British gas smart meter error massive bill

Sar2478

Hoping someone can help. I had prepayment meters in my house for my electric and then British gas installed smart meter and was working fine. Topping up online or in the shop. I called british gas to say the smart meter monitor wasnt working and could not see how much credit I had left and they said not to worry it will correct itself in a few days and despite various calls it never did. So just kept topping up at the shop. The other month I received a bill address to the occupier saying we owe £165 for the electric in standing charges and also a debt collection agency call out fee. I was very confused as to why we had this bill as was not addressed to myself and we are in prepayment meters.

I have now been landed with an electric bill for £2315.51 for 40 days electric usage. How on earth and why are they sending me these as we dont owe them a thing as on pre payment meters.

I have called umpteen times and no one can help me. I've also complained to British gas and it's been over a month now and still no one has got back to me.

I have now switched to another supplier as I'm sick of all the hassle especially with 3 young children at home.

Just not sure what to do regarding the bill they are sending me as they dont seem to understand we are on a prepayment meter. It's a smart one but doesn't seem to be that smart if we use £2315.51 in 40 days on a prepayment meter.

Thanks for your help

Sar2478

Can anyone help please??

[Deleted User]

Maybe it would help if you went directly to the Landis Gyr smart meter itself to check credit and debit.The In house display is not 100% reliable IMO.
https://sse.co.uk/v3/assets/blt09078e271abddd45/blt43384e452479d29b/5c80d949d723abb34d7a986f/energy-landis+gyr-smart-paygo-quick-start-guide.pdf
This site gives info on how to access the credit/debit screens on the meter itself..eg press and hold button A to enter main menu then press and hold button A to access the credit screen.
Most of the important info displayed on the IHD monitor should be displayed on the L and G smart meter screen
With the standing charges debt appearing on your doorstep it could well be that all your payments have been going to a different account ever since the smart meter was installed..
Standing charges are paid as you credit the prepayment meters whether they are smart or dumb meters..
I have seen this happening quite often as a British Gas meter reader where a new occupier used an old top up smart card or smart key and all their top ups went to another account, or clearing someone else s debts..Rule this out by checking account numbers of your old meter and new smart meter.The account number should remain the same.
If you have switched supplier with a debt to BG it will most probably get refused by BG if the debt is over £500.

D_M_E

Something's not right here - you say you have switched suppliers but BG have sent a massive bill?

If the bill is that large then you would not have been allowed to switch.

Have you checked the account numbers on the bill and on your topups, do they match?

Is the £2000+ bill for your account number or another one?

Have they been charging you business rates for example?

Is it a house or a flat/apartment?

MeterMan

There is a strong possibility that the meters fitted where not 'new' and in fact reconditioned meters. If the installer didnt check the start read and put it through as zero, this could result in an erroneous bill.

stewie_griffin

Do BG fit many reconditioned Smart meters?

[Deleted User]

stewie_griffin wrote: »

Do BG fit many reconditioned Smart meters?

They certainly fit dumb meters which have been used before (not reconditioned ), I have seen thousands of them over the years .I` ve never seen a used smart meter exchanged but there could be plenty about .
BG have been fitting their own smart meters now for about 7 or 8 years and there must be ones coming out of demolished properties too good to bin or from suppliers who want their own version of a smart meter who return them to BG

Sar2478

The switch has gone through and we are with bulb now and they have taken there first payment too.

We had a letter from British gas addressed to the occupier saying sorry your leaving us.

The account on the prepayment meter was in my name and now we had a bill addressed to the occupier for the huge amount and account numbers are different too.

British gas still havent got back to me regarding my complaint and they cant help on the phone either.

I dont want anyone coming round collecting the debt when we was on prepayment meter with British gas.

Our meter is now in credit mode and we are paying a monthly amount to bulb.

It's all very confusing and dont know what to do

Sar2478

We live in a 3 bedroom semi and have lived here for 21 years now

Smart_Energy_GB

Hi Sar2578 - Government has given a formal role to Citizens Advice to monitor & advise it on issues relating to customer experiences and energy supplier service. They may be able to assist you with your enquiry and they can be contacted here: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/get-more-help/if-you-need-more-help-about-a-consumer-issue/