BG Fixed Monthly payments for gas?

icepick66

Hello there,

We've just moved into a 2 bed house with a pre-pay meter for electric and a normal Meter for gas,

My girlfriend setup the accounts the other day, but they told her that the only tariff for gas was one based on our estimated usage for 6 months, and said supplying meter readings would be pointless as you pay the same regardless until a bi-annual account review...

I know from my previous addresses BG grossly overestimate these figures, and I don't like the idea of paying for what we're not using, Or worse find out we owe £££ 6 months down the line.

I'm already used to supplying them monthly readings on-line to get an accurate bill.


Does anyone know if it'll be the same story if we switch to the on-line accounts? (Variable saver etc)

Or is there anything we can do to switch to an non guesstimated tariff?

Wywth

icepick66 wrote: »

Hello there,

We've just moved into a 2 bed house with a pre-pay meter for electric and a normal Meter for gas,

My girlfriend setup the accounts the other day, but they told her that the only tariff for gas was one based on our estimated usage for 6 months, and said supplying meter readings would be pointless as you pay the same regardless until a bi-annual account review...

I know from my previous addresses BG grossly overestimate these figures, and I don't like the idea of paying for what we're not using, Or worse find out we owe £££ 6 months down the line.

I'm already used to supplying them monthly readings on-line to get an accurate bill.


Does anyone know if it'll be the same story if we switch to the on-line accounts? (Variable saver etc)

Or is there anything we can do to switch to an non guesstimated tariff?

Use a comparison site to find the best deal for you.
British gas offer a number of different tariffs for those with a credit meter.

You can ask for any accumulated credit to be repaid.

Your choice of electricity tariffs will be restricted as you have a PPM for this energy, but again consult a comparison site to see who can offer the best tariff for your situation.

Perelandra

Rather strange, what you've been told there by the BG agent.

From what you've said below, if you want to:
Stay with British Gas
Pay monthly by DD
Pay for your actual usage

Then you'll want to use the "Energy Smart" option. This is an option you can take with any of the existing tariffs, whereby you enter your meter reads each month, will receive a monthly bill to that meter read, and can choose to pay by monthly variable direct debit, so the amount debitted each month is the gas you've used.

If you go for this option, make sure you choose the "monthly variable" option, since there's also a "monthly fixed".... which still has those guesstimates you want to avoid.

NB: I work for British Gas. Any views I express are my own, and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.

Cardew

Firstly supplying meter readings for gas in September isn't really much use for estimating annual consumption as during winter your gas consumption will soar.

As suggested above the energy smart option suggested above is the best compromise staying with BG. However your bills will be low in summer and high in winter and the main advantage of paying by 'normal' DD is to spread the payments out evenly over the year.

The advantage of paying by DD with most companies is that the discount for paying by DD dwarfs the amount you might lose in interest if you find yourself over-paying initially; and these days, if you are over-paying, the amount of the DD should be adjusted downward quickly.