Just downloaded my latest gas bill from British Gas....grrrrrr!!

katies_mum

I have just downloaded my latest gas bill and am astounded that they are wanting to increase my DD. I was £258.71 in credit, after the bill of £157.84 they have decided they want to increase my DD from £62 to £89 in January! I can`t believe it ... the robbing ******d`s.

There was something on BBC news this morning about them doing this, never thought it would be me because of the credit on the accout. I have just e`mailed their complaints dept advising that they had better not be putting my DD up... :mad: I await their reply with interest.

Anyone else got their bill over that last few days and found they have done this?

WhistleBlower

Don't email, call them, and get them to manually calculate your dd instead. At leas thtne you know it's accurate.

They take your average usage per month (based on your most recent 12 months of usage) and multiply it by the current unit price.

Be aware that in summer you will probably use less than this, in winter, more, but over 12 months it will balance out.

smidgey

I am going to quote the example I used previously in everyone of these threads to help people understand why DD's go up when your account is in credit...

You have your annual reassessment in May. At this point your account is £51.62 in credit.

Your expected consumption for the year is £691.24. So

£691.24
-£51.62 in credit
£639.62 to pay for the year
£639.62 divided by 11 instalments = £58.15 (rounded to £58)

In November you have your mid term reassessment which checks that you're on track for zero balance in time for your next annual reassessment. At this point your account is £150 in credit.

Consumption is recalculated because the meter read that comes in at this point is slightly higher than previously expected, plus price increase from July affects consumption. Consumption is now recalculated at £1028.21 for the year

So £1028.21 for the year
-£51.62 credit you had on your account (at annual reassessment)
-£348 in payments already received (6 payments of £58) equals
£628.59 to be paid over the 5 remaining instalments
DD is set at £125.72 (rounded up to £126).

This obviously raises the question. I am £150 in credit why are my payments increasing to double what they were? It's clear to us why but not to the customer.

katies_mum

Thanks for replies but not happy!! I`ll ring them on Monday.

littletommytucker

Excellent post smidgey. A really simply way of putting it would be to say if 1 years useage was previously £1200, then £100 a month would suffice, Now with a 42% increase your would need to start paying £142, and the credit on the account is irrelevant, anyone with a brain can realise that your account will be in credit on your july/august, and october/november bills! There the smallest bills you recieve! Which office do you work in? Im in Leeds.
It would make customers alot happier if when we reassed Direct Debits we spread it out over 12 months, instead of just the remainding number of payments on the CPS, this would obviously work at the moment given that prices are set to fall, but obviously would mean many customers would be in serious debt by now if we had been doing this in the past given the rate prices have increase over the past few years.

daveyjp

The BBC also mentioned an alternative. Change the DD to a standing order. You are in control, but you may still get your DD discount.

logie28

When i rung up i was told the "computer" set the DD amounts, cant be done manually!!

If i want to claim my credit , i would have to wait, or reset my account.


If the price per annum is on average £1200 , why not set DD at £100 per month, send out a bill twice a year, once at the beginning and at the end winter.

I know its a quarterly set up,. but by sending predicted costs for upcoming months i.e raising DD on expected use, why is it fair to hold your credit (along with hundreds of thousands of others) and not pay you interest or give you a bigger discount?

Cardew

daveyjp wrote: »

The BBC also mentioned an alternative. Change the DD to a standing order. You are in control, but you may still get your DD discount.

However the discount is much smaller with a standing order!

Also you still have to agree the level of Standing Order with the Utility Company - or we would all have standing orders for a penny.

Cardew

logie28 wrote: »

If the price per annum is on average £1200 , why not set DD at £100 per month, send out a bill twice a year, once at the beginning and at the end winter.

If they knew that the annual bill would be £1200 the DD would be set at £100.

However with millions of people changing supplier each year, and many of those being lured into switching by having their DD set too low initially, the company in most cases will not be aware what the annual bill will cost.

bristolleedsfan

[quote=katies_mum;16088951_I`ll_ring_them_on_Monday.[/quote]



0800 0480202

katies_mum

Thanks for the number.

Not changed to British Gas been with them for an age! so don`t think the payment is set too low.