less cheaper price units allocated when new bill issued

emmasteenson

i received an estimated bill on 03/01/07 covering the period 21/09/06 - 20/12/06

i called with the correct readings and a new bill was issued

i noted that this bill was practically the same amount (£167 v £170) despite the units being less

looking closely at the calculation explanation on the rear i noted that in the first bill i had a higher allocation of "cheaper" units (both for gas and electricity) than i did on the later bill thus making the second bill more expensive (pro rata)

i called the customer service querying why my allocation of electricity @8.549 was reduced from 790 to 428 units

and the gas was reduced from 147 to 91 units @ 2.489

thus making the total number of units at the higher price greater


it is my understanding that there are a number of units allocated at a lower price in a 90 day period?

if this is the case and if the calculation is done on a pro-rata basis then the number of "cheaper" units should increase not decrease in line with the longer time frame? (eg if 100 units per 100 days - then its should be 110 units per 110days)

has anyone else encountered this?

i would appreciate a post by some one who understands this issue and can explain it clearly - unlike the customer service department who just kept saying you get an allocation per 90 days - because that has now increased you get less..... i just dont follow that logic..... perhaps someone can explain?

or is it just a scam??

tripled

It depends on your company, but using BG as an example. They calculate a quarter as 91 days. You don't get an 'allocation' of cheaper units, in fact it's the other way around. The way it works is for the first 225 kwh electricity and the first 1143 kwh gas are charged at a higher rate, after that all you use is at the lower rate.

So in your instance, you have used gas over 110 days, so in the BG example you would now be charged for 1381 kwh gas and 271 kwh ele at the higher rate, then the remainder at the lower rate.

notbritishgas

I agree with the theory behind tripled's reply but the gas suppliers appear not to follow the theory.
I have recently received a bill from npower ( they are the same as BG charging the first 4572 units per annum, 1143 per qtr at the high rate ) for the period 27 sep to 6 Jan which I make as 101 days. They have charged 1525 at the high rate when I think they should only have charged 1265, do you agree tripled?
What can be done, do we wait a year to see if it balances out over the year?
So in answer to the OP it appears that the gas suppliers can charge differing amounts at the high rate.

oldwiring

notbritishgas wrote:

I agree with the theory behind tripled's reply but the gas suppliers appear not to follow the theory.
I have recently received a bill from npower ( they are the same as BG charging the first 4572 units per annum, 1143 per qtr at the high rate ) for the period 27 sep to 6 Jan which I make as 101 days. They have charged 1525 at the high rate when I think they should only have charged 1265, do you agree tripled?
What can be done, do we wait a year to see if it balances out over the year?
So in answer to the OP it appears that the gas suppliers can charge differing amounts at the high rate.

Have you got on to them? 1525 would be right for 121 days, so wondering if there may be a keying errot/

notbritishgas

oldwiring wrote:

Have you got on to them? 1525 would be right for 121 days, so wondering if there may be a keying errot/

I've not spoken to them yet as I think most of the customer service people do not understand things like this. I was thinking of waiting a full year and then writing to them at complaints dept if the total of high rate units is more than 4572.
I would be interested though to see if anyone else has experienced this and how they have dealt with it, and I am sure the OP would be interested too.

matto

I do seem to recall that NPower apply a non-even weighting of the higher rate units over the year and that more of them apply in the winter than in summer.

Cardew

notbritishgas wrote:

I've not spoken to them yet as I think most of the customer service people do not understand things like this. I was thinking of waiting a full year and then writing to them at complaints dept if the total of high rate units is more than 4572.
I would be interested though to see if anyone else has experienced this and how they have dealt with it, and I am sure the OP would be interested too.

As Tripled said it is certainly supposed to be pro rata each quarter; and to be fair to BG always is for my 4 accounts.

Where it is important is for little used accounts. I have an annex with a separate gas and electricity meter. In the summer months I very rarely use my 'allocation' of high price Tier 1 units; but in the winter quarter I can do.

So in that winter quarter I pay for some units at the cheaper rate. If it was calculated on an annual basis I would pay for all at the higher Tier 1 rate.

e.g. If my gas usage was 3000/500/500/500kWh for the 4 quarters I would pay at the higher Tier 1 rate for 1143/500/500/500kWhs.(total = 2643kWh) If calculated on an annual basis I would pay for all 4500kWh at the higher Tier 1 rate.