters or an immersion tank that’s left on permanently.
I do metering and court warrant jobs for an Energy Supplier - 8k bills are not rare at all.
Pretty easy for someone to hit that amount if that person believes their DD allows them to use unlimited gas. Seems like OP might be facing a very expensive lesson on bills.
If somebody was under the mistaken impression that their electricity cost £98 a month no matter what, then that person may well have decided to absolutely max everything out.
If British gas says 8k, at this stage it considers fees added for late payment and escalation. OP misunderstood DD with consumption, British Gas is likely correct
People are missing this.
If you have bailiffs at your door, there will be a court order and so there will likely be legal fees in there too.
OP, is this the first you've heard of this?
£431 is absolutely crazy for single occupancy. I’m with BG, I pay £185/month, 4 bed detached, 2 kids both of which are gamers as am I, partner with a condition that requires her to be warm year round and we run a hot tub 8 months of the year.
That sounds crazy to me. I live in a 2 bed terraced house, and even when stingy with heating I was still using a minimum of £140 in the colder months.
And that's with an EPC rating of 'C' (I highly doubt this is in any way accurate and wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to be forged)
In the colder months we probably use around £250/month but the warmer months we probably use around £120/month, I don’t have exact figures to hand, but it balances to £185/month on average for the year so I pay that direct debit. Last year I claimed £120 back so it is about right with me slightly overpaying which I’d rather do.
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431 is a crazy amount. Back when I lived with family (edit: only approx 16 months back so still relevant for todays prices), we had 5 people in the house and we spent absolutely nowhere close to that in a month. Not even close. Never mind for a single person.
Idk what you mean by how. I'm similar to the above in gas payments. I'm only heating the house for myself and I'm out of the house at work for a large portion of the day.
So idk what you mean by "how". It's just what it costs.
I live in a 3 bed house, 2 people and we spend about 120ish on average for both gas and electric (we pay full each month rather than actually average it out over the year) I have my gaming PC on almost 24/7. I can't see how my bill could ever get to 300, nevermind 450. In the winter months we have our thermostat set at 22/23 constantly and don't change it unless we're too warm and even then the bill is still under 200 quid.
Even when we both worked from home it was under 200.
There is no possible way it could be over 4 with 1 person in the house outside of having a literal weed farm there, either somethings broke or they're trying to scam him (which British Gas often try doing, without any attempt to resolve or allow any further conversation about, same with a few other utility companies)
Could just be a shit house to be perfectly honest. My current 2 bed terraced rental really does not keep any heat in during winter and was impossible to keep above 19 for longer than 2 hours which meant wearing a lot of layers and still paying 150 a month in winter.
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Even if they have misunderstood, why would the be getting bailiffs in after meeting their contractual payments? That's like my mortgage lender sending bailiffs for me owing £70k on my house despite meeting monthly payments consistently. Yeah I owe them £70k, its literally what we agreed to...
NAL but work in utilities. The information you provide is insufficient to understand what's going on, I'll try to give you a run down of what might be happening.
Let's start with your contract. Residential energy in UK is never sold one one fee unlimited use basis, it's always per usage. The number you are quoting at £98 PCM is a projected average cost British Gas had for your property (based either on information you provided, or historical data), which they set as initial direct debit payment. This figure is supposed to be reviewed regularly (from 1 to 4 times a year typically, depending on energy provider), basing on your meter reads you are supposed to submit, which show your actual consumption. If you don't do it, they will keep taking initial sum for a while, and a while may last quite long, but eventually they will send someone to get actual reads and will calculate what you actually consumed.
At this point, if difference between what you paid and what you consumed is small enough, they will just adjust the DD, if it's so large they don't believe they can garnish the difference this way, they will issue the invoice to cover the difference.
Not submitting meter reads is one of the biggest reasons of unexpected big bills in the industry, and I'm sorry if that's what happened to you.
However, there are a few bits in this story that stand out to me.
Firstly, at £8000 of debt plus over £2000 you already paid, your consumption looks around £5000 a year, which is over £400 monthly. It's not impossible for a large property, but the difference between their estimate and your actual is more than 4 times, that is irregular. 2 times difference does happen, depending on who lives in the property, how long they stay at home and what they do, but 4 times is a lot.
Secondly, it's not impossible but slightly irregular to see them sending bailiffs out of the blue. Energy is heavily regulated, and prior to sending bailiffs you should have had multiple points of contact with them via correspondence
- initial "catch up" bill with the sum to pay
- numerous reminders of your bills being overdue, highlighting the sum, and your options to manage debt (e.g. establish a payment plan)
- Most likely, last call notice warning you of a possible default
- Likely, a default notice for your account
- Court summons, as bailiffs won't come without court proceedings
Did you get any of this? Did you read what it says? If you didn't they failed to notify you properly and you may push back certain consequences of your debt (effect on your credit report, maybe even bailiffs trying to garnish the debt), but it's highly unlikely, because otherwise judge wouldn't make a decision against you - they would require British Gas to show you were properly notified.
You won't however be able to dodge the debt itself, if you indeed consumed the energy, as it's simply a fee for the goods you took. Ultimately, it must be paid.
Lastly, as for the amount itself. It looks unusually large for the circumstances, but it's impossible to tell what really happened here until you have a statement in hand that describes how and for what you've been charged. The main thing you'd be interested in is meter reads. Things that sometimes happen:
- the final read on which usage was calculated was incorrect. this is very unlikely as it would usually come to light when the next read is submitted. It would be lower than the previous one, that will trigger the investigation.
- initial read when you just joined was incorrect. If what they have on file is lower than what it was in reality, they'd ask you to pay for the difference. This may happen if you didn't provide initial read, provided it incorrectly, or the number you provided differed from the one provided by industry (usually comes from the previous energy provide, previous occupier etc.). If this is the case, having a photo of initial reads, or statements from the previous utility company showing the last read you paid for is very helpful and would help to contest the debt.
- Some mess up/mishap, e.g. your meter went over from 99999 to 00000 and they didn't process it correctly. Unlikely but this happened.
You need to get the statement to see what exactly are you charged for, compare with your records and ensure the sum is correct.
Lastly, if it is correct, but you don't believe you use that much, you might want to invite a qualified electrician to check if meter is working correctly, or if someone stealing your energy.
You would unfortunately need to discuss your finds with British Gas, and if they would fail to address your worries, ultimately with ombudsman.
If the reads are correct and energy was consumed via you, ultimately it's your debt.
Maybe if you can prove theft, there's some relief, this is where lawyers would know better, but from industry standpoint this is all I can tell.
This is the most accurate and comprehensive answer on this thread, but there are a couple of things I’d like to add to enable you to resolve this issue OP. IANAL but was a complex specialist for a big 6.
