No it is apparently BGs policy that "they will not re energise a property that owes them money without taking a bond."We did ask how a property and not the previous owner owed the money but they stand by their statement.So if the previous customer doesnt pay it leaves a bond on the property.They only keep this as long as you are a customer so if you leave they pay it back .
Are you sure they'll pay it back if they're still owed money though (even though it's not you that owes it to them directly) - I suspect they may deduct what they think they're owed 'by the property' and only give you the rest...
I know they're not allowed to, the question is will they know that or will you have to end up taking them to court or whatever - given they refused to reconnect you initially etc...
You paid them a £1100 bond im sorry but thet sets all sorts of alarm bells off in my mind and i think your mad to have paid it. They wanted me to pay them a £300 bond to change my gas meter from a prepay to a normal credit one when i bought my house because the previous owner owed them money, i politely told them where to stuff that and switched to another supplier who had the meter changed within a couple of weeks, happy days! I hope you do get your money back but like i said, alarm bells!
Didnt have a choice.I have a shop to renovate and open in two weeks so have to have electric.Couldnt change supplier until ive been reconnected.So had to pay and can sort it out later if they dont repay my bond but i will be trading .
I agree with Danny's (albeit badly written) post, something doesn't sound right here.
"This property owes us money so we won't reconnect unless you give us a £1100 bond"
So when you come to leave and this debt is still outstanding, you reckon they're going to repay you this bond, when the reason they took it in the first place was because there was already a debt on the property?
You have a lot more faith in them than me! I hope it works out though.
PS. For how long do you plan to be there? If this forum still exists when you leave, please come back and tell us is you get the bond back!
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