Extortionate Final Bill / Direct Debit too low

aimeeclaird

I have recently completed a switch to EoN from British Gas.

For context, I live in a new build property alone. I moved in last year, and British Gas were the provider assigned on the site.

I have paid a direct debit every month, which increased slightly at the beginning of the year.

In March 2018 I noticed 2 payments had been taken randomly in the middle of the month that totalled +£300. I contact British Gas via their online chat facility, where they confirmed this was a mistake and advised I seek an indemnity claim from my bank. The claim was processed and a refund received.

Today, I've had 3 more charges taken from my account (I have now switched providers). These 3 charges total +£500. After 3 hours on the live chat, British Gas are now claiming that the direct debit I was paying was too low based on my usage when they closed the account and that I owe £560.

I am outraged. If I wasn't paying enough, why didn't they tell me that over the 18 months I was paying my direct debit? Can they just take £500 from me now that my account is closed, and after they have previously said the charges were erroneous? (I have the live chat transcripts).

I can't afford to pay my new energy provider, AND pay for energy used over a year ago that British Gas are now claiming I owe?

Advise appreciated!!

molerat

Did you supply accurate monthly readings ?
Did they regular bill you and did you check those bills ?

aimeeclaird

I had a smart meter installed within a few months of living at the property, and prior to that provided the meter reading when requested.

Edit* I didn't receive bills via post/email but did review my account on their app. There was no warning of them under billing etc.

Robin9

Let's go back to the beginning..

So when you moved in you rang BG and gave them your meter readings (is this both Gas and Elec). Did you do anything else because if not you would have been on their standard (ie expensive) tariff.

On what basis was the DD set at - your estimate of consumption, theirs, number of rooms ? What was it ?

Did you read your meter every month and received monthly bills ? Did you read them and monitor the bottom line ie were you in debit or credit ?

When you swopped to Eon what estimate of consumption did you give them ?

what was your total consumption with BG (in kwh not £)

PS i see you've got two thread running on the same subject - stick to one please

PennineAcute

This is where energy compaies are their own worst enemy. With having smart meters, there is no excuse for this happening.

I would be making a formal complaint and not letting it drop until until you have a satisfactory result.

aimeeclaird

Robin9 wrote: »

Let's go back to the beginning..

So when you moved in you rang BG and gave them your meter readings (is this both Gas and Elec). Did you do anything else because if not you would have been on their standard (ie expensive) tariff.

On what basis was the DD set at - your estimate of consumption, theirs, number of rooms ? What was it ?

Did you read your meter every month and received monthly bills ? Did you read them and monitor the bottom line ie were you in debit or credit ?

When you swopped to Eon what estimate of consumption did you give them ?

what was your total consumption with BG (in kwh not £)

PS i see you've got two thread running on the same subject - stick to one please

Yes, I recall giving the original meter readings and selecting the appropriate fixed tariff from the website. The tariff was set based on the age and size of the property I think. Below is a copy of my transactions. I must admit I did not closely monitor - lesson learnt!!

With Eon, I provided my usage from my BG account. Eon has set my DD at £48.

Regarding usage, they have provided this information today during the live chat.
"you've used a total 11958.27 kWh gas and 1186.52 kWh electricity between the period from 17 June 2018 to 16 June 2019."

Apologies for the duplicated thread, it's my first time posting. I hope I've responding correctly this time? Please let me know if not!!

Update: BG issued my first bill 8th Aug 2017 for £32 gas, £38 electricity. (Covering 31st May - 7 Aug)
They then issued the 2nd bill on 8th Dec for only electricity (£68!!!) Quoting the adviser just now, "This bill doesn't include your gas usage, probably the smart meter didn't send us the reading for gas and only electricity bill was sent to you."

Then on the 15th Feb, We have issued your another bill on 15 Feb 2019 which of £338.07 gas and 69.48 electricity (8 Aug 2018 to 14 Feb 2019 for gas)!!

The latest question is whether I have used approx. £56 of gas per month. Which I don't believe I have!! I rarely have the heating on, when I do it is set to a temp (normally 17 degrees ish) and then goes off when it reaches temp. I the only other gas usage is from my hob. Which is used on average 2.5 hours per week - maximum).

Robin9

Could you read your meters please ? Take care some of the modern meters are not easy to read - sometimes you have to press button 9

Some other checks - look at your bills and the meter details - are they the same as on the meter.

Is there by the meter a card left by the meter installer - this will give the meter readings of the new and old meters - check against your bill.



Your Smart meter will have read 00000 when new

The electricity annual consumption of 1186.52 kwh sounds about right but the gas of 11958.27 kwh isn't.

matelodave

Unfortunately this is the main complaint that comes up on this forum time and time again, underpaying for energy because the direct debit was set too low and the final bill is several hundred ££'s in debit.

As said above you really do need to read your meters (even if they are smart) and check that the reading on your bills/monthly statement/on-line account are using the actual meter readings rather than estimates (look for an E next to the meter readings).

Many suppliers are still estimating or not reconciling the accounts more than once or twice a year meaning that bills aren't always reflecting the actual status of the account.

I had a smart meter with SSE but although they had the smart meter data, they only updated the online account and billed once a quarter.