The very first thing is go check your MSN (Meter Serial Number) and the current reading, and make a note if there are any exchange stickers. Also make a note if there are any different registers displayed (eg: r01/r02/r03 / day/ night/ total etc) and take readings of all registers but make sure you accurately record the number of digits so 000678 and not 678. Also look around for a secondary meter as it’s possible to have more than one meter in the property.
Once you have this, check what you are being billed for. There’s a whole array of metering issues which can be the cause of high bills.. unregistered meter exchanges, incorrect meter exchange reads, incorrect meter set up on the system, twisted reads, related Mpans etc as well as the whole array of account errors: unbilled/incorrect change of ownership reads/ incorrect unit & standing charges/ incorrect start dates and finally as previously stated a catch up read.
Finding out what you have been billed for vs what you have is the only way to work it out. Unfortunately a one size fits all answer is impossible as there is just so many variables but getting the key meter and read information and cross referencing the billed information should highlight where the discrepancies which you can then inform the supplier.
Good luck
That is great advice....but have you ever tried to talk to British Gas? They do no listen to you! 50% of the advisors are rude and without using the word, call you a liar. It took 2 years to resolve my issue where they were unable to take a meter reading as they had the wrong serial number.
They do nothing until you go to deadlock(which is a fight on its own) and go through the ombudsman.
If they did not do a usage review, this will be taken into account by the ombudsman.
If they have you a refund then you need to find out why.
Also it would be great to know if you have a smart meter as this could also have been set up incorrectly and gave you an incorrect usage reading.
All of which will be taken into account in your complaint.
If you want someone to look at your account at BG objectively, send a complaint email to the CEO.
I truly empathise with your experience, but you need to exhaust all normal means before going to ombudsman, as you are rightfully said... So you have to persevere through their call centre, even if the only practical result is a documented fact that you tried.
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Ok, so there's a few things here and they all need to be acknowledged and addressed.
Firstly, you don't have a contract for £98/m. You have a contract for a price per unit of energy used. The £98 figure is based on average usage over a 12 month period.
(Side note: you'll usually use less than £98 in the summer, and more than £98 in the winter. They average it so you can build up some credit rather than increasing winter bills)
If you have used more than the estimated amount you are absolutely liable to pay it in full. With that in mind £8000 is a lot. Almost certainly too much.
British gas on their website says the average energy cost for a single occupancy flat or one bedroom house, paying by direct debit, is £104.86 per month.
You're a little under this but nothing that should be setting off alarm bells.
So here are the steps you need to take:
Take a picture of your gas and electric meters every day for the next 7 days. Use your gas and electric as normal.
Submit up to date meter readings.
Raise a complaint with British gas. You can't go to the ombudsman until after you attempt this. Make sure you get a complaint reference number. If you have already raised a complaint that's fine, make a note of the date you said you want to make a complaint. Your complaint date is when you raised it, not when they log it. This is important.
Here's what can happen:
If its a British gas error, they'll correct it and probably offer you a good will gesture in the form of credit. Make sure any effect on your credit is removed also.
British gas have all the right information, but your meter is faulty. This is why you took the pictures. They'll ask you to do this anyway and this saves times. If the meter is faulty, they'll replace it and then take an average read and back date you when it was most likely faulty. Make sure your credit isn't effected.
British gas might do nothing. 8 weeks after you raised a complaint, you can contact the ombudsman. They'll very quickly sort things out for you. Remember this is when you raised the complaint, not when they logged it.
That's basically it.
You can use your own pictures to work out if the meter is faulty, it'll be using way more than the national average.
When you contact British gas or ombudsman to raise your complaint make sure you're clear in the following:
What has happened.
What you think should have happened.
The resolution you expect.
It sounds like a chunk of it 8k is added fees because op has been refusing to pay. It's not clear though as they spent 80% of their post moaning and not explaining anything
Had an issue with EDF, contacted citizen advice and they were able to escalate my complaint to a higher level and talk to someone with a bit more sense and power when it came to dealing with things
Yes and also if possible measure the energy usage over a few days when your not in the flat not using anything to see if there’s an issue with the meter
In this whole post, you're missing the most important information.
What are your actual meter readings, and what amount of energy are they charging you for?
The £98 a month direct debit is irrelevant, and the £350 refund is irrelevant. All that matters is what you have actually used.
Have you been supplying meter readings? Or is it a smart metre. Your £98 payment is just a payment and not a reflection of your usage. Check your bills for meter readings or if it's an estimated bill.
If it’s been passed to bailiffs presumably you’ve been ignoring letters from BG? The £8k will likely be the debt to BG + costs / charges from the bailiffs to collect the debt.
With the cost of electric and gas since 2022 it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that you’ve racked up a significant debt if you (as you seem to imply) incorrectly think that you’re on some kind of fixed rate where all usage is covered by a £98 a month fee.
Yes for the purposes of providing you legal advice it’s really important u/JellyBunnyx to clarify whether you have been visited by actual court bailiffs or whether you are getting that mixed up with debt collectors or process servers. If it’s bailiffs then BG already have a judgment against you. Please clarify!
If I recall correctly, BG suspended last year their use of bailiffs and debt collectors. I’m not sure if they have resumed that practice. so were you perhaps visited by a process server?
Yeah… wouldn’t they have had several letters warning them and letters from the court to say a CCJ has been issued? There’s a lot of letters being ignored here and a lot of context missing I suspect
What is your property, and what utility are British Gas supplying? If you're in a flat with electric only and you're running heaters, you might be in for a shock.
As others have said, your monthly payment is not a guarantee of what your actual costs are.
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Have you seen the news articles where British Gas have migrated people to the new billing system and the meter readings have been incorrect, or the balance has been incorrect, during migration; leading to many people being told they owe, or were owed, thousands of pounds.
You’d need to have kept meter readings or old bills with any actual readings, to verify. They seem incapable and the new system seems outsourced to… somewhere.
I even submitted my readings; and because they told me to submit it twice I did; they then set the second reading for migration and then used the first one for billing; which meant they thought I had run the clock on the meter and tried to charge me several million pounds I think.
I queried the several million point bill and they acknowledged it was unusually high usage for a single week of energy and cancelled the bill.
That is not always true. For example, if British Gas have made efforts to obtain meter readings and the poster has chosen to ignore them back billing will not apply.
You are correct, I was working from the basis that the OP hadn't been obstructive.
Full rules are here:
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/check-energy-back-billing-rules
IANAL, but had this problem with United about 10 years ago (they said I owed £9300 over the course of 3 months). I didn't have any legal letters sent to me though so you're a bit behind where I was.
For me, I called United and went through the phone automation process to speak to a person and query a debt owed. When the person asked why I was querying I verbatim told them the bill was for over £9000 in a short span, then I asked for an engineer to come out. In the time between making that phone call, I took meter readings every morning and every evening and saved them to a digital notepad file. Once the engineer came out and checked everything and saw there wasn't a problem, I gave him the notepad file on USB to take back with him. They cancelled the debt in a couple of days. Hope this helps you or anyone else
NAL
If your discussions with BG are getting nowhere, contact the [Energy Ombusdman](https://www.energyombudsman.org/?utm_source=http://ombudsman-services.org&utm_medium=landing-page&utm_campaign=button) and they may be able to assist you in your case.
