Can I dispute my electricity bill?

Benjj

I have been with British Gas for my gas and electricity supply for over a year now, and more recently have been told I owe them a lot of money and my electricity account is in debit. As a result, they originally informed me my new direct debit would be £160, to which I phoned them, said no and agreed a lesser amount. It seems that the reason for the debit and the reason they were predicting my energy use to be so high was due to a freak period last year. According to their records, I used more in a two month period than I normally use in a whole year!

I have since had a smart meter installed and my usage has remained settled back down to its usual amount but the debt is still on the account, and they have recently increased my dd to £156 per month (electricity alone) without informing me!

I simply cannot see how I used that much electricity over such a short period of time, especially as I was on holiday for two weeks of it. Is there anyway I can dispute this or any arguments I can make, what could have possibly caused such a spike in usage/meter reading? I have tried to attached a picture of the graph of my usage, but couldn't work out how to do it:embarasse

Any thoughts would be very welcome

Neil_Jones

And this is why you should have been providing regular meter readings. Without providing them providers will have no option but to guess and will often be way out.

Your usage with the smart meter probably hasn't changed from the old meter, its just they get sent automatically as opposed to your sending them or the supplier having to guess.

Consumerist

Benjj wrote: »

. . . Any thoughts would be very welcome

You will need to rely on your past statements and the record of your meter readings.

Have your statements been based on your meter readings or have they been estimated? Estimated readings are often a cause of incorrect bills.

Did you make a note of the meter readings of both meters at the change-over - are these readings consistent with your statements?

Cardew

Benjj wrote: »

they have recently increased my dd to £156 per month (electricity alone) without informing me!

An energy company must not increase a DD without giving notice to the customer; and it would be most unusual for this the happen.


https://www.britishgas.co.uk/help-and-support/bills-and-payments/gas-and-electricity/faq/whats-the-direct-debit-guarantee

If there are any changes to the amount, date or frequency of your Direct Debit, British Gas Trading Limited will notify you 10 working days in advance of your account being debited or as otherwise agreed.

Usually this notice is on a normal bill, and can be missed.

lopsyfa

Benjj wrote: »

It seems that the reason for the debit and the reason they were predicting my energy use to be so high was due to a freak period last year. According to their records, I used more in a two month period than I normally use in a whole year!

Did this brief period coincide with the beast from the east last year? Electric heating can be expensive. To dispute this, you need to base it on the actual readings from your meter.

texter

Benjj wrote: »

I have been with British Gas for my gas and electricity supply for over a year now, and more recently have been told I owe them a lot of money and my electricity account is in debit. As a result, they originally informed me my new direct debit would be £160, to which I phoned them, said no and agreed a lesser amount. It seems that the reason for the debit and the reason they were predicting my energy use to be so high was due to a freak period last year. According to their records, I used more in a two month period than I normally use in a whole year!

I have since had a smart meter installed and my usage has remained settled back down to its usual amount but the debt is still on the account, and they have recently increased my dd to £156 per month (electricity alone) without informing me!

I simply cannot see how I used that much electricity over such a short period of time, especially as I was on holiday for two weeks of it. Is there anyway I can dispute this or any arguments I can make, what could have possibly caused such a spike in usage/meter reading? I have tried to attached a picture of the graph of my usage, but couldn't work out how to do it:embarasse

Any thoughts would be very welcome

Can you dispute the bill?
Of course. Follow the suppliers complaint procedure.

You can have the meter checked for accuracy. A charge will apply, but that will be refunded if the meter is proven to be faulty as a result of the check.

spiro

texter wrote: »

You can have the meter checked for accuracy. A charge will apply, but that will be refunded if the meter is proven to be faulty as a result of the check.

No they can't they had a meter exchange since the issue occured.