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Hi- had a similar experience with British Gas?
Hello- this is my first time posting on the site, so please forgive me if I get it wrong, and for the length of the post. I would really like advice about a huge, unexpected bill from our previous address that British Gas claimed we owed, and about the conduct of BG and their debt-collecting arm.
In our last house we had dual fuel supplied by British Gas, and paid for this monthly on a direct debit. When we moved out in June 2007 we had both meters read, left our new address for the next occupants and told BG and in due course paid the resulting final bill, which wasn't very large, as we expected. Our new house was supplied by nPower, and since 2007 we have had no communication from BG at all...until March 2010, when a card was slipped through the letterbox by a representative of a debt collection agency who said that they wanted £730 (!!) in respect of an unpaid debt that we owed to BG for electricity from our former address. The card contained threats about legal action, etc. This was absolutely the first inkling we had had that we were alleged to owe anything more to them. I might also add that while my husband had been the account holder and bill payer at our last house, MY name was on the debt collector's note.
We knew this had to be wrong, so phoned BG who said that they had a record that we had paid our final gas bill in 2007, but not the electricity part. They also claimed that numerous bills and correspondence 'would have' been sent to our present house and that we 'would have' seen it. (We've had nothing! as if they would have let this amount go unpaid for three years even with correspondence and final demands!)We asked for a copy of the bill from 2007 that said we owed over £700, and for copies of all correspondence, but they refused and said the onus was not on them to prove we owed it, but upon us to prove that we had paid it. We had never had a bill for £730, so could not produce proof of payment, only copies of bank statements to show we had paid monthly by direct debit, which they said was not disputed.
The final bill from 2007 that we had paid has unfortunately been shredded, and BG has failed to send us another copy of this as we requested. A couple of weeks ago I was startled to see a man in our back yard. This was the debt collector, who invited himself in and refused to leave until I had signed my name up to an agreement to pay off the so-called debt at £100 a month. I offered to pay it all straight away by debit or credit card to get Moorcroft off our back but he refused point blank, saying that he only believed in folding money, he needed a signature and a legal agreement and that I was jointly and severally responsible for my husband's debts. Having collected his first instalment there and then in cash he left.
When my husband got in he was angry about me having to pay anything and rang British Gas explaining that I had never been the account holder and reiterating that we had never had a bill for £730. They went a bit quiet and offered to reduce the amount to £490, which he paid over the telephone in full to Moorcroft, who said that if we disputed it we should still ask for a copy of the final bill and any correspondence, then claim it back off BG if they were found to be in the wrong. We have never ever had trouble like this before- it's not a question of not being able to pay, it's the way they sent in the heavies after 3 years with no correspondence whatsoever- needless to say they've never sent a copy of that mysterious final bill for £730, or the letters they claimed we 'will have' had but haven't. What to do now?? We feel we've been swindled and bullied by BG. By the way, I ought to add that when my husband rang up BG to protest about the debt collector, they offered to reduce the amount partly because they said it was 'poor service' and that what had obviously happened was that the bill might have 'lain dormant' for 3 years. Can they make you pay a bill like that?
In our last house we had dual fuel supplied by British Gas, and paid for this monthly on a direct debit. When we moved out in June 2007 we had both meters read, left our new address for the next occupants and told BG and in due course paid the resulting final bill, which wasn't very large, as we expected. Our new house was supplied by nPower, and since 2007 we have had no communication from BG at all...until March 2010, when a card was slipped through the letterbox by a representative of a debt collection agency who said that they wanted £730 (!!) in respect of an unpaid debt that we owed to BG for electricity from our former address. The card contained threats about legal action, etc. This was absolutely the first inkling we had had that we were alleged to owe anything more to them. I might also add that while my husband had been the account holder and bill payer at our last house, MY name was on the debt collector's note.
We knew this had to be wrong, so phoned BG who said that they had a record that we had paid our final gas bill in 2007, but not the electricity part. They also claimed that numerous bills and correspondence 'would have' been sent to our present house and that we 'would have' seen it. (We've had nothing! as if they would have let this amount go unpaid for three years even with correspondence and final demands!)We asked for a copy of the bill from 2007 that said we owed over £700, and for copies of all correspondence, but they refused and said the onus was not on them to prove we owed it, but upon us to prove that we had paid it. We had never had a bill for £730, so could not produce proof of payment, only copies of bank statements to show we had paid monthly by direct debit, which they said was not disputed.
The final bill from 2007 that we had paid has unfortunately been shredded, and BG has failed to send us another copy of this as we requested. A couple of weeks ago I was startled to see a man in our back yard. This was the debt collector, who invited himself in and refused to leave until I had signed my name up to an agreement to pay off the so-called debt at £100 a month. I offered to pay it all straight away by debit or credit card to get Moorcroft off our back but he refused point blank, saying that he only believed in folding money, he needed a signature and a legal agreement and that I was jointly and severally responsible for my husband's debts. Having collected his first instalment there and then in cash he left.
When my husband got in he was angry about me having to pay anything and rang British Gas explaining that I had never been the account holder and reiterating that we had never had a bill for £730. They went a bit quiet and offered to reduce the amount to £490, which he paid over the telephone in full to Moorcroft, who said that if we disputed it we should still ask for a copy of the final bill and any correspondence, then claim it back off BG if they were found to be in the wrong. We have never ever had trouble like this before- it's not a question of not being able to pay, it's the way they sent in the heavies after 3 years with no correspondence whatsoever- needless to say they've never sent a copy of that mysterious final bill for £730, or the letters they claimed we 'will have' had but haven't. What to do now?? We feel we've been swindled and bullied by BG. By the way, I ought to add that when my husband rang up BG to protest about the debt collector, they offered to reduce the amount partly because they said it was 'poor service' and that what had obviously happened was that the bill might have 'lain dormant' for 3 years. Can they make you pay a bill like that?
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