The average energy consumption for an average house with an average family is around 12,500kwh of gas per year and 3500kwh of leccy so your figures don't look ever so wrong (although only 1200kwh of leccy is a bit low and your gas might be a bit high if its a new build and you dont use the heating much).

You should be able to work out your annual consumption based on meter readings rather than BG estimates - do as Robin suggest, read your meter now, take away the original reading and that will tell you exactly how much energy you've used.

Multiply it by the tariff rate and add the standing charge for the appropriate number of days and you'll be able to work out how much your consumption should cost. Then work out how many DD payments you've made to establish how much you've paid and the difference is what you owe.

Your Eon DD of £48 looks a bit low = less than £600 a year so I'd suggest you have go at recalculating what you think you should be paying based on actual figures rather than BG estimates.

You really do need to monitor your consumption yourself and check your bills carefully to ensure that your direct debit is sufficient. Don't rely on the energy company to get it right

thorganby

BG has installed more smart meters than any other supplier, this should never happen and is inexcusable.

The terms of all energy suppliers supply license should not allow estimated billing if a smart meter is fitted.

The water industry has been billing on actual metered usage for decades with no problem.

In this case of a new property there will be no historical data held on the national database, so billing on actual usage is the only sensible option.

Customers should be billed on actual usage by default and given the option to even out their DD payments over the year if they choose that option.

We should all refuse smart meters until the useless quango called Ofgem sorts out this ongoing farce that is wasting us all time and money.

When did Ofgem last do anything that benefited customers!

Every time that they interfere we all end up worse off due to their pathetic meddling.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

aimeeclaird wrote: »

I have recently completed a switch to EoN from British Gas.

For context, I live in a new build property alone. I moved in last year, and British Gas were the provider assigned on the site.

I have paid a direct debit every month, which increased slightly at the beginning of the year.

In March 2018 I noticed 2 payments had been taken randomly in the middle of the month that totalled +£300. I contact British Gas via their online chat facility, where they confirmed this was a mistake and advised I seek an indemnity claim from my bank. The claim was processed and a refund received.

Today, I've had 3 more charges taken from my account (I have now switched providers). These 3 charges total +£500. After 3 hours on the live chat, British Gas are now claiming that the direct debit I was paying was too low based on my usage when they closed the account and that I owe £560.

I am outraged. If I wasn't paying enough, why didn't they tell me that over the 18 months I was paying my direct debit? Can they just take £500 from me now that my account is closed, and after they have previously said the charges were erroneous? (I have the live chat transcripts).

I can't afford to pay my new energy provider, AND pay for energy used over a year ago that British Gas are now claiming I owe?

Advise appreciated!!

aimeeclaird wrote: »

I had a smart meter installed within a few months of living at the property, and prior to that provided the meter reading when requested.

Edit* I didn't receive bills via post/email but did review my account on their app. There was no warning of them under billing etc.

aimeeclaird wrote: »

Yes, I recall giving the original meter readings and selecting the appropriate fixed tariff from the website. The tariff was set based on the age and size of the property I think. Below is a copy of my transactions. I must admit I did not closely monitor - lesson learnt!!

With Eon, I provided my usage from my BG account. Eon has set my DD at £48.

Regarding usage, they have provided this information today during the live chat.
"you've used a total 11958.27 kWh gas and 1186.52 kWh electricity between the period from 17 June 2018 to 16 June 2019."

Apologies for the duplicated thread, it's my first time posting. I hope I've responding correctly this time? Please let me know if not!!

Update: BG issued my first bill 8th Aug 2017 for £32 gas, £38 electricity. (Covering 31st May - 7 Aug)
They then issued the 2nd bill on 8th Dec for only electricity (£68!!!) Quoting the adviser just now, "This bill doesn't include your gas usage, probably the smart meter didn't send us the reading for gas and only electricity bill was sent to you."

Then on the 15th Feb, We have issued your another bill on 15 Feb 2019 which of £338.07 gas and 69.48 electricity (8 Aug 2018 to 14 Feb 2019 for gas)!!

The latest question is whether I have used approx. £56 of gas per month. Which I don't believe I have!! I rarely have the heating on, when I do it is set to a temp (normally 17 degrees ish) and then goes off when it reaches temp. I the only other gas usage is from my hob. Which is used on average 2.5 hours per week - maximum).

Hello aimeeclaird and many thanks for joining us.

Just a quick heads up. We'll have sent the meter readings we've used to open your account to British Gas. Check they use the same readings on their final bill. This will make sure you're only billed once for the same energy.

As matelodave says, keep an eye on your Monthly Direct Debit. Make sure it's covering the ongoing usage. If you've registered with our website, there's an online tool to help with this.

The Direct Debit Manager lets you check the payments are covering your usage. You can also alter the monthly amounts if you're building up too much credit or debit. Pop in readings and you can alter payments by up to 20 per cent up or down. By up to 5 per cent up or down without readings.

Hope this is of interest aimeeclaird. Let me know if you need any more advice as happy to help.

Malc

dogshome

So the meter change to a Smart meter was for the Gas - For this to be done you should already have a Smart Elec meter


When meters are changed, the fitter should leave a label on the new meter showing the Date & it's Reading when fitted, together with the Reading on the old meter as it was removed - Do those readings match up to those on the bill?