Has British Gas been reading MY meter?!

Kaylee10686

Hello,

I have just recieved a gas bill from British Gas requesting that I pay over £500 for the last 9 months of usage (on top of the £50 pm I already pay). I requested a copy of my meter readings and usage, which states that from the 9th December (the day I moved in) until the 30th March, my energy consumption was 16000.0 kwh! From the 31st March until the 4th July my consumption was 6050.0. On both of these occasions, the gas man came to read my meter. The meters were unmarked (which I only discovered after the first meter reading) so I found which was mine and labelled it. I submitted my own meter reading on the 18th September and my consumption was (from the 4th July until the 18th Sept) 2805 kwh.

My flat is entirely electric apart from the hot water and heating, and the heating is rarely used! Could it be possible that the wrong meter reading were taken by the gas man, and how can I get british gas to investigate this? I have tried to explain but they just insist that the money must be paid, and stated that a gas man wrongly called to investigate will cost us £150!

Any help or advice would be greately appreciated!

Kaylee x

Bollotom

Hi, Kaylee. I use a spreadsheet for Excel to check the consumption and keep an eye on my British Gas bills. It was put on this site by a member and you have to have excel to use it. If you don't then Open Office has one that reads Excel files and is totally free.
It's in post # 1. Sorry folks it looks like this is going to sites that require registration.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1184735

Edited for accuracy

kathie1101

First of all, what was the meter reading that you took when you moved in on 9th December 2010? Subtract that from the reading that you took on 18th September 2011 and you will know what you have been using.

You say that from 4th July until 18th Sept you used 2805 kwh, but who took the reading on 4th July? 2805 kwh used in 2 1/2 months is huge usage for anybody, but you say you live in a flat (how many bedrooms?).

As a guide I believe the national average annual consumption for a 3 bed house (sure somebody will correct me if I am wrong) is 3,300kwh. Last year we used 6,300 but worked hard this year and are on course to reduce it to about 4,500. So if you used 2805kwh in such a short space of time or 16000kwh in less than 4 months something is seriously wrong somewhere.

I am no expert and I am sure somebody will come along that can offer you much better advice, but could you have had/have an immersion heater that has been left on?

If you are not sure what is causing it, first thing I would be doing is turn your electric off to make sure the meter is not still turning. Then take daily meter readings to make sure that you are indeed using what they say you are. Then start to work at narrowing it down to what is using so much electricity.

spiro

The obvious thing to do first is to check that the meter serial number on your bill matches what is on the meter.

How did you confirm which gas meter was yours? Did you turn the gas off and check you had no gas?

If the serial numbers match and you checked by turning off the gas then you have used it and need to pay.

If the serial numbers dont match and you checked by turning off the gas then you need to contact British Gas and explain the is a 'crossed meter' (wrong meter registered to wrong flat). This will potentially involve all tenants in sorting the mess out.

elektra

kathie1101 wrote: »

As a guide I believe the national average annual consumption for a 3 bed house (sure somebody will correct me if I am wrong) is 3,300kwh. Last year we used 6,300 but worked hard this year and are on course to reduce it to about 4,500. So if you used 2805kwh in such a short space of time or 16000kwh in less than 4 months something is seriously wrong somewhere.

I am no expert and I am sure somebody will come along that can offer you much better advice, but could you have had/have an immersion heater that has been left on?
If you are not sure what is causing it, first thing I would be doing is turn your electric off to make sure the meter is not still turning. Then take daily meter readings to make sure that you are indeed using what they say you are. Then start to work at narrowing it down to what is using so much electricity.

I think you misunderstood the OP, they are querying their gas bill.

elektra

Also check whether your meter is imperial (cubic ft) or metric and whether that corresponds with the bills.

kathie1101

Thank you elektra for pointing out my very stupid mistake, I really appreciate it, and hope that Kaylee10686 hadn't seen my post before reading yours and thus been too worried by what I wrote. I know that 16,000 gas is still high in such a short space of time, but no way as bad as electric as I had said.

I can only apologise to Kaylee10686 again, and try to explain that I do have some health problems that effect my concentration. Normally I would not post if I am aware that I am suffering and do always read through posts extra carefully/twice to try and make sure I have the right end of the stick before I reply. Obviously in this instance that has not worked, and whilst it is no excuse I can only apologise.

I hope you manage to get your issue solved, and I am sure the excellent people on here will give you some brilliant advice (elektra already has done.)

dogshome

Hi Kaylee10686 - Wow!
The consumption figures you have given are for 1/2 the winter period and just over 1/2 the Summer period and total 22,050Kwh - Doubling this up it makes your annual consumption 44,100 Kwh which absolutely enormous for a flat

Whilst you should check your bills to see that the meter No. printed on them is the same as that on your actual meter, there is a strong possibilty that you have a Metric meter whilst BG think it's an Imperial model.

Look at the meter, on the front it will be marked m3 if it's Metric, or ft3 if it's Imperial.
Then look at the bills and divide the meter units used into the Kwh charged,
if the answer is appx. 11.2 you are being charged for a Metric meter, and if it's appx 31.5 you are being charged for an Imperial meter.

If the meter is marked m3, but you are being billed for an Imperial meter the effective overcharge is 181% - Get onto BG immediately and send them a photo of the meter

British_Gas

Kaylee10686 wrote: »

Hello,

I have just recieved a gas bill from British Gas requesting that I pay over £500 for the last 9 months of usage (on top of the £50 pm I already pay). I requested a copy of my meter readings and usage, which states that from the 9th December (the day I moved in) until the 30th March, my energy consumption was 16000.0 kwh! From the 31st March until the 4th July my consumption was 6050.0. On both of these occasions, the gas man came to read my meter. The meters were unmarked (which I only discovered after the first meter reading) so I found which was mine and labelled it. I submitted my own meter reading on the 18th September and my consumption was (from the 4th July until the 18th Sept) 2805 kwh.

My flat is entirely electric apart from the hot water and heating, and the heating is rarely used! Could it be possible that the wrong meter reading were taken by the gas man, and how can I get british gas to investigate this? I have tried to explain but they just insist that the money must be paid, and stated that a gas man wrongly called to investigate will cost us £150!

Any help or advice would be greately appreciated!

Kaylee x

Hi Kaylee

I am sorry to hear you've had these problems.

If you could email me your address and account numbers to [EMAIL="TalkToUs@britishgas.co.uk"]TalkToUs@britishgas.co.uk[/EMAIL], I will happily take a look into this for you to see if we can help find a resolution.

Many thanks.