Bord Gais - Bill For Address I'm Not Living At??

Naunybear

Hi

I was just wondering if anyone could give me some information on the following issue.

I was living at an address in Navan from July 22nd 2009 to June 21st 2010. When we moved in, Bord Gais said we either had to pay 400euro up front or get someone to go guarantor for us. So my Dad went guarantor. When I left this address, I rang and closed my Bord Gais & ESB Account. I remember doing it. I am now living at a different address in Dublin but only have one bill with Air Tricity.

Today my Dad recieved a letter stating that there was a balance of 151euro overdue on the account that they had not recieved from us. It will be debited from his account in 2 weeks time.

I rang Bord Gais today to find out what the story was and I explained that I no longer lived at that address since June last year. They told me that I never rang to close the account (even though I did) and that there is no record of me calling to close my account or any remarks made on my account. He said there were bills sent out to this address in July, Sept, Nov 2010 etc but payment was never made so we would have to pay the outstanding balance. He said the account was only closed on 6th April 2011.

I asked him was it standard procedure to only send a letter to the guarantor a year later to request payment. He said they had to let the bills build up first before they contact the guarantor. It seems like a very big build up to me, 12 months worth.

I offered to pay the money we owed for May & June 2010 as we were still living there then, but he said unless we get in touch with the old landlord and sort something out we will have to pay it? But I dont have that kind of money to pay out for an account I know I already closed.

I also cant understand how, if they were not recieving payment, why couldnt they ring me to ask why? They have my number as the man on the phone asked me to confirm the number today, so why couldnt they phone me and request payment earlier?

I no longer have contact details for my old landlord so have no way of getting in touch with him. If anyone could give me some advice on this matter ASAP!!

Joey the lips

Moved to consumer issues.

BrianD

Did they not send you a final bill to your new address when you rang to close the account?

dudara

A lesson learned is to close accounts in writing.

If the account is still open, then ask to see the invoice for the open balance.

booboo88

dudara wrote: »

A lesson learned is to close accounts in writing.

If the account is still open, then ask to see the invoice for the open balance.

in writing isnt always garanteed

op you need to get the serial number from the meter you are living at. ring them up explain you're not at that address, and this is the meter you're meant to register you at correct address. if its electric its the rm meter, im not sure on the gas one. if all else fails try getting gprn if its gas

ztoical

Naunybear wrote: »

I was living at an address in Navan from July 22nd 2009 to June 21st 2010. When we moved in, Bord Gais said we either had to pay 400euro up front or get someone to go guarantor for us. So my Dad went guarantor. When I left this address, I rang and closed my Bord Gais & ESB Account. I remember doing it. I am now living at a different address in Dublin but only have one bill with Air Tricity.




I offered to pay the money we owed for May & June 2010 as we were still living there then, but he said unless we get in touch with the old landlord and sort something out we will have to pay it? But I dont have that kind of money to pay out for an account I know I already closed.

I'm confused if you rang and closed the account and gave them a final meter reading surely you got a final bill that included the months of May and June when you were living there. How did you close the account and not pay for May and June which you did owe? Did you not give your new address when you closed the account?

Naunybear

We were unable to give a final meter reading as it was an apartment block and we did not have access to the meter, so the landlord was to ring & give the meter reading and the money just to come out of my bank. We had the same agreement for the ESB and we have had no problems with that. Clearly the landlord never done this. I have no contact details for that landlord anymore as I didnt need them, and now I have no way of contacting him. Even if I did have his details, he was always a nightmare to get hold of. We were trying to get the landlord to come out to the apartment for weeks before we actually moved out, but eventually we couldnt wait any longer as we were moving into our new house. He was a nightmare to get hold of for anything.

When I left that address I had no reason to give my new address as I wasnt reopening an account with Bord Gais, I didnt have Gas, it was all electricity. And after I left that apartment I was not waiting on any post of any kind so I did not think to keep going back and checking for post. But surely if Bord Gais were not recieving any response to their letters or not recieving any payment whatsoever, they could have rang me on the contact number I had given them in the first place to contact me on if they needed to? They also had all of my Dads contact details, so why has it taken almost a year for them to send a letter to my Dad?

I called them back yesterday and spoke to someone different, explained the situation. They tried to contact the landlord while I held on the other line, and surprise surprise they could not get in touch with him. I've to call back another day and we will try to contact him again, but if we cannot get in touch with him, I've no option but to pay the money.

Lesson learned...