British Gas Overcharging

COLINHAL

Hi there. New to this forum, but feeling like Mr Angry just now.

I have been a duel fuel customer with Brit Gas for many years. My Fixed Rate expired in Dec 2021 and I was moved to their Variable Standard Rate.

On 25th Feb I received an email from British Gas advising my new Variable Rate prices wef 1st April. This included Daily Standing Charge for Electricity of 49.647p per day.

I raised a complaint with British Gas stating that they cannot charge more than the Capped Price of 45p per day as stated of the OFGEM website. British Gas have responded saying that although they are regulated by OFGEM they cannot change company policy and effectively they are rejecting my complaint, and the price of 49.647p per day will stand.

Has anyone else encountered this with Britsh Gas or any other supplier?

Is there anything I can do to get Brit Gas to adhere to OFGEM capped prices?

I look forward to any responses you can give me.

Thank you.

QrizB

Welcome to the forum.

The Ofgem cap varies by region. You'll find a table with the regional variations at the link in my signature. The prices in the table are rounded to improve readability.

I guess you're in South Scotland?

COLINHAL

Ok. Thanks to QrizB for explanation and table of regional variations.

The whole thing is a farce.

The "Capped Price" as quoted on OFGEM website means nothing !!

RogerBareford

COLINHAL said:

Ok. Thanks to QrizB for explanation and table of regional variations.

The whole thing is a farce.

The "Capped Price" as quoted on OFGEM website means nothing !!

Where are you looking on the OFGEM website?

The table on this page for example: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/check-if-energy-price-cap-affects-you

is titled "Average price cap unit rates Customer with typical usage, paying by direct debit*"

underneath says "*Rates are averages and will vary by region, payment method and meter type. Contact your supplier for personalised information."

So seems pretty clear to me.

Aylesbury_Duck

COLINHAL said:

Ok. Thanks to QrizB for explanation and table of regional variations.

The whole thing is a farce.

The "Capped Price" as quoted on OFGEM website means nothing !!

Well it doesn't if you don't read it fully, or don't understand it.

What's farcical about it?  You're a customer in a market in which the products are in high demand and have uncertain supply and pricing.  You're fortunate there's a cap in effect because without it, you'd be paying even more.

grahamcole23

I too was going to raise this concern as I was transferred to British Gas, which has been a complete debacle tbh.  However I have recently about their low rate fixed tariff which is actually 36p per kwh, which is clearly them trying to cash in on the October price hike ahead of time.  They warn that if I don't act soon I would be switched to their standard variable tariff.

I to noticed that my price per kwh is 1.48p above the Ofgem quoted cap and I take onboard what others have mentioned in this thread regarding regional variations.   So I have two questions:

1. If the regional variation for my area (East Sussex) is indeed 29.48p per day where is this information published on the Ofgem website?
2. I also note that the tariff I am on (Welcome to British Gas) and the Standard Variable are the same, so the suggestion to switch is clearly them trying to dupe me into paying them more money now or from July onwards when my tariff runs out.  Why won't they let me switch to the standard variable right now, via their website or app?  They don't offer this as an option, and not that I am likely to convince them the price they are charging doesn't match that of Ofgems' but it's worth mentioning.

pochase

grahamcole23 said:

I too was going to raise this concern as I was transferred to British Gas, which has been a complete debacle tbh.  However I have recently about their low rate fixed tariff which is actually 36p per kwh, which is clearly them trying to cash in on the October price hike ahead of time.  They warn that if I don't act soon I would be switched to their standard variable tariff.

I to noticed that my price per kwh is 1.48p above the Ofgem quoted cap and I take onboard what others have mentioned in this thread regarding regional variations.   So I have two questions:

1. If the regional variation for my area (East Sussex) is indeed 29.48p per day where is this information published on the Ofgem website?
2. I also note that the tariff I am on (Welcome to British Gas) and the Standard Variable are the same, so the suggestion to switch is clearly them trying to dupe me into paying them more money now or from July onwards when my tariff runs out.  Why won't they let me switch to the standard variable right now, via their website or app?  They don't offer this as an option, and not that I am likely to convince them the price they are charging doesn't match that of Ofgems' but it's worth mentioning.

You can find the EDF prices for the different regions here.

See the above link to OFGEM where they state

*Rates are averages and will vary by region, payment method and meter type. Contact your supplier for personalised information.

The Welcome tariff and the SVT are identical and you will be switched automatically to SVT, so no need to do anything now. Why would you want to change if the only difference is the name.

For the fixed tariff they offered you it is up to you if you think you will benefit from it, most people will doubt it for 0.36p for electricity, but it is a legitim offer. Once we know the new CAP of course they will not offer to you any longer, so it is a gamble, either they win or you do. 

grahamcole23

pochase said:

grahamcole23 said:

I too was going to raise this concern as I was transferred to British Gas, which has been a complete debacle tbh.  However I have recently about their low rate fixed tariff which is actually 36p per kwh, which is clearly them trying to cash in on the October price hike ahead of time.  They warn that if I don't act soon I would be switched to their standard variable tariff.

I to noticed that my price per kwh is 1.48p above the Ofgem quoted cap and I take onboard what others have mentioned in this thread regarding regional variations.   So I have two questions:

1. If the regional variation for my area (East Sussex) is indeed 29.48p per day where is this information published on the Ofgem website?
2. I also note that the tariff I am on (Welcome to British Gas) and the Standard Variable are the same, so the suggestion to switch is clearly them trying to dupe me into paying them more money now or from July onwards when my tariff runs out.  Why won't they let me switch to the standard variable right now, via their website or app?  They don't offer this as an option, and not that I am likely to convince them the price they are charging doesn't match that of Ofgems' but it's worth mentioning.

See the above link to OFGEM where they state

*Rates are averages and will vary by region, payment method and meter type. Contact your supplier for personalised information.

The Welcome tariff and the SVT are identical and you will be switched automatically to SVT, so no need to do anything now. Why would you want to change if the only difference is the name.

For the fixed tariff they offered you it is up to you if you think you will benefit from it, most people will doubt it for 0.36p for electricity, but it is a legitim offer. Once we know the new CAP of course they will not offer to you any longer, so it is a gamble, either they win or you do. 

@pochase thank you for the information.  The switch wasn't anything more than rhetorical but getting to the bottom of why the SVT is higher than the cap set by Ofgem was the goal.  The EDF cap states this to be 29.49 instead of 29.48, so I'm a winner!!

MWT

grahamcole23 said:

1. If the regional variation for my area (East Sussex) is indeed 29.48p per day where is this information published on the Ofgem website?

Full details are published here: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/default-tariff-cap-level-1-april-2022-30-september-2022

It is set out in intricate detail which is why you tend to see news reports condense it down to average numbers, but it is all there on the spreadsheet at the link above...