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Help with British gas' billing

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  • Gerry1
    Gerry1 Posts: 10,848 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 9 June 2020 at 10:58AM
    You didn't search very well !  Here's the info.  It can be set to operate in pre-pay or credit mode.
  • Robin9
    Robin9 Posts: 12,776 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    From the E470 Manual
    9.6 Active Rate Display
    When the meter is in Credit mode the meter may be configured to show an active rate display as a default display. The display will automatically show the active rate register number and the present reading for the register. 
    R1          00000.00
    Watch out for the decimal point
     
    Never pay on an estimated bill. Always read and understand your bill
  • Talldave
    Talldave Posts: 2,002 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Natjas said:

    .... 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
    Can you elaborate on your text that I have bolded.  How do you know that?

  • MWT
    MWT Posts: 10,210 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Fifth Anniversary Name Dropper
    Natjas said:
    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
    Look at the two bills and see what it says in the section for meter readings, it will be near where it shows how much gas/electric they believe you have consumed.
    Specifically you are looking to see if the readings were estimates (E) or if they are actual readings...
    Your best hope at this point is that the smart meter is active and BG have got actual readings from it, but even so I can't imagine that £50 a month over the winter has been covering your usuage so do look closely at those bills to see if they are carrying a balance forward...

  • Petriix
    Petriix Posts: 2,296 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    I'm not sure why people keep saying that £50 per month is too low. It's entirely possible that your usage is close to that; but ultimately your 'bill' will tell you.

    As we all keep trying to explain, your direct debit gets paid into you 'account' and your 'bill' tells you how much you have actually consumed and reconciles this with what's in your 'account' leaving you with either a credit or debit 'balance'. At this point they will amend your direct debit amount so that your 'balance' will be close to zero for your next 'bill'.

    If your 'balance' is in significant credit then you can (and should) request that this is refunded. If it is in debit, you can make a one-off payment to clear this.

    Importantly you need to ensure that all your bills are based on actual readings. If they haven't been asking you to provide these then there is a good chance that they are getting them directly from your smart meter. The 'tablet' that you refer to is not the smart meter but what's called an In House Display and of no relevance (it is supposed to show you your usage, but they are notoriously inaccurate and unreliable so you're not missing anything important). Do as the other posters have said and check your previous bills to ensure that none of the readings have (E) next to them as this would imply estimated readings which will lead to inaccurate bills.
  • Robin9
    Robin9 Posts: 12,776 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Natjas said:


     
    Natjas - Could you post another copy without the bit you have blanked out un-blanked please.

    If this is the first screen you see then the numbers after the word TOT may be the total consumption to date in the format 12345.67 with the letters kwh

    Have you found the gas meter yet ?    Remember when you read that  its in m3 not kwh (the supplier wants m3 as the reading)
    Never pay on an estimated bill. Always read and understand your bill
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