Crazy bills from British Gas!

inspirespirit

A similar thing happened to me, so I know exactly how frustrating it is. I have always lived in a 3 bed semi. Always paid by DD and never had a problem. Moved into another 3 bed semi about 18 months ago and continued to pay gas and electric at 50 each per month, every month. I was phoned a couple of times by their customer services (Southern), and advised to go on different tariffs which I agreed to as they said it would save me money. They also put up the DD to 60 per month which I continued to pay.
I moved in February this year and they sent my last bill and I owed over a thousand pounds !!!!! I nearly died. 18 months before when I moved I was in credit !!! So in 18 months not only did I pay 50 and 60 per month for my gas and electric but I managed to rake up over a grands worth of debt.
I was totally convinced it was wrong. I wasn't doing anything different.
The confusion, it seems, happened, because every time they put me on a different tariff, they closed the account and started a new account. So when I was ringing in to find out how much my bills were (for some strange reason I wasn't receiving my paper bills), they were only giving me the amount on the latest account, so stupidly I thought I was in credit. I ended up with 3 electric accounts and 3 gas accounts !!

Anyway, because it was partly their fault, they knocked a hundred quid off the bills. I now have an electric meter which takes an amount off the debt and I am finding it much easier to cope with and no scary bills to fall through the door. The gas I pay by card now. I can pay as much as I can afford, so I'm trying to get as much paid on it as I can during the Summer before the hefty Winter bills start all over again.

Weird thing is, the house I am now in - another 3 bed semi; my bills are virtually a quarter of what they were in the last house. When I tell them this they say it is because I am now more aware and am being careful, but quite frankly that is bxxxxxs. I swear there was something wrong with the meter in that last house.
To owe a grand after paying all that money was phenomonal compared to what I used to pay and what I am paying now.
Nothing you can say or do that will convince them their meters are wrong though.

Nicklt

BG sent me a letter only a week ago saying they where uping my DD to £45. I was initially paying £30 a month, then in april they sent me a letter saying "after reviewing you usage etc etc we have reduced your DD to £20 a month" then the next month they sent a letter saying the exact same but putting it up to £45 a month.

peakoil_2

I would advise everyone to go out and buy one of those electricity monitors. they have a clamp that attaches to your live wire off the meter and they tell you how much energy you are using right now and how much you have used that day and that month. they are great for figuring out which appliances are costing you a fortune and where all your money is going. you soon start to have quicker showers and turning the TV off standby when you see the readings.

Nicklt

We cant do that in an apartment as all the meters are in a central downstairs cupboard that only the janitor can access.

peakoil_2

surely you have access to your own meter? How do you provide meter readings?

how do you even know that the meter they are reading and billing you for is the right one? (seen this happen before)

Nicklt

@peakoil

Tell me about it, i have to ask the Janitor once a month to get the readings for me. And i don't know if he taking the right ones.

Strange thing is my colleague at work has just moved into a new apartment similiar size to mine and e-on have said they will bill her £30 per month.

For a similiar size property as mine this a big difference fro £86 im being charged.

ic

Don't forget that since you were paying £20 per month, energy prices have risen dramatically, and we've had two seriously cold long winters. You'll have run the heating for a lot longer and harder in the past 18 months than previously. Also, your previous flat may well have been warmer due to improved insulation, room layout, and adjoining flats giving you free heat.

When I had a draughty three bed flat six years ago I paid about £15 per month electric and £25 per month gas. Now in my very well insulated house with new central heating I'm paying £65 per month combined. Prices are on the up, and most prominently in the past two years.

Its all very well saying "I remember when" - I remember when it was £2 a pint and petrol was 65p per litre, and I'm not that old!

As above confirm the readings are correct and that you're on a good tariff (not the standard - but of course thats only going forward, you can't change your tariff for your existing usage...). If all else fails talk to BG about the debt - though watch they don't try and force you to have a pre-payment meter. It only gets more and more expensive with those things.

Cardew

peakoil wrote: »

I would advise everyone to go out and buy one of those electricity monitors. they have a clamp that attaches to your live wire off the meter and they tell you how much energy you are using right now and how much you have used that day and that month. they are great for figuring out which appliances are costing you a fortune and where all your money is going. you soon start to have quicker showers and turning the TV off standby when you see the readings.

They have the total amount of electricity they use(10,226 in 18 months) - and it is low!

So they are not using excessive amounts of electricity - they just cannot grasp that expecting £20 a month is just a joke!

Incidentally of all the actions to save money, switching the TV off instead of standby is probably the least effective.

Most TV's have a standby consumption of less than 1 watt( mine are 0.6w, 0.9w and 0.4w). So leaving all three on standby 24/7 for 365 days would cost a total(for all 3) of approx £1.50p per year.

People really have a fixation about TV standby costs.

Nicklt

Thanks IC, im going to see what my bill comes out at this month, and if it still the same im going to offer to pay in installments of what i can. Maybe up my DD and just have to scrimp and save for a little bit.

Nicklt

@cardew,

It not just turning the TV off, we generally don't use electric that much. We use low watt lamps for lighting and we didn't really use the heating in the winter as its a brand new apartment with pretty good insulation and didn't get too cold even in the bad winter we had.

It's not so much i have a fixation with the £20 a used to pay its more that i don't beleive im using as much electric as they say i am.