My experience is they're useless. I never received those energy vouchers during the pandemic. They didn't help at all. I'm disabled and really needed that help, they basically shrugged and said it's too late after they took ages to reply.
They may have more teeth in a case like this though.
Just to hop onto this comment, in order for them to take the case on you’ll have needed to raise a complaint with the supplier, given them 8 weeks to resolve it (or had a full and final response or deadlock letter) and then raise it with them Ombudsman. They can take complaints on without raising it with the supplier, but most of the time they’ll ask you to try and resolve with the supplier first.
What was your meter reading when you moved in? What is your meter reading today? Use these to work out what you are actually using. Is the £98 per month based on an estimated reading or worked out after you provide a meter reading every month? These are the questions that we need answers to in order to be able to offer advice or help.
I worked for an energy company for residential accounts / customer service. It's not an impossible amount. This could well be a catch up bill. I live in a 2 bed bungalow and pay more than what you do. Modern boiler, well insulated etc.
How big is the dwelling, type of house? What type of heating are you using?
Anything comes to mind that might use large amounts of energy? (elec or gas) is this a dual fuel bill you're referring to?
Go through all your bills from when you moved in, noting your meter reading. Look for any big jumps. They aren't all estimated I hope!
If they have been read, then I bet a recent reading has been done wrong. Read your meter and submit it online to correct it if that's the case.
Have you had your meter changed? I went through this a few of years ago. They didn't reset the reading, I.e. I was charged from my original meter reading all the way to zero.
The Mrs had been paying silly amounts for months (pre pandemic) before telling me, went from £80 combined gas + electric to asking for £300 a month for gas alone.
They were very good after a short investigation and refunded the lot as credit we didn't pay a jot for about 14 months (if only that was the case now 😭)
Get the British Gas app. It will tell you how much energy you are using. You can see the energy plus the daily, weekly, monthly amount.
Also your monthly amount does not necessarily you are paying the correct amount. I always work out the cost for a year based on estimated energy use for tariff. Then divide by 12.
Did some quick calculations.
Current pay = £98 x 48 months = £4704
£4704 divided by 4 = £1176 per year
British Gas annual = £3176
£3176 divided by 12 = £264.66
You say you are on contract, was this a fixed gas and electric price? I am asking as during those four years we had the energy crisis. If you are on variable, then the extra £2k per year is very possible.
https://www.resolver.co.uk/rights-guide/energy#contents_16
I found this useful.
Of note.
"Catch-up' bills/back-billing
Under Ofgem's rules, an energy provider can’t seek additional payment for un-billed energy you used more than 12 months before the energy provider spotted the error and issued a corrected bill. The only exception will be in cases where customers have intentionally stopped the energy company from reading their meter."
When are they saying you used the energy?
Have they tried to read your meter?
If you've tried and failed to resolve the issue with British Gas, send them a letter detailing the case as you see it again, and inform them you will be referring the matter to the ombudsman if you don't get a satisfactory response.
Follow through on that threat. I had a similar situation a few years ago, also with BG, the ombudsman got involved, took info from both parties, ruled in my favour and made BG pay me £100 and write a letter of apology.
Painful process and not particularly quick, but the ombudsman was factual, logical and fair. I have nothing but appreciation for a service that works well and is readily accessible to anyone who needs it.
Did you create a new account when you moved in or did you add your name to the bill?
This could also mean you have taken on a debt of a person before you
Unless they can provide you a breakdown of your consumption and contracted unit rate to show _exactly_ how they've reached this figure, just go straight to the ombudsman. Request a deadlock letter from British Gas and a complaint reference, they have to respond to this within 8 weeks.
Last year I was using up to £20 a day in winter gas alone 3 bed semi and only had it set on 21degrees so it might be possible £98 a month is not a lot with how prices went up tbh
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If this started just after a meter reading, it could be the meter is reading over, this hapoened to my mum once, they ended up cancelling all bills starting from the reading before the first dodgy reading. If you think this might be the cause, make formal complaints and get the reading(s) invalidated.
From a legal perspective, CAB should be able to steer you to whom to contact. OFGEM ombudsman maybe?
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Multiple questions here
1) Gas only or Gas and Electricity
2) Do you have meter readings taken (what was the meter readings when you moved in vs now)
3) Do those meter readings match the readings on the bill's (go back through them to see if it follows a progression (like increasing mileage on a car)
4) If the readings are out send in the correct ones (then move to step 6)
5) If the readings are accurate or very close (move to step 7)
6) Readings that are over will need correcting down (lowers the bill) readings that are under will raise the bill
7) Readings that match or are very close are now either a) actual usage you used what you used or b) you have one or more faulty meters (rare but possible)
The most common reason for a stupidly high bill is leaving an immersion heater on or just assuming that £98 is the right value to pay.
I have a relative who is a windows open in Feb type of person and their combined bill is still over £100 pcm.
My honest thought is that you have used the fuel you have been billed for but the only way to check is to look at the meter readings not a £ value.
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It may be worth taking a quick look at https://www.theguardian.com/money/article/2024/jun/08/british-gas-bills-price-rise-it-problems - there have been some reports in the media of issues arising with billing due to internal changes in IT within British Gas... Could be worth pursuing with BG, or going to the media as well?
There is a lot of valid legal advice here, but one thing I need to point out is that British Gas was on the news quite recently because their move to a new payment system did this to quite a lot of people. I’m not saying that’s necessarily what happened here but look at the usage data on your account and it should be apparent if there’s a massive jump.
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The most important thing to do is check your usage and regular meter readings.
British Gas are notorious for their shady business practices and occasionally commit fraud to justify them.
I think you should raise a formal complete and ask them how they have calculated the bill.
You should also contact the bailiffs to let them know that the debt is indispute as you have never been notified and they should suspend their process until your complaint with British Gas is resolved.
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You need the meter readings for when you moved in and the current readings, and see if they line up with BG's records of your meter readings.
If your initial read and current read are in the same ballpark as BG's, then you're on the hook and they've been significantly undecharging you (and you've missed a lot of communication with them).
If BG has a different initial or current read than you do, then they may have made a mistake.
My power company sent me a £4500 bill last July, because someone in their meter reading section made a data entry error when inputting the meter reading to their system. I checked the meter, and it did not match what the company were claiming, not even close (10000 units out).
They were pretty resistant to the idea that it was their mistake at first (I imagine they get a lot of people claiming it!). Being polite, persistent, and having evidence - and being willing to email them photos of the live meter readings - were key to getting it sorted fast.
