Help me work out my British Gas bills...

catford12345

Hi,

I pay British Gas DD £120 a month for gas and electric.

I have received annual summary's from BG which states:

Your 12 month personal projection for your current (electricity) tariff is £473.41

Your 12 month personal projection for your current (gas) tariff is
£326.43

These total £799.84 which split over 12 months is £66 a month....

So why is my direct debit nearly double my projection???

I live in a tiny 2 bed flat where me and my partner use nothing during the day (at work and religiously switch everything off).

Am I misreading these summary's? Am I paying too much! Help!

mum2one

the projection sounds like that is what they think you are going to use, what I would do is ring them and ask how much you are in credit and ask for a refund / reduction on monthly payments x

modsandmockers

catford12345 wrote: »

Hi,

I pay British Gas DD £120 a month for gas and electric.

I have received annual summary's from BG which states:

Your 12 month personal projection for your current (electricity) tariff is £473.41

Your 12 month personal projection for your current (gas) tariff is
£326.43

These total £799.84 which split over 12 months is £66 a month....

So why is my direct debit nearly double my projection???

I live in a tiny 2 bed flat where me and my partner use nothing during the day (at work and religiously switch everything off).

Am I misreading these summary's? Am I paying too much! Help!

What was your actual consumption over the last 12 months? That's what your next year's payment plan should be based upon! If your account with BG is currently in debit, then you will need to add the amount of the debit to the payment plan. If your account is in credit, then ask for a refund.

Do you know the name of the tariff which you are using, and do you understand how your bills are calculated? If not, then you are playing straight into your energy supplier's hand.

catford12345

Hi Mods,

I'm on the standard tariff,

These are my usages:

Electricity:
7th may 2013 - 6th may 2014 2855.44kWh
7th may 2014 - 6th may 2015 3161.54 kWh

Gas:
7th may 2013 - 6th may 2014 7491.54kWh
7th May 2014 - 6th may 2015 5572.99kWh

So more electricity but less gas.

I have no idea how they are calculated! I'm on a mission to clear my debts and sort my finances and have finally looked into these bills!

modsandmockers

catford12345 wrote: »

Hi Mods,

I'm on the standard tariff,

These are my usages:

Electricity:
7th may 2013 - 6th may 2014 2855.44kWh
7th may 2014 - 6th may 2015 3161.54 kWh

Gas:
7th may 2013 - 6th may 2014 7491.54kWh
7th May 2014 - 6th may 2015 5572.99kWh

So more electricity but less gas.

I have no idea how they are calculated! I'm on a mission to clear my debts and sort my finances and have finally looked into these bills!

So a rough average would be 3000kWh electric, and 6500kWh gas? If you have recently received a bill, then the price per kWh is probably up-to-date (as well as the daily standing charge - don’t forget that you pay a daily standing charge for both fuels, and they are not necessarily the same. You also need to be sure about the inclusion or otherwise of VAT). To be certain, you need to locate the Tariff Information Label (TIL) for your tariff. Your most recent bill should show you whether or not you were in credit or debit, and don’t forget to add any payments which you have made since the date of the bill. Once you have done the sums, call BG and negotiate a realistic monthly payment. If you are significantly in credit, then insist upon a refund. If you are in debit, then you can either settle it by card, or you can include it in the negotiation for the following year’s payment plan.

Hoof_Hearted

Approximate figures:

Electricity:

3100 x 12.62/100=£391.22
365 x 26/100=£94.90

Gas:

6500 x 4.35/100=£282.75
365 x 26.01/100=94.93

Total: £863.80 (less £15 discount)

I suspect you have been overpaying and the DD has been set lower to whittle down your credit. On current rates, a DD of £71 should be about right.

As above, phone up and get your credit back.

Hoof_Hearted

By the way, these rates are poor.

I am paying 11.09p for electricity and 2.89p per kWh for gas, both with lower fixed charges. Tariffs do vary by area.

Lower your debt by shopping around for a better rate.

SwanJon

As Mods has said your monthyl payment will cover two things - future consumption and any balance outstanding for past consumption - if you have a balance they will try and spread this out over the following year.

If you have registered with BG's website you can take total control of your DD - changing the amount so that months are different, and even take a payment holiday.
You may be restricted within a certain range if you want to change the (average) monthly payment, but if you keep giving regular reads the DD will end up at the appropriate amount.

Check pricing sites for other options too.

catford12345

Sorry haven't had a chance to take a look at thread until now.

I've done a comparison and can get a cheaper rate - I think based on the above the monthly DD was around £60 for Scottish Friendly.

If I were to switch can I still speak to British Gas to see if I have been overcharged?

modsandmockers

catford12345 wrote: »

Sorry haven't had a chance to take a look at thread until now.

I've done a comparison and can get a cheaper rate - I think based on the above the monthly DD was around £60 for Scottish Friendly.

If I were to switch can I still speak to British Gas to see if I have been overcharged?

Where does Scottish Friendly enter the equation?

Building up a credit is not the same as being overcharged. A payment plan is a bit like a Christmas Club - it's designed to spread the annual cost evenly over the year. But nobody can predict the annual cost precisely, so sometimes there's a bit left over and sometimes there's a bit more to pay. Your actual charges are itemised on your bills, and the prices vary from tariff to tariff. With almost no exceptions, you have to pay a daily standing charge (which is measured in pennies per day) and a price per kWh of energy consumed (also measured in pennies per kWh). If you end the year in credit, then you are entitled to a refund, but if you end the year in debit, then you have to stump up the shortfall. Most energy companies will build the previous year's surplus or shortfall into the following year's payment plan.

ps - if you switch supplier, then the new supplier will not take on any debit or credit from the previous supplier account. The previous supplier will produce a final bill (which you will need to check carefully), and will either refund any credit balance, or expect payment from you of any debit balance.