British Gas - "you're not paying enough" ?

imogen70

Hi all,

Could really use some help and advice here as I am completely lost! I am not very literate in energy/gas bills, as before the energy crisis, we were just paying a fixed amount every month which obviously was quite easy to understand.

My supplier, Bristol Energy, went bust last year so we were moved to British Gas. Like everyone else, our energy bills rose - kick in the teeth, but whatever, fine. But I just logged onto the BG website yesterday and it says "you're not paying enough". Apparently our "end of plan balance" is nearly £700.

Now first of all, I don't even know when our "end of plan" is - it says we can find it on our bill, but I can't find a bill on the website. We move out of this property at the end of June so I don't know if that's when our end of plan is, or what. Secondly, I have no idea where they've gotten this figure from, or what it's supposed to represent.

They're kindly suggesting that we start paying nearly £300 a month to "stay on track" - are they smoking crack???

I really have no idea what to do here - £700 is money we don't have and I've just got absolutely zero clue how they've calculated this figure. And I can't get through to them on the phone.

Any advice or help would be really appreciated as this has knocked me for six!

Alter_ego

Did you inform them when you moved out including a meter reading?

Sorry just noticed you haven't moved out yet.

[Deleted User]

Your end of plan date will be the end of tariff date.  It's on the bills and your tariff details on your account.  Should be March 23.

The end of plan balance isn't derived from crack smoking, but from their estimates of the deficit based on your usage. This will include any arrears from your Bristol Energy account and your current usage. However, it may not take account of any credit you had. 

maisie_cat

It's entirely possible, if for example you consume £2400 a year and are only paying £100 a month you'll fall short by £1200 over a year. If there are only 6 months to the anniversary of your transfer to BG you will have already paid £600 and need to pay another £1800 over the next 6 months. Those payments will need to be £300 to "catch up"
You'll need to know actual& forecast usage so that you can calculate the full year cost, deduct what's already been paid to see if the £300 is reasonable to catch up.

pochase

BG is only doing a direct debit review and billing every 6 months, it is very likely that your end of plan balance will be in 6 months.

Are you sure that there is no bill for download on the website. Usually the direct debit review is based on the billing they do. What does the web site show, are you in debt or in credit.

The new debit order will be based on your estimated use and you current debt, do that the next 6 direct debits will pay outstanding debt and your expected use. You are aware that there was a huge increase in energy cost on the 1st of April? So a big increase in in direct debit is to be expected.

Do you submit regular meter readings or is the increase based on estimates? Can you post your credit/debit from Bristol Energy, the date you joined BG, meter reads on this day, meter reads on 31st of March and todays read, plus the current direct debit you are paying.

Check for you bill following this link

https://www.britishgas.co.uk/help-and-support/bills-and-payments/view-your-bill

superbigal

Paying a set amount every month is indeed very simple to understand.
Apparently not now that the crack smoking supplier want that number to be higher.
However if I was paying my crack supplier £100 a month, but was using £200 a month of crack 
Well do the meths   sorry maths.

prowla

Energy prices have gone up by stupid amounts and the energy suppliers are increasing their prices to the max allowed.

penners324

Have you submitted regular (monthly) meter readings?

Have you logged into your account with them?

brewerdave

I've been with BG for leccy since the demise of Neon Reef last November.
You are not alone ! I have tried on several occasions, to get Customer Services to explain HOW the end of plan balance figure is derived and WHEN the end of contract date is. So far NOBODY that I 've spoken to ,can explain !!
The end of contract balance figure alters seemingly on a daily basis and (for my account anyway) has varied from a big credit to a big debit .
  After my first bill received last week (assuming they don't reverse it!) the debit figure has settled down and the messages about increasing DD (or decreasing DD) have ,for the moment ,ceased !!

sol2017

If you're moving out end of next month then I suggest you submit your meter readings now to make sure they've got accurate information to use for billing, and also check that you don't owe them money. Also submit meter readings on the last day (and take photos). That should hopefully ensure that you've only been billed for the energy you've actually used. Any other estimates don't really matter