Help with British gas' billing

Natjas

I have been with British gas since i moved into my property in December 19. I've been paying my bills by direct debit every 11th of the month , however they are saying my next quarterly bill is due on 16th june, but i pay monthly, I've questioned this but they keep telling me my quarterly bill is due on the 16th and i get nowhere. I haven't paid a quarterly one yet and I'm confused as why, could anyone help? 

Petriix

Your monthly payments are not your 'bill'. Each payment is credited to your account and then, when they produce a bill, they work out how much your supply (units of energy plus standing charges) has cost over that period and deduct that from the total of your payments over the period to calculate your balance. 

Make sure that you provide regular readings to ensure that you bills are accurate. I strongly recommend that you switch to a cheaper supplier. Many suppliers do produce monthly bills.

Natjas

Petriix said:

Your monthly payments are not your 'bill'. Each payment is credited to your account and then, when they produce a bill, they work out how much your supply (units of energy plus standing charges) has cost over that period and deduct that from the total of your payments over the period to calculate your balance. 

Make sure that you provide regular readings to ensure that you bills are accurate. I strongly recommend that you switch to a cheaper supplier. Many suppliers do produce monthly bills.

Thank you, will this mean i might be paying twice this month? ( on the 11th and 16th) it all just confuses me, my tariff ends next May,  i will definitely switch 

MWT

You will pay 12 times a year, you will get a bill 4 times a year.

The payments and the bills will not necessarily be on the same day of the month.

Robin9

Are you sure you didn't receive a bill in March - that would have been 3 months since you joined and 3 months till now. You will not have had one through the post but it will be on your on-line account.

Your bill will show info from 3  months ago - how much you were in credit or owed then, the meter reading then (Actual or Estimated) and the payments you have made since then together with the latest meter reading (Actual or Estimated) and the amount you now are in credit or owe.

If you have been giving meter readings the bill due on the 16th  will be quite accurate - if not then it will be a guesstimate. Read your meter TODAY and give it to BG.  PS if you have a Smart meter then the Smart meter isn't the toy in your kitchen but the meter in the garage or meter box. Some modern meters are not easy to read - watch out for the decimal point and if yours has a small keypad press 9

Unless the Smart meter was installed by BG for you then it probably won't be Smart and the system relies on you to take readings - no meter reader will call.

Your bill will also show you if BG have a better tariff of theirs (just BG not anyone else's); their guess of your annual consumption (which may be wildly out - do your own sums) and if they reckon your DD will cover your annual cost. 
Always keep your own records - take photos - keep a simple spreadsheet - look and understand your bills - download what comes electronically.   Do period checks to see if you are on a competitive tariff..
 

Neil_Jones

Natjas said:

I have been with British gas since i moved into my property in December 19. I've been paying my bills by direct debit every 11th of the month , however they are saying my next quarterly bill is due on 16th june, but i pay monthly, I've questioned this but they keep telling me my quarterly bill is due on the 16th and i get nowhere. I haven't paid a quarterly one yet and I'm confused as why, could anyone help? 

Please read up how energy direct debits work:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/lower-energy-direct-debits/

Your direct debit payments are not "bills".

Natjas

Robin9 said:

Are you sure you didn't receive a bill in March - that would have been 3 months since you joined and 3 months till now. You will not have had one through the post but it will be on your on-line account.

Your bill will show info from 3  months ago - how much you were in credit or owed then, the meter reading then (Actual or Estimated) and the payments you have made since then together with the latest meter reading (Actual or Estimated) and the amount you now are in credit or owe.

If you have been giving meter readings the bill due on the 16th  will be quite accurate - if not then it will be a guesstimate. Read your meter TODAY and give it to BG.  PS if you have a Smart meter then the Smart meter isn't the toy in your kitchen but the meter in the garage or meter box. Some modern meters are not easy to read - watch out for the decimal point and if yours has a small keypad press 9

Unless the Smart meter was installed by BG for you then it probably won't be Smart and the system relies on you to take readings - no meter reader will call.

Your bill will also show you if BG have a better tariff of theirs (just BG not anyone else's); their guess of your annual consumption (which may be wildly out - do your own sums) and if they reckon your DD will cover your annual cost. 
Always keep your own records - take photos - keep a simple spreadsheet - look and understand your bills - download what comes electronically.   Do period checks to see if you are on a competitive tariff..
 

Ah right ok, So On my payment page on the British gas app in January  there is an 'energy bill' there is also one in March, i didn't actually realise this because the billing amount didn't come out of my bank account. So this is why I am confused to as if British gas will be taking out money twice when the energy bill is due

There is no information on my meter readings on my account, it says they are unable to receive the data or something. The funny thing about the meter, we actually haven't got  the tablet/display smart metre in the house, i always assumed the previous Tennants took it with them when they left. i never thought it would be outside, i will have to check. I did have an appointment to get one installed but then covid19 happened

On the British Gas app if does gives you an option to input the readings manually,  (after searching on google to so )but this link just leads back to ' your account' So when I go on the web chat to ask them to put it in manually there there they tell me I have a smart metre and that's the end of that. So God knows when the recent meter reading they took was.
I have read all the links people are sending me but I don't understand the difference between payments and billing I am paying for what I am using so what is the quarterly bill for

I am probably over complicating things, but i just don't want british gas taking the !!!!!! out of me

Robin9

The quarterly bill is for information - it may be marked - this is not a request for payment.

What amounts have actually come out of your account ?

An alarm bell - if you didn't know the meter was outside - what reading did you give BG when you moved in ?

Gerry1

Think of your Fixed Monthly Direct Debit as putting money into a jam jar in the kitchen as a kitty.  You top up the jar jar once per month, and once a quarter you go off on a big shopping spree at Harrods to restock the larder and the freezer.

If all goes well there will be enough in the kitty to pay the bill, but if you haven't kept to your diet there won't be enough.  Harrods kindly agree to let you have the goods and to put the shortfall 'on the slate' if you pay off the arrears on the next two quarterly trips, so you agree to put a tenner more into the kitty each month, and another tenner each month because you're eating more than you expected.

Natjas

Robin9 said:

The quarterly bill is for information - it may be marked - this is not a request for payment.

What amounts have actually come out of your account ?

An alarm bell - if you didn't know the meter was outside - what reading did you give BG when you moved in ?

 so the amount  for payments is reasonable all under £50  each month combined for electricity and gas, although the  amount each h month will jump and i think they do not match to my usage
The electricity meter is in my lounge, but there isn't a  lcd smart meter tablet  anywhere. 
This is the meter, after reading online and some comments on here there is no indication for me  to submit a metre reading  and searching the meter model on Google  I cannot find one that looks like this 
I don't know how to use it and reading it, it looks like a prepay meter I could be wrong, i don't want to mess with it yet

Robin9

One of our meter readers will come along and talk you through this.

Describe your property to us please -  semi, flat, new, Victorian, no of beds, . 

£50 for both elec and gas doesn't sound right.
Could you download your latest bill  - blank out the personal info - and post it online so we can see meter readings and payments please?


If you have electricity and gas there will be 2 meters.