British Gas and Economy 7

andymac216

Hi
Unfortunately, I was one of many who found themselves in December 2021 losing my third energy company and being ported to British Gas. It took until Mar to get a bill at their Standard rate which was in the £1000s but I paid thinking it was huge because of the length of time and being on their pre April 22 capped rate. 

About a week ago I examined in closer detail the bill for that period and the second recent bill covering the cap increase and discovered that they had been charging me the capped rate on everything: day rate and night rate (I’m on E7 and had been giving them the 2 rate figures since moving to them). 

The good news is that the recent bill has been cancelled pending a review by them and hopefully money back from the previous bill. 

Several Things fall out from this:
-I wonder how many more people have been overcharged in this way.
-The energy provider of last choice is just that-as soon as the market opens up again then I’m off!
-Does anyone now what the day and night rate on British Gas before the1st April-I want to do the sums.

Regards
Andy

A._Badger

I've posted before about this, following a tense telephone conversation with one of British Gas's harpies, who insisted that BG does not offer Economy 7 to customers who do not use storage radiators. I'm another captive customer who was transferred from Bristol Energy (aka Together) without any say in the matter, who has had Economy 7 for well over a decade and never been refused this tariff before by any previous supplier (and there have been many),

I am still awaiting the letter from BG confirming that this is their position, so that I can lodge an official complaint.  Strangely, BG's bills keep arriving. What a rotten company it is.

Gerry1

She was talking total tosh.

I've never had storage heaters here but I've had E7 and a radio teleswitch for decades. Sometimes I have E7, sometimes single rate depending which way the tariff winds are blowing.

At present I'm with BG on the legendary Zero Fixed Oct 22 tariff with E7 (20.301p/kWh day, 10.793p/kWh night, 0p/day) having jumped ship the moment Symbio went under.

Best kept to written communications: use customerservice@britishgas.co.uk and then customercomplaints@britishgas.co.uk, and of course there's always Royal Mail and ultimately the Ombudsman.

Sterlingtimes

My mother's E7 tariff with E.ON maintains that 2:1 ratio, day:night. Other suppliers may not. The obligation to use storage heaters is a little like Octopus's requirement to use an electric car. Electricity
Day rate	33.15p per kWh
Night rate	16.96p per kWh
Standing charge	48.21p per day

A._Badger

Gerry1 said:

She was talking total tosh.

I've never had storage heaters here but I've had E7 and a radio teleswitch for decades. Sometimes I have E7, sometimes single rate depending which way the tariff winds are blowing.

At present I'm with BG on the legendary Zero Fixed Oct 22 tariff with E7 (20.301p/kWh day, 10.793p/kWh night, 0p/day) having jumped ship the moment Symbio went under.

Best kept to written communications: use customerservice@britishgas.co.uk and then customercomplaints@britishgas.co.uk, and of course there's always Royal Mail and ultimately the Ombudsman.

 'Utter tosh' was pretty much my conclusion too, which was why I was very insistent that they wrote and confirmed it. Which probably explains why I am still waiting for the letter! I'm not entirely sure whether I'd be better off on Economy 7 under their new tariff, which is why I haven't pursued it yet but I will get to it sooner or later. Thanks for the addresses.

Tenbells

British Gas don't have the technology to offer a dual E7 tariff on a smart meter.  I found this out in February when my previous supplier failed and I was transferred to BG.  The day the actual switch took place I lost all power to the E7 circuit in my flat as it it's the meter that controls when it switches on and off, therefore had no heating (I do have storage heaters).  BG customer service is hopeless so I ended up emailing Chris O'Shea the CEO of Centrica.  A couple of days later an engineer came out and swapped out the smart meter for an old style 'dumb' meter and the heating was back on that night.

I really can't comprehend why one company can provide a dual tariff and another can't to the same meter.  BG seem to be in an utterly shambolic state these days.

Tenbells

Forgot to mention, once BG had sorted out the debacle with my meter, I was put on their Welcome Together tariff with a day rate of 23.805p per kWh and night rate of 12.317p per kWh and a standing charge of 22.975p per day, which ended on 31/03/22.

I was in credit with my previous supplier, so once that's been sorted out, like you I'll be looking for another supplier.

A._Badger

Tenbells said:

British Gas don't have the technology to offer a dual E7 tariff on a smart meter.  I found this out in February when my previous supplier failed and I was transferred to BG.  The day the actual switch took place I lost all power to the E7 circuit in my flat as it it's the meter that controls when it switches on and off, therefore had no heating (I do have storage heaters).  BG customer service is hopeless so I ended up emailing Chris O'Shea the CEO of Centrica.  A couple of days later an engineer came out and swapped out the smart meter for an old style 'dumb' meter and the heating was back on that night.

I really can't comprehend why one company can provide a dual tariff and another can't to the same meter.  BG seem to be in an utterly shambolic state these days.

And yet still, despite the sorry state of British Gas, Ofgem, let BG take on new business. Sadly, there never seems to be a reckoning for those responsible for this mess.  

Reed_Richards

From 1997 to 2018 I lived in a house with Economy 7.  At some point my original meter was replaced by an early smart meter with Economy 7.  This house had been heated by oil, then by gas; it never had storage heaters.  The change of tariff was controlled entirely by timing and applied to the entire house.