Switching Provider - Bord Gais

iamdonie1984

Hi There

I hope this is the right section for this. I am renting in an apartment complex in Dublin 14 for almost a year now and intend on staying for at least another year.

I inherited Bord Gais for both Heat and Electricity when I moved in, in a phone call I agreed to two separate Direct Debits for €33 and €22 per month (level pay), this was after they tried to force me to pay €500 in deposits but I refused. 8 months in and no issues. Now they have contacted me to say they never took the €22 DD and claiming my balance to be over €800!!! I accept I should have kept an eye on all bills leaving my account, I remember seeing the first €33 go out and thought, "ok that's sorted". I have looked through my bank account and see they only set up one of the DD's.


I will deal with the outstanding balance from BG in due course (once they provide me with relevant statements, not sure how a €22 DD over 8 months turns in €800 but I will deal with that etc) but I want away from them. Never miss any Direct Debits with any provider and was offended when they tried to lay some of the blame on me. Very difficult to deal with. My query is, can I switch to another provider right now. And if so what is involved. A friend recommended Electric Ireland as he finds them very straight-forward and easy to set up and deal with. Also do I need to notify my landlord of the change if I do switch?
Can't emphasise enough how difficult I found it to communicate with BG.

Thanks in advance for any insight!!

emeldc

I think most of the energy providers will look for proof that you are up to date before they allow you to switch. I am a landlord and have had some issues with tenants running up bills and then switching. Surely you were getting bills to say what your balance was, how did you not know. If the balance is on your ESB side you may be able to switch to 'prepay power'.I think the best solution for the moment would be to work out a payment plan to reduce the arrears.

bumper234

iamdonie1984 wrote: »

Hi There

I hope this is the right section for this. I am renting in an apartment complex in Dublin 14 for almost a year now and intend on staying for at least another year.

I inherited Bord Gais for both Heat and Electricity when I moved in, in a phone call I agreed to two separate Direct Debits for €33 and €22 per month (level pay), this was after they tried to force me to pay €500 in deposits but I refused. 8 months in and no issues. Now they have contacted me to say they never took the €22 DD and claiming my balance to be over €800!!! I accept I should have kept an eye on all bills leaving my account, I remember seeing the first €33 go out and thought, "ok that's sorted". I have looked through my bank account and see they only set up one of the DD's.


I will deal with the outstanding balance from BG in due course (once they provide me with relevant statements, not sure how a €22 DD over 8 months turns in €800 but I will deal with that etc) but I want away from them. Never miss any Direct Debits with any provider and was offended when they tried to lay some of the blame on me. Very difficult to deal with. My query is, can I switch to another provider right now. And if so what is involved. A friend recommended Electric Ireland as he finds them very straight-forward and easy to set up and deal with. Also do I need to notify my landlord of the change if I do switch?
Can't emphasise enough how difficult I found it to communicate with BG.

Thanks in advance for any insight!!

I don't think you can switch when in arrears. Saying that DO NOT let bord gais bully you. I had same problems when they didn't bill me for over a year ( i thought she had paid she thought i had) make a payment plan for arrears and stick to it you will be fine.

iamdonie1984

Thanks for the replies, I didn't get a bill, or any contact from BG until they rang me 8 months in telling about it all!! I couldn't believe it, I am not the type of person to walk away from a bill and will certainly pay whatever balance is due, I am having a lot of trouble getting information on how they landed on €800+ balance though.

No intention on leaving any bill behind, landlord is a good guy. I have been onto them this morning and paid off €200 but told them I need to see where this balance comes from before paying anymore. Don't want to create an issue for my landlord and want to handle this myself. Having to explain the situation every time I speak to them is so frustrating and all I get is "I will query that for you", "let us look into that". Think it might be best to stick with them until issue is resolved then consider moving. What a mess!!

emeldc

If your name is on the bill it wont be an issue for the landlord. You will need the meter reading from when you took possession (Landlord might have it) and a current meter reading to work out what you owe exactly. If they genuinely didn't send you any bills they have a lot to answer for. Set up a payment plan but I would only pay what I could afford, not what they demand.

foggy_lad

OP the biggest problem you have is being on their Level pay plans as this will allow them take a small amount each month while your actual usage is a lot more than the monthly debit is paying for. this is how that €800 amount may have built up.

you should get up to date meter readings and also look at your account online going back to when you moved in and make sure they are not charging you for usage from before you moved in, there could be arrears from previous tenants which they may be trying to get you to pay!

iamdonie1984

I've just dug out the readings from date of move in so I can get a fresh reading to establish the exact usage. It's a one bedroom apartment, very small. When I agreed to level pay I was told €22 was the average cost of usage for the 12 months previous to my moving in (no breaks in renting) so it sounded legit.

Thanks for the replies, I just can't understand how one DD worked and no issue, and it took them 8 months to realise the second DD wasn't paying (I know I should have checked myself, but I'm sure if I missed a credit card payment or something similar it wouldn't take the bank 8 months to call me) ....frustrating when it could have been nipped in the bud early on.

sweetsugar

Even though you did'nt pay the DD for 8 months and you admit to this, where exactly are they getting the €800? I presume they want you to pay the €500 deposit as well. Don't pay them yet until they show you proof that you owe them €800. It is very frustating trying to deal with them over the phone