utility bill for empty house

greenday29

hi guys. I bought a house in December 2012 and it is vacant and being renovated. The gas has been off for some months now. British gas are charging me £95 a month. they know its vacant but say they charge me what they expect I will be using when I move in. is this normal to pay for something im using very little of? they provide my gas and electricity. im not in the house much. usually only at weekends. thanks.

Caz3121

have you been giving them meter readings, how much are you in credit?
does your tariff have a daily rate...some charge x per day even if you use no units then the units on top

greenday29

thanks. I gave them a meter reading when they said I owed them £200. they said they guessed I should have moved in by now and made the figure up then cleared it. I can't find any information on their website as to why im paying so much!

dogshome

So you advised BG that the the Gas was switched off, ( By the cut-off lever beside the meter ? ), and yet they are still insisting on sending you an Estimated useage bill ?

It seems likely that your communications have been by phone to the Customer Service Desk, who in these circumstances are usually worse than useless.

WRITE to BG confirming non-occupation of the house and the shut down Gas supply, giving them the current meter reading and insisting they issue a new bill that covers *Service Charges only - It's important you do this as when the house comes back into use, BG's computer won't be able to handle the true meter reading when it's already sitting on higher Estimated readings

*Duel priced tariffs to collect the Service Charge are on their way out, and Daily Standing Charges will become the norm., and as you only signed up in December it's likely you are on a Daily Standing Charge regime - So you will owe 6 months Standing Charges to date

greenday29

thanks. ill contact them and will let you know what they say!

StuC75

why are you paying monthly? if you havent moved in yet, and likely for sometime, then opt for quarterly on receipt of bill -- not the best tariff \ discount.. but avoids paying when not necessary..

Wywth

greenday29 wrote: »

hi guys. I bought a house in December 2012 and it is vacant and being renovated. ....

How long is the renovation going to take?

Is your lender aware the property is unoccupied? How about your insurance provider?

I guess you'll be being hit with a 100% council tax demand about now too :eek:
If you moved in alone, you'd get a 25% discount.

As for your energy usage, the supplier can only guess (estimate) unless they have proper meter readings.

matelodave

Why don't you cancel the DD and pay when the bill comes, you can then give them a meter reading and get it right before you pay.

BG are useless at common sense.

My Mum live in her bungalow for seven years and had a two tier gas tariff (no standing charge), which worked for her as she only ever used the cooker to boil the occasional egg, which meant she seldom used a whole unit per quarter - they would send her bills for £300-£400 in winter and £100-£150 in the summer - so every quarter for seven years and I'd phone in a meter reading (they even came and read the meter several times as well) and we'd get a revised bill for £1-2 (sometimes for nothing if the meter units hadn't incremented).

It drove me potty trying to educate them that she only used gas to boil eggs but always got the "it's the computer" excuse.

Cardew

matelodave wrote: »

Why don't you cancel the DD and pay when the bill comes, you can then give them a meter reading and get it right before you pay.

BG are useless at common sense.
QUOTE]

If you cancel the DD you lose your DD discount.

Just ring BG and explain situation and get them to reduce DD to a figure you require.

StuC75

But if the OP is not using any Gas, then what is there for them to receive a discount on? They are renovating the property..

Cardew wrote: »

matelodave wrote: »

Why don't you cancel the DD and pay when the bill comes, you can then give them a meter reading and get it right before you pay.

BG are useless at common sense.
QUOTE]

If you cancel the DD you lose your DD discount.

Just ring BG and explain situation and get them to reduce DD to a figure you require.

greenday29

thanks guys. I logged onto my online account which is what I should have done from the start! I submitted my readings. so far I have paid £450 since December. my account now says im £180.06 in credit. I have adjusted my dd to£30 a month and they have calculated at the end of the period based on what I have used so far they will owe me £2. so im now happy I don't have anything to pay for 6 months. Thanks again for your help. Much more helpful than the British gas telephone staff who continued to insist I pay £90 per month! I found the site and my online account very useful and easy to navigate. I now have the app on my phone so I can keep track as often as I like. thanks again