Shock gas bill - £737! Please can you help?

Scrumshie

http://www.bbc.co.uk/watchdog/consumer_advice/latest_meters_pic.shtml
Sorry.... I am not great with posting links etc but this is from the watchdog website and shows how to tell what your meter is and how to decipher your bill.

Glad someone likes my name. Ta.

redmandarin

Thanks notbritishgas (:rotfl:).

I've just braved the cold (I'm already a bit parky - I turned the heating off 3 hours ago, when the bill arrived - got my thermals on!) and have been outside to read the meter!

The new meter states Actaris m3 (that's a superscript 3, which I can't reproduce here). So that means its metric, does it?

The old meter final reading has been written on the new meter along with an index figure. The new meter was installed on 18/9/08 at 00000.

Sorry, not sure I understand the last bit of your post!

redmandarin

wakeupalarm wrote: »

You need to make sure your final reading from the old meter was correct, did you make a note of this when they changed it?
They state your starting reading of the new meter is 0022 and your currenr reading is 0805, have you checked this.

Hi wakeupalarm,
The current meter reading is 00861! A fair bit higher than the bill figure which was taken on 19 Jan!

I've never had a meter change before, so it never occurred to me to take a reading of the old meter, but a final meter reading for the old one has been left on the new meter. It says 836807.

notbritishgas

redmandarin wrote: »

Thanks notbritishgas (:rotfl:).

I've just braved the cold (I'm already a bit parky - I turned the heating off 3 hours ago, when the bill arrived - got my thermals on!) and have been outside to read the meter!

The new meter states Actaris m3 (that's a superscript 3, which I can't reproduce here). So that means its metric, does it?

The old meter final reading has been written on the new meter along with an index figure. The new meter was installed on 18/9/08 at 00000.

Sorry, not sure I understand the last bit of your post!

Yes you now have a metric meter.
Check on the bill how many metric units you have used, ie where they take one reading away from the later one. Then see how many kwh they convert those units to. If you are being billed forr a metric meter the kwh figure should be approx 11 times highe than the unit figure. If they are billing you incorrectly for an imperial meter then the kwh figure will be approx 31.5 times higher than the unit figure.
You say that the meter was changed in September so if they are billing you wrongly then it would account for quite a lot of the high bill.

redmandarin

Thanks for the link Scrumshie and for the calculation to look for notbritishgas - kind of you both!

At the start of the calculation that BG makes (in small print on the back of the bill) it says: Imperial units used x metric conversion factor = gas used in kWh! So, no need to hurt my brain doing the Watchdog calculation! I did the quick calculation anyway and sure enough the kW figure is 31.5 times the unit figure!

What a relief! Thanks for your great advice guys!

So, the bill should be £261 and not £737 then? Is that right? It'd be useful to know before I get on to British Gas!

telfordwhite

I had the problem of being charged x2.83 the actual cost due to the imperial/metric conversion factor even though I have a metric meter. My bill was 1283quid for 3 months and the heating wasn't on for the first month of that.

It has now been sorted but I have still used 25quids worth of gas in 3 days. it is costing me 8 quid/day (250/month) in gas alone for a 3 bed end terrace house.

KimYeovil

I'm not sure if I understand why there is thought to be a problem.

The annual average monthly debit is set at £96. That includes a fiver or twenty per month over summer plus the higher winter months - the last few months, with the freezing temperatures, you would expect to be paying two or three times your monthly estimate. £800 over four months means you've only used double. That's pretty reasonable, considering the recent weather and the fact you don't just use the heating in the evening.

will-he-payitoff

It has now been sorted but I have still used 25quids worth of gas in 3 days. it is costing me 8 quid/day (250/month) in gas alone for a 3 bed end terrace house.[/quote]
Do you have any insulation in your house, its costing me £1.40 a day for a 3 bed semi

telfordwhite

will-he-payitoff wrote: »

It has now been sorted but I have still used 25quids worth of gas in 3 days. it is costing me 8 quid/day (250/month) in gas alone for a 3 bed end terrace house.

Do you have any insulation in your house, its costing me £1.40 a day for a 3 bed semi[/quote]
Herein lies the problem. it is an old victiorian house with loft conversion. Loft is properly insulated but the rest of the house is a bit draughty.

notbritishgas

redmandarin wrote: »

Thanks for the link Scrumshie and for the calculation to look for notbritishgas - kind of you both!

At the start of the calculation that BG makes (in small print on the back of the bill) it says: Imperial units used x metric conversion factor = gas used in kWh! So, no need to hurt my brain doing the Watchdog calculation! I did the quick calculation anyway and sure enough the kW figure is 31.5 times the unit figure!

What a relief! Thanks for your great advice guys!

So, the bill should be £261 and not £737 then? Is that right? It'd be useful to know before I get on to British Gas!

If you had the new meter for the whole period of the bill then the bill is 2.83 times higher than it should be and I also make it £261.
In past posts on here people have had a battle to convince their supplier of this mistake, eg visits were necessary to check the meter etc and this took time. However now I would think all you have to do is mention the magic word "Watchdog" and hey presto.:rotfl: