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British Gas overcharging?
Comments
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Sorry I wasn't clear. As mentioned in other posts we got Avron through Money Saving Expert, and actual consumption. Last night I did a quick British Gas quote finder thing, and did a quick estimate based on room size etc. and BG said £97 per month guestimate. Really just to get an idea of what BG are charging now. I'm shocked at the discrpancy between BG & Avro figures of £97 & & £88per month, and BG's actual charge over the years of £250 per month.Contact Avro and ask them for the Estimated Annual Consumption (EAC) for electricity and the Annual Quantity (AQ) for gas for your Mother's property. This is the historical usage data held by the data collectors for all Uk properties. These figures will give you some indication as to whether, or not, your Mother is paying Avro enough for her energy.
In saying the above, I assume that you provided Avro with actual meter readings on transfer? These readings are passed to the data collectors for validation before they are used to open and close accounts. You need to check the readings used to open the Avro account are close to what is showing on the actual meters. Previous bills based on estimates can affect the opening reading validation process.0 -
Yes, I'm very surprised at the discrpancy between BG & Avro figures of £97 & £88per month, and BG's actual charge over the years of £250 per month. But that's a good point, maybe she had the homecare with it, but I think she did have it then stopped. I'll ask her.Suppliers now all have to indicate on their bills that "cheaper tariffs may be available " or words to that effect , but its well hidden on the billing. Its an OFGEM rule.
Coming down from a huge £250 a month to £85 tho just does nt add up. Something must be amiss on the figures. At a guess I d say the maximum difference between BG s standard/variable rates and Avons fixed yearly rates would nt be anywhere near that amount.
You have done the right thing in getting Mum to stop wasting money on gas/electric bills which are the biggest yearly expense. Most of my quarterly meter reading rounds appears to be with OAPs reluctant to change
Stick with it and do the same with the other yearly bills such as home insurance .
Was your Mum receiving BGs central heating Homecare alongside energy bills ?
It's been so frustrating, she's probably spend about £10k more than she needed to over the last 10 years.
I'm assuming ofgem don't get involved with this as BG will say they let her know, even if it was small print?0 -
They will owe your Mum a pretty penny then when you switch. She would have built up a hefty credit balance. I did nt mind my suppliers in the past keeping a large amount of my money in their bank, because my bank was nt giving more than 0.25 % but now I wont let it build up to more than £400 coming into the high gas usage months Nov to April.0
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They have already offered a refund, and it's not a lot, and I think it's because the meter reading and usage it correct, but she's been on an old, unchanged tariff. As in previous posts, they may have put it on their bills - cheaper tariffs are availiable, albeit in the small print, but she's either not seen it or not understood.They will owe your Mum a pretty penny then when you switch. She would have built up a hefty credit balance. I did nt mind my suppliers in the past keeping a large amount of my money in their bank, because my bank was nt giving more than 0.25 % but now I wont let it build up to more than £400 coming into the high gas usage months Nov to April.
I'm assuming ofgem can't do anything about this, or the obudsman? They will say it's her fault for not seeing or understanding it?0 -
Yes, I'm very surprised at the discrpancy between BG & Avro figures of £97 & £88per month, and BG's actual charge over the years of £250 per month.?
Janeybo - you seemed to have missed the point that is being made - do not use number of bedrooms as a guide - use actual consumption in kwh.
The difference between £97 and £88 really is insignificant when you say the actuals have been £250.
I assume you own utilities are in order - if so do the same room number exercise and see what that says.
Have you actually had the Final Bill from BG following your swop ? Was it in credit.
PS Don't forget those monthly readings !!!!!!!!!!!Never pay on an estimated bill. Always read and understand your bill0 -
Sorry I wasn't clear. As mentioned in other posts we got Avron through Money Saving Expert, and actual consumption. Last night I did a quick British Gas quote finder thing, and did a quick estimate based on room size etc. and BG said £97 per month guestimate. Really just to get an idea of what BG are charging now. I'm shocked at the discrpancy between BG & Avro figures of £97 & & £88per month, and BG's actual charge over the years of £250 per month.
You seem to be getting confused between estimated usage and actual usage. If your using an online calculator from British Gas they are guessing how much the yearly usage may be. This figure will nowhere near be accurate as there will be a big difference between someone living in a 3 bedroom house with an efficient heating system who only has it on a few hours per evening compared to a person who is home all the time with an inefficient heating system on 24/7 for example.
So just forget the £97 a month estimate from British Gas as it's not relevant.
All you need to do is look at actual past usage and make sure all the bills are based on actual readings and look at the tariff your mother was on to make sure everything was correct.
If all the bills are correct then there is nothing you can do as your mother was happy being on that tariff all that time and paying that amount.0 -
I think you may not be reading the previous posts, that's ok, it's not your job!Janeybo - you seemed to have missed the point that is being made - do not use number of bedrooms as a guide - use actual consumption in kwh.
The difference between £97 and £88 really is insignificant when you say the actuals have been £250.
I assume you own utilities are in order - if so do the same room number exercise and see what that says.
The point is annually we review our utilies via Money Saving Expert. my mum doesn't. I have eventually persuaded her to. In doing this we have submitted again consumption. The calculations for my mum and Avro are not based on rooms.
I'm really not missing the point.
I'm looking at the very big amount of £250. I think this is due to being for years, since my dad died on an old tarriff. She has been very fearful of changing and I think she has just paid the price for that. As someone else has mentioned, it's the oap's who tend to be the ones staying on high tarrifs.0 -
I've just done a swop exercise from BG to Avro - I don't have your Mum's consumption but assume 45000 kwh for Gas and 5000 kwh for Elec
On BG Standard that gives £237 a month
On Avro Simple and Autumn Saver £202 a month.
So where does the Avro £88 come from.
What are you Mum's actual figures ?Never pay on an estimated bill. Always read and understand your bill0 -
She doesn't live with us, so I don't have all her past bills to hand, seeing her in the next couple of days. I gave her all her paperwork back, wish I'd kept them so they are ready to hand.I've just done a swop exercise from BG to Avro - I don't have your Mum's consumption but assume 45000 kwh for Gas and 5000 kwh for Elec
On BG Standard that gives £237 a month
On Avro Simple and Autumn Saver £202 a month.
So where does the Avro £88 come from.
What are you Mum's actual figures ?
Meant to add, looking at your figures they were no where near your consumption!0 -
( As someone else has mentioned, it's the oap's who tend to be the ones staying on high tarrifs.)
Nope plenty of OAPs on here who swap .
Plenty of younger who do not have a clue nor swap .
Plenty of older people who do not understand and nobody helps them .Or take a look a good few years layer and expect somebody else to pay .
I wouls check if been paying for another service like boiler care . My guess is been on standard BG tariff /0
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