British Gas making me Ill please help

[Laurajemac]

Hi everyone, I'm new so hopefully this is ok. British gas are seriously affecting my life and making me very ill so I hope someone can help.
In June 2010 I opened accounts for both gas and electric with BG and paid monthly by dd for both with no missed payments and problems at all. When we moved home in June 2012 I cleared the amount owed on the gas but the electric account had an outstanding amount on it. They suggested I pay this back monthly and BG said that details of a payment plan would be sent out to me. I advised then my new address, email and telephone number. Nothing came so I called them in September 2012 and went through it all again (I was actually disputing the bill as being incorrect) and the advisor stated that both accounts had been closed in June 2012 "they were showing a zero balance and there was nothing more for me to do". I left it like that.
I am remortgaging and my experian credit report has a delinquent account namely this one from BG with missed payments. I have spoke to Experian and they advise that it's not a default entry as the account is still active but it was last updated in September 2014 showing missed payments.
The first entry on my credit report was made by BG in June 2013 nearly a year after the accounts were closed.
For the past two weeks I have being dealing with BG and the complaints dept they have now admitted "two customer service failings" one being the fact that no correspondence was sent to me and two the genuine mistake by the agent I spoke to advising the account was closed. (I have the date, time and name of the advisor I spoke to but conveniently they cannot trace the call) BG have offered me £50 goodwill for the failings.
BG advise me that they cannot remove the information on my credit file as it is correct, there is an outstanding amount owed and I have missed payments therefore they are under licensing obligations to provide the correct information.
I'm happy to pay the final bill as they state this is owed to them however I think it's unjust to not remove the missed payment markers especially as they haven't wrote to me (which they admit) giving me an opportunity to pay. Historically our accounts with BG have been perfect.
I am at my wits end now and the last email from the complaints team is now stating that I have 7 days to respond.
Please help and thank you so much for your wonderful site

[IF]

Re: British Gas making me Ill please help

Hi Laurajemac and welcome to AAD. I am sorry to hear this is making you ill, please bear with us as the forum is quiet today, your post will get answered soon.

Best wishes
IF

[nightwatch]

Re: British Gas making me Ill please help

Not sure about this one but didn't want to read and run. BG won't remove the payment markers as at that time they were correct,(even tho it was their fault)
If you are going to pay off the outstanding amount then they will mark the account as settled, they may even remove the account from the file as it will then be closed, so anyone checking the file will see it has been paid off,
if that is your only problem you may not have a problem with the remortgage anyway

good luck NW xx

[PlanB]

Re: British Gas making me Ill please help

the electric account had an outstanding amount on it. They suggested I pay this back monthly and BG said that details of a payment plan would be sent out to me. . . . I was actually disputing the bill as being incorrect

. . . BG advise me that they cannot remove the information on my credit file as it is correct, there is an outstanding amount owed and I have missed payments therefore they are under licensing obligations to provide the correct information.

. . . I think it's unjust to not remove the missed payment markers

Hello laurajemac and to AAD.

Even if you were disputing the bill if the outcome (please confirm this) was that you were in default of your account at some stage due to missed or non payments then that may be relevant.

Can you clarify whether the energy supplier was wrong in their bill calculations or only partially wrong so you were still effectively in arrears when the Default was added to your CRA file.

[Laurajemac]

Re: British Gas making me Ill please help

Hi thank you for the replies.
Hopefully I have understood what Experian have said correctly.
BG have made the first missed payment entry on my file a year or so after the final bills were raised. At the time I gave them the final readings and closed the accounts there was no arrears and no missed direct debits at all. The meter reading generated a large final bill and BG explained that best to pay this back by a monthly payment card, as explained nothing was received from them and then when chased up I was advised that the accounts had been closed. I think this is my biggest complaint with them.
I was then never informed from BG that under this "payment card" I was missing payments, they have never chased me for this debt.
Experian advised me that the account is still showing as open and it is getting updated by BG (the last time just in September) that I'm missing payments.
I have never missed a single payment on anything before so this has completely put me in a state of shock, I so desperately want to try and do something to remove this and rectify my credit report. The Experian advisor made it worse by explaining that this will all stay on my file for 6 years.
I was hoping that because they had admitted failings and offered a goodwill gesture that I might be able to bargain with them?
Thanks again, you are all brilliant

[nightwatch]

Re: British Gas making me Ill please help

Hello laurajemac and to AAD.

Even if you were disputing the bill if the outcome (please confirm this) was that you were in default of your account at some stage due to missed or non payments then that may be relevant.

Can you clarify whether the energy supplier was wrong in their bill calculations or only partially wrong so you were still effectively in arrears when the Default was added to your CRA file.