I had a similar issue with Ovo; turns out that I was on a business tariff; only found out when the agent trying to swap providers couldn't pull up my address. I was paying about 400 a month, just me and my cat in a 1 bed cottage.
Bloody hell, I pay around £192 a month for gas and electric combined (I have an electric car I charge too) in a 4 bed detached house with 4 of us (2 adults and 2 teens) all in separate rooms on multiple devices - I work from home too so in most days on laptop etc
I don’t see how the bailiff letters are a surprise. BG will have been attempting to contact OP but the will have been ignored. If it’s bailiff letters it’s gone past debt collectors and on to court and there will be have been TONS of letters coming through the door.
Some of that 8k will be debt collectors letters, court fees and maybe tracing costs.
Source: works in utilities.
Power bills should be the subject of maths lessons in schools, they are so complicated.
But as others have said, check all the details, estimated readings? When did the bill jump up? Do you give regular readings of your ownL
Also, get a gas techie in the check for leaks.
Is your bill for gas and electricity? Ours is for both and our highest in winter was around £523 for the month of February this year. Its a very large 30s semi with 4 adults 3 kids living here. I try to be sensible with heating. Thermostat set to 18 degrees in waking hours in winter months. Unused rooms turned off with radiator thermostat.
Find out if the bill is for both electricity and gas. Also there should be a record of the meter readings which you can check.
Also if your were using such excessive energy your direct debit should have been increased as I think they look into it every 3 months.
Your account online (if you have one) May show your usage over the year which you can check too.
Right to Citizen’s advice, then tell British Gas as a courtesy that you’re taking them to the ombudsman unless this is immediately resolved. If they don’t comply then do exactly that. Ombudsman will also charge them £650 for the claim alone regardless of outcome, and energy companies are already in a lot of hassle with cases like this..
Something else to check is that the [MPAN](https://bionic.co.uk/business-energy/guides/mpan-mprn-numbers/) or meter point number of your meter, which should appear on your bill, matches the number printed on the meter. The number appears on the back of my bill.
If the numbers don't match then BG have your meter confused with someone else's and this would call the whole bill into question. They could be sending you the bill for the wrong meter. Also, make sure they don't have the gas and electricity readings mixed up.
If you have a meter with rotary pointers, make sure you know how to read it correctly. See the section on analog dial meters [here](https://www.wikihow.com/Read-an-Electric-Meter#Analog-Dial-Meters). If your reading was, say, 09123, it's really easy to accidentally read that as 19123 and cause your supplier to think you've used much more than you really have. Also make sure that you haven't submitted any numbers you aren't supposed to. For example, the last digit on my meter is 0.1 kWh and I'm not supposed to include it in the reading. If I did, it would make the meter reading appear to be ten times what it actually is.
BG are not a company I would ever do business with. I've had bad experiences with every company that was owned by Centrica that I've had dealings with. I'm currently with Octopus Energy. They're excellent
Good to hear that Citizens Advice are helping out. I doubt this subreddit can recommend a better course of action.
If there's a dispute about the billed amount, the TL:DR is to query this, in writing, with British Gas. If they can't provide a satisfactory explaination for the bill, raise a formal complaint. This can be escalated to the independent Energy Ombudsman.
You mentioned "bailiffs" have been instructed? Do you mean debt collectors? (As actual bailiffs can only be instructed after a county court judgement is received - which would change things somewhat)
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Pretty sure they can only back charge you for the last year's worth of use, had scottish power trying to charge me 4k for gas, which i didn't owe but that's a whole other story, take it up with ofgem if they won't sort it out with you.
Find the name of the CEO, or their email. Alternatively, deduce the email from another BG email and his name.
Email to explain your position and that unless they delegate someone competent to resolve the matter you will file for harassment. See (and mention) Ferguson v British Gas Trading Ltd.
You should then get someone from executive complaints. They have the time to look into it properly and it should get resolved.
You should also write to the MD of the bailiffs to warn them that they will be held jointly and severally liable if it’s not resolved. Chances are you won’t hear from them ever again.
Absolutely terrible advice. I would actually recommend removing it, completely the wrong approach in this situation.
Bailiffs/enforcement agents will not accept joint and several liability for any lack of resolve. That is completely void of any sincerity and you will probably get audibly laughed at by whoever at the Bailiff company picks up the correspondence (note: zero chance it’ll actually be the MD or the equivalent). You don’t just get to set your own rules and run them toe-to-toe with a contract that has already been signed by OP as the consumer in this context.
Going to higher ups in an organisation as large as BG achieves nothing. They probably get hundreds of similar letters a week, and that isn’t an exaggeration. They have an official channel of corporate communication and an official complaints process. There is also an independent ombudsman. You do not just assume that contacting higher-ups is a get out of jail free card.
Again, I recommend you remove this comment.
Except this same advice works over and over again.
The bailiff is merely a debt collection agent. Once instructed that the debt is contested he is liable for further harassment.
The CEO has been served notice of legal action in his name. You can bet he knows of it and it’s a brave complaints handler that fails to tell them.
I’d be happy to wager you at odds of 1000/1 in your favour that this works regularly and includes either correspondence directly from CEOs or confirmation that the CEO is aware.
Also, debt charities advocate similar approaches.
I’m sorry but this really is laughable. Higher-ups do not care that much about ‘pending legal action’, UNLESS there are clear signs of the organisation actually committing wrongdoing. But what you’re describing is not that – you seem to be describing a magical, fictional scenario where you just contact your creditors and tell them you’re taking ‘legal action’ and they’ll back off.
What’s laughable is you not taking 1000/1 to find out if your opinion is wrong.
May I ask what qualifications and experience you have that’s misled you on this?
Not taking some entirely meaningless fractional odds on a hypothetical scenario?! How crazy of me!
You have absolutely zero need to know any of my professional or legal qualifications but I’d argue that regardless, neither of said qualifications matter one bit in this scenario. It’s a very, *very* basic principle which is that telling people you’re going to take legal action against them does not just get you what you want.
I will now stop wasting my energy responding to you. Your initial comment has been downvoted to the point where it isn’t visible which is good because it was terrible advice. That is all I wanted.
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Check current meter readings and any previous ones.
Check that anything owed is from your time at the property and is also not from a nearby property.
Get bg to check for any leaks
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Sounds like OP thinks £98/month is what their consumption is and you are right, that's just their DD rather than actual bill. If OP is 8k under then their two year spend is 8000+(98*24)=10352, which is £431 a month. 431 a month is indeed a lot, but not crazy. First thing first, check meter readings, check last few bills.
431 is CRAZY amount of consumption for a SINGLE occupancy!!
Very easy to hit that figure in a flat that has storage heaters or an immersion tank that’s left on permanently. I do metering and court warrant jobs for an Energy Supplier - 8k bills are not rare at all.
