£400 a month for energy?????

Swipe

I've a feeling that's the last we will see of the OP.

RelievedSheff

While you have been with British Gas have you been providing regular meter readings?

This would have helped you to keep track of your energy consumption.

Robin9

RelievedSheff wrote: »

While you have been with British Gas have you been providing regular meter readings?

This would have helped you to keep track of your energy consumption.

In post #1 yvonno says she had a smart meter and there was no requirements to send readings.

This is another sorry story of smart meters resulting in consumers taking their eye off the ball, assuming DD are correct, ignoring their bills and then catching a cold.

victor2

yvonno wrote: »

I just dont believe this can be correct. I moved into a new home in Sept 19 (5 bed bungalow/20 years old/well insulated etc). It is a smart meter installed so have not required to provide readings. The reading on bills match the meters.

Since then I have been paying British Gas £170 per month (£680 so far). I decided to move supplier following a comparison and have been sent an outstanding bill of £936!!! This means that the average monthly charges should have been £400!!!

So in 4 months I will have paid £1616.

Does anyone pay anything like this??? I have emailed a complaint and cancelled my DD going forward as they now want full payment since i'm switching.

Any advice appreciated. Thankyou

BG only review the DD amount every 6 months. If they set it unrealistically low when you moved in, there wouldn't be a review due until this month. Assuming they were receiving the smart meter readings, didn't they produce statements every month showing you were building up a debit balance?

Do check your statements in your online account and see if the readings were "smart meter" or estimated. It may just be that they've accurately recorded your usage, but your DD wasn't high enough, so you're just getting a catch-up bill now you've indicated you're leaving BG.
Your usage does sound a bit high, but maybe you've had the heating on a lot?

Gerry1

If only Ofgem had made Variable Direct Debits the default, none of this confusion would have arisen !

If you were using more than expected, the next monthly bill would soon alert you: it would eliminate the risk of a massive unexpected bill six months or a year later and being blocked from switching suppliers.

Accurate DDS are about the only advantage that smart meters offer consumers, but thanks to dozy Ofgem very few people benefit in this way. :mad:

yvonno

Thanks to all who responded advising what information is useful in working out the charges. I will have a look in more detail tomorrow. I have never had any problems like this previously and certainly not bills of this amount even though I previously lived in a big old house. I will also attempt to call BG again tomorrow to discuss this further.

Stopping the DD will not be an issue as I am more than happy to pay for any actual usage and will do so when this is checked / confirmed.

(Also just to note. It is a choice whether to respond to a post and if a thread irritates someone, its probably best they scroll past. I try to be respectful whether it in real life or online, and expect the same in return).

yvonno

ill need to check but think it was pretty good

yvonno

sevenhills wrote: »

What rating does your new house get on its Energy Performance Certificate?

i need to check this....

Robin9

yvonno wrote: »

……………………..

Stopping the DD will not be an issue as I am more than happy to pay for any actual usage and will do so when this is checked / confirmed.

……………….

There is a financial penalty when you cancel your DD - your tariff will change to the suppliers standard tariff which will be more expensive that what you are paying now.

RelievedSheff

Robin9 wrote: »

In post #1 yvonno says she had a smart meter and there was no requirements to send readings.

This is another sorry story of smart meters resulting in consumers taking their eye off the ball, assuming DD are correct, ignoring their bills and then catching a cold.

Ah, yes. I missed that bit.

Sounds like the OP has not been checking their useage against what they have been paying and assuming that because they are on smart meters it will all sort itself out.

This is another example of why you should always check your account on a regular basis to check that what you are paying is actually covering what you are using.