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Original poster

Major gas account error: Where do I stand..? Advice

37 replies

shhhh · 04/09/2006 21:12

Try and keep it brief.

We moved into a new home 4 years ago and have been paying our gas since this date. Initially we started by paying an agreed amount with the gas provider. Each statement showed us as building up more and more credit. I called each time and gave meter readings to ensure we were paying correctly etc.
There seemed to be problems each time I gave a reading and dec 2002 a bill was sent to us showing WE owed them around £1k . A phone call later and I was told this was an error due to the conversion etc and a new bill was sent. They now owed US £800. A credit was returned to us and a new payment agreed. They advised me to pay £5 a month as this was the consumption we were using BUT I felt this was way way to little so increased my payments to around 4x that amount.

Again each bill showed us going from £30 to £60 to £80 in credit and the last bill in July showed me being in credit by £150.

An enquiry with my elec bill made me call them and they took meter readings for gas and elec. Again I explained the issues I have had and again asked them to check all was ok.

WELL.......It turns out our meter is a 5 digit meter instead of a 4 one as they have me down as...all readings I have given have been correct but the idiots I have spoken to each time have simply knocked a digit off to ensure it "fits" into the system correctly... So this is why my bills are around £5 a month..!

So the result is....I'm in credit with my elec BUT....in debit with my gas.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................by.........................................................................................................................................£2500...................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! .

Their suggestion to me today is to accept a 10% discount and to pay this amount off over whatever term..4 years, 10 years, 20 years etc....Thanks..!!! So I will be nearly 60 and still paying my gas bill from 2006..!!!!

I have told them, this is not my error, I have been honest with them from the start (4 years ago) and have pushed to pay more than they suggested. I have told them something was not right but nothing was done. THEY HAVE ADMITTED LIABILITY.......I am however not prepared to pay this off and defo not over an agreed term.

It's with the account dept and they will call me back tomorrow to advise me further.

HELP..!! Where do I stand with this..????? Am I liable or do they have a commitment and a responsability iykwim..?

Sorry for the length .

OP posts:
SoupDragon · 04/09/2006 21:14

Yes, they've made an huge error but it is gas that you've used.

Original poster
shhhh · 04/09/2006 21:15

For some reason it's missed the amount off we owe...Get ready....We owe £2,500...... .

OP posts:
Twiglett · 04/09/2006 21:16

yes they were in error .. but legally you owe the money unfortunately

they have offered you a 20 year pay off .. I assume no interest so that would be 10.46 a month

personally I'd keep fighting and raise merry hell with them in the hope that they write it off / discount it .. I would write to the broadsheet problem solvers .. your money in THe Sunday Times and Saturday Telegraph and see if they can help

but in the end you owe it you may well have to pay it

bloody hell £2.5k is a lot

Original poster
shhhh · 04/09/2006 21:17

I understand that sd. BUT surely they can't expect this to be repaid..?? It's a huge amount that would be a struggle to find.

Surley something can be done further esp as they have given me 10% discount without me pushing further iykwim..?

OP posts:
Twiglett · 04/09/2006 21:19

keep pushing .. that's all you can do ... hope for a bigger discount

but YOU OWE THE MONEY and they are within their rights to collect it

remember that 2.5K now is not the same as 2.5K in 20 years time .. so you will actually not be paying that much

they've offered you a 250 discount without asking .. maybe they'll go to 50% discount? ..

DominiConnor · 04/09/2006 21:19

This is the main food for consumer journalists, contact a couple.

Original poster
shhhh · 04/09/2006 21:19

thanks twiglett. I am planning on going to my local paper about this as well. It's shocking how they can get away with such incompitence (sp).

I remember gmtv focussing on gas/elec providers and bill errors esp with the old. Sending huge bills due to their errors etc.

OP posts:
nutcracker · 04/09/2006 21:20

I'd fight to get it written off or a least 50% of it. Yes it's for gas you've used but if they had done their job properly, you would have paid for it as you used it.

Twiglett · 04/09/2006 21:20

avoid local paper .. broadsheets .. sunday times / guardian

Original poster
shhhh · 04/09/2006 21:22

my points nutcracker. I was willing to pay it as we used it and at first we were paying around £90 a month..BUT they decreased my direct debit..!!!!!!