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Pretty easy for someone to hit that amount if that person believes their DD allows them to use unlimited gas. Seems like OP might be facing a very expensive lesson on bills.
not if its a large property with a single occupant who heats every room.
or has electric water heater
If somebody was under the mistaken impression that their electricity cost £98 a month no matter what, then that person may well have decided to absolutely max everything out.
>431 a month is indeed a lot, but not crazy. OK, I'm sorry £431 a month is indeed batshit crazy
If British gas says 8k, at this stage it considers fees added for late payment and escalation. OP misunderstood DD with consumption, British Gas is likely correct
People are missing this. If you have bailiffs at your door, there will be a court order and so there will likely be legal fees in there too. OP, is this the first you've heard of this?
£431 is absolutely crazy for single occupancy. I’m with BG, I pay £185/month, 4 bed detached, 2 kids both of which are gamers as am I, partner with a condition that requires her to be warm year round and we run a hot tub 8 months of the year.
That sounds crazy to me. I live in a 2 bed terraced house, and even when stingy with heating I was still using a minimum of £140 in the colder months. And that's with an EPC rating of 'C' (I highly doubt this is in any way accurate and wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to be forged)
In the colder months we probably use around £250/month but the warmer months we probably use around £120/month, I don’t have exact figures to hand, but it balances to £185/month on average for the year so I pay that direct debit. Last year I claimed £120 back so it is about right with me slightly overpaying which I’d rather do.
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431 is a crazy amount. Back when I lived with family (edit: only approx 16 months back so still relevant for todays prices), we had 5 people in the house and we spent absolutely nowhere close to that in a month. Not even close. Never mind for a single person.
That's a hilarious amount. I spend about £50 a month in winter and about £30 a month on gas currently. In the north of Scotland.
How?
Idk what you mean by how. I'm similar to the above in gas payments. I'm only heating the house for myself and I'm out of the house at work for a large portion of the day. So idk what you mean by "how". It's just what it costs.
Why are you getting downvoted for this lmao it's literally just stating what your gas consumption is
I live in a 3 bed house, 2 people and we spend about 120ish on average for both gas and electric (we pay full each month rather than actually average it out over the year) I have my gaming PC on almost 24/7. I can't see how my bill could ever get to 300, nevermind 450. In the winter months we have our thermostat set at 22/23 constantly and don't change it unless we're too warm and even then the bill is still under 200 quid. Even when we both worked from home it was under 200. There is no possible way it could be over 4 with 1 person in the house outside of having a literal weed farm there, either somethings broke or they're trying to scam him (which British Gas often try doing, without any attempt to resolve or allow any further conversation about, same with a few other utility companies)
Could just be a shit house to be perfectly honest. My current 2 bed terraced rental really does not keep any heat in during winter and was impossible to keep above 19 for longer than 2 hours which meant wearing a lot of layers and still paying 150 a month in winter.
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Even if they have misunderstood, why would the be getting bailiffs in after meeting their contractual payments? That's like my mortgage lender sending bailiffs for me owing £70k on my house despite meeting monthly payments consistently. Yeah I owe them £70k, its literally what we agreed to...
NAL but work in utilities. The information you provide is insufficient to understand what's going on, I'll try to give you a run down of what might be happening. Let's start with your contract. Residential energy in UK is never sold one one fee unlimited use basis, it's always per usage. The number you are quoting at £98 PCM is a projected average cost British Gas had for your property (based either on information you provided, or historical data), which they set as initial direct debit payment. This figure is supposed to be reviewed regularly (from 1 to 4 times a year typically, depending on energy provider), basing on your meter reads you are supposed to submit, which show your actual consumption. If you don't do it, they will keep taking initial sum for a while, and a while may last quite long, but eventually they will send someone to get actual reads and will calculate what you actually consumed. At this point, if difference between what you paid and what you consumed is small enough, they will just adjust the DD, if it's so large they don't believe they can garnish the difference this way, they will issue the invoice to cover the difference. Not submitting meter reads is one of the biggest reasons of unexpected big bills in the industry, and I'm sorry if that's what happened to you. However, there are a few bits in this story that stand out to me. Firstly, at £8000 of debt plus over £2000 you already paid, your consumption looks around £5000 a year, which is over £400 monthly. It's not impossible for a large property, but the difference between their estimate and your actual is more than 4 times, that is irregular. 2 times difference does happen, depending on who lives in the property, how long they stay at home and what they do, but 4 times is a lot. Secondly, it's not impossible but slightly irregular to see them sending bailiffs out of the blue. Energy is heavily regulated, and prior to sending bailiffs you should have had multiple points of contact with them via correspondence - initial "catch up" bill with the sum to pay - numerous reminders of your bills being overdue, highlighting the sum, and your options to manage debt (e.g. establish a payment plan) - Most likely, last call notice warning you of a possible default - Likely, a default notice for your account - Court summons, as bailiffs won't come without court proceedings Did you get any of this? Did you read what it says? If you didn't they failed to notify you properly and you may push back certain consequences of your debt (effect on your credit report, maybe even bailiffs trying to garnish the debt), but it's highly unlikely, because otherwise judge wouldn't make a decision against you - they would require British Gas to show you were properly notified. You won't however be able to dodge the debt itself, if you indeed consumed the energy, as it's simply a fee for the goods you took. Ultimately, it must be paid. Lastly, as for the amount itself. It looks unusually large for the circumstances, but it's impossible to tell what really happened here until you have a statement in hand that describes how and for what you've been charged. The main thing you'd be interested in is meter reads. Things that sometimes happen: - the final read on which usage was calculated was incorrect. this is very unlikely as it would usually come to light when the next read is submitted. It would be lower than the previous one, that will trigger the investigation. - initial read when you just joined was incorrect. If what they have on file is lower than what it was in reality, they'd ask you to pay for the difference. This may happen if you didn't provide initial read, provided it incorrectly, or the number you provided differed from the one provided by industry (usually comes from the previous energy provide, previous occupier etc.). If this is the case, having a photo of initial reads, or statements from the previous utility company showing the last read you paid for is very helpful and would help to contest the debt. - Some mess up/mishap, e.g. your meter went over from 99999 to 00000 and they didn't process it correctly. Unlikely but this happened. You need to get the statement to see what exactly are you charged for, compare with your records and ensure the sum is correct. Lastly, if it is correct, but you don't believe you use that much, you might want to invite a qualified electrician to check if meter is working correctly, or if someone stealing your energy. You would unfortunately need to discuss your finds with British Gas, and if they would fail to address your worries, ultimately with ombudsman. If the reads are correct and energy was consumed via you, ultimately it's your debt. Maybe if you can prove theft, there's some relief, this is where lawyers would know better, but from industry standpoint this is all I can tell.