Experian has said no default has been added PlanB ,it's just missed payment markers

[nightwatch]

Re: British Gas making me Ill please help

I have found the following thread it is last years but they managed to get the markers removed by contacting the ceo of BG have a read. http://forums.all-about-debt.co.uk/s...ng-my-Mortgage!

[Laurajemac]

Re: British Gas making me Ill please help

Thank you Nightwatch, reading this thread has made me feel a little better. Would I be right in thinking that the email address of this CEO is still valid? I'm not getting anywhere with the complaints advisor, in her last email she advised she could escalate it to her senior management team? So think this is my best option
Thanks again

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: British Gas making me Ill please help

Let me read through this before you do anything. I've been hectic lately but I'll check your thread shortly and help with this if it has any reasonable hope of success.

Sit tight a little longer

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: British Gas making me Ill please help

I have found the following thread it is last years but they managed to get the markers removed by contacting the ceo of BG have a read. http://forums.all-about-debt.co.uk/s...ng-my-Mortgage!

Theres a more recent thread. I'll hunt it down later. This wasn't the one I referred to in my post on team thread

[Laurajemac]

Re: British Gas making me Ill please help

I can't thank you enough!

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: British Gas making me Ill please help

Theres a more recent thread. I'll hunt it down later. This wasn't the one I referred to in my post on team thread

Right, here is the letter (adapt to suit your circumstances) and email to the CEO (Chris Weston) --> http://forums.all-about-debt.co.uk/s...l=1#post360878

The CEO's email is in that link. And here's the final result --> http://forums.all-about-debt.co.uk/s...l=1#post411876

Read this link with other threads as well --> http://forums.all-about-debt.co.uk/s...l=1#post406390

If you need a hand let me know.

[Laurajemac]

Re: British Gas making me Ill please help

So I sent an email to the customer complaints advisor at BG and Chris Weston yesterday. I received this email this afternoon from the lady at the complaints team.....



Thank you for your most recent email, I had not responded as I was awaiting your final position in relation to your complaint, before replying to you as you advised you were seeking additional advice.

I have discussed your complaint with a Senior Manager and our position remains unchanged since my email sent on 07/11/2014. I appreciate that you remain unhappy, however the information held on your credit file is factual and correct, final account payment has not been received. We will not as a result remove correct information from your credit file. We wrote to you at the correct forwarding address (copies of letters already sent to you) to advise of your final account, agreed repayment schedule and failure to make payment. You have disputed receiving this correspondence.

I have also addressed failures in customer service re incorrect advice given re respect to your final account balance ( as previously advised I have been unable to trace the calls that you made to us) and your unhappiness with the fact that we did not send more than 2 letters to you to advise of non payment on your account. For these shortfalls we would look to award a £50 goodwill payment on your account.

I have offered help and guidance with your final account balance and provided other avenues for you to seek with assistance in paying your final bills. We want to help you and can provide a repayment arrangement with you to suit your needs if required, please contact me to set up a repayment for your account.

As we are unable to reach a resolution to your complaint I will now seek to close your complaint and allow you to contact the Ombudsman if you so wish. I will escalate with our Ombudsman team today and will aim to contact you in the next 5 working days with a view to our final position on this matter.

I look forward to speaking with you soon.

I find her emails very confusing. She already advised in an earlier email that she had discussed my complaint with both a senior manager and the internal ombudsman team so not sure if this has already happened or not?

[Laurajemac]

Re: British Gas making me Ill please help

I then received this email this afternoon from the Executive Office at British Gas.

Our ref: 8004308965

Dear Miss

Thank you for taking the time to email Chris Weston . I’m sorry to hear of the problems you’ve experienced.

I have forwarded your email to a Customer Manager in the Executive Office, who will carry out a full investigation and respond to you directly within the next 5 working days. In the meantime, if you would like to discuss your complaint over the telephone, please contact us on 01784 874994 and we’ll be happy to assist. Our Executive team is available from 8am – 6pm, Monday to Friday.

If you’d like to know more about our Complaints Handling Procedure you can view a copy online at britishgas.co.uk/energycomplaints, alternatively please let us know and we will send you a copy free of charge.

Hopefully I will be able to move this forward.
I replied to the first email asking her to clarify that even though I have confirmed on numerous occasions that I will pay the outstanding amount in full straight away they still won't remove the missed payment markers even though they have admitted its down to their failings?! The advisor in the complaints team is very confusing.

I will keep you updated and thanks again for all your help. You have all really helped in a very difficult time

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: British Gas making me Ill please help

It's the email above that matters - lets see what they say at Chris Weston's office - sit tight for now, it's going the right direction **for now**

So do nothing, await a response from Chris Weston's office.