Wrong gas amount?

mercer_2

Hi,

I moved into my current house on 16th Oct and gave British Gas a meter reading of 8998. We started on the energy smart scheme. IN December we got a bill for just under £70 which they took out via direct debit which I didn't know about - that got refunded. We got a late payment reminder recently for a £378 bill dated 16th Oct - 22nd Feb.

I rang British Gas and queried the bill and said it must be wrong as a period of mid October to mid December is just under £70 so a period from mid December to mid February cannot be £300. I asked them the meter reading they are billing me too and cannot find it. They said the bill is £378 because they credited the one for just under £70 and have charged me since we moved into the house until mid February. But if the gas bill is £70 from mid October to mid December then surely the reminder £300 can't be mid December to mid Feb can it? That's £300 gas useage for 2 months and then £70 gas useage for 2 months that's surely not right at all.

Can I challenge them on the price as this doesn't seem right. £70 charge from mid October to mid December is reasonable but the extra £300 from December to mid February isn't right at all.

Can anyone help?

ElmerFudd

My Feb bill was high too and when I queried it I was told that this was because they charged at a higher rate during the winter months. Are you on a standard tariff and do they jack up the charges during winter months? If you know what your plan is then you can check if that's the issue. There is an online calculator somewhere, I'll try and drag it up.

Cardew

The £70 bill most probably would have been based on an estimated meter reading.

All that matters is the £378 total for over 4 months(16 Oct to 22 Feb) and that isn't excessive.

mercer_2

Cardew is seems excessive to me when they charged me £70 say for two months for want to charge £300 for the other two months - why the big difference for?

Rikki

I believe we had an exceptionally cold winter making most peoples gas bills high. £378 is not high for a winter gas bill.

What is the meter reading now?

eurmalian

As Cardew said, the £70 bill seems likely to have been to an estimated read as it would be very low for the time of year. This basically translates as 'they weren't sure how much you used so they guessed'. Your recent bill sounds far more realistic for a winter bill so is likely to a correct reading. The best way to check the accuracy of it is to take a meter reading yourself and either enter it online or call up and have someone bill you to that read.

For ElmerFudd, you don't get charged more in winter by any company. What they most likely meant was either that you use much more in winter and so your bill is higher, or that British Gas increased their prices in November (I think), however this wasn't a winter thing, just a regular increase.

mercer_2

Not sure on meter reading right at this very point but I think it was on 96 something when checked when I had the reminder letter. I could be wrong. I seem to think in my head the units have gone up roughly by 1000 so could be 9996 or something.

t0rt0ise

It doesn't really matter what happened before. You need to check that the meter reading the bill starts and ends with are correct and then check that they have billed you on the correct tariff. If that's all correct then the bill is right.

If you are on a standard tariff you might want to look at some of the cheaper online tariffs paying by direct debit as you will save a fair bit in future.

penrhyn

If you are on an energy smart tariff then you should be submitting monthly readings online,by phone or text, you should have a variable direct debit set up to pay for what you have actually used.
Is this not the case?

Cardew

eurmalian wrote: »

For ElmerFudd, you don't get charged more in winter by any company. What they most likely meant was either that you use much more in winter and so your bill is higher, .

Not so I am afraid!

Npower have the dreaded 'sculpting' or seasonal weighting. i.e. you pay for far more high priced tier1 units in the winter.