Insanely high British Gas bill...

meeshpeesh

Hi guys, I'm freaking out a little and need some insight/help 
I moved out of my parents into my first flat back in October, I'm renting a 2 bed flat with a flatmate and everything has been seamless except for British Gas. 
When I first set it up they got my post code wrong, and kept sending letters demanding payment from an account and meter that wasn't mine. Once I thought I'd fixed that they then tried to bill me for a different flat in the building, they literally changed my account to reflect all of their usage and only once I asked them to double check the meter serial number they had on file did they believe me when I said it wasn't my account details. 
This took 3 months to fix and I thought I finally had it sorted. I gave a meter reading on 28th Dec and finally got a bill from 8th Oct up until then for £90.58. Sound, paid it straight away. Then they took the same amount from my account again 2 weeks later, despite me having already paid it. I managed to get that back and again I thought everything was finally fixed and straight forward.

Cut to today: I submitted a meter reading for January and half of February a few days ago and the bill came through at £347.28. This seems INSANELY high but the meter readings are accurate. I don't know what to do, they're not being helpful and are just saying it's accurate and they'll take the direct debit (if they tried it would likely be declined). I don't know what to do. This is my first time dealing with electricity bill and I've been trying so hard to get it right but I have no idea what's happened to cause it to be this high. We were quoted £56 a month and I have no idea how it has almost doubled as our energy usage has been consistent for the past 4 months. 

JJ_Egan

(We were quoted £56 a month )   as an estimate only .

Can you post meter readings and tariff rates so as the forum can check .

meeshpeesh

Meter Readings: 
11/02/2020 - 26231 (billed £347.28 based on this reading)
28/12/2019 - 25416 (charged £90.58 based on this reading)
08/10/2019 - 23922 (move in date)

Robin9

Something not right here - you used 1494 kWh at a cost of £90.58 and then 815 at a cost of £347.28 ????????????/

meeshpeesh

Exactly this is what I'm so confused about, I'm freaking out and they're being really unhelpful. I have no idea what to do! 

Robin9

Post copies of the relevant bills showing readings and costs - blank out private info  and account numbers

Gerry1

Who read the meter when you moved in, or is it an estimated reading?

What is the kWh rate and what is the standing charge?

Make sure the meter really is supplying just your own flat.  Turn everything off for an hour or two one evening and check that the meter reading doesn't change and the red light never flashes.  Turn everything on, boil a kettle and make sure it clocks up and flashes at a rate of knots.

Robin9

Overall £450 approx. for 2300 units is (ignoring standing charges) is 20p ( highish)

2300 units in 4 months is quite high - what's the heating, showers ?  Showers if electric for the two of you could well cost £1-2 a day.

Are you still on BG's standard tariff - or did you change suppliers after you moved in?

Cardew

The above readings and charges for the first period make no sense!

08/10 to 28/12 is 81 days and 1,494kWh I don't know your tariff but with BG it is approx 20p a day standing charge and 15p/kwh. Using those estimated figures that should be approx £240; so £90.58 is silly.

The overall figure i.e. 8/10 to 11/02 is 126 days and you used 2309kWh.  Using the estimated figures of 20p DSC and 15p/kwh comes to approx £372 so reasonably close to your overall charge.

Actually your charge of £438 for just over 4 months in an all electric flat in mid winter is not particularly high

meeshpeesh

Robin9 said:

Post copies of the relevant bills showing readings and costs - blank out private info  and account numbers

This is all I have:
Just a note that the date of that £90.58 above is wrong, they didn't give me that figure until 28th Dec, after I gave them an updated reading. None of this makes any sense whatsoever

Gerry1 said:

Who read the meter when you moved in, or is it an estimated reading?

What is the kWh rate and what is the standing charge?

Make sure the meter really is supplying just your own flat.  Turn everything off for an hour or two one evening and check that the meter reading doesn't change and the red light never flashes.  Turn everything on, boil a kettle and make sure it clocks up and flashes at at rate of knots.

I was there along with my house mate and the landlord so I know that it's an accurate reading. I'm gonna do a few tests over the weekend to see what uses a lot, we can't get a smart meter either because our flat is 2 floors up from our meter it's 16.883p per kWh apparently.

Robin9 said:

Overall £450 approx. for 2300 units is (ignoring standing charges) is 20p ( highish)

2300 units in 4 months is quite high - what's the heating, showers ?  Showers if electric for the two of you could well cost £1-2 a day.

Are you still on BG's standard tariff - or did you change suppliers after you moved in?

The tarriff is HomeEnergy Fix April 2021 apparently they're gonna collect on or after 25th Feb

Cardew said:

The above readings and charges for the first period make no sense!

08/10 to 28/12 is 81 days and 1,494kWh I don't know your tariff but with BG it is approx 20p a day standing charge and 15p/kwh. Using those estimated figures that should be approx £240; so £90.58 is silly.

The overall figure i.e. 8/10 to 11/02 is 126 days and you used 2309kWh.  Using the estimated figures of 20p DSC and 15p/kwh comes to approx £372 so reasonably close to your overall charge.

Actually your charge of £438 for just over 3 months in an all electric flat in mid winter is not particularly high

I wouldn't mind if it was spread out and I was prepared but to slap me with a huge bill and say it's for a month and a bit is impossible, my cash flow just won't cover it and I have no idea what to do.

Gerry1

You're paying 17.72715p per kWh and a standing charge of 22.2558p/day (inc VAT).

I'm paying 12.11343p per kWh and a standing charge 13.2825p per day.

You're choosing to be well and truly ripped off !