Energy Costs for a Single Person

Section62

Gerry1 said:

There's something strange about your timeswitch.  It's hard to see, but the on/off times don't seem to be E7.  Can you post a better photo showing the ON and OFF lugs more clearly? 

Looks like 00:30 On and 07:30 Off to me.

Although the timeswitch should be in the 'normal' state, the meter looks like the 'low' register is active.

More investigation by the OP needed....

E.g. which of the readings is currently increasing.  Then check again in a couple of hours.

Section62

Kamatz said:

Thankyou everyone, I'll see what british gas says though i suspect they wont particularly care. Still worth a shot

Before doing that you might want to get a better understanding of when you are getting charged at 'normal' and 'night' rates.  It is possible you've been benefitting from the timeclock being wrong and giving you E7 rates during the day when you've had the heaters running.

Replacement of the meter could land you with a larger bill, and by then the evidence you might need to prove your consumption will probably be in a skip.

Gerry1

It's still hard to read the lug next to MIDN, but assuming it says ON then you have E7 times of 12:30AM - 7:30AM GMT which would make sense.  The lugs at 3:45AM and 2:45PM won't do anything.

However, the disc doesn't seem to have moved, it's still showing 11:00pm GMT.  Is it stuck?

theoretica

Do you have the readings from when you moved in?  Knowing how your use divided between low and normal would be useful.

Section62

Gerry1 said:

Is it stuck?

If the timeclock isn't moving and the meter is recording on the low register then I would make a partially-educated guess the timeclock fuse has blown or been tampered with.

Kamatz

OK well i have quite the interesting update. Shortly after i posted, the previous tenant rang to ask for the current meter readings. As it turns out he has been locked in a battle with british gas over the meter readings.

In July 2021 he suspected something was amiss with the timeswitch so informed british gas who then sent an engineer round. The engineer confirmed that not only was the switch completely stuck, the whole meter was 9 years out of date. Supposedly all meters should be replaced after the 25 year mark. He then raised this issue with british gas who did nothing.

Fast forward to him moving out in October 2021 when i moved in. The meter was still broken at this point however i wasnt made aware. He is now in deadlock with british gas who have made repeated direct debit demands which have defaulted. As you can imagine this has singlehandedly obliterated his credit score. He has raised a case with the energy ombudsman to resolve this. British gas have denied they were informed that the meter was broken, however it is mentioned on the engineers report in July 2021 which i have.

Unfortunately the switch is stuck just before the "low" rate kicks in. Essentially i am constantly on the "normal" day rate and am receiving no benefits of the E7 tariff.

What sort of case do i have against british gas? They have sold me a dual tariff policy in full knowledge that the meter is broken and 10 years past its service date. Is this fraud?

Gerry1

Judging by the circular sticker and the serial number, I'd guess that the timeswitch could be 53 years old.

Submit a formal written complaint to British Gas (by Royal Mail, getting a free Certification of Posting) that you're on a two rate tariff (don't say dual tariff, that will be confused with dual fuel) but always being charged the higher rate.

Don't forget to come back and tell us the outcome !

Kamatz

I hath returned

A member of the British gas complaints team contacted me on Tuesday and said that the best they can do is recalculate what i owe based on my energy usage being 70% on the low rate and 30% on the day rate. I said fair enough we'll go from there.

Previously my outstanding balance was going to be paid off by monthly repayments of £170 til October, with each payment being made on the 1st of the month. Checked my bank account last night and they have taken the full outstanding balance of ~£750 on the 30/05/2022 but credited me with £286 in my energy account.

Obviously i'm pretty miffed as they gave no warning of this and i will now struggle to pay rent let alone food/gas til the 24th of the month.

Contacted customer services today to refund the credit and close the account but had to go through the whole moving out process again where they demanded the final meter readings, forwarding address etc. I can see another bill being levied upon me due to the utterly disjointed process that is British gas. Will keep you updated.

QrizB

Kamatz said:

I hath returned

Glad you've come back to update us, lots of people don't!

A member of the British gas complaints team contacted me on Tuesday and said that the best they can do is recalculate what i owe based on my energy usage being 70% on the low rate and 30% on the day rate. I said fair enough we'll go from there.

That's a good result.

Previously my outstanding balance was going to be paid off by monthly repayments of £170 til October, with each payment being made on the 1st of the month. Checked my bank account last night and they have taken the full outstanding balance of ~£750 on the 30/05/2022 but credited me with £286 in my energy account.

Obviously i'm pretty miffed as they gave no warning of this and i will now struggle to pay rent let alone food/gas til the 24th of the month.

Did BG give you ten working days notice of your changed DD amount? If not, they are in breach of the Direct Debit Guarantee and you can ask insist that your bank recover the full £750. You will obviously still owe the money but it will be in your bank account not theirs.

Kamatz

No they gave no warning though I will be hard pressed to show the agreement of £170 a month as it was on my online accounts which BG control (they can remove/add energy statements). What would constitute as a warning? The only emails I have received are those that inform me my energy bill is ready.

Oddly enough I am £1143.03 in credit on their website but £286.41 in credit on the mobile app. It does say any outstanding credit will be paid in 2 weeks but i'm not holding out any hope