Faulty Meter query

mbaxter81

Apologies for the lengthy message but I want to challenge the treatment my parents have received from British Gas.
To summarise, they were notified that their direct debit was being increased from £54.37 monthly to £185.67 from 1 Jan. After checking their online account, I discovered that due to a faulty smart meter (which my parents reported & was replaced in August), they had been billed £522 in electricity only between 8 July to 22 August. The meter was replaced on 23 August & readings have returned to ‘normal’.
Consequently, my parents have been plunged into hundreds of pounds in debit after always being comfortably in credit. 

They spent 3 hours trying to resolve this with BG yesterday, but they have informed them it is my parents responsibility to monitor meter readings (what is the point of having a smart meter?) & despite acknowledging the faulty meter take no responsibility for errors in the bill. They have not only made my parents pay the debit in full (over £300) but also significantly increased their monthly direct debit.
How can this be fair treatment? My parents are in their mid-70’s and this has left them incredibly distressed.
They are on an online fixed tariff but can, and will move, elsewhere in Feb 2022.
A complaint has been lodged with British Gas but I want to take this further.
Any advice would be most appreciated.
Thanks!

Robin9

Wait till you get a reply to your complaint (hopefully made in writing and signed by the bill holder not you)

Expect £25

So the meter was only faulty between  8 |July and 22 Aug ???

Are also saying that the DD was £54 for both electricity and gas. That seems very low - I would have expected a lot more unless they are very low users.  Sounds like BG are playing catch up with their bills

QrizB

mbaxter81 said:

Any advice would be most appreciated.

Thanks!

It would be helpful if you could share the relevant meter readings and tariff details that BG have used when calculating the bill.

MWT

QrizB said:

mbaxter81 said:

Any advice would be most appreciated.

Thanks!

It would be helpful if you could share the relevant meter readings and tariff details that BG have used when calculating the bill.

Agreed, it isn't possible to offer much by way of direction on this without the details of both the meter readings and the nature of the fault.

 

Gerry1

Looks like we've all been wasting our time.  The OP was last active one minute after posting.