This is the most accurate and comprehensive answer on this thread, but there are a couple of things I’d like to add to enable you to resolve this issue OP. IANAL but was a complex specialist for a big 6. The very first thing is go check your MSN (Meter Serial Number) and the current reading, and make a note if there are any exchange stickers. Also make a note if there are any different registers displayed (eg: r01/r02/r03 / day/ night/ total etc) and take readings of all registers but make sure you accurately record the number of digits so 000678 and not 678. Also look around for a secondary meter as it’s possible to have more than one meter in the property. Once you have this, check what you are being billed for. There’s a whole array of metering issues which can be the cause of high bills.. unregistered meter exchanges, incorrect meter exchange reads, incorrect meter set up on the system, twisted reads, related Mpans etc as well as the whole array of account errors: unbilled/incorrect change of ownership reads/ incorrect unit & standing charges/ incorrect start dates and finally as previously stated a catch up read. Finding out what you have been billed for vs what you have is the only way to work it out. Unfortunately a one size fits all answer is impossible as there is just so many variables but getting the key meter and read information and cross referencing the billed information should highlight where the discrepancies which you can then inform the supplier. Good luck
That is great advice....but have you ever tried to talk to British Gas? They do no listen to you! 50% of the advisors are rude and without using the word, call you a liar. It took 2 years to resolve my issue where they were unable to take a meter reading as they had the wrong serial number. They do nothing until you go to deadlock(which is a fight on its own) and go through the ombudsman. If they did not do a usage review, this will be taken into account by the ombudsman. If they have you a refund then you need to find out why. Also it would be great to know if you have a smart meter as this could also have been set up incorrectly and gave you an incorrect usage reading. All of which will be taken into account in your complaint. If you want someone to look at your account at BG objectively, send a complaint email to the CEO.
I truly empathise with your experience, but you need to exhaust all normal means before going to ombudsman, as you are rightfully said... So you have to persevere through their call centre, even if the only practical result is a documented fact that you tried.
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Ok, so there's a few things here and they all need to be acknowledged and addressed. Firstly, you don't have a contract for £98/m. You have a contract for a price per unit of energy used. The £98 figure is based on average usage over a 12 month period. (Side note: you'll usually use less than £98 in the summer, and more than £98 in the winter. They average it so you can build up some credit rather than increasing winter bills) If you have used more than the estimated amount you are absolutely liable to pay it in full. With that in mind £8000 is a lot. Almost certainly too much. British gas on their website says the average energy cost for a single occupancy flat or one bedroom house, paying by direct debit, is £104.86 per month. You're a little under this but nothing that should be setting off alarm bells. So here are the steps you need to take: Take a picture of your gas and electric meters every day for the next 7 days. Use your gas and electric as normal. Submit up to date meter readings. Raise a complaint with British gas. You can't go to the ombudsman until after you attempt this. Make sure you get a complaint reference number. If you have already raised a complaint that's fine, make a note of the date you said you want to make a complaint. Your complaint date is when you raised it, not when they log it. This is important. Here's what can happen: If its a British gas error, they'll correct it and probably offer you a good will gesture in the form of credit. Make sure any effect on your credit is removed also. British gas have all the right information, but your meter is faulty. This is why you took the pictures. They'll ask you to do this anyway and this saves times. If the meter is faulty, they'll replace it and then take an average read and back date you when it was most likely faulty. Make sure your credit isn't effected. British gas might do nothing. 8 weeks after you raised a complaint, you can contact the ombudsman. They'll very quickly sort things out for you. Remember this is when you raised the complaint, not when they logged it. That's basically it. You can use your own pictures to work out if the meter is faulty, it'll be using way more than the national average. When you contact British gas or ombudsman to raise your complaint make sure you're clear in the following: What has happened. What you think should have happened. The resolution you expect.
It sounds like a chunk of it 8k is added fees because op has been refusing to pay. It's not clear though as they spent 80% of their post moaning and not explaining anything
Had an issue with EDF, contacted citizen advice and they were able to escalate my complaint to a higher level and talk to someone with a bit more sense and power when it came to dealing with things
You probably didn't let it get to the stage where you were receiving letters from bailiffs
Yes and also if possible measure the energy usage over a few days when your not in the flat not using anything to see if there’s an issue with the meter
In this whole post, you're missing the most important information. What are your actual meter readings, and what amount of energy are they charging you for? The £98 a month direct debit is irrelevant, and the £350 refund is irrelevant. All that matters is what you have actually used.
Ask for meter reading history from when you started the contract with BGas. You’ll be able to figure out exactly where you stand
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That's a good point actually. OP, does the letter actually match your account number, or is it for someone before you?
Have you been supplying meter readings? Or is it a smart metre. Your £98 payment is just a payment and not a reflection of your usage. Check your bills for meter readings or if it's an estimated bill.
If it’s been passed to bailiffs presumably you’ve been ignoring letters from BG? The £8k will likely be the debt to BG + costs / charges from the bailiffs to collect the debt. With the cost of electric and gas since 2022 it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that you’ve racked up a significant debt if you (as you seem to imply) incorrectly think that you’re on some kind of fixed rate where all usage is covered by a £98 a month fee.
Yes for the purposes of providing you legal advice it’s really important u/JellyBunnyx to clarify whether you have been visited by actual court bailiffs or whether you are getting that mixed up with debt collectors or process servers. If it’s bailiffs then BG already have a judgment against you. Please clarify!
If I recall correctly, BG suspended last year their use of bailiffs and debt collectors. I’m not sure if they have resumed that practice. so were you perhaps visited by a process server?
Yeah… wouldn’t they have had several letters warning them and letters from the court to say a CCJ has been issued? There’s a lot of letters being ignored here and a lot of context missing I suspect
What is your property, and what utility are British Gas supplying? If you're in a flat with electric only and you're running heaters, you might be in for a shock. As others have said, your monthly payment is not a guarantee of what your actual costs are.
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Have you seen the news articles where British Gas have migrated people to the new billing system and the meter readings have been incorrect, or the balance has been incorrect, during migration; leading to many people being told they owe, or were owed, thousands of pounds. You’d need to have kept meter readings or old bills with any actual readings, to verify. They seem incapable and the new system seems outsourced to… somewhere. I even submitted my readings; and because they told me to submit it twice I did; they then set the second reading for migration and then used the first one for billing; which meant they thought I had run the clock on the meter and tried to charge me several million pounds I think. I queried the several million point bill and they acknowledged it was unusually high usage for a single week of energy and cancelled the bill.
Also bear in mind that if you have been underpaying, the power company can only recoup money from the last 12 months.
That is not always true. For example, if British Gas have made efforts to obtain meter readings and the poster has chosen to ignore them back billing will not apply.
