British Gas-confusion about their "no standing charge" statement

animalambulanceman

Can anybody please clear something up for me as I feel as if I've been mugged by British Gas while trying to get the cheapest price for my electricity and gas.
As an EDF energy customer of 20 years I was paying £1.26 a week standing charge plus about 11.4p per Kw for all my electricity through a prepayment meter.After checking with British Gas-who have supplied me with gas for the last 20 years- I was attracted by their "No Standing Charge" offer and as a single occupant who uses not much energy thought that I could save myself a few quid.They quoted a price for electricity of 0.6p per Kw less than EDF and so with no standing charge I thought-WRONGLY-that I could save myself at least the standing charge and a tiny bit on each Kw that I used-around £80 a year.This combined with an annual £15 dual fuel discount would put an extra £95 in my pocket each year, so I wrongly thought.
On Monday morning a meter reader from British Gas came to take a reading and I saw that I'm actually paying £1.71 a week for a standing charge-so I'm 45p a week worse off and need to use a lot more than normal to just break even.When I phoned British Gas to complain they said that there is no standing charge BUT I actually pay almost 24p per Kw for the 1st 1.9Kw used each day and then it goes down to the lower rate.They have offered to replace my meter and also credit it with £22.00 after I stay with them for 3 months!Is it a coincidence that 13 x £1.71 is roughly £22.00? They will refund the standing charge that doesn't exist and I'm not paying in 3 months time which I feel that I should not be paying in the first place.
I've since done a hunt on the net and found another supplier EDICO who is a "non profit supplier" and has no standing charge.I will really save myself £102 a year by going with them so I'm leaving British Gas completely with a bitter taste in my mouth.In the meantime I need to sort out British Gas who I feel have conned me regally and have not been honest with me about the weekly standing charge-I'm certain that my prepayment meter was not malfunctioning when showing a deduction of £1.71 for the standing charge.

Has anyone else had a similar problem with British Gas?
If I hadn't seen the charge on my meter display I would never have cottoned on to their trick-why set the meter to take a weekly standing charge if there is not one to pay?

I only use £400 a year in electricity and £200 worth of gas per year so £100 is a massive saving percentage wise to me.
If I can save myself almost 14% by leaving British Gas I'm certain that other people could do the same.

Cardew

Every Utility company, with the exception of Ebico, have a 'standing charge'.

It is either a daily or monthly charge and all units used are at a flat rate OR a two tier system where you pay for the first units(tier 1 or primary units) at a higher price and the tier2 or secondary units at a lower price.

Which system suits a customer depends largely on their consumption; there is no 'one size fits all' solution, which is why comparison networks exist!!

Ebico are only competitive if you are a low user and/or you wish to pay quarterly instead of DD.

Don't forget on some tariffs the discounts for paying by DD and dual fuel can make a big difference to the final total.

spiro

It says in their T&Cs that no standing charge for elec only applies if you have a ppm meter that supports this mode of operation. It also takes a few of vends (they say allow a month) before the meter is updated. At the end of the day the higher price for tier 1 roughtly equates to the same as the standing charge.

Quote from their T&Cs:

Electricity:
1. For single rate credit meters, Tier 1 rate applies to the first 180 kWh per quarter (or 60 kWh per month for monthly billing customers) and all subsequent consumption is charged at Tier 2. For prepayment meters, the No Standing Charge prices apply to standard tariff customers on single rate Actaris meters with "KBD" on the front. If you don't have an Actaris KBD meter, we can install one. For new customers it may take up to 28 days after supply start date for the No Standing Charge prices to be updated to the prepayment meter.

animalambulanceman

First of all it's EBICO not EDICO that I posted earlier-Sorry for any confusion.
I have had prepayment meters for both gas and electricity for the last 19yrs and find it easier to budget if I pay as I use-it makes me more aware of how fast a tenner runs out and stops me wasting energy by leaving lights on or the hot tap running.I know that it can take a month or so for the meter to set itself up to the correct rates but the new key that was sent to me by British Gas was pre-programmed by them to take £1.71 a week standing charge from the very outset.I was told not to use it until my previous credit bought from EDF was run out as when it was inserted it would switch to their pricing structure/rates.As while with EDF I could see the weekly charge was £1.26 I wrongly assumed that it would read zero when it changed to British Gas.
I agree 100% that Ebico is best for low usage customers like myself and as there are roughly 10 million single occupancy homes in the UK I'm sure that a lot of these will be low comsumption users like me.

Premier_2

We only use about 8200kWh per year of gas, less than half average of 16500kWh (which itself was recently revised from 20500kWh).

Unfortuantely, due to the recent price increases imposed by Ebico, we decided to source our Gas supply elsewhere to save us money.

(To be fair, as a single fuel option they are the cheapest for gas for us, but opting for a dual fuel solution means we save overall. Unfortunately we left Ebico for electricity several years ago when they became uncompetitive for us)

Whilst we are on a credit meter, I would still advise you to consult a comparison site to see what is the best deal you can source. You will also be able to see what each supplier charges if you click on their respective tariffs.

animalambulanceman

I used only 3,036 Kwh of gas last year and will be using about the same amount this year.My electricity use was even less -only 2,660 Kwh so a saving of £100+ is certainly worth switching for especially as I can keep to prepayment meters.

dekaspace

Cardew wrote: »

Every Utility company, with the exception of Ebico, have a 'standing charge'.

