British Gas - can they do this..

claires_123

We moved house on 14th December to a 2 bed apartment from previoulsy owning a 3 bed semi. We contacted British Gas as they were the current fuel suppliers they took our details and that was the last I heard. Then last week they asked for a meter reading I sent this to them on saturday - today we got a bill for just under £310 for the gas & electricity for this time! Yikes! This was so much higher than we have previously ever paid before. Electricity was pretty normal at £64.65 but the Gas they have charged us £245.17! This seems crazy I know it has been cold & like over christmas time we were in more with the heating on but I still think this is crazy. Generally our heating is on for 2 hours in a morning & 5 hours on an evening.
I contacted British Gas - it seems they just set us up on their clear & simple tariff not the cheapest one which today I set up - can they do this - are they not supposed to ask us which tariff we would like to be on? Any advice would be great!

penrhyn

Is the bill based on actual readings, did you provide readings to BG when you moved in.
Just check if your gas meter is imperial and whether you have been charged as if it was metric.

claires_123

They never asked us for meter readings when we moved in but they have supplied the correct ones as the previous owners must have given them the final readings. Then the bill they have created is based on our readings from the weekend. Our meter is a new style one I think - its the same as our previous house which was only 5 years old.

dogshome

I'm afraid that all Utility suppliers will treat new occupiers in a dwelling they already supply, as a 'New Account' and put them on their expensive Standard tariff

Haveing said that, the £245 gas bill equates to roughly 5,800 Kwh.consumed in 68? winter days - The rule of thumb is that 80% of your Annual gas will be used during Winter, which gives a forecast of you useing around18,600Kwh a year.- How well is this 2 bed apartment insulated ?

andymd

claires_123 wrote: »

I contacted British Gas - it seems they just set us up on their clear & simple tariff not the cheapest one which today I set up - can they do this - are they not supposed to ask us which tariff we would like to be on? Any advice would be great!

They can't automatically put people on tariffs other than Standard/Clear & Simple unless instructed. The other tariffs are usually fixed term contracts with a cancellation fee, customers have to opt into these.

The cheapest tariff is probably only 6% cheaper (less than £20 on your bill) anyway, at least you've sorted it now.

claires_123

I don't really know about the insulation - it's a converted mill & has real stone walls in some areas so these do create cold drafty areas but I don't have the boiler on anymore than in our previous house our bill there used to be £82 a month for both gas & electric & I was always in credit. Hope the new tariff makes a difference.

Wywth

claires_123 wrote: »

We moved house on 14th December to a 2 bed apartment from previoulsy owning a 3 bed semi. We contacted British Gas as they were the current fuel suppliers they took our details and that was the last I heard. Then last week they asked for a meter reading I sent this to them on saturday - today we got a bill for just under £310 for the gas & electricity for this time! Yikes! This was so much higher than we have previously ever paid before. Electricity was pretty normal at £64.65 but the Gas they have charged us £245.17! This seems crazy I know it has been cold & like over christmas time we were in more with the heating on but I still think this is crazy. Generally our heating is on for 2 hours in a morning & 5 hours on an evening.
I contacted British Gas - it seems they just set us up on their clear & simple tariff not the cheapest one which today I set up - can they do this - are they not supposed to ask us which tariff we would like to be on? Any advice would be great!

No, it's up to you to tell them.

However, BG has recently introduced a new service that will inform you every 6 months if there is another tariff they supply which would work out cheaper for you
http://www.britishgas.co.uk/blog/articles/introducing-the-british-gas-tariff-check

Or better still, sign up to the MSE cheap energy club, and get informed immediately if there is a cheaper tariff available for you from the whole of market (rather than just BG)

molerat

mickeypip, if you start a new thread of your own and you will get a response. Hijacking someone elses just confuses things ..... press the "new thread" button at the top of the board.

mickeypip

Thanks Molerat, shall do.

Didn't know if it was bad form to start a new thread, as often people direct you back to another. I'll do that now. Thank you!

dogshome

Hmmm - Real Stone Walls !
Maybe when they were built they kept the Revolting Peasants out, but now they are profit maker for Utility Co

You may have been running the boiler for the same hours as in your previous Semi, but there the boiler would have shut down when the room temperatures were reached, but in the Mill it's constantly running, ( and failing), in trying to heat those walls - What insulation is above your ceilings? It would help if these were well insualted

claires_123

Oh I see so its the stone walls!
Above us is another apartment its stone floors too so I guess the heat will escape up through these too. The people before us had the heating on low but constantly on would this be a cheaper way to do it maybe?
THANK YOU!