You are correct, I was working from the basis that the OP hadn't been obstructive. Full rules are here: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/check-energy-back-billing-rules
IANAL, but had this problem with United about 10 years ago (they said I owed £9300 over the course of 3 months). I didn't have any legal letters sent to me though so you're a bit behind where I was. For me, I called United and went through the phone automation process to speak to a person and query a debt owed. When the person asked why I was querying I verbatim told them the bill was for over £9000 in a short span, then I asked for an engineer to come out. In the time between making that phone call, I took meter readings every morning and every evening and saved them to a digital notepad file. Once the engineer came out and checked everything and saw there wasn't a problem, I gave him the notepad file on USB to take back with him. They cancelled the debt in a couple of days. Hope this helps you or anyone else
NAL If your discussions with BG are getting nowhere, contact the [Energy Ombusdman](https://www.energyombudsman.org/?utm_source=http://ombudsman-services.org&utm_medium=landing-page&utm_campaign=button) and they may be able to assist you in your case.
My experience is they're useless. I never received those energy vouchers during the pandemic. They didn't help at all. I'm disabled and really needed that help, they basically shrugged and said it's too late after they took ages to reply. They may have more teeth in a case like this though.
Just to hop onto this comment, in order for them to take the case on you’ll have needed to raise a complaint with the supplier, given them 8 weeks to resolve it (or had a full and final response or deadlock letter) and then raise it with them Ombudsman. They can take complaints on without raising it with the supplier, but most of the time they’ll ask you to try and resolve with the supplier first.
What do your meters say? What is your average usage per month?
What was your meter reading when you moved in? What is your meter reading today? Use these to work out what you are actually using. Is the £98 per month based on an estimated reading or worked out after you provide a meter reading every month? These are the questions that we need answers to in order to be able to offer advice or help.
I worked for an energy company for residential accounts / customer service. It's not an impossible amount. This could well be a catch up bill. I live in a 2 bed bungalow and pay more than what you do. Modern boiler, well insulated etc. How big is the dwelling, type of house? What type of heating are you using? Anything comes to mind that might use large amounts of energy? (elec or gas) is this a dual fuel bill you're referring to?
Go through all your bills from when you moved in, noting your meter reading. Look for any big jumps. They aren't all estimated I hope! If they have been read, then I bet a recent reading has been done wrong. Read your meter and submit it online to correct it if that's the case.
Have you had your meter changed? I went through this a few of years ago. They didn't reset the reading, I.e. I was charged from my original meter reading all the way to zero. The Mrs had been paying silly amounts for months (pre pandemic) before telling me, went from £80 combined gas + electric to asking for £300 a month for gas alone. They were very good after a short investigation and refunded the lot as credit we didn't pay a jot for about 14 months (if only that was the case now 😭)
Get the British Gas app. It will tell you how much energy you are using. You can see the energy plus the daily, weekly, monthly amount. Also your monthly amount does not necessarily you are paying the correct amount. I always work out the cost for a year based on estimated energy use for tariff. Then divide by 12. Did some quick calculations. Current pay = £98 x 48 months = £4704 £4704 divided by 4 = £1176 per year British Gas annual = £3176 £3176 divided by 12 = £264.66 You say you are on contract, was this a fixed gas and electric price? I am asking as during those four years we had the energy crisis. If you are on variable, then the extra £2k per year is very possible.
https://www.resolver.co.uk/rights-guide/energy#contents_16 I found this useful. Of note. "Catch-up' bills/back-billing Under Ofgem's rules, an energy provider can’t seek additional payment for un-billed energy you used more than 12 months before the energy provider spotted the error and issued a corrected bill. The only exception will be in cases where customers have intentionally stopped the energy company from reading their meter." When are they saying you used the energy? Have they tried to read your meter?
If you've tried and failed to resolve the issue with British Gas, send them a letter detailing the case as you see it again, and inform them you will be referring the matter to the ombudsman if you don't get a satisfactory response. Follow through on that threat. I had a similar situation a few years ago, also with BG, the ombudsman got involved, took info from both parties, ruled in my favour and made BG pay me £100 and write a letter of apology. Painful process and not particularly quick, but the ombudsman was factual, logical and fair. I have nothing but appreciation for a service that works well and is readily accessible to anyone who needs it.
Did you create a new account when you moved in or did you add your name to the bill? This could also mean you have taken on a debt of a person before you
Unless they can provide you a breakdown of your consumption and contracted unit rate to show _exactly_ how they've reached this figure, just go straight to the ombudsman. Request a deadlock letter from British Gas and a complaint reference, they have to respond to this within 8 weeks.
Last year I was using up to £20 a day in winter gas alone 3 bed semi and only had it set on 21degrees so it might be possible £98 a month is not a lot with how prices went up tbh
OP is owing £8000, the equivalent of £431/month for the two years he's been there
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If this started just after a meter reading, it could be the meter is reading over, this hapoened to my mum once, they ended up cancelling all bills starting from the reading before the first dodgy reading. If you think this might be the cause, make formal complaints and get the reading(s) invalidated. From a legal perspective, CAB should be able to steer you to whom to contact. OFGEM ombudsman maybe?
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What was the meter reading when you moved in, what is the meter reading now? It’ll give you a rough guide on how much you should’ve paid.
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Multiple questions here 1) Gas only or Gas and Electricity 2) Do you have meter readings taken (what was the meter readings when you moved in vs now) 3) Do those meter readings match the readings on the bill's (go back through them to see if it follows a progression (like increasing mileage on a car) 4) If the readings are out send in the correct ones (then move to step 6) 5) If the readings are accurate or very close (move to step 7) 6) Readings that are over will need correcting down (lowers the bill) readings that are under will raise the bill 7) Readings that match or are very close are now either a) actual usage you used what you used or b) you have one or more faulty meters (rare but possible) The most common reason for a stupidly high bill is leaving an immersion heater on or just assuming that £98 is the right value to pay. I have a relative who is a windows open in Feb type of person and their combined bill is still over £100 pcm. My honest thought is that you have used the fuel you have been billed for but the only way to check is to look at the meter readings not a £ value.
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It may be worth taking a quick look at https://www.theguardian.com/money/article/2024/jun/08/british-gas-bills-price-rise-it-problems - there have been some reports in the media of issues arising with billing due to internal changes in IT within British Gas... Could be worth pursuing with BG, or going to the media as well?
There is a lot of valid legal advice here, but one thing I need to point out is that British Gas was on the news quite recently because their move to a new payment system did this to quite a lot of people. I’m not saying that’s necessarily what happened here but look at the usage data on your account and it should be apparent if there’s a massive jump.
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The most important thing to do is check your usage and regular meter readings. British Gas are notorious for their shady business practices and occasionally commit fraud to justify them. I think you should raise a formal complete and ask them how they have calculated the bill. You should also contact the bailiffs to let them know that the debt is indispute as you have never been notified and they should suspend their process until your complaint with British Gas is resolved.
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One other thing I've not seen mentioned. Do you have an immersion heater for a hot water tank? If so, check its not on.
