Is there an Official British Gas poster here?

slinga

I thought there was.

I'm overseas and just pay a small monthly DD while I'm away and no gas or elec used as no one at home.

But I keep getting monthly requests to read my meter, very annoying.
I've contacted BG and they tell me not to worry they've sorted it.
But I wonder if I don't contact them will they then take an inordinate amount out of my bank before I can stop them.

I can't be the only customer who is overseas for a period.

Does everybody overseas have this problem????

HappyMJ

You should be able to log onto the BG website and see your online bills from anywhere. This should show any increases to be made to your direct debit. If you don't trust the direct debit then cancel it. You will pay a slightly higher unit rate but as you use no units then it won't make any difference.

macman

You are presumably on an NSC tariff? If not, you are paying a standing charge for nothing.
The supplier is required by law to inspect (not just read) your meter every two years, so you'll need to make arrangements for access if that is the reason. If you don't, they will eventually get a warrant and force access.

Premier_2

slinga wrote: »

I thought there was.

I'm overseas and just pay a small monthly DD while I'm away and no gas or elec used as no one at home.

But I keep getting monthly requests to read my meter, very annoying.
I've contacted BG and they tell me not to worry they've sorted it.
But I wonder if I don't contact them will they then take an inordinate amount out of my bank before I can stop them.

I can't be the only customer who is overseas for a period.

Does everybody overseas have this problem????

1. What are you paying monthly for if you are not using any gas or electricity?
(If you are on a standing charge tariff, get off it!)

2. If you use no gas or electricity, what's the issue with just giving them the same readings every month by reply?

1pinkpiggy

macman wrote: »

You are presumably on an NSC tariff? if not, you are paying a standing charge for nothing.
The supplier is required by law to inspect (not just read) your meter every two years, so you'll need to make arrangements for access if that is the reason. If you don't, they will eventually get a warrant and force access.

Bg don't charge standing charges, but if your on a monthly tariff (EnergySmart) then they'll ask you for readings each month. Log on to your online account check your account status tariff.

If you on the monthly on then yes they'll continue to send you a request for a reading every month. Just ignore it & they'll estimate your reading.

If your on quarterly billing & don't want to be asked for readings then contact them on their website & ask them to remoe your email from their systems. You can only do this if your not an online user.

fightyfish

It sounds like your on energy smart (monthly billing) this is an optional service and requires customers to give monthly reads to create bills.
If your not at the propetry there is no real advantage to you with this so you could just go back to quarterly billing.
If your paying monthly variable DD then this is the only thing that may have to change on your account, but if your not giving reads and the bills are estimated then that's not really a loss.
You can still pay monthly fixed or quarterly DD if this is preferred and get the same discounts.
While the property has a supply attached even if unoccupied it will get billed but you can monitor these online and submit the same reads once a quarter to get accurate bills.
If it's just the texts that are annoing you contact BG and ask them to remove you from SMS reminders.

slinga

Premier wrote: »

1. What are you paying monthly for if you are not using any gas or electricity?
(If you are on a standing charge tariff, get off it!)

2. If you use no gas or electricity, what's the issue with just giving them the same readings every month by reply?

I pay 10 quid per minth just to keep the account ticking over.
I'm away for a 6 month period every year.

When I told BG I was going to be away they asked for the 10 quid monthly payment which is OK with me.

I asked that they wouldn't send me requests for meter reads which they agreed to but which they continue to send me.

I've thought about sending them my last known reads but thought that that would just upset them and I'd have more problems.

As I say I can't be the only one that this problem affects.

I changed to BG from SP because of the problems SP gave me over monthly meter readings.
Before I changed I asked BG about my being away and not reading the meter etc and of course I got the 'no problem we do it for many customers'.:rotfl:

Premier_2

slinga wrote: »

I pay 10 quid per minth just to keep the account ticking over.
I'm away for a 6 month period every year.

When I told BG I was going to be away they asked for the 10 quid monthly payment which is OK with me.

I asked that they wouldn't send me requests for meter reads which they agreed to but which they continue to send me.

I've thought about sending them my last known reads but thought that that would just upset them and I'd have more problems.

As I say I can't be the only one that this problem affects.

I changed to BG from SP because of the problems SP gave me over monthly meter readings.
Before I changed I asked BG about my being away and not reading the meter etc and of course I got the 'no problem we do it for many customers'.:rotfl:

You're not the only one in this position, as the supplier has informed you

But you are probably the only person who, after a request for a meter reading thought the supplier would be 'upset' receiving one so thought it would be better to ignore the request.

slinga

Premier wrote: »

You're not the only one in this position, as the supplier has informed you

But you are probably the only person who, after a request for a meter reading thought the supplier would be 'upset' receiving one so thought it would be better to ignore the request.

Who said I ignored the request.

You're a bit silly aren't you.