Problem £1500 quarterly from BG.

plf060

Hi everyone,

We, in May, received a quarterly bill from BG for the amount said above and obviously we ain't impressed. Please could i have some advice on how to go about this. Some background info...

My partner moved into this property in Feb 2012 (me in Nov.). BG told her to pay £22 p/m for dual fuel (ridiculous i know) so the bill over 12 months had worked into £1500 in arrears, with no warning from BG. I noticed the bill Feb this year and rang them up and told them that i would sort out her bill. So i drew a line under the £1500 arrears and we were going to pay £240 p/m until the debt was clear.

That was in Feb. Now, my missus is not very energy savvy so i decided to change all the light bulbs to energy savers (they were all 100w's!) and i knocked 3 degrees off the heating, 21 down to 18, and timed it so that it only came on in the evening. We even shout at the kids for leaving the lights on. So as you can imagine we were hoping to save quite a lot.

Then along comes the Feb-May quarterly, for £1500! It was a kick in the teeth after what we were hoping for. I rang them up and they said that is a bit extreme and to do a burns test on the meter. The meter was using just under 2 units a day. So i rang them up again with the results and their tune changed to "oh, it must be right because the meter is ok". I disagreed. They then said to get the gas and electric checked out, that was today and everything is working ok, but the gas engineer did say that the bill was ridiculous and there has to be something wrong, but he didn't know what.

Now i'm left with having to call them again, and i know they are going to say we must have used it, but i'm 100% sure that we haven't. I've checked the meter readings and for the same period last year she used 720 units, compared to 1400 units this year, with way better energy efficiency. Can i have some opinions/advice please.

Really sorry for the long post, only i felt the need to get everything in there. Thanks in advance:)

Moomum

Can't help you but just wanted to say we are in exactly the same situation. Paying £1500 roughly a quarter and consumption was double what it was same period last year. Can't see where we are going wrong!

plf060

Well that doesn't fill me with confidence. Especially since Scottish power and NPower are asking for £140 per month to switch to them. This is a low income small 3 bed house, we simply can't afford to pay that amount.

Nada666

It is very difficult to spend £1500 over a quarter. Have you both checked that you are not being charged for an imperial meter when you actually have a metric meter?

Nada666

... then again if the £1500 debt was in February and you were only paying £240 per month then it is unlikely you will be making a dent that first quarter - it was still winter for most of us.

plf060

Sorry, i wasn't clear on that. The £1500 was on top of that £1500 debt. It now stands at £2500. My apologies. I'm not sure about the meter comment, i didn't know there was 2 different types. How do i find that out?

matelodave

Are you reading the meters regularly - ideally weekly, so you can monitor what you are using yourself and work out your usage pattern and hopefully work out where it's all being used and where you can save. You should also send a monthly meter reading to the supplier so you get accurate billing rather than estimates.

You will also have a decent log of what you use for use when you are checking for a better deal

dogshome

CHECK YOUR METER
On the front close to the dials it will be either marked m3, which means it is the METRIC type, or ft3 which means it is the IMERIAL type

Next check the bill by divideing the meter units used into the number of Kwh charged
If you are being charged for a Metric meter the answer will be appx. 11
If you are being charged for an Imperial meter the answer will be appx 31

If the answer doesn't match the Meters mark, get onto BG immeditely

plf060

Only the last month or so. However, the gas meter is on the outside of the house and it's read before the bill is due. Only this last quarter have i read the meter myself.

plf060

dogshome wrote: »

CHECK YOUR METER
On the front close to the dials it will be either marked m3, which means it is the METRIC type, or ft3 which means it is the IMERIAL type

Next check the bill by divideing the meter units used into the number of Kwh charged
If you are being charged for a Metric meter the answer will be appx. 11
If you are being charged for an Imperial meter the answer will be appx 31

If the answer doesn't match the Meters mark, get onto BG immeditely

Thanks for that. It is a metric meter. 14117/1270=11.11. It is correct. It is the consumption that is bothering us. Even BG said it was over the top at first. Thanks again.

Nada666

It is tough to explain such a consumption. Now it is summer and hot have you been reading the meters daily to see what is being consumed with the heating off? How is your hot water heated? Have you separated out the gas and electricity bills and discussing only the gas?