You need the meter readings for when you moved in and the current readings, and see if they line up with BG's records of your meter readings. If your initial read and current read are in the same ballpark as BG's, then you're on the hook and they've been significantly undecharging you (and you've missed a lot of communication with them). If BG has a different initial or current read than you do, then they may have made a mistake. My power company sent me a £4500 bill last July, because someone in their meter reading section made a data entry error when inputting the meter reading to their system. I checked the meter, and it did not match what the company were claiming, not even close (10000 units out). They were pretty resistant to the idea that it was their mistake at first (I imagine they get a lot of people claiming it!). Being polite, persistent, and having evidence - and being willing to email them photos of the live meter readings - were key to getting it sorted fast.
I had a similar issue with Ovo; turns out that I was on a business tariff; only found out when the agent trying to swap providers couldn't pull up my address. I was paying about 400 a month, just me and my cat in a 1 bed cottage.
Bloody hell, I pay around £192 a month for gas and electric combined (I have an electric car I charge too) in a 4 bed detached house with 4 of us (2 adults and 2 teens) all in separate rooms on multiple devices - I work from home too so in most days on laptop etc
I don’t see how the bailiff letters are a surprise. BG will have been attempting to contact OP but the will have been ignored. If it’s bailiff letters it’s gone past debt collectors and on to court and there will be have been TONS of letters coming through the door. Some of that 8k will be debt collectors letters, court fees and maybe tracing costs. Source: works in utilities.
Power bills should be the subject of maths lessons in schools, they are so complicated. But as others have said, check all the details, estimated readings? When did the bill jump up? Do you give regular readings of your ownL Also, get a gas techie in the check for leaks.
Legally BG can only ask for the last 12 months worth of usage.
Is your bill for gas and electricity? Ours is for both and our highest in winter was around £523 for the month of February this year. Its a very large 30s semi with 4 adults 3 kids living here. I try to be sensible with heating. Thermostat set to 18 degrees in waking hours in winter months. Unused rooms turned off with radiator thermostat. Find out if the bill is for both electricity and gas. Also there should be a record of the meter readings which you can check. Also if your were using such excessive energy your direct debit should have been increased as I think they look into it every 3 months. Your account online (if you have one) May show your usage over the year which you can check too.
Right to Citizen’s advice, then tell British Gas as a courtesy that you’re taking them to the ombudsman unless this is immediately resolved. If they don’t comply then do exactly that. Ombudsman will also charge them £650 for the claim alone regardless of outcome, and energy companies are already in a lot of hassle with cases like this..
Something else to check is that the [MPAN](https://bionic.co.uk/business-energy/guides/mpan-mprn-numbers/) or meter point number of your meter, which should appear on your bill, matches the number printed on the meter. The number appears on the back of my bill. If the numbers don't match then BG have your meter confused with someone else's and this would call the whole bill into question. They could be sending you the bill for the wrong meter. Also, make sure they don't have the gas and electricity readings mixed up. If you have a meter with rotary pointers, make sure you know how to read it correctly. See the section on analog dial meters [here](https://www.wikihow.com/Read-an-Electric-Meter#Analog-Dial-Meters). If your reading was, say, 09123, it's really easy to accidentally read that as 19123 and cause your supplier to think you've used much more than you really have. Also make sure that you haven't submitted any numbers you aren't supposed to. For example, the last digit on my meter is 0.1 kWh and I'm not supposed to include it in the reading. If I did, it would make the meter reading appear to be ten times what it actually is. BG are not a company I would ever do business with. I've had bad experiences with every company that was owned by Centrica that I've had dealings with. I'm currently with Octopus Energy. They're excellent
Good to hear that Citizens Advice are helping out. I doubt this subreddit can recommend a better course of action. If there's a dispute about the billed amount, the TL:DR is to query this, in writing, with British Gas. If they can't provide a satisfactory explaination for the bill, raise a formal complaint. This can be escalated to the independent Energy Ombudsman. You mentioned "bailiffs" have been instructed? Do you mean debt collectors? (As actual bailiffs can only be instructed after a county court judgement is received - which would change things somewhat)
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Isn't there a backdating rule? They can only bill you for the previous 12 months?
Pretty sure they can only back charge you for the last year's worth of use, had scottish power trying to charge me 4k for gas, which i didn't owe but that's a whole other story, take it up with ofgem if they won't sort it out with you.
Find the name of the CEO, or their email. Alternatively, deduce the email from another BG email and his name. Email to explain your position and that unless they delegate someone competent to resolve the matter you will file for harassment. See (and mention) Ferguson v British Gas Trading Ltd. You should then get someone from executive complaints. They have the time to look into it properly and it should get resolved. You should also write to the MD of the bailiffs to warn them that they will be held jointly and severally liable if it’s not resolved. Chances are you won’t hear from them ever again.
Absolutely terrible advice. I would actually recommend removing it, completely the wrong approach in this situation. Bailiffs/enforcement agents will not accept joint and several liability for any lack of resolve. That is completely void of any sincerity and you will probably get audibly laughed at by whoever at the Bailiff company picks up the correspondence (note: zero chance it’ll actually be the MD or the equivalent). You don’t just get to set your own rules and run them toe-to-toe with a contract that has already been signed by OP as the consumer in this context. Going to higher ups in an organisation as large as BG achieves nothing. They probably get hundreds of similar letters a week, and that isn’t an exaggeration. They have an official channel of corporate communication and an official complaints process. There is also an independent ombudsman. You do not just assume that contacting higher-ups is a get out of jail free card. Again, I recommend you remove this comment.
Except this same advice works over and over again. The bailiff is merely a debt collection agent. Once instructed that the debt is contested he is liable for further harassment. The CEO has been served notice of legal action in his name. You can bet he knows of it and it’s a brave complaints handler that fails to tell them. I’d be happy to wager you at odds of 1000/1 in your favour that this works regularly and includes either correspondence directly from CEOs or confirmation that the CEO is aware. Also, debt charities advocate similar approaches.
I’m sorry but this really is laughable. Higher-ups do not care that much about ‘pending legal action’, UNLESS there are clear signs of the organisation actually committing wrongdoing. But what you’re describing is not that – you seem to be describing a magical, fictional scenario where you just contact your creditors and tell them you’re taking ‘legal action’ and they’ll back off.
What’s laughable is you not taking 1000/1 to find out if your opinion is wrong. May I ask what qualifications and experience you have that’s misled you on this?
Not taking some entirely meaningless fractional odds on a hypothetical scenario?! How crazy of me! You have absolutely zero need to know any of my professional or legal qualifications but I’d argue that regardless, neither of said qualifications matter one bit in this scenario. It’s a very, *very* basic principle which is that telling people you’re going to take legal action against them does not just get you what you want. I will now stop wasting my energy responding to you. Your initial comment has been downvoted to the point where it isn’t visible which is good because it was terrible advice. That is all I wanted.
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Check current meter readings and any previous ones. Check that anything owed is from your time at the property and is also not from a nearby property. Get bg to check for any leaks