Money saving tip or strictly fraudulent? Opinions please

valiant

I searched the forums but apologies if this has been discussed before.

I've just moved to British Gas (their Click tariff) for my electricity. The tariff has no standing charge but two 'tiers'. Basically, you pay 18.9p/unit for the first 225 units and 8.9p/unit for the remaining units...so a big difference.

Obviously it would be in a customer's interest if they could be billed for a very few units in one quarter and then pay for the balance of units in the next quarter. I calculate that I could save up to £22.50 over two quarters by providing regular readings that exploited this trick i.e telling them I used zero units for one quarter and then the an accurate reading the next quarter.

An alternative would be to pay in advance by declaring a large number of units in the first quarter and then zero units in the next quarter.

Would this be illegal? Even using the second method by paying in advance? If it is then what happens to people who make 'mistakes' on their reading?

seven-day-weekend

I don't understand how it saves money if you provide them with an accurate reading eventually.

Also I think simply making a mistake in your reading (or indeed BG estimating your bill) is a whole different kettle of fish to deliberately telling lies.

valiant

seven-day-weekend wrote:

I don't understand how it saves money if you provide them with an accurate reading eventually.

By way of example: If I use exactly 500 units each quarter then if I declare an accurate reading each quarter as per the meter I would pay 225*18.9p +275*8.9p = £67.01 each quarter; which is a total of £134.02 over two quarters.

If on the other hand I declare zero units the first quarter then my bill for that quarter would be zero. If I then declare the full 1000 units for the second quarter I would pay 225*18.9 + 775*8.9 = £111.51 for two quarters.

That's a saving of £22.51 over two quarters. QED.

anniecave

I would say that submitting an incorrect customer own reading (on purpose) is lying, and you could be done for fraud by the supplier.
If they suspect you are giving them incorrect data they may send a meter reading person around to check and then you'd be in trouble!

valiant

anniecave wrote:

I would say that submitting an incorrect customer own reading (on purpose) is lying, and you could be done for fraud by the supplier.
If they suspect you are giving them incorrect data they may send a meter reading person around to check and then you'd be in trouble!

Hmmmm.....well, I'd suggest that they'd have a very hard time in a court of law proving that it wasn't a genuine mistake if the mistake caused you to pay in advance and not in arrears. I'm sure that lots of people do it and the end result is that we all pay for their 'mistakes'. Bring back the standing charge I say!

melbury

valiant wrote:

By way of example: If I use exactly 500 units each quarter then if I declare an accurate reading each quarter as per the meter I would pay 225*18.9p +275*8.9p = £67.01 each quarter; which is a total of £134.02 over two quarters.

If on the other hand I declare zero units the first quarter then my bill for that quarter would be zero. If I then declare the full 1000 units for the second quarter I would pay 225*18.9 + 775*8.9 = £111.51 for two quarters.

That's a saving of £22.51 over two quarters. QED.

Surely no power supplier would believe a reading of zero for a quarter, would they?

espresso

I doubt if your scam would work because the 225 units per quarter at the higher rate equates to 675 units per annum, and they would surely charge pro-rata.

Cardew

I suspect the plan(scam) would work.

I have a little used annex and most of the time I do not exceed my tier 1 allowance for gas or electricity. On occasion even zero consumption or 1/2 units.

On the odd quarter where it is exceeded I only pay a maximum of 225kWh(elect) and 1143kWh(gas) at the higher price.

valiant

melbury wrote:

Surely no power supplier would believe a reading of zero for a quarter, would they?

What if you went away for three months to visit your old granny? What if you were on an economy drive and wandered around in the dark and the cold for three months and ate out of cans so you could save £22.50 every six months? The possibilities are surely endless.

espresso wrote:

I doubt if your scam would work.....

Scam? That's a little harsh.

espresso wrote:

because the 225 units per quarter at the higher rate equates to 675 units per annum, and they would surely charge pro-rata.

No....inspection of my British Gas 'Click' contract reveals a definite mention of the "first 225 kWh per quarter".

espresso

valiant wrote:

Scam? That's a little harsh.

OK, fraudulent money saving scheme then!

valiant wrote:

No....inspection of my British Gas 'Click' contract reveals a definite mention of the "first 225 kWh per quarter".

Yes I realise that it mentions per quarter but we all know that this higher rate really equates to the standing charge on their 'No Standing Charge' tariffs.

tripled

Technically yes, it would be fraudulant, although I don't know if a company would ever prosecute you for trying that on. However, BG's billing system would probably reject your readings and start using estimates, or it would probably screw up your direct debits because the computer would become confused as to how much you were actually consuming. Either way in the long run it would probably end up with you making a long call on a 75p a minute phone number trying to sort it all out.