British Gas final bills sneakily overcharged

JesseJames_2

Just changed to IRESA from British Gas February Fix 2017.

Went to download the final bills from British Gas after the final payment came off today.

Noticed that payment was only for the gas part £84.25, with a further payment of £146.98 to come off on 11th April.

Now I knew I was in debit, but only by £77.96
So here are the bills...

Combined Gas & Elec Statement to 1 Mar 2017
Gas debit balance £69.85
Elec debit balance £8.11
Total £77.96 in debit.

Final bill for Gas - 2nd to 19th March
debit balance £77.96 (£69.85)
Total charges £32.78
Total £110.74 in debit. (£102.63) - £8.11 overcharged
£84.25 came off bank today

Final bill for Electricity - 2nd to 17th March
debit balance £110.74 (£8.11)
Total charges £36.24
Total £146.98 in debit. (£44.35) - £102.63 overcharged
£146.98 to come off bank on 11th April

The green values are what I think should have been and the red is the overcharge.

What is going on here, and has this happened to others?

kev2009

You bill shows the breakdown right? Does that not show how they got to those figures?

I've recently switched from BG standard tarrif to 2 different suppliers...

My BG final bill i got the other day and it shows what I owe and a breakdown of how they got to that figure.

Kev

SammenForLivet2

Hi there,

I highly suspect the British Gas bills are correct, please see the below:

Starting Debit balance: £77.96
Gas charges £32.78
Electricity Charges: £36.24
Balance due to BG: £146.98

Likely suspect that British Gas will request a direct debit of £62.73 on the 11th April 2017, but otherwise would recommend you give the team at British Gas a call on 0800 048 0202.

Hope this helps. Let us know what goes on.

System

The question is 'how did you know that you had a debit balance of £77.96'? Debit/credit balances are only correct when a bill(charges) are raised on the day that an actual meter reading was taken.

footyguy

JesseJames wrote: »

Just changed to IRESA from British Gas February Fix 2017.

Went to download the final bills from British Gas after the final payment came off today.

Noticed that payment was only for the gas part £84.25, with a further payment of £146.98 to come off on 11th April.

Now I knew I was in debit, but only by £77.96
So here are the bills...

Combined Gas & Elec Statement to 1 Mar 2017
Gas debit balance £69.85
Elec debit balance £8.11
Total £77.96 in debit.

Final bill for Gas - 2nd to 19th March
debit balance £77.96 (£69.85)
Total charges £32.78
Total £110.74 in debit. (£102.63) - £8.11 overcharged
£84.25 came off bank today

Final bill for Electricity - 2nd to 17th March
debit balance £110.74 (£8.11)
Total charges £36.24
Total £146.98 in debit. (£44.35) - £102.63 overcharged
£146.98 to come off bank on 11th April

The green values are what I think should have been and the red is the overcharge.

What is going on here, and has this happened to others?

If you think the final bill is wrong, probably best to complain drectly to the supplier giving your reasons why you believe it to be incorrect.

Unfortunately, you have not provided sufficient info here to advice whether or not your bills are erroneous.
If you wish advice on this, then either post the complete bills here (less personal info), or pop along to the CAB with them and they will advise you

matelodave

If your bills are anything like the ones SSE produce then unless you keep your own records you'll have no idea what you actually owe or be owed. At least FU, GB and even SP used to produce a monthy statement which got revised when I gave a reading.

SSE stilll reckon I'm £78 in credt based on my last bill (I got three in January) and the DD's that have been taken so far, but that bears no relation to reality.

Since then I've sent them a couple of monthly readings, which haven't been reflected in the calculations and I know that I am actually £146.23 in debit which should start to come down now spring is sprung and my consumption is dropping rapidly.

I confidently expect the next bill to be miles out as well until I get it corrected by sending in another reading after I've received it.

footyguy

matelodave wrote: »

If your bills are anything like the ones SSE produce then unless you keep your own records you'll have no idea what you actually owe or be owed. At least FU, GB and even SP used to produce a monthy statement which got revised when I gave a reading.

SSE stilll reckon I'm £78 in credt based on my last bill (I got three in January) and the DD's that have been taken so far, but that bears no relation to reality.

Since then I've sent them a couple of monthly readings, which haven't been reflected in the calculations and I know that I am actually £146.23 in debit which should start to come down now spring is sprung and my consumption is dropping rapidly.

I confidently expect the next bill to be miles out as well until I get it corrected by sending in another reading after I've received it.

I've been with SSE for many years (they were the supply partner of Ebico) and I've not had any issues with their billing. Very straightforward, easy to understand, and I know exactly what they believe I owe or am owed.

The only slight difference with their billing compared to some suppliers is that if they bill you based on estimated readings, and then you provide actual readings within a resaonablly short time, they will re-bill you based on those readings. Such re-billing effectively winds the clock back, and they provide an amended bill with no reference to a the estimated bill just issued. It is clearly marked as an amended bill and replaces bill issued ...

Other suppliers will typically issue a new bill that carries forward the balance from the estimated bill, and then corrects mattewrs accordingly.

I'm not sure what approach is simplest to understand
(If you look at British Telecom who use a similar, carry-forward approach for the services they provide, you will understand just how confusing such method can be, although there are examples of other energy suppliers who do so much more clearly)

(I don't really like the SSE online account - I've only just found out where they hide the historical meter readings, and only found that out by accident. But I don't need an online account, and only started that with SSE when they took away the freephone meterline number and replaced it with a charged for telephone number)

matelodave

I understand what they are doing, but I much preferred the online monthly statements that the other suppliers had - the SSE site seems quite crude in comparison and isn't the best to navigate.

As I read my meters and keep my own records it's easy, but not for some people who think they are in credit even after sending in meter readings and then getting an estimated bill which needs to be corrected. They are the ones who get a nasty shock.

As an aside, do SSE muck about with the direct debits if they think you are too far in credt or debit or do they let it sort of run it's course over a decent period? SP used to try and tweak it every quarter which made the credits and debits even lrager than if they'd left it alone.

Autumnella

Looks correct to me. They have probably produced the 2nd bill before taking the payment and will only take the difference on the 11th.

JesseJames_2

Yes, after looking at it last night, I also realise that the starting debit balances are correct, and that the payment for £146.98 on 11th April should have been the only bill to pay.

The payment that went out yesterday should not have went.

Both bills I have do in fact state 'Final' though, and actually state the dates and amounts to be deducted which is incorrect.

Maybe I have jumped the gun, and as others state here, will be adjusted on the 11th then all is actually well.

JesseJames_2

Hengus wrote: »

The question is 'how did you know that you had a debit balance of £77.96'? Debit/credit balances are only correct when a bill(charges) are raised on the day that an actual meter reading was taken.

I did take a dual reading on the 1st March.
Also took a reading the day before the 20th switch date, but one of the fuels was already greyed out, so was unable to do one of them - that's why there were 2 bills 2 days apart I imagine.