It is either a daily or monthly charge and all units used are at a flat rate OR a two tier system where you pay for the first units(tier 1 or primary units) at a higher price and the tier2 or secondary units at a lower price.

Which system suits a customer depends largely on their consumption; there is no 'one size fits all' solution, which is why comparison networks exist!!

Ebico are only competitive if you are a low user and/or you wish to pay quarterly instead of DD.

Don't forget on some tariffs the discounts for paying by DD and dual fuel can make a big difference to the final total.

Can I make a query about this? When I was in a flat last year, due to family crisis spent about 1 night a week in flat, got back to flat around 11pm-midnight went to bed 2-3am(and used a fully charged laptop) and had a portable tv and sky box on so used pence in electric, then in morning had a 15-20 minute shower and put tv on for half a hour, met parents at 9.30 came back at 12.30-1.30 and 3pm went on train back to families so used very little electric.

Each time I went away and when I came back I did meter reading(though sometimes forgot to check till morning) and I worked out that my meter was taking off the exact amount every day that over 7 days would cover the standing charge for meter.

When I left I was sent a bill for only topping up like once every 6 weeks so I never paid the standing charge and when I queried the fact that my meter took off the exact amount every day over 7 days to cover standing charge despite every switch being off in the house and every trip switch being off etc was told I must of had a fault somewhere as the meter doesnt take off money every day for standing charges just the amount from a top up each time I do it and the system assumes I top up once a week.

In my current flat when I was away for 2 weeks over christmas this meter also took off the exact amount per day that the standing charge would be and since the price hikes(standing charge has DOUBLED) it is taking exactly double each day which works as the standing charge per week % 7

So I am confused.

animalambulanceman

Hi Dekaspace, Why don't you ask Ebico to give you a quote?
I've just had mine through and between my gas and electricity I save £102/year as they make no standing charge.Although the unit price is a little more the No Daily Charge means that I'm actually quids in.If you are a low energy consumer like me you could be better off and the quotes are totally free with no obligation.

animalambulanceman

I've now seen the light through the smoke screen.The British Gas 2 tier price structure makes me pay a "standing charge" through the price I pay for my first 1.9kwh of electricity that I use each day.British Gas say that there is not a standing charge and as such there is not BUT by charging me over double the normal rate for the 1st 1.9kwh that I use each day I'm paying it anyway.It doesn't cost them any more than the lower rate to supply me the first 1.9kwh I use but they are selling this to me at a premium price and making extra profit from it-so the term "no standing charge" is technically true BUT Very Misleading as they just take it from me regardless by charging extra for the first 1.9kwh of electricity that I use each and every single day!!

Cardew

animalambulanceman wrote: »

I've now seen the light through the smoke screen.The British Gas 2 tier price structure makes me pay a "standing charge" through the price I pay for my first 1.9kwh of electricity that I use each day.British Gas say that there is not a standing charge and as such there is not BUT by charging me over double the normal rate for the 1st 1.9kwh that I use each day I'm paying it anyway.It doesn't cost them any more than the lower rate to supply me the first 1.9kwh I use but they are selling this to me at a premium price and making extra profit from it-so the term "no standing charge" is technically true BUT Very Misleading as they just take it from me regardless by charging extra for the first 1.9kwh of electricity that I use each and every single day!!

No different to any other company with the exception of Ebico.

The 'standing charge' is collected by a fixed daily charge or by paying extra for the first kWh(tier1 or primary units) and is a service charge for supplying electricity or gas.

The advantage of the tier system is mainly for those who use very little gas or electricity in a fixed period. For example some people switch off gas completely for the summer months and pay nothing or very little, where if they had the daily charge they would still pay xxp per day even if they used no gas.

grahamc2003

animalambulanceman wrote: »

Can anybody please clear something up for me as I feel as if I've been mugged by British Gas while trying to get the cheapest price for my electricity and gas.
As an EDF energy customer of 20 years I was paying £1.26 a week standing charge plus about 11.4p per Kw for all my electricity through a prepayment meter.After checking with British Gas-who have supplied me with gas for the last 20 years- I was attracted by their "No Standing Charge" offer and as a single occupant who uses not much energy thought that I could save myself a few quid..

Firstly, bgas don't have a standing charge on my bgas electricity account, and you appear to have an account with them where there is no standing charge, so you appear to have what bgas promised you.

However, all those who promote 'no standing charge' accounts have tiered pricing, where you pay more for the first number of units, and less for the rest. That is simply to collect the same amount or similar as they wouldm charge had they a standing charge. Effectively, no standing charge accounts are just that, but they collect the equivalent of the standing charge in a different way. There must be only a handfull of people who gain anything purely by the tiered pricing (perhaps those who have an account but use no electricity, like in second homes sometimes).

I've always been confused as to why peoiple are attracted to 'no dstanding charge' accounts - to me, they are exactly the same financially with no gain. I guess people must be attracted to them, like you, by not understanding them, and the suppliers use that in their accoiunt promotion. I suppose there is an argument that the suppliers are out to mislead you - but I'm sure they just plant the seeds of confusion rather than actually lie. Before you switched to your new account didn't you feed in your previous years meter readings to see how much your bills would be with the new account compared to your existing account?