OP posts:
LIZS · 04/09/2006 21:26

If it is now correct so that you have actually used that amount but simply underpaid then I guess you are liable but hopefully they will allow you to pay it off in installments without interest. I thought they had a legal right to enter the property annually to take their own reading if no access is available from outside (we've had letters in the past threatening forcible entry to do so for our Gas meter but the Electric one is in a cupboard by the door). If they haven't done so perhaps you'd have an argument but maybe your own readings fulfilled this instead.

Puts our suddenly owing £340 for electricity, due to the meter not having been read in over a year and the estimates being based upon an empty house, into perspective though.

SoupDragon · 04/09/2006 21:28

I agree that you should push them for a bigger discount but I doubt they'll write it off completely. I'm certain they won't have gone in with their "final offer" right at the start.

but you are partly to blame for not checking the reading printed on the bill with that on your meter, when it should have been apparent there was a missing digit. It's the first thing I do if the bill looks wrong (and the b*stards are always right in my case!!)

SaintGeorge · 04/09/2006 21:29

10% discount is crap. Push for way more. Legally they should have read the meter at least once every 24mths and picked up the error that way.

I managed to get a £20 payment out of my supplier simply because they forget to tell me that Standing Orders no longer counted towards 'monthly payment' discounts. The discount itself was worth £30. Their error, so they coughed up.

Original poster
shhhh · 04/09/2006 21:33

thing is sd I never even realised that it was a digit out..! I'm off to check the bill now to see if that is the case.....

I forgot to say what lizs said about the meter being checked. On the bill we have customer and estimates. The estimates I presume are from readings taken by the supplier..

I'm a sham and allday long I see guys reading neighbours meters but surely if they have read mine they to are at fault as this would have been picked up over 3 years ago (mum says legally they have to read it 1-2 times a years). Our meter is outside and due to it's location I never know if it's been read or not iykwim.

I'm not idsputing that I have used the gas but surely this is not correct procedures for such a large company..!

I am off to the broardsheets tomorrow and will fight my corner..! Yeah..!!!!

OP posts:
SpaceCadet · 04/09/2006 21:34

one of the reasons why i always check bills, i double check readings etc to make sure they tally.
what a nightmare for you..it is their mistake, but you did use the gas, however, i would get in touch with energywatch and see if they can offer any advice.

Original poster
shhhh · 04/09/2006 21:35

the laughable thing is in 2002 when they said i owed them and then said they owed me they actually sent me a letter of apology along with a £20 credit..! A problem thats still not solved 2 years on..!

OP posts:
SpaceCadet · 04/09/2006 21:35

sshh, estimate means that they have estimated the bill based on your last reading, its always advisable to ring with a propr reading when a bill is an estimate.

Original poster
shhhh · 04/09/2006 21:36

spacey, energywatch will be called tomorrow. When I mentioned this to the supplier they actually said they would rather solve it before it got that far. I know how companies hate these "ombudsmen". I will seek them for guidence and advice though.

OP posts:
SpaceCadet · 04/09/2006 21:37

energywatch

Original poster
shhhh · 04/09/2006 21:38

spacey, thats what I have done each time..!! Each bill I received etc I called with an exact reading. Looking at my bills nowhere does it say anything other than an E OR C reading...

I suppose I just trusted them to get things right, it's their job after all!!

OP posts:
Original poster
shhhh · 04/09/2006 21:38

thanks sc.

OP posts:
SpaceCadet · 04/09/2006 21:39

ive found energywatch to be very helpful in the past, when i had an issue with a gas supplier, they offered to ring said supplier for me, but managed to resolve the issue before it came to that.

SpaceCadet · 04/09/2006 21:40

i dont suppose you made a note of the readings you gave did you?

LIZS · 04/09/2006 21:42

The estimates will be based upon the equivalent quarter of the previous year so the initial error in your case will have been compounded 12 months later.

LIZS · 04/09/2006 21:47

They now contract out the meter reading. In our case we received a letetr saying the gas reading woudl coincide with the electricity reading although I now realise this hasn't happened in our case perhaps because we still have 2 separate suppliers . Similarly maybe your neighbours have different suppliers to yours who use a different meter reading firm.