Early tariff change

SheenaLouise

I have attached two screen shots. 1 is part of the email I received after being moved to BG when Neon Reef went under. It shows my tariff and is self explanatory. 2 is the screenshot on my account via the BG app as of today 27 Mar 2022. 3 is the refund of the c£190 bill I have previously paid under my existing rate. The misc payment of c£165 was carried over from NR.

1. Can they raise my rate or is it fixed until August as stated?

2. Why have I received a refund? 

3. Why have my tariff details changed already & will I be billed at the higher rate now for the electricity already used?

4. I'm resigned to having to pay for the extra electricity charges but I don't understand why my standing rate has doubled.  Surely they can't do this?  I'm paying by card every month, not cash or cheque as I'm not prepared to have BG increase my direct debit at will. I'm also in credit by a considerable sum.

MWT

Two links to help answer those questions...

Firstly on the tariff change, it was listed as a variable tariff with a guaranteed date until recently when it was 'corrected' to remove the guaranteed date...

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6332329/british-gas-removes-guarantee-dates-from-solr-tariffs/p1

On the electricity standing charge...

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6339555/mse-update-why-is-the-standing-charge-for-electricity-nearly-doubling-from-1-april#lates

The new tariff will apply to usage form 1st April, and the credit is the reversal of your first bill, which is why you have such a large credit at the moment, that will reduce once they re-bill from the correct date (the date they took over as SoLR)

Gerry1

• Your rate will increase on 1 April to the new cap levels.  BG messed it up by giving a Price Guaranteed date, and they've since corrected this.  It's been discussed at length in other threads on this forum.
• The middle photo shows the new rates from 1 April.  Presumably you are in the South West, the most expensive area?  The reason for the increase is explained in the sticky at the top of the Energy forum.
• You're choosing to pay the highest possible Standing Charge: paying by card is at the Cash/Cheque rate.  It would be about 51.62p/day with DD.  The new capped rates will be virtually identical to EDF's (apart from E7 electricity which may vary).  You can check the exact rates at BG All Tariffs.
• Pay by Variable Direct Debit if you don't want BG to increase your DD at will, although bills will be higher in winter and lower in summer.

QrizB

I don't think this question has been answered:

SheenaLouise said:

2. Why have I received a refund?

You haven't received a refund, not exactly. BG cancelled your £190.16 January bill for some reason, so undid the debit from your account.

I'm also in credit by a considerable sum.

Well yes and no. Your account is in credit but you've not been billed for a while. You won't know if you're actually in credit or not until you get a BG bill.